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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3ed2fe --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51191 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51191) diff --git a/old/51191-0.txt b/old/51191-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index caf260c..0000000 --- a/old/51191-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,18798 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nooks and Corners of Lancashire and -Cheshire., by James Croston - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Nooks and Corners of Lancashire and Cheshire. - A Wayfarer's Notes in the Palatine Counties, Historical, - Legendary, Genealogical, and Descriptive. - -Author: James Croston - -Release Date: February 12, 2016 [EBook #51191] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOOKS, CORNERS OF LANCASHIRE *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - NOOKS AND CORNERS - - OF - - LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. - - - - -Of this work 600 copies have been printed, the whole of which were -subscribed for before publication. - - - - - NOOKS AND CORNERS - - OF - - Lancashire and Cheshire. - - A WAYFARER’S NOTES IN THE PALATINE COUNTIES, - HISTORICAL, LEGENDARY, GENEALOGICAL, - AND DESCRIPTIVE. - - BY - - JAMES CROSTON, F.S.A. - - _Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain; - Member of the Architectural, - Archæological and Historic Society of Chester; Member of the - Council of the Record Society._ - - Author of “On Foot through the Peak,” “A History of Samlesbury,” - “Historical Memorials of the Church in Prestbury,” - “Old Manchester and its Worthies,” - etc., etc. - - JOHN HEYWOOD, - DEANSGATE AND RIDGEFIELD, MANCHESTER; - AND 11, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, - LONDON. - 1882. - - - - - JOHN HEYWOOD, PRINTER, HULME HALL ROAD, - MANCHESTER. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -PREFACE. - - -This volume is not put forth as professedly a history of the places -described, the Author’s aim having been rather to seize upon and -group from such accredited sources of information as were available, -the leading facts and incidents relating to special localities, and -to present the scenes of human life and action in a readable and -attractive form by divesting, in some degree, the tame and uninviting -facts of archæology of their deadly dulness; to bring into prominent -relief the remarkable occurrences and romantic incidents of former -days, and, by combining with the graver and more substantial matters -of history an animated description of the physical features and scenic -attractions of the localities in which those incidents occurred, to -render them more interesting to the general reader. - -A popular writer—the Authoress of “Our Village”—has said that she -cared less for any reputation she might have gained as a writer of -romance, than she did for the credit to be derived from the less -ambitious but more useful office of faithfully uniting and preserving -those fragments of tradition, experience, and biography, which give to -history its living interest. In the same spirit the following pages -have been written. There are within the Palatine Counties of Lancaster -and Chester many objects and places, many halls and manor-houses that -possess an abiding interest from the position they occupy in “our -rough island story,” and from their being associated, if not with -events of the highest historic import, yet at least with many of -those subordinate scenes and occurrences—those romantic incidents -and half-forgotten facts that illustrate the inner life and character -of bygone generations. These lingering memorials of a period the -most chivalrous and the most romantic in our country’s annals may -occasionally have received the notice of the precise topographer and -the matter-of-fact antiquary, but, though possessing in themselves -much that is picturesque and attractive, they have rarely been placed -before the reader in any other guise than that in which the soberest -narrative could invest them. In them the romance of centuries seems to -be epitomised, and to the “seeing eye” they are the types and emblems -of the changing life of our great nation; legend and tradition gather -round, and weird stories and scraps of family history are associated -with them that bring vividly before the mind’s eye the domestic life -and manners of those who have gone before, and show in how large a -degree the Past may be made a guide for the Present and the Future. - -It only remains for the Author to acknowledge his obligations to those -friends who, by information communicated, and in other ways, have aided -him in his design. His thanks are due to JOHN EGLINGTON BAILEY, Esq., -F.S.A., of Stretford; JOHN OLDFIELD CHADWICK, Esq., F.S.S., F.G.S., of -London; Dr. SAMUEL CROMPTON, of Cranleigh, Surrey; Lieutenant-Colonel -FISHWICK, F.S.A., of Rochdale; and THOMAS HELSBY, Esq., of the Inner -Temple. He is also indebted to the kindness of GILBERT J. FRENCH, Esq., -of Bolton, for the loan of the several engravings which add interest to -the story of Samuel Crompton. - - UPTON HALL, PRESTBURY, CHESHIRE, - DECEMBER, 1881. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER I. PAGE - A Railway Ramble—The Roman City on the Ribble—A - Day Dream at Ribchester 1 - - CHAPTER II. - Marple Hall—The Bradshaws—Colonel Henry Bradshaw—The - Story of the Regicide 21 - - CHAPTER III. - Over Sands by the Cartmel Shore—Wraysholme Tower—The - Legend of the Last Wolf 76 - - CHAPTER IV. - An Afternoon at Gawsworth—The Fighting Fittons—The - Cheshire Will Case and its Tragic Sequel—Henry - Newcome—“Lord Flame” 102 - - CHAPTER V. - The College and the “Wizard Warden” of Manchester 157 - - CHAPTER VI. - Beeston Castle 213 - - CHAPTER VII. - Whalley and its Abbey—Mitton Church and its Monuments—The - Sherburnes—The Jesuits’ College, Stonyhurst 242 - - CHAPTER VIII. - Adlington and its Earlier Lords—The Leghs—The Legend of - the Spanish Lady’s Love—The Hall 283 - - CHAPTER IX. - The Byroms—Kersall Cell—John Byrom—The Laureate of - the Jacobites—The Fatal ’45 361 - - CHAPTER X. - Hall-i’-th’-Wood—The Story of Samuel Crompton, the Inventor - of the Spinning Mule 408 - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - - PROSPECT TOWER, TURTON 3 - - RIBCHESTER BRIDGE 7 - - MARPLE HALL 20 - - AUTOGRAPH AND SEAL OF COLONEL BRADSHAW 34 - - PRESIDENT BRADSHAW 47 - - AUTOGRAPH OF JOHN BRADSHAW 49 - - GEORGE FOX’S CHAPEL, SWARTHMOOR 77 - - GRANGE-OVER-SANDS 79 - - WRAYSHOLME TOWER 89 - - HERALDIC GLASS AT WRAYSHOLME 91 - - GAWSWORTH OLD HALL 105 - - GAWSWORTH CROSS 109 - - THE REV. HENRY NEWCOME 143 - - “LORD FLAME’S” TOMB, GAWSWORTH 153 - - JOHN DEE, THE “WIZARD WARDEN” 156 - - THE MANCHESTER COLLEGE 196 - - MORTLAKE CHURCH 207 - - BEESTON CASTLE 212 - - THE PHŒNIX TOWER, CHESTER 240 - - ABBOT PASLEW’S GRAVE STONE, WHALLEY CHURCH 246 - - ANCIENT CROSS, MITTON CHURCHYARD 263 - - THE HODDER BRIDGE 265 - - STONYHURST 269 - - ADLINGTON HALL 282 - - AUTOGRAPH OF SIR URIAN LEGH 326 - - SIR ALEXANDER RIGBY 333 - - AUTOGRAPH OF THOMAS LEGH 338 - - KERSALL CELL 360 - - JOHN BYROM’S HOUSE, MANCHESTER 381 - - HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD 409 - - HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD: SOUTH FRONT 412 - - STAIRCASE, HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD 415 - - HERALDIC SHIELD, HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD 417 - - OLDHAMS 429 - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -SUBSCRIBERS. - - -ADSHEAD, G. H., Esq., Fern Villas, Bolton Road, Pendleton, nr. M’chester. -ANDREW, FRANK, Esq., Ashton-under-Lyne. -ARDERN, L., Jun., Esq., Hazel Grove, Cheshire. -ARMITAGE, ELKANAH, Esq., The Rookery, Pendleton, Manchester. -ARMSTRONG, THOMAS, Esq., F.R.M.S., Highfield Bank, Urmston. -ARNOLD, HENRY, Esq., Blackley, near Manchester. -ASHTON, J. T., Esq., Wellington Road South, Stockport. -ASHWORTH, CHARLES E., Esq., Fairfield, Manchester. -ASHWORTH, GEORGE, Esq., 3. Charlotte Street, Manchester. -ASCROFT, W. T., Esq., 3, Stamford Street, Altrincham. -ASPLAND, L. M., Esq., 47, Linden Gardens, South Kensington, London, S. W. -ASQUITH, D., Esq., Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Offices, Manchester. -ATKINSON, GEORGE, Esq., Stockport. -ATHERTON, W. H., Esq., Southbank Road, Southport. -ATHENÆUM, The, Manchester. -ATTOCK, F., Esq., Somerset House, Newton Heath. - -BAILEY, J. EGLINTON, F.S.A., Egerton Villa, Stretford. -BARLOW, J. R., Esq., Edgeworth, near Bolton. -BARNES, ALFRED, Esq., Farnworth. -BARNES, THOMAS, Esq., Farnworth. -BARTON, RICHARD, Esq., West Leigh Lodge, West Leigh, Lancashire. -BAYLEY, WILLIAM, Esq., Craybrow, Lymm, Warrington. -BAZLEY, Sir THOS., Bart., Eyford Park, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire. -BEAMAN, Mrs., Haydock Lodge, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire. -BEALES, ROBERT, Esq., M.D., J.P. (Mayor), Congleton. -BELLIS, THOMAS, Esq., Northenden, near Manchester. -BERRY, JAMES, Esq., Jun., Palatine Square, Burnley. -BESWICK, JOHN, Esq., Victoria Hotel, Strangeways, Manchester (2 copies). -BIBBY, W. H., Esq., Levenshulme. -BIRCH, HERBERT, Esq., The Vicarage, Blackburn. -BIRLEY, HUGH, Esq., M.P., Moorland, Withington. -BIRLEY, J. SHEPHERD, Esq., Moss Lee, Bolton-le-Moors. -BLEASDELL, The Rev. J., Henry Square, Ashton-under-Lyne. -BODDINGTON, HENRY, Jun., Esq., Strangeways Brewery, Manchester. -BOLGER, Miss SARAH, Atherton, Bournemouth, Hants. -BOLTON, JOHN, Esq., Southfield, Blackburn. -BONE, JOHN W., Esq., F.S.A., 26, Bedford Place, Russell Square, London. -BOOTH, AARON, Jun., Esq., 4, South Street, Albert Square, Manchester. -BOOTH, JAMES, Esq., 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley. -BOOTE, DANIEL, Esq., Oakfield, Ashton-on-Mersey. -BOURNE, Sir JAMES, Heathfield, Liverpool. -BOWDLER, WILLIAM HENRY, Esq., J.P., Kirkham, Lancashire. -BOWES, Dr. JOHN, The Blue Coat School, Warrington. -BOWKER, S. J., Esq., 42, Great Ancoats Street, Manchester. -BOULTON, ISAAC WATT, Esq., J.P., Stamford House, Ashton-under-Lyne - (2 copies). -BRADSHAW, CHRISTOPHER, Esq., Kenwood, Ellesmere Park, Eccles. -BRADSHAWE, GEORGE PARIS, Esq., 30, Gloucester Street, Warwick Square, - London. -BRADSHAWE-ISHERWOOD, Mrs., Marple Hall, Stockport. -BRADSHAW, S., Esq., 241, Broad Street, Pendleton. -BRADWELL, DENNIS, Esq., J.P., Higher Daisy Bank, Congleton. -BRAMWELL, ROBERT, Esq., 5, Green Street, Ardwick Green. -BRAGG, HARRY, Esq., The Mount, Blackburn. -BRANSBY, WILLIAM, Esq., 46, Deansgate, Manchester. -BROWN, Rev. Canon, M.A., Staley Vicarage, Stalybridge. -BROWNHILL, JOHN, Esq., Alderley, Cheshire. -BRIDGEMAN, Rev. The Honble. G. T. O., Wigan Hall, Wigan. -BROADBENT, GEO. HARRY, Esq., L.K.Q.C.P.I. and L.M., Ashton-under-Lyne. -BROADBENT, EDWIN, Esq., Reddish, near Stockport. -BROCKBANK, W., Esq., Pall Mall, Manchester. -BUCKLEY, Mr., Strangeways Brewery. -BUDD, Mrs. M., Cedar Villa, Wilbraham Road, Fallowfield, Manchester. -BULTEEL, S. W., Esq., Victoria Park, Manchester. -BURGESS, SAMUEL, Esq., Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Offices, - Manchester. -BURTON, ALFRED, Esq., 37, Cross Street, Manchester. -BURGHOPE, WILLIAM, Esq., Albert Villa, near Malvern. -BURTON, JOSEPH, Esq., Lyme View, Bramhall, Cheshire. -BURTON, J. H., Esq., F.R.H.S., 5, Trafalgar Square, Ashton-under-Lyne. -BURTON, Mrs. LINGEN, Abbey House, Shrewsbury. -BUSTARD, J., Esq., Summer Lane, Barnsley. - -CALDERBANK, Captain, Stockport. -CAMERON, JOHN D., Esq., The Grove, Sale, Cheshire. -CARRINGTON, H. H., SMITH, Esq., Whaley Bridge, near Stockport -CARVER, Mrs. J., Sunnyside, Whalley Range, Manchester. -CARR, JOHN, Esq., 2, McDonald’s Lane, Manchester. -CASSON, E., Esq., Raper Lodge. Bramhall Park, Cheshire. -CHADWICK, T., Esq., The Grove, Urmston, near Manchester. -CHETHAM’S LIBRARY, Manchester. -CHORLTON, THOMAS, Esq., 32, Brasenose Street, Manchester. -CHORLTON, WILLIAM, Esq., Fairfield, near Manchester. -CHORLTON, THOMAS, Esq., 32, Brazenose Street, Manchester. -CHRISTY, RICHARD, Esq., Poynton Towers, Cheshire. -CLARE, CHARLES LEIGH, Esq., Park Lane, Higher Broughton, Manchester. -COATES, The Misses, Sunnyside, Crawshawbooth, Lancashire. -COLLINS, JAMES, Esq., Ada Villa, Old Trafford, Manchester. -COOMBES, The Rev. G. F., B.A., Portwood, Stockport. -COOPER, EDWARD, Esq., 10, Downing Street, Manchester. -COOPER, THOMAS, Esq., Mossley House, Congleton. -COULTATE, WILLIAM MILLER, Esq., F.R.C.S., J.P., 1, Yorke Street, Burnley. -COWIE, Very Rev. B. MORGAN, D.D., Dean of Manchester, The Deanery, - Manchester. -CRAIG, ANDREW L., Esq., 148, Cheapside, London. -CRAVEN, JAMES, Esq., Woodland House, Whalley Range, Manchester. -CREEKE, Major A. B., Monkholm, near Burnley. -CRONKESHAW, JOHN, Esq., White Bull Hotel, Blackburn. -CROSS, JOHN, Esq., Cambridge Villa, Heaton Norris. -CROSS, The Right Hon. Sir R. A., M.P., Eccle Riggs, Broughton-in-Furness. -CROMPTON, SAMUEL, Esq., M.D., Cranleigh, Surrey. -CUNLIFF, JOHN, Esq., Lomber Hey, near Stockport. -CURZON, N. C., Esq., Lockington Hall, Derby. -CUFF, JAMES HENRY, Esq., Millington, near Altrincham. -CUNLIFFE, EDWARD THOMAS, Esq., Handforth. - -DALE, THOMAS, Esq., J.P., Bank House, Park Road, Southport. -DAVENPORT, E. H., Esq., Davenport, Bridgnorth, Shropshire. -DAY, Mr. T. J., Heaton Moor, Stockport. -DEVONSHIRE, His Grace the Duke of, Chatsworth, Chesterfield. -DILLON, Rev. GODFREY, Radcliffe (2 copies). -DOBSON, MATTHEW, Esq., Cheadle. -DORRINGTON, JAMES T., Esq., Bonishall, near Macclesfield. -DOWNING, WILLIAM, Esq., Springfield Olton, Acock Green, Birmingham. -DYER, A. C., Esq., National Provincial Bank of England, Manchester. - -EARWAKER, J. P., Esq., M.A., F.S.A., Pensarn, Abergele. -EASTWOOD, J. A., Esq., 49, Princess Street, Manchester. -EATON, C., Esq., 3, St. Edward Street, Leek. -ECKERSLEY, C., Esq., Tyldesley, Lancashire. -EDGAR, ROBERT A., Esq., Seymour Lodge, Heaton Chapel. -EDGE, J. BROUGHTON, Esq., Broad Oak Park, Worsley. -EILBECK, H., Esq., Ashton-upon-Mersey, Cheshire. -ELLISON, JOHN, Esq., Stockport Road, Ashton-under-Lyne. -ELWEN, GEORGE, Esq., 11, Knott Street, Higher Broughton, Manchester. -ENION, J. C., Esq., Piccadilly, Manchester. -EQUITABLE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY, Greenacres Hill, Oldham. -EVANS, Miss LYDIA, The Heys, near St. Helens, Lancashire. -EVANS, JOHN, Esq., 1, Mitton Street, Greenheys. -EYRE, The Rev. W. H., Stonyhurst College, near Blackburn (_5 copies_). - -FAIRBROTHER, HENRY, Esq., 106, Albert Square, Manchester. -FEATHER, The Rev. GEORGE, The Vicarage, Glazebury, Leigh, Lancashire. -FIELDEN, JOHN, Esq., Dobroyd Castle, Todmorden (_2 copies_). -FLETCHER, J. SHEPHERD, Esq., M.D., 75, Lever Street, Manchester. -FLETCHER, THOMAS, Esq., Lever House, near Bolton-le-Moors. -FOLLY, THOMAS, Esq., Warrington. -FOYSTER, J. ASHER, Esq., 5, Norfolk Street, Manchester. -FRANKLAND, GEO., Esq., _Express_ Office, Burnley. -FRESTON, T. W., Esq., 8, Watling Street, Manchester. -FRY, JOSEPH, Esq., Manchester. - -GAMBLE, Colonel, Windlehurst, St. Helens. -GARTSIDE, R. A., Esq., Dacres, Greenfield, near Manchester. -GASKELL, A. E., Esq., 255, Moss Lane, East, Manchester. -GASKELL, JOSIAH, Esq., Burgrave Lodge, Ashton-in-Makerfield. -GEE, CHARLES, Esq., Gorton, Manchester. -GERARD, Major, Aspull House, Wigan. -GIBBONS, BENJAMIN, Esq., London Road, Manchester. -GILL, RICHARD, Esq., 7, Pall Mall, Manchester. -GILBODY, A. H., Esq., Edge Lane, Chorlton-on-Medlock. -GOODMAN, DAVENPORT, Esq., Eccles House, Chapel-en-le-Frith. -GRAHAM, JOSEPH, Esq., Carlton Road, Burnley. -GRAHAM, Rev. PHILIP, Turncroft, Darwen. -GRANTHAM, JOHN, Esq., 2, Rothsay Place, Old Trafford, Manchester. -GRAY, ROBERT, Esq., Greenfield House, Hyde. -GRADWELL, SAMUEL, Esq., Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. -GRATRIX, SAMUEL, Esq., J.P., West Point, Whalley Range, Manchester. -GREAVES, GEORGE, Esq., Hayfield. -GREENALL, Sir GILBERT, Bart., Walton Hall, Warrington. -GREENALL, Colonel, Lingholme, Keswick. -GREENALL, Major, The Old Rectory, Grappenhall. -GREENE, Mrs. TURNER, Southworth House, Wigan. -GREENHALGH, JOSEPH DODSON, Esq., Gladstone Cottage, Bolton. -GREENWAY, C., Esq., J.P., Darwen Bank, Darwen. -GREENWOOD, CHARLES, Esq., 26, Aked’s Road, Halifax. -GROVES, G. H., Esq., Kent Villa, Urmston, near Manchester. -GRUNDY, ALFRED, Esq., Whitefield, near Manchester. -GUEST, W. H., Esq., 78, Cross Street, Manchester. - -HADFIELD, GEORGE, Esq., 110, King Street, Manchester. -HAGUE, JOHN SCHOLES, Esq., White Hall, Chinley, Derbyshire. -HALL, JOSHUA, Esq., Kingston House, Hyde. -HALL, JOHN, Esq., The Grange, Hale, Cheshire. -HALL, ROBERT, Esq., Anes House, Hyde. -HALSTEAD, LOUIS, Esq., Redwaterfoot, Corneholme. -HAMPSON, WILLIAM, Esq., Rose Hill, Marple, Cheshire. -HAMPSON, J. R., Esq., Old Trafford. -HAMPSON, J. T., Esq., Solicitor, Ashton-under-Lyne. -HARLOW, Miss, Heaton Norris, Stockport -HARTLEY, WILLIAM, Esq., Greek Street, Stockport. -HARTLEY, Mrs., Brierfield House, near Burnley. -HARTLEY, JOB W., Esq., Westgate, Burnley. -HARDWICK, C., Esq., 72, Talbot Street, Moss Side, Manchester. -HARWOOD, Alderman JOHN J., Northumberland Street, Higher Broughton. -HAWORTH, The Rev. J. G., Tunsteads Vicarage, Stacksteads. -HAWORTH, S. E., Esq., Holyrood, restwich. -HAWORTH, RICHARD, Esq., J.P., 28, High Street, Manchester. -HEGINBOTTOM, THOMAS, Esq., J.P., (Mayor), Stamford House, - Ashton-under-Lyne. -HELSBY, THOMAS, Esq., Lincoln’s Inn, London. -HIBBERT, HENRY, Esq., Broughton Grove, Grange-over-Sands. -HICKS, JOHN, Esq., Mytton Hall, Whalley, Lancashire. -HIGGINS, ARTHUR, Esq., King Street, Salford. -HIGGINS, JAMES, Esq., Woodhey, Kersal, Manchester. -HIGSON, THOMAS, Esq., Red Cliffe, Alderley Edge, Cheshire. -HILL, T. D., Esq., Fairfield. -HINDLEY, THOMAS, Esq., Stockport. -HIRST, JOHN, Esq., Ladcastle, Dobcross. -HODGSON, T., Esq., Cravenholme, Didsbury. -HOOLEY, SAMUEL J., Esq., Manchester and Liverpool District Bank Limited, - Tunstall. -HOWE, JAMES, Esq., Bellfield House, Ashton-under-Lyne, near Manchester. -HODGKINSON, JAMES B., Esq., Green Bank, Sale, Cheshire. -HODGKINSON, S., Esq., Marple, Cheshire. -HOLDEN, THOMAS, Esq., Bolton. -HOLMES, JAMES, Esq., Egerton Road, Fallowfield, Manchester. -HORNBY, JAMES, Esq., Wigan. -HYDE, WALTER, Esq., Cromwell House, Heaton Chapel. - -INGHAM, B., Esq., York Chambers, Brasenose Street, Manchester. - -JACKSON, ALFRED, Esq., Burnley Lane, Burnley. -JACKSON, B., Esq., Heathfield, Ashton-upon-Mersey. -JACKSON, HARTLEY, Esq., Pickup Terrace, Burnley. -JACKSON, H. J., Esq., Ashton-under-Lyne (_2 copies_). -JOHNSON, J. A., Esq., 73, Albert Road, Southport. -JOHNSON, J. H., Esq., F.S.A., 73, Albert Road, Southport. -JONES, JOHN JOSEPH, Esq., Abberley Hall, Stourport. - -KAY, JACOB, Esq., 5, Booth Street, Manchester. -KEENE, R. Esq., Irongate, Derby. -KETTLE, A. J., Esq., Addiscombe, Prestwich Park, near Manchester. -KETTLE, W. C., Esq., Addiscombe, Prestwich Park. -KENDERDINE, FREDERICK, Esq., Morningside, Old Trafford. -KNOTT, JAMES, Esq., 55, Higher Ardwick, Manchester. -KNOTT, JOHN, Esq., Dartmouth House, Hurst, Cheshire. - -LANCASTER, ALF, Esq., Manchester Road, Burnley. -LAWTON, JAMES KINDER, Esq., Hazel Grove, near Stockport. -LEEDHAM, F. H., Esq., Burnage Lane, near Manchester. -LEECE, JOSEPH, Esq., Mansfield Villa, Urmston, near Manchester.. -LEES, EDWARD B., Esq., Kelbarrow, Grasmere. -LEIGH, JAMES, Esq., 66, Deansgate, Manchester. -LEVER, ELLIS, Esq., Culcheth Hall, Bowdon. -LEES, SAMUEL, Esq., Park Bridge, Ashton-under-Lyne. -LEIGH, JOHN, Esq., The Manor House, Hale, Cheshire. -LEIGH, CHARLES, Esq., Bank Terrace, Wigan. -LEYLAND, JOHN, Esq., The Grange, Hindley, near Wigan. -LIBRARIES, FREE PUBLIC, Manchester. -LIBRARY, FREE PUBLIC, Town Hall, Rochdale. -LIBRARY, FREE, Peel Park, Salford. -LIBRARY, FREE, The Stockport. -LIBRARY, FREE, The Wigan. -LIBRARY, FREE, The Heywood, near Manchester. -LIBRARY, FREE, The Bolton-le-Moors. -LINFOOT, JOSEPH, Esq., Cannon Street, Manchester. -LINGARD-MONK, RICHARD, B. M., Esq., Fulshaw Hall, Wilmslow. -LLOYD, THOMAS, Esq., Brooklands House, Brooklands, Cheshire. -LONG, JOHN F., Esq., 135, Great Ancoats Street, Manchester. -LONGDEN. A. W., Esq., Marple, Cheshire. -LONGWORTH, SOLOMON, Esq., Whalley, Lancashire. -LONGSHAW, Mrs., Beech Priory, Southport. -LONGTON, EDWARD JOHN, Esq., M.D., The Priory, Southport. -LORD, HENRY, Esq., 42, John Dalton Street, Manchester. -LUPTON, ARTHUR, Esq., 136, Manchester Road, Burnley. -LUPTON, BENJAMIN, Esq., Cumberland Place, Burnley. -LUPTON, JOSEPH TOWNEND, Esq., 28, Manchester Road, Burnley. -LOWE, J. W., Esq., St James’s Square, Manchester. - -MARSDEN, Rev. Canon, Great Oakley, Harwich, Essex. -MARSDEN, The Rev. W., Fullarton House, Upper Brook Street, M’chester. -MARSHALL, E. W., Esq., 38, Barton Arcade, Manchester. -MARSON, GERVASE, Esq., Thorncliffe House, Higher Broughton, Manchester. -MARSON, JAMES, Esq., High Cliffe, Warrington. -MASSEY, JOHN, Esq., J.P., Hawk’s House, near Burnley (_2 copies_). -MAYOR’S LIBRARY, The, Manchester, per Alderman Patteson. -McQUHAE, WILLIAM, Esq., 5, Stamford Street, Brooks’s Bar, Manchester. -McKENNA, BERNARD, Esq., Lea Grange, White Moss, Blackley, nr. M’chester. -McKERROW, Alderman JOHN B., J.P., Norcliffe, Broughton Park. -METCALF, WILLIAM, Esq., 2, Vernon Avenue, Eccles. -MIDDLETON, THOMAS, Esq., Springfield, Adlington, Lancashire. -MIDWOOD, G. H., 55, Faulkner Street, Manchester. -MILLS, WILLIAM, Esq., 12, New Brown Street, Manchester. -MILNER, GEORGE, Esq., 57a, Mosley Street, Manchester. -MITCHELL, WILLIAM, Esq., Brook Villa, Golbourne. -MOORE, D., Esq., Woodville, Bramhall, Cheshire. -MOORHOUSE, CHRISTOPHER, Esq., 4, St Paul’s Road, Kersal, Manchester. -MORTON, WILLIAM, Esq., 12, Brown Street, Manchester. -MOTHERSILL, EDWARD, Esq., Dane House, Sale, Cheshire. -MOULTON, GEORGE, Esq., Hall’s Crescent, Collyhurst. -MUIRHEAD, THOMAS S., Esq., Ash Lodge, Halliwell Lane, Cheetham. -MURRAY, Alderman (the late), Apsley House, Hyde Road, Manchester. -MYERS, HENRY, Esq., 140, Newcastle Street, Stretford Road, Manchester. - -NAPIER, GEORGE W., Esq., Merchistoun, Alderley Edge. -NEAL, WILLIAM, Esq., Ashton-under-Lyne. -NEWTON, WALTER, Esq., 69, Bridge Street, Manchester. -NEW, PHILIP N., Esq., 15, Baillie Street, Rochdale. -NORREYS, Miss, Davyhulme Hall, Lancashire. -NORTHCOTT, JAMES B., Esq., King Street, Manchester. - -OWEN, WILLIAM, Esq., Palmyra Square, Warrington. - -PARK, Rev. R., M.A., 3, The Crescent, Salford. -PARKER, EDWARD, Esq., Browsholme Hall, Yorkshire. -PATTESON, Alderman, J.P., Victoria Park, Manchester. -PEACOCK, RICHARD, Esq., Gorton Hall, near Manchester. -PERKINS, STANHOPE, Esq., 6, Healey Terrace, Fairfield, near Manchester. -PHILLIPS, JOHN WILLIAM, Esq., Brown Hill, Burnley. -PHILLIPS, Miss, Welcombe, Stratford-on-Avon. -PICCLES, THOMAS L., Esq., Rock Cottage, New Mills, Derbyshire. -PILKINGTON, JAMES, Esq., Swinithwaite Hall, Bedale, Yorkshire. -PINK, WM. DUNCOMBE, Esq., Leigh. -POOLEY, C. J., Esq., Knutsford. -POLLITT, JAMES, Esq., Guide House, Ashton-under-Lyne. -POOLEY, W. ORMSBY, Esq., J.P., Knutsford. -PORTICO LIBRARY, The, Mosley Street, Manchester. -POTTER, RUPERT, Esq., 2, Bolton Gardens, South Kensington, London, S.W. -POTTS, ARTHUR, Esq., Hoole Hall, Chester. -PRESTON, THOMAS, Esq., 92, Manchester Road, Burnley. - -RABY, WILLIAM, Esq., 78, Cross Street, Manchester. -RALPHS, SAMUEL, Esq., 56, Sandy Lane, Stockport. -RAMSBOTTOM, G. H., Esq., Altham Hall, near Accrington. -RAMSBOTHAM, JOHN, Esq., 22, Arbour Street, Southport (2 copies). -RAWSTHORNE, H., Esq., East Street, Preston. -REDHEAD, R. MILNE, Esq., Springfield, Seedley, Manchester (2 copies). -RICHMOND, T. G., Esq., Ford House, Prestbury. -RICHMOND, FRED, Esq., 163, Radnor Street, Hulme, Manchester. -RICHMOND, JAMES, Esq., Mosely House, Burnley. -RICKARDS, CHARLES H., Esq., J.P., Seymour Grove. Old Trafford, Manchester. -RIGBY, S., Esq. -ROBINSON, WILLIAM, Esq., The Hollies, Talbot Road, Old Trafford. -ROBSON, THOMAS W., Esq., 18, Aytoun Street, Manchester. -ROOKE, GEORGE, Esq., Moorside, Sale. -ROUNDELL, C. J., Esq., M.P., Osborne, Fernhurst, Hazlemere. -ROYLE, JOHN, Esq., 53, Port Street, Manchester. -ROYLANCE, E. W., Esq., Brookfield, Bury Old Rd., Cheetham Hill, M’chester. -RUMNEY, THOMAS, Esq., Hallcroft Cottage, Carnforth. -RUSHTON, THOMAS LEVER, Esq., Moor Platt, Horwich, near Bolton. -RYDER, T. D., Esq., St James’s Square, Manchester. -RYLANDS, J. PAUL, Esq., F.S.A., Highfields, Thelwall. -RYLANDS, W. HARRY, Esq., F.S.A., Biblical Archæological Society, - 11, Hart Street, Bloomsbury, London. - -SCHUNCK, J. EDGAR, Esq., Wicken Hall, near Rochdale. -SEVERS, FRED, Esq., 1, Dalton Terrace, Clayton St., Chorlton Rd., - M’chester. -SCOTT, JOHN OLDRED, Esq., 31, Spring Gardens, London, S.W. -SCHOFIELD, THOMAS, Esq., J.P, Thornfield, Old Trafford. -SHAW, GILES, Esq., 72, Manchester Road, Oldham. -SHIERS, GEORGE ALFRED, Esq., Tyntesfield, Ashton-upon-Mersey. -SHIERS, RICHARD, Jun., Esq., Earlscliffe, Bowdon, Cheshire. -SIDEBOTHAM, JOSEPH, Esq., F.R.A.S., F.L.S., F.S.A., Erlesden, Bowdon, - Cheshire. -SITWELL, R., Esq., Morley, Derby. -SLARK, J. and A., Esqrs., 41, Fishergate, Preston. -SMEAL, A., Esq., Ravensla, Whalley Road, Whalley Range, Manchester. -SMITH, ASTON W., Esq., The Old Hall, Bootle. -SMITH, BRYCE, Esq., 16, Nicholas Street, Manchester. -SMITH, GEORGE J. W., Esq., Savings Bank, Stockport. -SMITH, JAMES, Esq., Highfield, Edge Lane, Chorlton-cum-Hardy. -SMITH, Rev. J. FINCH, M.A., F.S.A., Aldridge Rectory, Walsall. -SMITH, J., Jun., Esq., Legh Street, Warrington. -SMITH, ROBERT McDOWELL, Esq., Crumpsall, near Manchester. -SMITH, WILLIAM, Esq., Adswood Grove, Stockport. -SMITH, J. J., Esq., King Street, Manchester. -SOWLER, Lieut.-Colonel, Oak Bank, Victoria Park, Manchester. -STANLEY, C. J., Esq., Halscote, Grange-over-Sands. -STANTON, HENRY, Esq., Greenfield, Thelwall. -STEVENS, JAMES, Esq., F.R.I.B.A., Lime Tree House, Macclesfield. -STEINTHAL, H. M., Esq., The Hollies, Fallowfield, near Manchester. -STUBS, PETER, Esq., Statham Lodge, Warrington. -STANYER, The Rev. W., 41. Corporation Street, Manchester. -STARKEY, Miss, Northwich, Cheshire. -STEVENS, EDWARD, Esq., Alderley Edge, Cheshire. -STRANGEWAY, WILLIAM N., Esq., 59, Westmoreland Rd., Newcastle-on-Tyne. -STANNING, Rev. J. H., The Vicarage, Leigh. -SUTCLIFFE, FRED, Esq., Ash Street, Bacup. -SYDDALL, JAMES, Esq., Chadkirk, Romily, Cheshire. - -TAYLOR, THOMAS, Esq., 33, St. James Street, Burnley. -THOMPSON, Alderman JOS., J.P., Riversdale, Wilmslow. -THORLEY, WILLIAM, Esq., Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Offices, - Manchester. -TOLLEY, THOMAS, Esq., Warrington. -TOPP, ALFRED, Esq., J.P., Farnworth. -TOULMIN, GEORGE, Esq, _Guardian_ Office, Preston. -TURNER, W., Esq., Rusholme. -TURNER, JOHN, Esq., Woodville, Lytham. -TWEEDALE, CHARLES LAKEMAN, Esq., Holmefield House, Crawshawbooth. - -UNDERDOWN, R. G., Esq., M. S. & L. Railway Company, Manchester. - -WADDINGTON, WILLIAM, Esq., Market Superintendent, Burnley. -WADDINGTON, WM. ANGELO, Esq., 5, Carlton Road, Burnley. -WALKDEN,—Esq., 16, Nicholas Street, Manchester. -WALKER, THOMAS, Esq., Oldfield, Cheshire. -WALMESLEY, OSWALD, Esq., Shevington Hall, near Wigan. -WALSH, Dr. JOHN, Stonyhurst, near Whalley, Lancashire. -WALTERS, CHARLES, Esq., Clegg Street, Oldham. -WARRINGTON, the Museum and Library. -WATTERSON, WM. CRAVEN, Esq., Hill Carr, Bowdon, Cheshire. -WAINWRIGHT, JOHN, Esq., Carlton Lodge, Stretford. -WARBURTON, JOHN, Esq., Fairlie Villas, Raspberry Road, Fallowfield. -WARBURTON, SAMUEL, Esq., Sunnyhill, Crumpsall, Manchester. -WARBURTON, HENRY, Esq., The Elms, Hendham Vale, Manchester. -WATERS, — Esq., Manchester. -WATTS, JAMES, Esq., Portland Street, Manchester. -WATTS, JOHN, Esq., 23, Cross Street, Manchester. -WEBB, F. W., Esq., Chester Place, Crewe. -WEBSTER, WILLIAM, Esq., Abbotsfield, St. Helens. -WHITE, CHARLES, Esq., Holly Villa, Warrington. -WHITTAKER, W. WILKINSON, Esq., Cornbrook Park, Manchester. -WHITEHEAD, EDWIN, Esq., The Hurst, Taunton Road, Ashton-under-Lyne. -WHITTAKER, ROBERT, Esq., Birch House, Lees, near Manchester. -WILD, ROBERT, Esq., 134, St. James’s Street, Burnley. -WILKINSON, A., Esq., Westbourne Grove, Harpurhey, Manchester. -WILKINSON, T. R., Esq., The Polygon, Ardwick, Manchester. -WILKINSON, JOHN, Esq., 25, Manor Street, Ardwick, Manchester. -WILKINSON, WILLIAM, Esq., M.A., Middlewood, Clitheroe. -WILSON, WILLIAM, Esq., Savings Bank, Stockport. -WILSON, C. M., Esq., Lancaster Villa, Broughton Park, Manchester. -WINTERBOTHAM, HENRY, Esq., F.R.C.S., Bury New Road, Manchester -WOLSTENHOLME, CHARLES, Esq., Richmond Hill, Bowdon, Cheshire. -WOOD, JOHN, Esq., J.P., Arden, near Stockport, -WOOD, RICHARD, Esq., J.P., Plimpton Hall, Heywood, near Manchester. -WOOD, WILLIAM, Esq., Woodville, Bramhall, Cheshire. -WOOD, W. C., Esq., Brimscall Hall, Chorley, Lancashire. -WORTHINGTON, ED., Esq., Appley Bridge, near Wigan. -WOODHOUSE, GEORGE, Esq., Heath Bank, Chorley New Road, Bolton. -WOOD, ROBERT, Esq., Drywood Hall, Worsley. -WORTHINGTON, Alderman T., 33, Church Street, Manchester. -WRIGHT, E., ABBOTT, Esq., Castle Park, Frodsham, Cheshire. - -YATES, J. W., Esq., Ashton-upon-Mersey. -YEOMAN, JOHN, Esq., 30, Union Street, Ardwick, Manchester. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -BOOKSELLERS. - - -BEMROSE & SONS, Derby. -BROWN & SONS, Macclesfield. -BUTLER, S., Altrincham. -BURGHOPE & STRANGE, Burnley. -BURGESS, HENRY, Northwich. - -COOKE, Stretford Road, Manchester. -CORNISH, J. E., Piccadilly and St. Ann’s Square, Manchester. - -DODGSON, J., Leeds. -DAY, T. J., Market Street, Manchester. -DOOLEY, HENRY, Stockport. - -GALT, J. & CO., Corporation Street, Manchester. -GRAY, HENRY, Topographical Bookseller, 25, Cathedral Yard, Manchester. -GRUNDY, 68, Woodhouse Lane, Wigan. - -HOWELL, E., Liverpool. -HOLDEN, ADAM, 48, Church Street, Liverpool. -HEYWOOD, ABEL & SON, Oldham Street, Manchester. - -KENYON, W., Newton Heath, Manchester. - -LITTLEWOOD, JAMES, Ashton-under-Lyne. -LUPTON, J. & A., Burnley. - -MINSHULL & HUGHES, Chester. - -PEARSE, J. C., Southport. -PEARSE, PERCIVAL, Warrington. -PHILLIPSON & GOLDER, Chester. -PLATT, RICHARD, Wigan. - -RIDER, Leek. -ROWORTH, St Ann’s Square, Manchester. -ROBINSON, Preston. - -SMITH, W. H. & SON, 1, New Brown Street, Manchester. -SMITH, W. H. & SON, L. & N. W. Railway and M. S. & L. Railway - Bookstalls, London Road Station, Manchester. -STOCK, ELLIOT, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C. - -TUBBS & BROOK, Market Street, Manchester. -TRÜBNER & CO., London. - -WALMSLEY, G. G., 50, Lord Street, Liverpool. - -YABSLEY & CO., Sale, Cheshire. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -NOOKS AND CORNERS - -OF - -LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -A RAILWAY RAMBLE—THE ROMAN CITY ON THE RIBBLE—A DAY-DREAM AT -RIBCHESTER. - - -On a bright morning in the exuberant summer time, ere the country had -lost the freshness of its earlier beauty, or the forest trees had -begun to bend beneath the weight of their blushing burdens, we found -ourselves on the platform of the Victoria Station with a friend, the -companion of many a pleasant wandering, equipped for a journey to the -fair country which skirts the base of Pendle Hill. We were both in high -spirits, and the beauty of the opening day added to our enjoyment The -morning was cool and clear, and radiant with the early sunshine—one -of those genial days when, as Washington Irving says, we seem to draw -in pleasure with the very air we breathe, and to feel happy we know -not why—the invigorating freshness of the atmosphere giving a pleasant -impulse to the spirits. There had been a slight fall of rain during the -night, but the breeze which followed had dried up the roadways, and -now all was bright and clear, and the unclouded sun poured down a flood -of brilliance that added to the charms of the early morn, imparting a -gladdening influence which even the sparrows seemed to share as they -flitted to and fro about the eaves with unceasing twitter. - -For some distance the railway is carried over the house-tops, and -as the train speeds along we can look down upon the dreary web of -streets, the labyrinth of dwellings, the groves of chimneys, the mills, -workshops, and brick-kilns, and the strange admixture of squalor, -wretchedness, and impurity that go to make up the royal borough of -Salford. Soon we reach the outskirts, where the country still struggles -to maintain its greenness; then, after a short stoppage at Pendleton, -we enter upon the pleasant vale of Clifton, where we are enabled to -breathe the balmy atmosphere and drink in the fresh fragrance of the -flower-bespangled meads. Pleasant is it to escape from the gloomy -hives of brick, with their busy human throng, and to look abroad upon -the expanse of country reposing in the summer sunshine. The gentle -showers of the night seem to have refreshed the thirsty soil, and to -have given an invigorating aspect to the landscape, imparting to the -turf a brighter hue, and to the trees which clothe the folding bluffs a -brighter tinge of colouring, whilst the sunlight gleams upon the fields -and on the already ripening grain, and sparkles upon the lingering -rain-drops that hang like strings of pearls from every bush and twig. -On the left the quaint old hall of Agecroft, with its picturesque black -and white gables, twinkles through the wind-shaken leaves; the Irwell -meanders pleasantly through the fertile meadows on the right; and -beyond, the grey embattled tower of Prestwich Church may be seen rising -prominently above the umbraged slopes that bound the opposite side of -the valley. - -[Illustration] - -On, on we go with a screech and a roar, rattling over viaducts, -rumbling through rocky cuttings, rushing along steep embankments; -then rolling rapidly again over the level country, from whence we -can look back upon the dingy town of Bolton, memorable in the -annals of the great civil war as the place where the martyr Earl of -Derby sealed his loyalty with his life. The changing aspect of the -country now becomes manifest. Every mile brings a fresh picture, and -the variety itself adds to the interest of the journey. The land is -prettily featured—green and undulating, with well-wooded cloughs and -shady dingles, backed by lofty gritstone ridges, which here and there -soften into slopes of fertile beauty that form an admirable relief -to the pale blue hills which stretch away to the furthest point of -distance. Just before reaching the station at Chapeltown we get sight -of Turton Tower, a fine old relic of bygone days, once the home of -Manchester’s most noted “worthy”—Humphrey Chetham—and for a time, as -tradition tells us, the abode of Oliver Cromwell; and close by is -a picturesque gabled summer-house, surmounting a gentle eminence, -that forms a conspicuous object for miles around. Still onward, past -scattered hamlets, past mills, bleachworks, and collieries; past -farms, cottages, and old-fashioned timber-built dwellings that more or -less merit the appellation of “hall” applied to them; past meadows, -fields, and pastures, where the hedgerows and trees seem to revolve -in a never-ending reel, while the telegraph wires that stretch from -post to post rise and fall in a succession of graceful genuflexions. -On, on! Small streams are crossed, bridges are shot through, and then -the “express” thunders past with a deafening roar, almost terrifying -the life out of a nervous old lady who sits opposite to us, and who, -on recovering her breath, feels instinctively inside her left-hand -glove to make sure that her ticket has not been spirited away by the -fiery iron monster. Darwen—cold, stony-looking Darwen—is passed, and -presently Blackburn is reached, where a few minutes is considerately -allowed to stretch our legs and look about us. The prospect, however, -is not altogether lovely, and the people are as little prepossessing in -appearance as the place itself, so that we are not sorry when our brief -respite is brought to an abrupt termination by the sharp “Now then, -gentlemen,” of the guard, when, resuming our seats, the carriage door -is slammed to by that energetic official. - -A few puffs, a whistle, and a screech, and we are moving swiftly over -the green landscape again. The meadows widen, and the trees and hedges -fly past as if driven by the whirlwind. Onwards, on and on, until -we reach the little roadside station that forms the terminus of our -railway journey. - -Ribchester, for that is the name of the station, is Ribchester station -only by courtesy[1]—the old Roman town whose name has been somewhat -unceremoniously appropriated being a good three miles away; so that -we shall have to lengthen our walk considerably before we reach the -Roman _Rigodunum_. On leaving the station we turn to the left, and -then, crossing the railway bridge, follow an ascending path that leads -past a few squalid-looking cottages which stand irregularly along the -edge of a tract of common land—the grazing ground of an impassive -donkey and of a flock of geese that begin to sibilate and crane their -necks spitefully as we go by. A little brick chapel with a bell-cot at -one end stands on the further side of the green, and close by is the -village school. Leaving this uninviting spot, we continue our walk past -a few waste-looking fields and across the level summit of an eminence -the verdant slopes of which stretch away on either side. Presently the -road descends, winding hither and thither between pleasant hedgerows -and embossed banks, garlanded with the gaily-coloured flowers of the -exuberant summer time, “the jewels of earth’s diadem,” speaking of Him - - Whose hand hath shed wild flowers - In clefts o’ the rock, and clothed green knolls with grass, - And clover, and sweet herbs and honey dews, - Shed in the starlight bells, where the brown bees - Draw sweets. - -[Note 1: Wilpshire is the name now given to the station.] - -At every turn we get pretty snatches of scenery, with glimpses of -cattle-dappled pastures and green fields, where the black, glossy rooks -are hovering about and cawing loudly to each other as if discussing the -result of their recent entomological researches. Looking across the -country the high downs are seen with their broad green cloud-mottled -shoulders, half-hiding the undulating hills that stretch away along -the dim blue line of the horizon. By-and-by Ribblesdale, one of the -prettiest vales in the kingdom, opens upon us. Below, the river winds -its snake-like course through the meadows, its ample bosom gleaming -in the sun like molten silver. On the right, lying low among the tall -ash-trees, is Salesbury Hall, a quaint half-timbered mansion, once the -abode of a branch of the great family of the Talbots, one of whom aided -in the capture of the unfortunate Henry VI., and previously the home -successively of the Salesburys, the Cliderhows, and the Mauleverers. -Conspicuous on the further side of the valley are seen the stately -towers of Stonyhurst crowning a wooded slope, that swells gradually up -from the margin of the Hodder, forming one of the spurs of Longridge -Fell. Looking up the valley, the eye takes in the long-backed slopes -of Pendle Hill, the abrupt elevation on which stands the ruined keep -of Clitheroe Castle, the wooded heights of Wiswell and Whalley, the -dark-hued moorlands that extend to the ancient forests of Bowland, with -Bleasdale Moor, Waddington Fell, and the screen of hills that sweep -round in an irregular circle to meet the huge form of Longridge Fell -lying upon the landscape like a monster couchant. - -A quaint relic of the olden time stands by the wayside on the left. A -gabled mansion of the time of the Second Charles, now occupied by a -farmer, but still bearing the name of New Hall, though, as the date -(1665) testifies, the storms of more than two hundred winters have -broken upon it since George Talbot, a younger son of Sir John of -that name, placed his initials and the crest of his family above the -doorway. At this point the road diverges to the right, and a few paces -bring us to the margin of the Ribble, when a charming prospect meets -the eye, a prospect that would have delighted the heart of Cuyp had -he had the opportunity of sketching it. There was no stir or fret—no -excitement. All was calm, placid, and serene. The swift and shallow -Ribble lay before us, sparkling and glistening all over, save on the -further side, where a row of trees that fringed the roadway flung the -broad shadows of their spreading branches upon its placid bosom. There -was a Sabbath-like peace in the air, and the stillness of a summer -day lay profoundly as a trance upon the scene. An old-fashioned punt, -moored to the side, lazily dragged its creaking chain, and now and -then chafed itself against the bank as the motion of the water gently -swayed it to and fro. Before us Ribchester Bridge lay bestriding the -stream—its broad circular arches reflected in the water with a distinct -vividness that was interrupted only at intervals when their image was -broken into a quivering indistinctness as a passing gust rippled the -mirrored bosom of the water. As we stood gazing upon the scene, a boat -borne by the current slowly glided down the river, looking like a bird -suspended in the blue of heaven. The oars were poised in the rowlocks, -and the water, dripping from their flashing blades, fell upon the -glassy surface, and spread out in widening silver rings that floated -slowly onwards. - -[Illustration: RIBCHESTER BRIDGE.] - -Crossing the bridge, at the foot of which stands a comfortable inn—the -De Tabley Arms—we wound away to the left, following the bold sweep of -the Ribble, and a few moments later entered the “Aunciente Towne” of -Ribchester. Ribchester! What visions of antiquity float before the -imagination as the stranger enters this little unpretending village, -for town it can now hardly be called. What memories of the past are -awakened at the mere mention of the name. The old distich, which the -inhabitants still take pride in repeating, tells us that - - It is written upon a wall in Rome - Ribchester was as rich as any toune in Christendome.[2] - -[Note 2: Camden’s Britannia, Ed. 1586, p. 431.] - -The first glimpse, even were we unsupported by tradition, would lead -us to believe that this part of the valley of the Ribble was even in -earliest times a place of some importance, for, admirably protected by -Nature, and adapted as it must then have been to the requirements of -an untamed and uncivilised race, it was hardly likely to have escaped -the searching eye of our Celtic forefathers, being then protected by -naked marshes, and flanked on each side by lofty eminences, with a -wide river between on which their slim coracles might float; whilst -adjacent was the great forest of Bowland, the haunt of the wolf, the -boar, and other wild animals, whose skins would supply clothing, and -their flesh sustenance, to the hardy hunter. Whether the primeval -Britons established a colony here or not, certain it is that when the -more refined subjects of the Cæsars had established themselves as -conquerors of the country, Ribchester attained to a high degree of -eminence, and became one of the richest and most important stations -in the newly-acquired territory. For the greater protection and -security of the conquered lands in the North, Agricola constructed -a chain of forts from one extremity of Lancashire to the other, -and occupying the sites now held by Lancaster, Ribchester, Walton, -Blackrod, Manchester, Overborough, and Colne. The most important -of these stations, as evidenced by the richness and variety of the -remains that have at different times been discovered, was the one at -Ribchester. The place lost its pre-eminence after the fall of the -Roman government in Britain, but the foundation of its buildings long -defied the ravages of time, though now the searching eye can scarce -discover the faintest relic of their former existence. Leland, the -old topographer, who visited the place in the early part of the 16th -century, says: “Ribchester is now a poore thing; it hath beene an -Auncient Towne. Great squared stones, voultes, and antique coynes be -found ther: and ther is a place wher that the people fable wher that -the Jues had a temple.”[3] No doubt the temple existed, for the remains -of it have been traced in later times, but it was Pagan and not Jewish, -and was dedicated, as Dr. Whitaker supposed from an inscription found -upon the site, by an empress or princess of the Imperial Roman family -to the goddess Minerva. Ribchester has been prolific in remains of -Roman art, and many of the altars, statues, bronzes, and “antique -coynes” that have been dug up have been carried away to enrich the -archæological museums of other parts of the country, or have found -their way into those of private collectors, where they are practically -lost to the student of antiquity, for, unfortunately, there is hardly -a town in Lancashire which possesses a museum worthy of the name where -such exhumed treasures might find a fitting resting-place. Pennant -mentions having seen a sculpture, discovered on digging a grave in -the churchyard, representing a Roman soldier carrying a _labarum_, -or standard of cavalry; but perhaps the most remarkable relic is -the elaborately ornamented bronze helmet found in 1796, familiar to -antiquaries by the engravings which have appeared in the _Vetusta -Monumenta_, and in the histories of Whitaker and Baines. So lately as -the beginning of the present century a Roman house and hypocaust were -brought to light whilst excavating the foundations for a building on -the banks of the river; altars dedicated to various divinities have on -different occasions been unearthed, with other memorial stones, coins, -pottery, glass, articles of personal adornment, ampullæ, fibulæ, &c; -and even in recent times, though less frequently than of yore, when the -earth is removed to any considerable depth relics are turned up which -help to illustrate the habits and customs of the Roman settlers, and -prove the wide diffusion of the elegant and luxurious modes of life it -was their aim to introduce. - -[Note 3: Itinerary IV., fol. 39.] - -It requires no great stretch of the imagination to picture the -Ribchester of those far-off days. The picture, it is true, may be only -shadowy and indistinct seen through the long distance which intervenes; -but, carrying the mind back to those remote times, let us contemplate -the scene presented to our fancied gaze. It is Britain—Britain in -the darkest period of its history, the Britain of Caractacus and -Boadicea—but how great the contrast from the Britain of to-day! A broad -flowing river separates us from the opposite land, the tide flows up, -and the wavelets break monotonously upon the shore. Before us and on -each side rise gently swelling hills clothed with dense forests of -oak—primeval monarchs that have budded and flourished and shed their -leaves through long centuries of silent solitude. There are no towns -or villages, no fertile meadows and rich pasture fields; not a sign of -a habitation can we discern save here and there where the dark woods -have been thinned, and a solitary hut, rudely constructed of wood and -wattles, bears evidence of man’s existence. Looking more closely into -the picture, we can discover the naked and painted forms of human -beings—men eager, impetuous, brave, armed with javelin and spear, and -ready to engage with any chance foe that may cross their path whilst -seeking for their prey among the wild beasts of their native woods. - -Gradually the view dissolves. Softly, slowly, it fades away, and -darkness overspreads the scene. Hark! The sound of distant strife -breaks faintly upon the ear; there is a rumble of war chariots and -the hollow tramp of legionaries; then a fire blazes on the top of -Longridge Fell, lighting up the heavens with a ruddy glare; the signal -is answered by successive flashes from Pendle Hill and from beacons -more remote. In a moment the scene is alive with the forms of men armed -with spear and shield, hurrying to and fro, brandishing their javelins -with impatient haste, eager to meet the coming foe. Meanwhile the -conquering eagles of imperial Rome are seen advancing. Cohort follows -cohort, and legion succeeds to legion. With measured pace and steady -tread they come. There is the shock of mortal combat; the valley echoes -with the clang of arms and the fell shout of war; and Briton and Roman -are struggling together for conquest and for life. - - The hardy Briton struggled with his foe, - Dared him to battle on the neighb’ring height; - And dusky streamlets reddened with the flow - From heroes dying for their country’s right. - - Their simple weapons ’gainst the serried ranks, - Full disciplined in war, were hurled in vain; - Well greaved and helmeted, the firm phalanx - Received their fierce attack in proud disdain. - -It is over. Undisciplined valour yields to superior military skill, and -the heroic Britons, defeated but not subdued, are driven for refuge -within the fastnesses of their native woods, leaving those green slopes -crimsoned with the life-blood of a people who, if they knew not how to -fight, knew at least how valiant men should die. - -Another tableau of history succeeds. Order arises out of disorder. -After many struggles, in which her greatest generals have taken part, -Rome, by her obstinate bravery, has succeeded in carrying her eagles -northward as far as the banks of the Tay. The line of conquest is -marked by a chain of forts erected with masterly judgment to keep -in check the more disaffected of the northern tribes, and these -strongholds are connected by a network of military ways, the course of -which, after a lapse of eighteen centuries, may still be discerned—a -proof that the Roman road makers were no despicable engineers. - -One of these military ways—the one from _Mancunium_ (Manchester)—led -through Ribchester, and, passing Stoneygate, climbed the rugged slopes -of Longridge Fell and along the tops of the hills, whence, taking an -easterly direction, it traversed the Forest of Bowland, and thence -continued to _Eboracum_ (York). Though their levels were chosen on -different principles, the lines they followed were indicated by the -great features of nature, and were pretty much the same as those -adopted by the makers of our modern iron roads. Long centuries after -the Roman had taken his departure these military roads formed the -great highways of traffic. The tracks traversed by Agricola and his -victorious legionaries have since been trodden in succession by Pict -and Scot, by Plantagenet and Tudor, by Cavalier and Roundhead, by the -hapless followers of the ill-fated Stuart, and by the ruthless soldiery -of the Hanoverian King, and in later and more peaceful times by long -lines of pack-horses, laden with the products of the Lancashire looms. - -Agricola, having now satisfied his thirst for military glory, has -become a pacificator and law-giver in the newly-acquired provinces. The -subjugated natives, attracted by the fame of the illustrious Roman, -steal from their hiding places in the woods, and learn the manners and -customs of civilisation, and with them, it is to be feared, vices which -before they knew not of. - -Turn we again. Another picture dawns upon us, dimly and obscurely -enough at first, but becoming more distinctly visible as the darkness -fades away. The appearance of the people is changed, and the aspect of -the country has changed with them. Time has passed on—the river that we -before gazed upon still flows on as of yore, though somewhat narrowed -in its proportions. The woods now ring with the war clarion of the -invincible auxiliaries; the wattled huts have disappeared; and in the -assart space they occupied a flourishing city is seen, with halls and -porticoes and statues, in humble imitation of the then magnificence -of the city that crowns the seven hills. Where the oaks grew thick, -and the wild bull, the wolf, and the boar reigned in undisputed -possession, a military fortification has been built, with ramparts -and towers and turrets, and close by, to celebrate the subjugation -of the brave Brigantes, a pagan temple has been reared in honour of -Minerva, for the sound of glad tidings has not yet come across the -sea. The scene is one of bustle and organisation. Here, on the quay, -merchants are congregated with traders from Gaul and Phœnicia, and -adventurers from more distant lands, bartering earthenware, implements -of agriculture, and other commodities which those colonists of the old -world have brought with them, for the treasures of the soil. There a -gang of labouring captives, sullen and unwilling, are toiling under -the eye of their relentless taskmasters. Strange-looking vessels -are borne upon the bosom of the stream, unwieldy in form, with long -lines of oars shooting out from each side, and prows resplendent with -paint and gilding, standing high up out of the water. Now and then a -gaily-decorated galley floats past, freighted with fair Olympias, or -bearing, perchance, some tender Sistuntian maid, whose loving heart, -flinging aside the trammels of religion and race, has cast her lot -with the conquerors of the land. Under the shadow of that wall a -sentinel, in classic garb, with helmet and sandal, paces his measured -round, and, pausing now and then, leans upon his spear, and muses -upon the scenery of his own German home. Within the garrison all is -gaiety and enthusiasm; there are marchings and countermarchings, and -transmissions of signals, and relievings of guard. How the lances -glitter in the light, and the brazen helmets reflect the glory of -the midday sun. Here are gathered fighting men from all parts of -Europe—Dalmatians, Thracians, and Batavians—who are talking over the -victories of the past, and thinking, perhaps, of those timorous eyes -that beamed tenderly upon them, and wept their departure from their -distant homes—Moors of swarthy hue from the shores of Africa, whose -dark skins have flashed terror into the souls of the pale Northern -tribes; stern-visaged Frisians from the marshes of Holland; and -stalwart Asturians, with veteran warriors who have fought through many -a campaign and earned for themselves the proud title of conquerors of -the world. - -The conquerors of the world! Time has passed rapidly on, and Rome, -the vaunted mistress of the world, with difficulty grasps her own. -Pierced by barbarian hordes, torn by intestine wars, weakened at heart -and tottering to her ruin, her last legions have been recalled for -her own defence, and the fair provinces of the West are abandoned to -the Northern savages, who come, as Gildas relates, “like hungry and -ravening wolves rushing with greedy jaws upon the fold.” - - Yet once again, a change—and lo! - The Roman even himself must go; - While Dane and Saxon scatter wide - Each remnant of his power and pride. - -Enfeebled by long submission to the Roman yoke, deprived of the -protection of the forces of the empire, the flower of her youth drafted -away to swell the armies of the Emperors Maximus and Constantine, -Britain is left in a state of utter defencelessness, and speedily -becomes a prey to those warlike hordes that come pouring in from the -maritime provinces of Germany, Norway, and Sweden. The period that -follows is one of anarchy and confusion, of Saxon conquest and Danish -spoliation. - -But we pass on. Another picture is shadowed forth, and what is this -that meets the gaze? The scene of fierce war and angry passions, of -conquest and oppression, of barbaric rudeness and pagan splendour, is -now a desolate and deserted waste, where the frail creations of man -are blended with the ever-enduring works of God. The relentless foot -of Time has pressed heavily upon these wrecks of human greatness—a few -straggling walls, a ruined temple, pavements worn down by the tread of -many a Roman foot, broken columns, with fragments of masonry, are all -the vestiges that remain to denote the ancient importance of the Roman -_Rigodunum_—all the signs that are left to point out where merchants -gathered and where warriors prepared for conquest and for fame. - -The departure of the Roman legionaries inflicted a heavy blow on the -fortunes of the city. The period of Saxon conquest was followed by the -descent of the wild Scandinavian marauders—the Jarls and sea-kings of -the North, who, with their piratical hordes, swept the country, leaving -the red mark of death and desolation in their wake. - - What time the Raven flapped his gory wing, - And scoured the White Horse o’er this harried realm; - His crowded galley brought the dread Viking, - Lust at his prow, and rapine at the helm. - -The splendour of Ribchester must have waned rapidly, for after the -overthrow of Harold on the red field of Hastings, when the victorious -Norman made his great survey of the conquered country, it had become -so insignificant as to be accounted a mere village dependent upon -Preston, then rising into note. Yet it did not escape the fury of the -invading Scot, whose footsteps were everywhere marked with blood and -destruction, for in one of those frequent incursions after the defeat -at Bannockburn—when, as old Hollinshead tells us, the victorious Bruce -marched his army through Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancaster to -Preston—the miserable inhabitants were driven from their homes, and the -place burned to the ground. Subsequently its fortunes revived, and for -a time it could boast of having no less than three fairs, an evidence -of its increased importance. In the unhappy struggle between Charles -the First and his Parliament it was the scene of an encounter (April, -1643) between the Royalist forces, led by the Earl of Derby, and the -Parliamentarian levies, commanded by Colonel Shuttleworth, resulting -in a victory for the latter; and tradition says that five years later -(August, 1648) Cromwell slept at the old white house, opposite the -Strand, on the night before the memorable battle of Ribblesdale, and -there, with Major-General Ashton, matured the plan of those operations -which ere the next setting of the sun had proved fatal to the Duke of -Hamilton, and tinged the flowing river with the blood of his Scottish -followers as deeply as their ancestors had dyed it with English blood -three centuries before. In more peaceful times, when the cotton trade -was yet in its infancy, hand-loom weaving flourished, and formed the -staple industry; but the day of prosperity has passed, and the place -has now dwindled down to the condition of a mean and insignificant -country village, old-fashioned in aspect and quiet enough for the grass -to grow in the narrow and painfully-ill-paved streets that struggle on -towards the river. So lifeless looking is it that were it not for a few -loiterers standing about the doorway of the “Bull,” and that we now and -then hear the clack of the shuttle, it would seem - - Like one vast city of the dead, - Or place where all are dumb. - -After long centuries of vicissitude and change, except the shadowy -memories of the past, the ancient parish church is almost the only -object that remains to arrest the steps of the inquiring wayfarer, -and this well deserves examination. Tradition hovers about the place, -and tells us that after the conversion of King Edwin, the great -missionary Paulinus here proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation, in -commemoration of which event the symbol of the Christian’s faith—the -cross—was planted, contemporaneously with those in the neighbouring -churchyard of Whalley; and that the first “modest house of prayer” -was erected on the spot once occupied by the temple of Minerva. The -late Canon Raines believed the church at Ribchester was coeval in -antiquity with that at Whalley. It is the work of many hands and many -separate eras, and, as may be supposed, exhibits many different styles -of architecture. The oldest part is undoubtedly the chancel, the -windows of which are, for the most part, of the narrow lancet style, -showing that it must have been built about the year 1220. Portions of -the nave and the north aisle exhibit the rich detail of the Decorated -period, and the tower bears evidence that it is of later date, the main -features being of Perpendicular character. In the south wall of the -chancel is an ancient arched sedilia, with a piscina and credence table -attached, and on the north side is a solid block of stone, whereon -are carved three heraldic shields bearing the arms of the Hoghtons -and some of their alliances. This stone is commonly supposed to be a -tomb, but it is more probable that it was intended as a seat in times -when only the patron and some of his more influential neighbours were -so accommodated, the general body of worshippers standing or kneeling -during the services of the Church. The Hoghtons, whose arms it bears, -were for generations lords of Ribchester, and one of them, Sir Richard -Hoghton, in 1405, founded and endowed the chantry on the north side -known as the “Lady Chapel,” in which are still preserved the remains of -the ancient altar and piscina. - -Our story is told, and we now draw the veil over these grass-grown -by-ways of the past. Eighteen centuries have rolled by since Agricola -planted his eagles on the northern shores of the Ribble; for 400 -years the Roman wrought and ruled; Saxon and Dane and Norman have -followed in his wake, and each successive race has left its distinctive -peculiarities stamped upon the institutions of the country. In that -time kingdoms and empires have risen and passed away, generation after -generation has come and gone. The old hills still lift their heads to -the breezes of heaven, the stream flows on as of yore, and the sun -shines with the same splendour as it shone in those ancient days—but -where are they who peopled the busy scene? - - They are vanished - Into the air, and what seemed corporal melted. - -With Cassius we might exclaim,— - - They are fled away and gone, - And in their stead the ravens, crows, and kites - Fly o’er our heads. - -The splendid civilisation which the Roman colonists brought with them -did not long outlive their departure. The strongholds they built, the -palaces they reared, have disappeared. Where once gleamed the spears of -the Imperial soldiery the plough now passes and the harvest smiles. The -Roman has passed away, and the glory of Ribchester has passed away with -him, scarcely a stone now remaining to tell the story of its former -greatness. - -[Illustration: MARPLE HALL.] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - MARPLE HALL—THE BRADSHAWS—COLONEL HENRY BRADSHAW THE STORY OF THE - REGICIDE. - - -Cheshire abounds with ancient houses, but few, if any, of them are more -interesting from their historical or traditional associations than -Marple Hall, the home of Colonel Henry Bradshaw, the noted Cromwellian -soldier, and the place where his younger brother, “Judge” Bradshaw, -passed the earlier years of his eventful life. It is one of the few old -mansions of the county that have remained to the descendants of the -earlier possessors, and though located in close proximity to a district -singularly at variance with associations awakened by the time-honoured -memorials of bygone days, is yet surrounded by much that is picturesque -and attractive. - -The house, which stands a mile or more away from the straggling village -from which it takes its name, is within the compass of a pleasant walk -from Stockport or Hazel Grove, but it is more readily approached from -the Rose Hill Station of the Macclesfield and Bollington Railway. -It cannot be seen from the highway, but an antiquated and somewhat -stately looking gateway, a few yards from the station, gives admission -to a tree-shaded drive that leads across the park, at the further end -of which the quaint old pile comes in view, standing upon a natural -platform or terrace, with a lichened and moss-grown wall on the further -side, all grey and weather-worn, that extends along the edge of the -precipice on which it is built. The shelving slopes below are clothed -with shrubs and trees that furnish a pleasant shade in the summer time; -wild flowers in abundance peep out from the clefts and crevices; and -were our visit made in the earlier months of the year, while the white -fringe of nature’s weaving yet lingers upon the skirts of winter’s -mantle, we should find the acclivities plentifully besprinkled with -the pale and delicate blossoms of the snowdrop—the firstling of the -year awakening from its lengthened sleep to proclaim the reanimation -of the vegetable world. At the foot of the cliff is a sequestered -dingle with a still pool, the remains, possibly, of a former moat or -mere,[4] that gleams in the green depths, and a tiny rivulet that looks -up through the overhanging verdure as it wanders on in pastoral and -picturesque seclusion. The well-wooded heights of Thorncliffe shut -in this bosky dell from the valley of the Goyt, across which, from -the terraced heights, there is a delightful view in the direction of -Werneth Low, the Arnfield and Woodhead Moors, and the range of green -uplands and dusky eminences which stretch away in long succession to -the pale blue hills that in the remote distance bound the landscape. -There this interesting memorial of the stormiest period of England’s -history stands in peaceful serenity, lifting its dark stone front above -the surrounding offices and outbuildings, with its high-peaked gables -draped with a luxurious mantle of ivy that softens the sterner outlines -into beauty, its long, low, mullioned windows, and its entrance tower -and balcony above, now protected by a latticed railing, so as to form a -kind of observatory, and which once had the addition of a cupola. - -[Note 4: The name, anciently written Mer-pull, seems to be a corruption -of Mere-pool. A little lower down the river is Otters-pool, and these -two point to the conclusion that the Goyt had at one time a much -greater breadth here than it has now.] - - High on a craggy steep it stands, - Near Marple’s fertile vale, - An ancient ivy-covered house - That overlooks the dale. - - And lofty woods of elm and oak - That ancient house enclose, - And on the walls a neighb’ring yew - It sombre shadow throws. - - A many-gabled house it is, - With antique turret crowned, - And many a quaint device, designed - In carvings rude, is found. - -So says Mr. Leigh, in one of his “Legendary Ballads of Cheshire.” The -first glimpse gives evidence of the fact that it has been erected at -different periods, additions having been made from time to time as the -convenience or requirements of successive occupants have dictated; -but none of these are of modern date, or in any way detract from its -venerable aspect. On the south a lofty wall encloses the garden and a -court that occupies the entire front of the house. Tall pillars of the -Carolinian period, supporting a pair of gates of metal-work, forming -the principal entrance, give admission to this court; and if the -wayfarer is fortunate enough to be provided with an introduction, or if -with a taste for antiquarian investigation he unites the manners of a -gentleman, he may rely upon a courteous reception. - -The time of our visit is a pleasant autumn afternoon. The trees and -hedges are in the fulness of their summer verdure; but the waning of -the year is evidenced by the lengthened shadows, the warm golden hue -that is deepening upon the landscape, and the russet, purple, and -yellow with which the woods, though green in the main, are touched. -Turning suddenly to the right, we quit the highway, and saunter -leisurely along the broad gravelled path. As we approach the gates -we become conscious that something unusual is astir. Pedestrians are -wending their way towards the hall; occasionally a carriage rattles -past; and then, as we draw near, the sounds of mirth and minstrelsy -break upon the ear. Passing through the old gateway leading to the -court, we find groups of people on the lawn, and the lady of the house -is flitting to and fro with a pleasant word and a kindly greeting for -every one. A _fête champêtre_ is being held in the grounds, and a fancy -fair is going on in one of the outbuildings, which has been smartened -up and decorated for the occasion, the proceeds of the sale, we are -told, going towards the rebuilding of - - The decent church that tops the neighbouring hill, - -or rather the building of a new one by its side, which, when finished, -is to supersede it. A “steeple-house,” forsooth! At the very mention -of the name a host of memories are conjured up. For a moment the mind -wanders back along the dim avenues of the past to the stormy days -of Cavalier and Roundhead, and we think of the mighty change the -whirligig of time has brought about since Bradshaw’s fanatical soldiery -bivouacked here, ready to plunder and profane the sanctuary, and to -destroy, root and branch, hip and thigh, the “sons of Belial” who -sought solace within its walls, or, as Hudibras has it:— - - Reduce the Church to Gospel order, - By rapine, sacrilege, and murder. - -Happily, fate has not ordained that we should sleep here this night; -for Marple, be it remembered, has its ghost chamber—what ancient house -with any pretensions to importance has not?—and if the shades of the -departed can at the “silent, solemn hour, when night and morning meet,” -revisit this lower world, those of the stern old Puritan colonel and -the grim-visaged “Lord President” would assuredly disturb our slumber. - -But let us quit the shadowy realms of legend and romance, and betake -ourselves to that of sober, historic fact. After the overthrow of -Harold on the fatal field of Hastings, Marple passed into the hands -of Norman grantees, and in the days of the earlier Plantagenet Kings -formed part of the possessions of the barons of Stockport, being held -by them under the Earl of Chester on the condition of finding one -forester for the Earl’s forest of Macclesfield. The lands, with those -of Wyberslegh, in the same township, were, some time between the years -1209 and 1229, given by Robert de Stockport as a marriage portion to -his sister Margaret on her marriage with William de Vernon, afterwards -Chief Justice of Chester, a younger son of the Baron of Shipbrooke, who -through his mother had acquired the lands of Haddon, in Derbyshire; -and from that time Marple formed part of the patrimony of the lords -of Haddon until the death of Sir George Vernon, the renowned “King -of the Peak,” in 1567, a period of three centuries and a half, the -estates being then divided between his two daughters, Haddon with other -property in Derbyshire devolving upon Dorothy Vernon, the heroine of -the romantic elopement with Sir John Manners, the ancestor of the Dukes -of Rutland, whilst Marple and Wyberslegh fell to the lot of Margaret, -the wife of Sir Thomas Stanley of Winwick, the second son of Edward -Earl of Derby—that Earl of whom Camden says that “with his death the -glory of hospitality seemed to fall asleep.” Their son, Sir Edward -Stanley, of Tonge Castle, in Shropshire, having no issue, sold the -manor and lands of Marple in small lots to Thomas Hibbert,[5] chaplain -to Lord Keeper Bridgman, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry -Bradshaw, of Marple, and who was the grandfather of the celebrated -divine, Henry Hibbert. - -[Note 5: Thomas Hibbert was the direct ancestor of the Hibberts of -Birtles, and (until recently) of Hare Hill, near Alderley.] - -Some time about the year 1560 the Henry Bradshaw here named, who -was a younger son of William Bradshaw, of Bradshaw Hall, near -Chapel-en-le-Frith, the representative of an old Lancashire family of -Saxon origin, seated at Bradshaw, near Bolton, from a time anterior -to the Conquest, and which had been dispossessed and repossessed -of its estates by the Norman invaders, married Dorothy, one of the -daughters and co-heirs of George Bagshawe, of the Ridge, in the parish -of Chapel-en-le-Frith, a family that in a later generation numbered -amongst its members the eminent Nonconformist divine, William Bagshawe, -better known as the “Apostle of the Peak,” and became tenant of a -house in Marple called The Place, still existing, and forming part -of the Marple estate. By this marriage he had a son bearing his own -baptismal name, and, in addition, two daughters, Elizabeth, who became -the wife of Thomas Hibbert as already stated, and Sarah, who is said -by some genealogists—though on what authority is not clear—to have -been the wife of John Milton, the wealthy scrivener, of Bread Street, -London, and the mother of England’s great epic poet, whom John Bradshaw -in his will spoke of as his “kinsman John Milton.” - -In 1606, as appears by a deed among the Marple muniments, dated 7th -July, 4 James, Henry Bradshaw the elder, therein styled a “yoman,” -purchased from Sir Edward Stanley, for the sum of £270, certain -premises in Marple and Wyberslegh, comprising a messuage and tenement, -with its appurtenances, another tenement situate in Marple or -Wibersley, and a close commonly called The Place, the said premises -being at the time, as is stated, partly occupied by Henry Bradshaw -the elder and partly by Henry Bradshaw the younger, his son and -heir-apparent. The estate at that time must have been comparatively -small. Two years later (30th June, 1608), as appears by the Calendar -of Recognizance Rolls of the Palatinate of Chester, now deposited -in the Record Office, London, Henry Bradshaw, to further secure his -title, obtained an enrolment of the charter of Randal Earl of Chester, -granting in free-forestry Merple and Wibreslega, as they are there -called, with lands in Upton and Macclesfield, to Robert, son of Robert -de Stockport; and another enrolment of the charter of Robert de -Stockport, granting to William Vernon, and Margery his wife, the lands -of Marple and Wybersley, from which William and Margery the property -passed, as we have said, by successive descents to Sir Edward Stanley, -from whom Bradshaw acquired it. - -Henry Bradshaw the younger, following the example of his father, -also married an heiress, thus further adding to the territorial -possessions, as well as to the social status, of his house, his wife -being Catherine, the younger of the two daughters and co-heirs of -Ralph Winnington, the last male representative of a family seated for -seven generations at Offerton Hall, a building still standing near -the highroad midway between Stockport and Marple, though now shorn of -much of its former dignity. The registers of Stockport show that they -were married there on the 4th February, 1593. To them were born four -sons and two daughters. William, the eldest, died in infancy. With -Henry, born in 1600, and John, born in 1602, we are more immediately -concerned, for it is round them that the interest and the associations -of Marple chiefly gather. - -The elder Bradshaw, the founder of the Marple line, died in 1619-20, -when Henry, his son, who had then been a widower sixteen years, -succeeded to the family estates. No records of his private life have -been preserved, but it may not be unreasonably assumed that, after the -death of his wife, and as he did not remarry, he lived in comparative -retirement, leading the life of an unostentatious country gentleman, -improving his estate, and supervising the education of his children. -Two years after he had entered upon the possession of his inheritance, -that important functionary the Herald made his official visitation of -Cheshire, when the gentlemen and esquires of the county were called -upon to register their descents and show their claim to the arms -they severally bore; and it is worthy of note, as indicating his -indifference to, or disdain of, the “noble science,” that though, as we -have seen, of ancient and honourable lineage and entitled to bear arms, -Henry Bradshaw did not obey the Herald’s summons,[6] probably “feeling -assured,” as Macaulay said of the old Puritan, “that if his name was -not found in the Registers of Heralds, it was recorded in the Book of -Life; and hence originated his contempt for territorial distinctions, -accomplishments, and dignities.” - -[Note 6: Whilst the head of the Cheshire Bradshaws risked the -displeasure of the Herald by neglecting his summons, his kinsmen in -Lancashire, who were steady and decided Royalists, with more regard -for constituted authority, attended the Court, entered their descents, -and, in further proof of his right to the honourable distinction of -arms, John Bradshaw, of Bradshaw, produced a precious letter from Henry -Percy, the first Earl of Northumberland, K.G., the father of Hotspur, -to his “well-beloved friende” John Bradshaw, a progenitor who had -probably served and fought at Chevy Chase and elsewhere in the reign of -the second Richard.] - -Surrounded by home affections, Bradshaw appears to have taken little -interest in public affairs; though, as a strict Calvinist and -stern moralist, he could not but have looked with disfavour on the -republication of the “Book of Sports,” and the revival of the Sunday -wakes and festivals, in which religion and pleasure were so strangely -blended; nor, as an Englishman, could he have been an indifferent -spectator of the breach which was gradually widening between the King -and his people. - -A cloud was then gathering which presaged a great religious and -political tempest. The year in which Bradshaw lost his wife was that -which closed the long and brilliant reign of the last of the Tudor -sovereigns. James of Scotland succeeded—a King who reigned like a woman -after a woman who had reigned like a man. The Puritans in Elizabeth’s -time were comparatively insignificant in numbers, but the strictness -of the Queen’s ecclesiastical rule acted upon their stubborn nature, -and those who were averse to Episcopacy, and impatient of uniformity in -rites and ceremonies and the decorous adjuncts of a National Church, -grew formidable under James, and turbulent and aggressive after the -accession of Charles. The policy of Elizabeth gave a political standing -ground to Puritanism, and Puritanism gave to the political war in which -the nation became involved a relentless character that was all its -own. In 1634 was issued the writ for the levying of Ship-money—“that -word of lasting sound in the memory of this kingdom,” as Clarendon -calls it—a word which lit the torch of revolution, and for a period -of eleven years kept the country in almost uninterrupted strife. The -occasion was eagerly availed of by the discontented; pulpits were -perverted by religious fanatics, and violent appeals made to the -passions of the populace, who were preached into rebellion; while more -thoughtful, yet brave and strong-minded men, impressed with a stern, -unflinching love of justice, and a determination to maintain those -liberties they held to be their birthright, contended to the death -against “imposts” and “levies” and “compositions,” and against the -worse mockery of “loans” which no man was free to refuse, as well as -the despotism that more than threatened their common country. It was -a fatal time for England. Dignified by some high virtues, possessing -many excellent endowments both of head and heart, Charles yet lacked -sincerity, forethought, and decision, and the capacity required for -the wise conduct of affairs. The blame for the strifes and contentions -which arose does not, however, attach wholly to the sovereign, nor yet -to his subjects. The absolutism of the Tudors was, in a measure, the -cause of the sins of the Stuarts, and the sins of the Stuarts brought -about the miseries of the Rebellion, just as in turn the despotic rule -and grinding social tyranny of the Commonwealth period led to the -excesses of the Restoration. Charles was born out of season, and lived -too much in a world of his own ideas to comprehend the significance -of events that were passing around him. The twining of the Red and -White Roses upon the ensanguined field of Bosworth was followed by the -break-up of the feudal system, and the effacement of many of the old -landmarks of English society; a new class of landowners had sprung into -existence, eager for the acquirement of political freedom, and the king -was unable or unwilling to recognise the changed condition of things. -He inherited from his father inordinate notions of kingly power, and -he resolutely shut his eyes to the fact that he had to deal with an -entirely different state of public opinion. The power of the sovereign -had waned, but that of the people had increased; Parliament, while bent -upon abridging the ancient constitutional prerogative of the Crown, was -equally resolute in the extension of its own. The King persisted in -his determination to reign and govern by “divine right”—he refused to -yield anything—and in the fierce struggle which he provoked he fell. -Moderation was no longer thought of; the time for compromise was past; -the seeds of strife were sown and nurtured both by King and Parliament, -who, distrusting and wearied of each other, no longer cared for peace. -At length the storm burst. At Manchester, on the 15th July, 1642—a -month before the unfurling of the Royal standard at Nottingham—very -nearly upon the spot where now stands the statue of Cromwell, the first -shot was fired and the first blood shed in that great conflict which -drenched the country in civil slaughter. - -When the first shot was fired which proclaimed to anxious England -that the differences between the King and the Parliament were only to -be settled by an appeal to arms, the two sons of Henry Bradshaw had -attained to the fulness of manhood, Henry, the eldest, having then -lately completed his forty-second year, while John was his junior only -by two years. - -Henry Bradshaw, the third of the name, who resided at Marple, was -born, as previously stated, in 1600, and baptised at the old church at -Stockport on the 23rd June in the same year. Following with admirable -consistency the practice of his progenitors, he further added to the -territorial possessions of his house by marrying a rich heiress—Mary, -the eldest of the two daughters and co-heirs of Bernard Wells,[7] -of Holme, in the parish of Bakewell. The marriage settlement bears -date 30 Sep., 6 Charles I. (1631), and Mr. Ormerod, the historian of -Cheshire, says that he had bestowed upon him by his father-in-law the -hall of Wyberslegh, but this is evidently an error, for, as we have -previously seen, his father and grandfather between them purchased -Wyberslegh, along with Marple, from Sir Edward Stanley, a quarter of a -century previously, and the hall continued, as it had been from time -immemorial, appendant to that of Marple. It is more than probable, -however, that he took his young bride to Wyberslegh, and resided there -during his father’s lifetime, so that it would appear that the first -of the Bradshaws settled at Marple lived at The Place, where he died -in 1611, after which it ceased to be occupied as the family residence. -Henry, his son, resided at the hall, and the youngest of the three -occupied Wyberslegh until he succeeded to the family estate. Mary -Wells, by whom he had a son who succeeded as heir, and two daughters, -predeceased him, and he again entered the marriage state, his second -wife being Anne, daughter of George Bowdon, of Bowdon, in Cheshire, by -whom he had five sons and one or more daughters, Though by no means -insensible to the advantages accruing from the possession of worldly -wealth, it does not appear that he added materially to his temporal -estate by his second marriage. The Bowdons were a family of ancient -rank, who at one time owned one-fourth part of Bowdon, but their -estates had gradually dwindled away, and were finally alienated by sale -to the Booths of Dunham, in the early part of Elizabeth’s reign. - -[Note 7: This marriage is recorded on a brass to the memory of Bernard -Wells, affixed to the north wall of the chancel in Bakewell Church.] - -Inheriting from his father the Puritan sentiments of the age, Henry -Bradshaw carried those feelings with him into a more active arena. -Living in close neighbourship with Colonel Dukenfield, Edward Hyde, -of Norbury, Ralph Arderne, of Harden, Ralph Holland, of Denton, and -holding intimate relations with the Booths of Dunham, the Breretons of -Handforth, the Stanleys of Alderley, and other influential Presbyterian -families, their friendship doubtless helped to shape the part he took -in public affairs. When the storm which had been long gathering burst, -he took his stand with the Parliament against the King, and became -one of the most active officers on the side of the Commonwealth. He -served as sergeant-major in the regiment commanded by his neighbour, -Robert Dukenfield, and would, therefore, in all probability, take -part in the lengthened siege of “Mr. Tatton’s house of Whittenshaw -(Wythenshawe),” in the winter of 1643-4, as well as in the fruitless -attempt, a few months later, to defend Stockport Bridge against -Rupert and his Cavaliers, who were hastening to the relief of Lathom -House, in Lancashire, where the heroic Countess of Derby was bravely -defending her husband’s home against greatly superior forces. Though a -Cheshire man, he held a lieutenant-colonel’s commission in Assheton’s -Lancashire regiment, and subsequently was appointed to the command of -the entire militia within the Macclesfield hundred, in his own county. -He was present also with the Cheshire men at the final overthrow of -the Royalist army—the “crowning mercy,” as Cromwell phrased it—at -Worcester, Sept 3, 1651, where it was said he was wounded, but if so -the injury must have been only slight, for before the end of the month -he was acting as one of the members of the court-martial appointed -under a commission from Cromwell for the trial of the Earl of Derby. -After the disaster at Worcester, the Earl had accompanied the King -in his flight, until he was safe in the care of the Pendrells, when, -with Lord Lauderdale, Lord Talbot, and about 40 troopers, he started -northwards, in the hope of overtaking the remnant of the Scotch army, -but when near Nantwich the fugitives fell into the hands of Oliver -Edge,[8] a captain in the Manchester regiment, also returning from -Worcester. Quarter having been given by his captor, the Earl naturally -believed that he would be entitled to the immunities of a prisoner -of war, but he soon found himself under close confinement in Chester -Castle, of which Colonel Dukenfield was at the time governor. Cromwell, -having got his most formidable foe in his power, resolved to get for -ever rid of him by the shortest process that time and circumstances -admitted. The Earl was therefore at once brought for trial before -Bradshaw and the other members appointed on the court-martial, on the -charge of high treason in contravening an Act of Parliament passed only -a few weeks before, and of which, as his accusers were well aware, he -could have no knowledge, and, in defiance of the recognised laws of war -and the conditions on which he had surrendered, was pronounced guilty -and sentenced to be beheaded at Bolton. Dr. Halley, in his history of -“Lancashire Puritanism and Nonconformity,” says that Colonel Bradshaw, -notwithstanding that he had voted for the rejection of the Earl’s -plea; “earnestly entreated his brother, the Lord President, to obtain -a commutation of the punishment,” but, if he did, his efforts were -unsuccessful. Seacombe attributed the execution of the Earl to the -“inveterate malice” of (President) Bradshaw, Rigby, and Birch, which -originated, he says, as to Bradshaw, because of the Earl’s refusing -him the Vice-Chamberlainship of Chester;[9] Rigby, because of his -ill-success at Lathom; and Birch, in his lordship having trailed him -under a hay cart at Manchester on the occasion of the outbreak in July, -1642, by which he got, even among his own party, the epithet of “Lord -Derby’s Carter.” He adds that, “Cromwell and Bradshaw had so ordered -the matter that when they saw the major part of the House inclined to -allow the Earl’s plea, as the Speaker was putting the question, eight -or nine of them quitted the House, and those left in it being under -the number of forty, no question could be put.” The latter statement, -however, is hardly borne out by the _Commons Journal_,[10] which, under -date “14 October, 1651,” makes this brief mention of the reception of -the Earl’s petition:— - - Mr. Speaker, by way of report, acquaints the House with a letter - which he had received from the Earl of Derby; and the question - being put—That the said letter be now read, the House was divided. - The yeas went forth, Sir William Brereton and Mr. Ellis tellers - for the yeas, with the yeas, 22; Mr. Bond and Major-General - Harrison, tellers for the noes, with the noes, 16, so it passed in - the affirmative. A letter from the Earl of Derby, of the 11th of - October, 1651, with a petition therein enclosed, entitled, “The - Humble Petition of the Earl of Derby,” was this day read. - -[Note 8: Oliver Edge, to whom Lord Derby surrendered, resided at Birch -Hall Houses, in Rusholme. To his credit it should be said that, whilst -strictly faithful to his oath, he treated his illustrious captive with -the respect due to fallen greatness when conducting him and his friends -as prisoners to Chester. In one of his letters to his Countess, the -Earl speaks of Captain Edge as “one that was so civil to me that I, and -all that love me, are beholden to him.”] - -[Note 9: If so, this must have been in 1640, when the Earl, who was at -that time Chamberlain, gave the appointment (27 July, 14 Car. I.) to -Orlando Bridgeman, son of the Bishop of Chester, in succession to Roger -Downes, of Wardley Hall, near Manchester.] - -[Note 10: vii.—27.] - -In the administration of affairs in his own county, Colonel Bradshaw -took an active part. He was one of the commissioners for the -Macclesfield hundred for the sequestration of the estates of those -who retained Royalist opinions, or who refused to take the national -covenant, and his name appears first among the signataries to the -famous Lancashire and Cheshire petition to the Parliament, praying -for the establishment of the Presbyterian religion, and urging that -“the frequenters of separate conventicles might be discountenanced -and punished.” The petitioners who had previously pleaded conscience -having gained the ascendancy were now anxious to stifle freedom of -thought, and to exercise a tyranny over their fellow-men, justifying -the remark of Fuller, that “those who desired most ease and liberty for -their sides when bound with Episcopacy, now girt their own garments -closest about the consciences of others.” In those troublous times -marriage as a religious ceremony was forbidden, and became merely a -civil contract entered into before a justice of the peace, after three -“publications” at the “meeting place,” or in the “market place,” the -statute declaring that “no other marriage whatsoever shall be held or -accounted a marriage according to the laws of England.” Bradshaw, as a -county justice, officiated at many of these civil marriages, and his -neat and carefully-written autograph frequently appears in the church -books of the period, with his heraldic seal affixed (for, however he -might affect to contemn such vanities, he was yet careful to display -the armorial ensigns of his house when acting officially with his more -aristocratic neighbours), sometimes as appointing parish registrars, -and at others ordering the levying of church rates and sanctioning -the parish accounts, which at the time could not be passed without -magisterial confirmation. - -[Illustration] - -Colonel Bradshaw lived to see the fall of the Commonwealth, and the -overthrow of that form of government he had done so much to establish, -but he did not long survive the restoration of monarchy. After that -event had taken place, he was brought before the Lords Committee to -answer for the part he had taken in the court-martial on Lord Derby, -and committed to the custody of the Messenger of Black Rod. He appears, -however, to have been leniently dealt with, for, after submitting to -what reads very like an apology for his conduct, he was set at liberty, -and permitted to pass the remainder of his days in peace. Those days -were but few: the anxiety consequent upon the changed aspect of affairs -was too much for him—his spirit was broken, and he died at Marple a -few months after (11th March, 1661-2). On the 15th March, 1661-2, in -accordance with his previously-expressed desire, his remains were -laid beside those of his father and grandfather in the little chapel -belonging to his family, then standing on the south side of the chancel -of Stockport Church. - -It does not appear that a copy of his will, which was proved at -Chester, by the executor, 27th February, 1662, has at any time been -published, but the following abstract, made by Mr. J. Fred. Beever, and -contributed by him to “Local Gleanings,” appeared in the _Manchester -Courier_ of October 15, 1875:— - - 2 July 12 Car. II (1660) I Henry Bradshaw of Marple co. Chester - doe ... buried in my father’s grave in Marple Quire in the par. - Churche of Stockport if I depart this life in Cheshire ... my - sonne John Bradshawe ... all my lands in Bowden Medlarie (Bowdon - Edge?) and Mellor in the county of Darbie ... my sonne William - Bradshawe ... my lands in Chapel-le-Frith and Briggeworth - (Bugsworth?) co. Derby ... Godfrey Bradshawe, Francis Bradshawe - and Joseph Bradshawe, my three youngest sonnes ... all my lands - in Torkington co. Chester ... Anne my lovinge wife ... she having - a jointure out of my lands in Cheshire and Wibersley ... my sonne - and heire Henery Bradshawe ... all my bookes ... my twoe daughters - Barbara and Catharine, they being by their grandfather Wells and - his wife well provided for. To my daughter Dorothy ... £400, to my - daughter Rachel ... £500, to my youngest daughter Anne ... £400 - ... my said sonne Henery Bradshawe ... (the residuary legatee and - executor) ... my good friend Edward Warren, of Poynton esq.... - (overseer). - -Bradshaw was wont to lament that he had “a small estate and eleven -children.” The whole eleven, as well as his second wife survived him. -Among the family portraits at Marple was (and may be still) one of a -young maiden, said to be a daughter of the colonel. Round this lady -the glamour of romance has been cast, and a tradition tells the story -of her unhappy fate. In those times, when not unfrequently members of -the same family took opposite sides, when father contended with son, -and brother met brother in mortal conflict, Miss Bradshaw, with scant -regard for the religious and political principles of her house, had -formed an attachment for a young officer in the Royalist army, whose -family had in happier days been on terms of intimacy with her own. -Though he had espoused the cause of his sovereign, the Puritan colonel, -in consideration of former friendships, treated him with personal -kindness and welcomed him to his house. On one occasion, when entrusted -with the conveyance of despatches to the King, who was then with -his army at Chester, having occasion to pass near Marple, the young -cavalier halted and stayed the night with the family of his betrothed. -Mistress Bradshaw, with a woman’s intuitiveness, suspecting the nature -of his mission, and fearing the letters he was commissioned to deliver -might bode no good to her husband’s house, resolved, with the help of -a trusty waiting-maid, to secretly ascertain their contents. Having -done this, and found that her worst fears were realised, her next -thought was how to prevent their reaching the King’s hands without -awakening the suspicions of their bearer. Summoning to her councils -an old servitor of the family, it was decided to partially sever the -straps by which the saddle-bags containing the dreaded missives were -attached, so that the attendant, when guiding their bearer across the -ford, might detach and sink them in the Goyt, when they would be lost -for ever. On the early morrow the gay young soldier, having taken leave -of his lady-love, hastened upon his mission; the old retainer, who was -nothing loth to speed the parting guest, accompanying him towards the -river, but, giving a somewhat free interpretation to his instructions, -concluded that if it was desirable to get rid of the letters it might -be equally desirable to get rid of their bearer, and so, instead of -conducting him to the ford, he led him to the deepest part of the -river, which had become swollen with the storm of the previous night. -The young cavalier plunged into the stream, and in an instant both -horse and rider were swept away by the surging flood. Miss Bradshaw -witnessed the act of treachery from the window of her chamber, but was -powerless to prevent the catastrophe. She saw the fatal plunge, gave -one long piercing shriek, and fell senseless to the ground. Reason had -for ever left her. - -Such is the legend that has floated down through successive -generations, and still obtains credence with many of the neighbouring -villagers, who, with a fondness for the supernatural, delight to tell -how the shade of the hapless maid of Marple is sometimes seen lingering -at nightfall about the broad staircases and corridors of what was once -her home, or, as the pale cold moon sheds her silvery radiance on wood -and sward, wandering along the grassy margin of the river and by the -deep dark pool where her lover lost his life. Mr. Leigh has made the -incidents of this tradition the basis of one of the most pathetic of -his recently-published Cheshire ballads. Another writer on Marple has, -however, given a different version. He says the lady was Miss Esther -Bradshaw, and that her lover was “Colonel Sydenham, the Royalist -commander,” whom she ultimately married. It is a pity to spoil so -pretty a story, but strict regard for prosaic fact compels us to avow -our disbelief in it, and that for a twofold reason—(1) that Colonel -Sydenham was not a “Royalist,” but had been an active officer during -the war on the Parliament side; and (2) that Colonel Bradshaw never -had a daughter Esther. The story so circumstantially related rests, -we believe, on no better foundation than the once popular though now -almost forgotten romance of “The Cavalier,” written under the _nom de -plume_ of Lee Gibbons, by Mr. Bennett, of Chapel-en-le-Frith, some -sixty years ago. - -Henry Bradshaw, the Parliamentarian soldier, as the eldest surviving -son, inherited the family estates, while John, his younger brother, -was left to push his fortunes as best he could. Possessing much natural -shrewdness and ability, with no lack of energy and self-confidence, he -was content with the position, strong in the belief that - - The world’s mine oyster, - -and in the bitter struggle between monarchy and democracy he was quick -to avail himself of the opportunities which tended to his own wealth -and aggrandisement. - -He first saw the light in 1602, but the exact place of his birth has -not been ascertained. In an article in Britton and Brayley’s “Beauties -of England and Wales,” believed to have been written by Watson, the -historian of the Earls of Warren, it is stated that he was born at -Wyberslegh; but Mr. Ormerod, in his “History of Cheshire,” doubts the -probability of this, “inasmuch,” he says, “as the family only became -possessed of that seat by the marriage of his elder brother Henry with -the daughter of Mr. Wells,” but this, if we may venture to differ from -so deservedly high an authority, must be an error, for Wyberslegh, -which had for many generations been appendant to the hall of Marple, -was in the occupation of his father or grandfather when the Marple -property was purchased by them in 1606; it is not unlikely, therefore, -that the younger Bradshaw was residing at Wyberslegh at the time of -his son John’s birth. His baptism is thus recorded in the Stockport -register:— - - 1602. Dec. 10. John, the sonne of Henrye Bradshawe, of Marple, - baptized. - -At a later date some zealous Royalist has written in the margin the -word “traitor.” It has been said that his mother died in giving him -birth. This, however, is not strictly correct, though her death -occurred a few weeks after that event, the register of Stockport -showing that she was buried there January 24, 1603-4, and her son -Francis, who would seem to have been a twin with John, was baptised at -the same place three days later. - -Of the early life and habits of the future Lord President nothing -positively is known. From his will we learn that he received his early -classical education at Bunbury, of which school that staunch Puritan, -Edward Burghall, afterwards Vicar of Acton, was at the time master; -subsequently he was sent to Queen Elizabeth’s Free School at Middleton, -in Lancashire, then lately remodelled and endowed by Nowell, Dean of -St Paul’s, and, “as part of his thankful acknowledgment,” he at his -death bequeathed to each of these institutions £500 for “amending -the wages of the master and usher.” There is a very general opinion -that he was at King Edward’s Grammar School in Macclesfield also for -a time; though there is no evidence of the fact, this is by no means -improbable. Macclesfield was conveniently near to his home, and the -school had at that time obtained a high reputation from the ability and -scholarly attainments of at least two of its masters, John Brownswerd, -“a schoolmaster of great fame for learning,” as Webb says, “who living -many years brought up most of the gentry of this shire,” and Thomas -Newton, one of the most distinguished Latin poets of the Elizabethan -era; and some countenance is given to this supposition by the phrase in -his will, “I had _part_ of my educa’con” at Middleton and Bunbury. The -Macclesfield school at that time abutted upon the churchyard, and there -is a tradition that young Bradshaw, while with some of his playmates, -and in a boyish freak, wrote the following prophetic lines upon a -gravestone there:— - - My brother Henry must heir the land, - My brother Frank must be at his command, - Whilst I, poor Jack, will do that - That all the world shall wonder at. - -The authenticity of this production may very well be questioned, for, -however ambitious his mind, we can hardly suppose that this young -son of a quiet, unostentatious country gentleman could have had the -faintest glimmering of his future destiny any more than that his muse -was moved by prophetic inspiration. - -He served his clerkship with an attorney at Congleton, whence he -proceeded to London, and studied for some time at Gray’s Inn, of -which learned society he entered as a student for the bar in 1622, -and with such assiduity did he apply himself to his studies that in -later years Whitelock, in his “Memorials,” bore willing testimony -that he was “a man learned in his profession.” Having completed his -studies, he returned to Congleton, where he practised for some years, -and, taking an active part in the town’s affairs, was elected an -alderman of the borough—the house in which he resided, a quaint black -and white structure, having been in existence until recent years. In -1637 he was named Attorney-General for Cheshire and Flintshire, as -appears by the following entry on the Calendar of Recognizances Rolls -for the Palatinate of Chester: “13 Car. I., June 7. Appointment of -John Bradshawe as one of the Earl’s attorneys-at-law in the counties -of Chester and Flint, during pleasure, with the same fees as Robert -Blundell, late attorney there, received.” In the same year he was -chosen Mayor of Congleton, an office he is said to have discharged with -ability and satisfaction, being, as a local chronicler records, “a -vigilant and intelligent magistrate, and well qualified to administer -justice.” He certainly cannot be charged with indifference or lack -of zeal while filling this position, for the corporation books show -that he left his mark in the shape of “certain orders, laws, and -ordinances,” he set down “for the better regiment and government of -the inhabitants, and the preservation of peace and order.” These -regulations, which were of a somewhat stringent character, imposed -fines upon the aldermen and other dignitaries who neglected to provide -themselves with halberds, and to don their civic gowns and other -official bravery, when attending upon their chief, while the “freemen” -of the borough were left with little freedom to boast of. It is evident -that, Calvinist and Republican though he was, and a Puritan of the -most “advanced” school, Bradshaw, even at that early period of his -public career, had little liking for the severe simplicity affected -by his political and religious associates, the regulations he laid -down indicating a fondness for histrionic display and a love for -the trappings and pageantry of office. As might be supposed, a small -country town, the merry-hearted inhabitants of which were proverbial -for their love of bear-baiting and their fondness for cakes and sack, -was not a likely place to afford scope for the exercise of the talents -of so resplendent a genius, so, seeking a more active sphere, he betook -himself to the metropolis, where he continued to follow his profession. -The year in which Cromwell gained his great victory at Marston Moor was -that in which we find him for the first time employed in the service of -the Parliament, being joined (Oct., 1644) with Mr. Newdegate and the -notorious Prynne in the prosecution of the Irish rebels, Lords Macguire -and Macmahon, before the Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, which -resulted in the rebel lords being condemned and executed. - -It is not unlikely that Bradshaw had made the acquaintance of Prynne -before he left Congleton, for the year of his mayoralty there was one -in which that “pestilent breeder of sedition,” as he was called, after -standing in the pillory with Bastwick and Burton, and having his ears -clipped, passed through Cheshire on his way to the prison at Carnarvon, -making what reads very like a triumphal progress, and creating no small -stir among the disaffected Puritans in the county, who regarded the -victim of a harsh and unwise persecution as a sufferer for the cause of -the true Gospel. His conductors treated him with much leniency—indeed, -on the whole, they seem to have had rather a pleasant outing, stopping -for two or three days at a time at the principal halting-places, and -enjoying themselves when and where they could. At Tarporley, Tarvin, -and Chester the offender was admitted to the houses of his friends, -and received visits from some of the more notable of the anti-Royalist -faction in the city and county, a procedure which drew down upon him -the episcopal wrath—Bridgeman, the Bishop, being greatly scandalised at -the idea of the “twice-censured lawyer and stigmatised monster,” as he -called him, being entertained in his own cathedral city “by a set of -sour factious citizens.” The complaint, it must be admitted, was not -without cause, for it seems the mayor and corporation began to waver -in their orthodoxy, and became slack in going to hear sermons at the -cathedral, so that the energetic prelate “could not have his eye upon -their behaviour” as he desired. Whether this was due to the pleasant -and moving discourses of Prynne, or that the sermons at the cathedral -were too dry and lifeless to suit the tastes of the Cestrians, is -not clear, but to remedy the evil Bridgeman had a brand new pulpit -erected in the choir, capacious enough for all the canons to preach -in at one time, had they been so minded; and, further, ordered all -other preachers in the city to end their discourses before those at -the cathedral began, in order that the civic authorities might have -no excuse for negligence in their attendance on sound doctrine, as -delivered within its walls. - -The manner in which Bradshaw conducted the prosecution of the Irish -rebels evidently gave satisfaction to his employers, and paved the -way to his future advancement; certain it is that, after this time, -he is frequently found engaged upon the business of the Parliament. -When so employed he was not a pleasant person to encounter, as poor -old Edmund Shallcross, the rector of Stockport—the parish in which -his boyhood was spent—had good reason to know. For the particulars of -this little incident in the life of the future judge, affording, as it -does, an interesting side glance of the state of religious feeling in -Marple when the Bradshaws were all-powerful, we are indebted to the -researches of that indefatigable antiquary, Mr. J. P. Earwaker. It -seems there had been a dispute of long standing between the Bradshaws -and Shallcross on the vexed question of the tithes of Marple, a -circumstance that in itself would no doubt be sufficient to satisfy -the rector’s Presbyterian neighbours when in authority that he was -“scandalous” and “delinquent.” Be that as it may, on the breaking out -of the war Shallcross was turned out of his living, and his property, -which included an extensive library, was confiscated. He appealed -to the Commissioners of Sequestrations, and among the State papers -which Mr. Earwaker has lately unearthed is an interesting series -of interrogatories relating to persons in Cheshire suspected of -delinquency, the following being the answer to those concerning the -parson of Stockport:— - - Edward Hill, of Stopforth (Stockport), glazier, knew Mr. - Shallcrosse, formerly minister at Stopforth, who about the - yeare 1641 refused to lett to farme the tythes of Marple to the - townsmen of Marple att their own rates, but offered them the same - at such rates as was conceived they might well gaine att. And - that aboute two yeares after Articles were exhibited against the - said Mr. Shallcrosse for delinquency, who thereupon appealed to - the Committee of Lords and Commons for sequestracons, and went - severall times to London about the same busines, and was once - goeing to have the same heard, and had a convoy of horse of the - Parliament’s partye, and some of the King’s partye came forth of - Dudley Castle, and (he) then was by them slayne. And this deponent - further saith that he was servaunt to the said Mr. Shallcrosse for - seaven yeares before his death, whoe did acquaint this examinante - that hee had found much opposition by Sergeant Bradshawe, whoe - then was solicitor for the Commonwealth. - - He also saith that the tythes of Stopforth are reputed to be - worth 400li. by the yeare or thereabouts, and saith that hee - hath heard generally reported that Sir William Brereton had a - power invested in him to place or displace such ministers as were - scandalous or delinquents. And he further saith that hee believed - if the said Mr. Shallcrosse had complied with the desires of the - said Mr. Bradshawe and his father and brother, that the said Mr. - Shallcrosse would not have been sequestrated. - -Bradshaw’s next step in advancement was in 1646, when, on the 6th -October, the House of Commons appointed him, in conjunction with Sir -Rowland Wandesford and Sir Thomas Bedingfield, Commissioners of the -Great Seal for six months, an appointment that was, however, overruled -by the House of Lords. From this time his rise was rapid, honours and -emoluments seeming to crowd upon him. On the 22nd February following -both Houses voted him to the office of Chief Justice of Chester, an -appointment that would amply compensate for the disappointment he had -experienced in Lord Derby’s previous refusal to bestow on him the -vice-chamberlainship of the city. On being relieved of his office as -one of the Commissioners of the Great Seal, he was named (March 18, -1647) as one of the judges for Wales, an office he appears to have held -conjointly with his post at Chester. Three months later we find him -again associated with Prynne, the two, with Serjeant Jermyn and Mr. -Solicitor St. John, being appointed by the Parliament to conduct the -proceedings against the intrepid Judge Jenkins, who, when impeached of -treason before the Commons, not only refused to kneel at the bar of the -House, but had the temerity to call the place “a den of thieves.” - -On the 12th October, 1648, as we learn from Whitelocke, Parliament, -in accordance with a recommendation of the Commissioners of the Seal, -ordered a new call of serjeants-at-law, and Bradshaw’s name is found -among those then voted to receive the coif. - -It has been suggested by a local writer that, in this, Parliament -had an ulterior object in view, the purpose of Bradshaw’s promotion -being to secure an efficient instrument for conducting the proceedings -against the Sovereign, which were then contemplated. This, however, -is extremely improbable, for Parliament, it should be remembered, was -averse to any extreme measure, and was, in fact, anxious to come to -terms with the beaten King, its agents being at the very time engaged -in negotiating with him the abortive treaty of Newport. But Cromwell -had determined that Charles’s life should be sacrificed, and the will -of the army and its guiding genius had become paramount, for a military -despotism was already usurping the powers of the State. The breach -between the army and Parliament was widening daily, and the great -struggle which was to decide the future destinies of England was at -hand. The army, flushed with victory, had returned from the destruction -of its enemies; conscious of its own power, it demanded vengeance on -the “chief delinquent,” as the King was called, and sent an expedition -to the Isle of Wight to seize his person, and convey him to Hurst -Castle. Meanwhile, the Commons had discussed the concessions made by -Charles, and by a majority of 140 to 104 had decided that they “were -sufficient grounds for settling the peace of the kingdom.” Scarcely -had the vote been recorded when a decisive blow was struck by the -army at the independence of Parliament, for on the following morning, -Colonel Pride, at the head of his regiment of foot, and accompanied -with a regiment of horse, blockaded the doors leading to the House -of Commons, and seized in the passage all those members who had been -previously marked on a list as hostile or doubtful, and placed them in -confinement, none being allowed to enter the House but the most furious -and determined of the known friends to “the cause.”[11] The obnoxious -element having been thus effectually got rid of, the sword waved openly -over the legislative benches, and the army in effect constituted the -government. The next day this remnant of the House—the “Rump,” as it -was thereafter designated—rescinded the obnoxious vote, and appointed -a day of humiliation, selecting Hugh Peters, Caryl, and Marshall -to perform the service. The “purge” of the Commons had secured the -certainty of concurrence in the wishes of the army, and accordingly, -on the 23rd December, a committee was appointed to prepare charges -for the impeachment of the King, and on the 28th an ordinance for his -trial was read. In order to give their designs some resemblance to the -form and principle of law, the House on the 1st January voted “that by -the fundamental law of the land, it is treason for the King of England -to levy war against the Parliament and kingdom.” This vote, when sent -up to the Lords for their concurrence, was rejected without a single -dissentient voice, a procedure that led the remnant of the Commons a -few weeks later to declare that “the House of Peers was useless and -dangerous, and ought to be abolished.” On the 4th January an ordinance -was presented for erecting a new High Court of Justice for the trial of -the King, which was read the first, second, and third time, assented -to, and passed the same day. The Commissioners named in it included -all the great officers of the army, four peers, the Speaker, and -principal members of the expurgated House of Commons. The twelve judges -unanimously refused to be of the commission, declaring its purpose -and constitution to be contrary to the principles of English law; -Whitelocke, who had received the coif at the same time as Bradshaw -and his colleague Widdrington, two of the most eminent lawyers of the -time, also refused to sit on the tribunal. The Commissioners met on -the 10th, and appointed Bradshaw, who was absent, their president. It -would seem to have been originally intended that he should only take a -subordinate part in the business, for on the 3rd January the committee -had decreed that Serjeants Bradshaw and Nichols, with Mr. Steel, should -be “assistants.” Steel acted as Attorney-General, but Nichols could not -be prevailed upon to give attendance. - -[Note 11: This extraordinary outrage, perpetrated in the name of -freedom and justice, has ever since been familiarly known as “Pride’s -Purge.”] - -It is not known with certainty whether Bradshaw was aware of the -intention to elect him president of the commission for the trial -of the King, but it is more than probable he had been informed of -what was contemplated, and he certainly cannot be said to have been -averse to the office, for undoubtedly he had resolution and courage -enough to decline it had he felt so disposed. He attended the court -in obedience to the summons on the 12th, and, when called to take the -place of president, after asking to be excused, submitted to the order -and took his place, whereupon it was ordered, “that John Bradshaw, -serjeant-at-law, who is appointed president of this court, should be -called by the name and have the title of Lord President, and that -as well without as within the said court, during the commission and -sitting of the said court.” Clarendon says that “when he was first -nominated he seemed much surprised, and very resolute to refuse it; -which he did in such a manner, and so much enlarging upon his own -want of abilities to undergo so important a charge, that it was -very evident he expected to be put to that apology. And when he was -pressed with more importunity than could have been used by chance, he -required time to consider of it, and said ‘he would then give his final -answer,’ which he did the next day, and with great humility accepted -the office, which he administered with all the pride, impudence, and -superciliousness imaginable.” - -[Illustration: PRESIDENT BRADSHAW.] - -Clarendon was evidently of opinion that he had been previously informed -of the position he would be asked to fill, and the “pride” spoken of -in the administration of the office was only in accord with that -fondness for display to which allusion has already been made. Suddenly -raised to a position of pre-eminence as the head of a tribunal wholly -unprecedented in the extent and nature of its assumed authority, he -was not the man to dispense with any of those outward manifestations -which might give dignity and impressiveness to his dread office. He -had 20 officers or other gentlemen appointed to attend him as a guard -going and returning from Westminster Hall; lodgings were provided -for him in New Palace Yard during the sittings of the court; and Sir -Henry Mildmay, Mr. Holland, and Mr. Edwards were deputed to see that -everything necessary was provided for him. A sword and mace were -carried before him by two gentlemen, 21 gentlemen that were near -carried each a partizan, and he had in the court 200 soldiers as an -additional guard. A chair of crimson velvet was placed for him in the -middle of the court, and a desk on which was laid a velvet cushion; -many of the commissioners, as Whitelocke says, donned “their best -habits,” and the President himself appeared in a scarlet robe, and -wearing his celebrated peaked hat, remaining covered when the King was -brought before him, though he expressed himself as greatly offended -that his Sovereign did not remove his hat while in his presence. - -Into the particulars of the trial we do not desire to enter—they are -matters which history has made known; nor do we wish to dwell upon -the incidents attendant upon it—the calm and dignified demeanour of -the ill-starred King; his denial of the authority of the court, and -consistent refusal to recognise a power founded on usurpation; the -ill-concealed vanity of the judge; the imposing pomp and glitter of the -regicidal court; the intrepid loyalty of Lady Fairfax, who startled -the commission by her vehement protest when the charge was made, and -the scarcely less courageous conduct of her companion, Mrs. Nelson; -the rancorous hatred displayed by the King’s accusers; the mockery of -proof; the refusal to hear the fallen monarch’s appeal; the revilings -of the excited soldiery; the expressions of sympathy of the people; or -the brutal blow bestowed upon the poor soldier who ventured to implore -a blessing on his Sovereign’s head—all these are recorded and are -embalmed in the hearts of the English people. The bloody episode which -will for ever darken our national annals was an event without precedent -in the world’s history. For the constitution of the court no authority -could be found in English law, it was illegal, unconstitutional, -and, in its immediate results, dangerous to liberty. Whatever might -be the faults of Charles—and they were many—his death was not a -political necessity, nor can it be justly said to have been the act -of the nation, for the voice of public opinion had never been heard, -and therefore the country must be exonerated of any participation by -approval or otherwise in the criminality of that unfortunate deed—it -was the act of a faction in the House of Commons, acting under the -influence of a faction in the army. In this momentous business Bradshaw -may have persuaded himself that he was performing a solemn act of duty -to his country, but, looked at in the light of after history, that act -can only be pronounced a criminal blunder. - -Tradition says that the warrant for the King’s execution was signed -in Bradshaw’s house[12] at Walton-on-Thames, a building still -standing near Church Street in that pleasant little town, though now -subdivided into several small tenements, and shorn of much of its -ancient splendour—his own signature, of course, appearing first on that -well-known document. - -[Note 12: Though now closed in by humbler dwellings, the house must have -been in Bradshaw’s time far away from any other building of equal size -and pretensions. There is a common belief in the neighbourhood that an -underground passage led from it to Ashley Park, where Cromwell, it is -said, at that time resided.] - -[Illustration: Autograph of John Bradshaw] - -Now, after a lapse of more than two centuries, and when the welfare of -the throne and the people are identical, we can afford to look back -upon the great tragedy in which Bradshaw played so profound a part -calmly and without bitterness of spirit. From the anarchy, the foulness -of the tyranny of those times, the nation, the Church, and the people -have emerged with a firm hold on better things. Prelacy, which had been -trampled under foot, and Presbyterianism, which became to Independency -much what Prelacy had been to Presbyterianism, have reappeared, but -the severe asceticism and religious fervour of the Puritan, and the -catholicity and breadth of view of the Churchman have commingled and -become elements of the national life, fruitful for good by reason that -they no longer come into violent collision with each other. - -When Bradshaw had brought his Sovereign to the block, he may be said to -have fulfilled the prediction of his early youth, for assuredly he had - - Done that - Which all the world did wonder at. - -He had accepted an office which sounder lawyers shrank from -undertaking, and had entitled himself to the gratitude of those who, -by compassing the death of the King, sought to accomplish their own -ambitious ends; and it must be admitted that those who benefited by -his daring were neither slow nor niggardly in rewarding him for his -services to the “cause,” for never was a royal favourite so suddenly -raised to a position of power, and wealth, and consequence, and never -was monarch more lavish in the favours bestowed upon a courtier than -was the newly-appointed Government in doing honour to and enriching its -legal chief. The Deanery House at Westminster was given as a residence -to him and his heirs, and a sum of £5,000 allowed to procure an -equipage suitable to his new sphere of life, and such as the dignity of -his office demanded. “The Lord President of the High Court of Justice,” -writes Clarendon, “seemed to be the greatest magistrate in England. -And, though it was not thought seasonable to make any such declaration, -yet some of those whose opinion grew quickly into ordinances, upon -several occasions declared that they believed that office was not to be -looked upon as necessary _pro hac vice_ only, but for continuance, and -that he who executed it deserved to have an ample and liberal estate -conferred upon him for ever.” - -As his office did not expire with the King’s trial, Parliament on -the 6th February allowed him to appoint a deputy to supply his place -at Guildhall, where he had sat as judge, and on the 14th of the same -month, when Parliament made provision for the exercise of the executive -authority by the appointment of a Council of State, he was selected by -the House as one of the thirty-eight members. Of this body Bradshaw -was chosen president, and his kinsman, John Milton, Latin secretary. -At the first meeting (March 10), if we are to believe our old friend -Whitelocke, he seemed “but little versed in such business,” and spent -much of the time in making long speeches. Two days afterwards he was -appointed Chief Justice of Wales, but he did not go there immediately, -for on the 20th of the same month he sat again as Lord President of -the Council, at whose discussions it would seem he was not disposed -to remain a mere passive instrument, for, as Whitelocke remarks, he -“spent much of their time in urging his own long arguments, which are -inconvenient in State matters.” “His part,” as he adds, “was only to -have gathered the sense of the council, and to state the question, not -to deliver his own opinion.” - -Whatever may have been his demeanour in the council, outside, at least, -the duties of his office were discharged with firmness and energy, as -the townsmen of Manchester had cause to know. When, in 1642, the town -was threatened with an attack by Lord Derby, the Presbyterians had -entrusted its defence to Colonel Rosworm, a German engineer, who had -been trained in the wars of the Low Countries, and who had agreed to -give his services for six months for the modest sum of £30. A faithful -and valuable servant he proved, though a provokingly ill-tempered one, -for he never ceased to bewail the beggarly remuneration he had agreed -to accept, or to rail at the “despicable earthworms,” as he termed -those who had offered it. As he refused to sign the national covenant, -that not being included in the contract, and being, as he thought, no -part of a soldier’s duty, his employers took an irreconcileable hatred -against him, and, when the danger was past, repudiated their share of -the bargain. Unable to obtain the pittance for which he had risked his -life, he left the town in disgust, and repaired to London to lay his -grievances before the Government, and implore their interference. As a -consequence, the following peremptory letter was addressed to the town -by Bradshaw, which no doubt had a salutary effect on the “despicable -earthworms,” whom the angry old soldier had charged with being -“matchless in their treachery, and setting the devil himself an example -of villainy”:— - - For the town of Manchester, and particularly for those who - contracted with Lieut.-Colonell Roseworme, these are. - - Gentlemen,—The condition of the bearer being fully made known, - and his former merit attested to us by honourable testimony, and - very well known to yourselves, himself also being by birth a - stranger, and unable to present his complaints in the ordinary - legall forme, give us just occasion to recommend him to you for - a thorough performance of what, by your contract and promise, is - become due unto him for his speciall service done to your town - and country, whereto we conceive there is good cause for you to - make an addition, and that there can be no cause at all for your - backwardness to pay him what is his due. - - As touching that which is otherwise, due to him from the State, - after some other greater businesses are over, he may expect to be - put in a way to receive all just satisfaction. In the meane time - we committ him and the premises to your consideration for his - speedy relief, and we doe require you to give us notice of your - resolutions and doings herein, within one month after the receipt - thereof. - - Signed in the name and by order of the Council of State appointed - by authority of Parliament. - - JO. BRADSHAWE, Pr. Sedt. -Whitehall, 7th July, 1649. - - -It must be confessed that the President, with all his “rare modesty” -and patriotism, was not so self-denying but that he looked sharply -after the main chance. On the 19th June, 1649, Parliament voted him a -sum of £1,000, and on the same day ordered that it should be referred -to a committee to consider how he was to be put into possession of the -value of £2,000 a year, to be settled as an inheritance upon him and -his heirs for ever. - -Wealth and honours were literally showered upon him, and for a time the -history of the Government was little else than a history of Bradshaw. -On the 30th June he was re-appointed to the office of Chief Justice -of Chester, Humphrey Macworth, of Shrewsbury, who afterwards acted as -President of the court-martial which tried Lord Derby, being named -as his deputy. On the 15th July a Bill passed through Parliament -settling £2,000 a year on him and his heirs, and nine days later (July -24th) another £2,000 per annum was granted to him and them out of the -sequestrated estates of the Earl of St Albans at Somerhill, in Kent, -and those of Lord Cottington in Wiltshire, the latter including the -famous Fonthill. This last-named grant was in all probability the one -referred to in the order of June 19, when a committee was ordered to -consider how an annual payment of that amount could be settled. - -Four days after these grants were made, an Act was passed constituting -him Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, an office that subsequently, -when others were abolished, was on his account specially retained, and -on the 2nd April, 1652, secured to him. His name appears on the list of -Justices of the Peace for his native county in 1650; in the same year -he was again named of the Council of State, and retained his office -of President. The following letter, extracted from the State papers, -is interesting as showing the relations existing between Bradshaw and -Cromwell, and the estimation in which he was held by the Lord General:— - - My Lord,—I return you my humble and heartie thanks for your - late noble and friendly letter, whereby I have the comfort and - assurance of your lordship’s faire interpretation of my past, - and (so I dare call them) well ment actions, which I shall not - desyre to account for or justify to any man lyving so soon as to - yourself; of whome I shall ever have that esteeme as becomes me - to have of one who daylie approves himself religion’s and his - countrey’s best friend, and who may justly challenge a tribute of - observance from all that syncerely wysh them well, in which number - I shall hope ever to be found. - - My Lord, I have (’tis true) taken the boldness to write some - few letters to you since your late departure hence, and I - have satisfaction enough that they were receyved, and are not - dyspleasing to you. Your applycation to the gentleman, named in - yours, who is of so knowne fytnesse and abylytie to procure you - effectuall returnes, was an act, in my apprehension, savouring - of your usuall prudence, and tending to the advantage of the - publique affayres committed to your trust and care; neither can - any wyse man justifie any charge of seeming neglect of others - in that respect. I am sorry your lordship hath bene put to any - expense of your so pretious tyme, for removing any such doubts; - but these my over carefull fryends, who have created your lordship - this trouble, have, I must confess, occasyonally contrybuted to my - desyred contentment, which is, and ever hath been, synce I had the - honour to be knowne unto you, to understand myself to be reteyned - and preserved in your good opinion. And if my faithfull endeavours - for the publique, and respects unto your lordship in everything - wherein I may serve you, may deserve a contynuance thereof, I - may not doubt still to find that happiness; and this is all the - trouble I shall give your lordship as to that matter. - - We are now beginning with a new councell another yeare. I might - have hoped, either for love or something els, to have been spared - from the charge, but I could not obtaine that favour; and I dare - not but submyt, where it is cleare to me that God gives the call. - He also will, I hope, give His poore creature some power to act - according to His mynd, and to serve Him in all uprightness and - syncerytie, in the way wherein He hath placed me to walk. - - My Lord, I have no more, but to recommend you and all your great - affaires to the guydance, mercy, and goodness of our good God, and - to subscrybe myself, in all truth of affection, - -Your lordship’s ever to be disposed of - JO. BRADSHAWE. - - Whytehall, 18 Feb., 1650. - - The customer who wronged Sir James Lidod is ordered to restore and - satisfie, and to come up to answer his charge, which, probably, - will fall heavy upon him. - - For his Excellency the Lord General Cromwell, These. - -Bradshaw acted as President of the Council of State in 1651, and again -in the year following. So far his success had been uninterrupted, and -as the supreme magistrate his power and influence was second only -to that of Cromwell himself. His authority was almost absolute. The -amiable Evelyn, in his diary, records that he could not witness the -burial of Dorislaus, “the villain,” as he writes, “who manag’d the -trial against his sacred Majesty,” until “I got a passe from the rebell -Bradshaw, then in great power;” and again, when he went to Paris with -only “an antiquated passe, it being so difficult to procure one of the -rebells without entering into oathes, which I never would do,” and he -had to bribe the officials at Dover, he found “money to the searchers -and officers was as authentiq as the hand and seale of Bradshawe -himselfe,” “where,” he adds, “I had not so much as my trunk open’d.” - -The very rapidity with which Bradshaw had attained to power made him -a formidable competitor with, if not indeed a dangerous rival to, the -man in whose goodwill he had said it was his “desyred contentment” “to -be reteyned and preserved;” and there can be little doubt that his -boldness and unflinching adherence to the principles he had espoused -brought about his own undoing, for it was not long before an incident -occurred which for ever alienated Cromwell’s friendship from him. The -occasion was one memorable in the annals of England—the dissolution of -the Long Parliament, on the 20th April, 1653. Finding the action of -the “Rump,” as it was called, inimical to his designs, Cromwell, who -seems to have begun to think that government by a single person was -desirable, went down to Westminster with a force of 300 men, broke up -the House, expelled the members, and, pointing to the mace, directed -Col. Worsley—Manchester’s first Parliamentary representative—to “take -away that bauble,” which having been done, he ordered the doors to be -locked, and then returned to his lodgings at Whitehall. And so, without -a struggle or a groan, unpitied and unregretted, the Long Parliament, -which for 12 years had under a variety of forms alternately defended -and invaded the liberties of the nation, fell by the parricidal hands -of its own children. - -Bradshaw, refusing to submit in silence to such a daring infringement -of the liberties of Parliament, resolved upon taking his place as head -of the Council of State the same afternoon, thinking, probably, that -his presence might deter Cromwell from committing any further acts of -violence; but the Lord General was not to be so easily diverted from -his purpose. Taking Lambert and Major-General Harrison with him, he -proceeded to the Council, and expelled its members in the same abrupt -and arbitrary manner that he had dismissed the Commons. Addressing -Bradshaw and those assembled with him, he said,— - - Gentlemen, if you are met here as private persons, you shall not - be disturbed; but if as a Council of State, this is no place for - you; and, since you cannot but know what was done at the House in - the morning, so take notice that the Parliament is dissolved. - -To which Bradshaw replied,— - - Sir, we have heard what you did at the House in the morning, - and before many hours all England will hear. But, sir, you are - mistaken to think that Parliament is dissolved, for no power under - heaven can dissolve them but themselves; therefore, take you - notice of that. - -The President’s spirited reply cost him Cromwell’s friendship, who, -though he continued to treat him with the outward manifestations of -respect, ever afterwards regarded him with feelings of distrust. -Exasperated though he was, Cromwell must have felt the justice of -the rebuke, for in a conference afterwards with his brother-in-law, -Desborough, he remarked that his work in clearing the House was not -complete until he had got rid of the Council of State, which, he said, -“I did in spite of the objection of honest Bradshaw, the President.” - -The Republican leaders, indignant at the forcible expulsion of the -Rump Parliament, denounced it as an illegal act, which undoubtedly it -was, but Cromwell was not the man to be bound by the ordinary laws of -constitutional liberty. The miserable remnant of the Parliament, it -must be admitted, had become a reproach; it had become supreme through -similar unconstitutional violence, and was itself violating its own -contract in refusing to vote its own dissolution. The spirit manifested -by Bradshaw has been likened to that of an ancient Roman; but whether -in the resistance he offered he was influenced by purely patriotic and -disinterested motives may be very well questioned, for it must not -be forgotten that he had looked with complacency on the illegal and -high-handed proceeding which had laid the Parliament at the feet of the -army, when that sharp medicine, “Pride’s Purge,” was administered—an -act of daring violence by virtue of which alone he held his office and -had acquired his wealth. - -Up to this time, as we have said, his career had been characterised by -uninterrupted success; but the uniform good luck which had hitherto -shown what daring could accomplish when upheld by an intelligent -head and dauntless heart, now forsook him. Cromwell, who was aiming -at arbitrary government in his own person, could not, on finding his -authority thus openly disputed by the President of the Council, but -have had misgivings that the man who had sufficient resolution to pass -sentence of death upon the King might not be unwilling, should occasion -arise, to perform the same office upon himself. It became necessary, -therefore, for the accomplishment of his plans that Bradshaw’s power -should be abridged; and though Parliament, on the 16th September, 1653, -enacted that the continuance of the palatinate power of Lancaster -should be vested in him, and he was also named one of the interim -Council of State that was to meet relative to a settlement of the -Government, he was no longer permitted to occupy an office of actual -power and authority. - -On the 16th December, 1653, Cromwell was inaugurated Lord Protector -of the Commonwealth. Bradshaw, who was a thorough Republican, and who -certainly had the courage of his convictions, was equally opposed to -unlimited power, whether exercised by the King or by the Protector, -at once set himself to counteract the authority of his former patron. -In the first Parliament of the Protectorate he sat for his native -county, but it was only for a very brief period, for scarcely had the -representatives of the people assembled than they fell to questioning -the Protector’s authority, when Cromwell, after surrounding the -House with his guards, administered a corrective in the shape of a -declaration promising allegiance to himself, which he required every -member to sign, shortly after which he dismissed them unceremoniously -to their homes. - -For a year and nine months England was left without a Parliament, the -supreme power being exercised by the Protector, and every one holding -office was required to take out a commission from him. This Bradshaw -refused to do, alleging that he held his office of Chief Justice of -Chester by a grant from the Parliament of England to continue _quamdiu -se bene gesserint_, and should therefore retain it, though willing to -submit to a verdict of twelve Englishmen as to whether he had carried -himself with that integrity which his commission exacted; and shortly -after this protest he set out on the circuit without any further -attempt being made to hinder him. His daring and firmness, as might be -expected, widened the breach and still further provoked the anger of -Cromwell, who wrote a letter to Major-General Bridge, at Middlewich, -requesting that he might be opposed by every means at the approaching -election at Chester. By some accident this letter fell into the hands -of Bradshaw’s friends, and was publicly read in the city. In spite of -this opposition he succeeded in securing his election, but, there being -a double return, neither representative took his seat. The Protector -had not only used his power against Bradshaw at Chester, but he also -succeeded in preventing his election for London, a position he had -aspired to. - -Cromwell and his Independents had gone beyond the Puritan Republicans, -who, joining with the Anabaptists, Fifth Monarchy men, and other -fanatics, protested against any earthly sovereignty. Plots for -restoring the Commonwealth were rife, and there is good reason to -believe that in some of these Bradshaw was implicated; certain it is -that he was in correspondence with Okey and Goodgroom, whom he assured -that “the Long Parliament, though under a force, was the supreme -authority in England.” - -The feeling of jealousy and distrust entertained by Cromwell and -Bradshaw for each other, though not openly avowed, became evident -to all, and Whitelocke says that in November, 1657, “the dislike -between them was perceived to increase.” These mutual jealousies were -not, however, to be of long continuance, for in less than a year the -grave had closed over the object of Bradshaw’s distrust. On the 3rd -September, 1658, the anniversary of his victories over the Scots at -Dunbar, and the Royalists at Worcester—his “Fortunate Day” as he was -wont to call it, Cromwell passed away, and his son and successor, even -had he been so disposed, was too weak to continue any very energetic -resistance. - -On Richard Cromwell’s accession, a new Parliament was called, when -Bradshaw was again returned to the House of Commons for Chester. Though -he did not scruple to take the oath of fidelity to the new Protector, -he, nevertheless, entered into active co-operation with Haslerig, Vane, -and other Republicans, in their opposition to the Government. This -Parliament came to an end on the 22nd April, 1659, the dissolution -having been forced by the officers of the army, and with it Richard -Cromwell’s power and authority were gone, and the Protectorate was at -an end. - -It is about this time that we discover the first indications of -Bradshaw’s health failing him. At the Easter assizes, in 1659, he was -lying sick in London, and unable to attend the Welsh circuit; and -as Thomas Fell, who had been associated with him—the Judge Fell, of -Swarthmoor in Furness, whose widow George Fox, the founder of the -Society of Friends, afterwards married—had died in September of the -previous year, John Ratcliffe, Recorder of Chester, was appointed to -act as his deputy _pro hac vice tantum_. - -That anomalous authority, the “Rump,” which the elder Cromwell had so -ignominiously expelled from the House of Commons, was, on the 17th May, -restored by the same power of the army that, six years previously, it -had been dismissed. Six days after, a Council of State was appointed, -in which Bradshaw obtained a seat, and was elected president; and -on the 3rd June following he was named, with Serjeants Fountain and -Tyrrel, a Commissioner of the Great Seal. His health, however, had -now seriously given way, and as he had been for some months suffering -from “aguish dystemper,” he asked to be relieved of the duties of -the office. For the following copy of a letter written at this time, -while he was lying sick at Fonthill—one of the few of Bradshaw’s which -have escaped destruction—the author is indebted to the courtesy of -that industrious labourer in the field of literature, the late Mr. -John Timbs, F.S.A., by whom it was transcribed from the original in -the possession of Mr. F. Kyffin-Lenthall, a descendant of “Speaker” -Lenthall, to whom it was addressed:— - - Honourable Sir,—I have, by Mr. Love, a member of this happie - P’liament, receyved the Howse’s pleasure touching myself in - relation to ye Great Seale, wherein, as I desire wth all humble - thankfulnes to acknowledge ye respect and favour done me in - honouring me with such a trust, so I should reckon it a great - happiness if I were able immediately to answer ye call and - personallie attend ye service wch at present I am not, laboring - under an aguish dystemper of about 8 months’ continuance; for - removing whereof (after much Physicke in vaine) according to - advyce on all hands, I have betaken myself to the fresh ayre, and - hope (though my fitts have not yet left me) to receive benefit and - advantage thereby. And for this I humbly begge ye Parliamts leave - and permission, if upon this just occasion they shall not in their - wysdome think fit otherwise to dyspence with me. In ye meane time - it hath been and is noe small addition to my other afflictions - that for want of health it hath not bene in my power according to - my Heart’s earnest desire to be serviceable in my poor measure to - the publiq. But by ye helpe of God when through his goodnes my - strength shal be restored (of wch I despayre not) I shal be most - free and willing to serve ye Parliment and Commonwealth in anie - capacity and that through dyvine assistance wth all diligence, - constancy and faithfulness, and to ye utmost of my power. - - Sir, I judged it my dutie to give this account of myself to ye - House, and humbly desyre by your hand it may be tendered to them; - for whom I daylie praye that God would blesse all their counsels - and consultations, and succeede all their unwearyed endevors for - ye happie setling and establishment of this latelie languyshing - and now revived Commonwealth upon sure and lasting foundations. - -Sir, I rest and am - Your humble Servant - JO. BRADSHAWE. - -(Fonthi) "ll in Wyltshire -... in 1659 -... scentis Respublica, Primo. - (Read June 9, 1659) - -For the Right Honble William Lenthall, Speaker - of ye Parliament of the Commonwealth - of England. These. - - Consider what it is we ask, and consider whether it be not the - same thing we have asserted with our lives and fortunes—_a Free - Parliament_. And what a slavery is it to our understandings, that - these men that now call themselves a Parliament, should declare - it an act of illegality and violence in the late aspiring General - Cromwell to dissolve their body in 1653, and not make it the - like in the garbling of the whole body of the Parliament from - four hundred to forty in 1648? What is this but to act what they - condemn in others? _A new free Parliament!_ This is our cry. - -On the 1st of August, Sir George Booth appeared in arms, and in a few -days was at the head of several thousand men. Through the influence of -Mr. Cook, a Presbyterian minister in Chester, he and his troops gained -admission to the city. Colonel Lambert, with a well-disciplined force, -was sent by the Parliament after them, and an engagement took place at -Winnington Bridge, near Northwich, when Sir George and his army—which -Adam Martindale likened to “Mahomet’s Angellical Cockes, made up of -fire and snow”—were completely routed. - -On the return of the victorious army to London a schism broke out -between the officers and the Parliament, which was followed by one of -those outrages upon the liberties of the Parliament with which the -country had become only too painfully familiar. Lambert and his troops -surrounded the House, which Lenthall, the Speaker, and the other -members were prevented by the soldiery from entering. Bradshaw felt -the insult, and, anticipating that the break-up of the House would be -followed by the dissolution of the Council of State, went the same -day, ill as he was, to the meeting, in the hope that he might serve -the cause of the Republic, and when Colonel Sydenham, the member for -Dorsetshire, and one of the Committee of Safety, in attempting to -justify the arbitrary act of the army by affirming, in the canting -phraseology of the day, that “a particular call of the Divine -Providence” had necessitated its having recourse to this last remedy, -Bradshaw, says Ludlow, “weak and attenuated as he was, yet animated -by his ardent zeal and constant affection to the common cause, stood -up, and, interrupting him, declared his abhorrence of that detestable -action, and told the Council that, being now going to his God, he had -not patience to sit there to hear His great name so openly blasphemed.” - -This was his last public act—the last office he was permitted to render -to the Commonwealth he had so long served, as he said, “with all -diligence,” for he passed out of the world a few days after, his death -occurring on the 22nd November, 1659, in his 57th year. His remains -were deposited with great pomp in the Sanctuary of Kings, from which, -however, they were soon to be ignominiously ejected. His funeral sermon -was preached by Mr. Row, who took for his text Isaiah lvii., 1. His -Republican spirit animated him to the last, for Whitelocke says that, -so little did he repent of his conduct towards his Sovereign, that “he -declared a little before he left the world, that if the King were to be -tried and condemned again, he would be the first man that should do it.” - -John Bradshaw married Mary, the daughter of Thomas Marbury, of Marbury, -Cheshire, by his first wife Eleanor, daughter of Peter Warburton, of -Arley, and he thus connected himself with some of the best families -in the county. This lady, who was some years his senior, predeceased -him without having borne any issue; and when the President died he -had not a child to continue his name or inherit the vast wealth he -had accumulated. The closing years of his life were for the most part -spent at his pleasant retreat at Walton-on-Thames, of which mention -has already been made; and there is very little doubt but that within -the wainscotted rooms of that quaint old mansion many and frequent -were the consultations touching the fate of England. A popular writer, -who visited the house some years ago, in describing it, says that an -aged woman, who then occupied a portion of the building, summed up her -account of it with the remark that “it was a great house once, but full -of wickedness; and no wonder the spirits of its inhabitants troubled -the earth to this day.” Though we are not of those who “see visions and -dream dreams,” and hold familiar converse with visitants from the world -of shadows, we may yet echo the remark of the writer referred to: “It -is trite enough to say what tales these walls could tell, but it is -impossible to look into them without wishing ‘these walls had tongues.’” - -The character of Bradshaw has been variously estimated and depicted in -every hue, though it would seem to have been little understood, for his -admirers have refused to see any defects in him, while those who abhor -his principles have denounced him as a “monster of men.” It does not -come within our province to offer any critical opinion on his life and -actions—to pronounce upon the purity of his motives or the sincerity -of his doings. His cousin Milton, who, however, can hardly be accepted -as an impartial witness, has written his eulogy in an eloquent passage -in the “Second Defence of the People of England;” and Godwin, in his -“History of the Commonwealth,” thus speaks of him:— - - An individual who was rising into eminence at this time was John - Bradshaw, the kinsman of Milton. He was bred to the profession - of the law, and his eloquence is praised by Lilburn. Milton, who - seems to have known him thoroughly, speaks of him in the highest - terms, as at once a professed lawyer and an admirable speaker, an - uncorrupt patriot, a man of firm and entrepid cast of temper, a - pleasant companion, most hospitable to his friends, most generous - to all who were in need, most peaceable to such as repented of - their errors. - -The same writer adds: “In December, 1644, he was appointed high sheriff -of his native county of Lancashire.” This last statement is an error -which has gained currency by frequent repetition. Bradshaw was not -a Lancashire man; and his namesake, who held the shrievalty of that -county by virtue of the ordinance of the 10th February, 1644, when -Parliament, exercising the Royal functions, assumed the powers of the -Duke of Lancaster, and who, in contravention of the Act of 28 Edward -III., retained it for four successive years, was the head of the line -of Bradshaw, in the parish of Bolton, and, therefore, only remotely -connected with the Marple stock. - -After the Restoration both Houses of Parliament decreed (4th December, -1660) that his body, with those of Cromwell and Ireton, should be -exhumed and drawn to the gallows at Tyburn, and there hanged and buried -beneath it. Evelyn, in his “Diary,” thus describes the revolting -spectacle he saw on the 30th January, the anniversary of the King’s -execution, and the “first solemn fast and day of humiliation to deplore -the sinns which so long had provok’d God against His afflicted Church -and people”:— - - This day (O the stupendous and inscrutable judgments of God!) - were the carcases of those arch rebells Cromwell, Bradshaw the - Judge who condemned his Majestie, and Ireton, sonn-in-law to the - Usurper, dragg’d out of their superb tombs in Westminster among - the Kings, to Tyburne, and hang’d on the gallows there from nine - in the morning till six at night, and then buried under that fatal - and ignominious monument in a deepe pitt; thousands of people who - had seene them in all their pride being spectators. Looke back at - Nov. 22, 1658 (Cromwell’s funeral) and be astonish’d! and feare - God and honour the King; but meddle not with them who are given to - change. - -It has been asserted, though without any apparent authority, that -Bradshaw was buried at Annapolis, in America, and Mr. St. John says the -following inscription was engraved on a cannon placed at the head of -his supposed grave:— - - Stranger! ere thou pass, contemplate this cannon, nor regardless - behold that near its base lies deposited the dust of John - Bradshaw, who, nobly superior to selfish regards, despising alike - the pageantry of courtly splendour, the blast of calumny, and - the terror of regal vengeance, presided in the illustrious band - of heroes and patriots who firmly and openly adjudged Charles - Stuart, tyrant of England, to a public and exemplary death, - thereby presenting to the amazed world, and transmitting down to - applauding ages, the most glorious example of unshaken virtue, - love of freedom, and impartial justice ever exhibited in the - blood-stained theatre of human action. Oh! reader, pass not on - till thou hast blessed his memory, and never, never forget that - rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God! - -The heads of the three regicides were undoubtedly placed upon -Westminster Hall, and Bradshaw’s and Cromwell’s remained fixed on the -spikes in 1684, when Sir Thomas Armstrong’s[13] was placed between them. - -[Note 13: Sir Thomas Armstrong, who had taken part in the Duke of -Monmouth’s rebellion, was executed on the judgment of the notorious -Jefferies, as an outlaw without trial, though his year had not expired.] - -Among the papers still preserved at Marple is the probate copy of -the President’s will, a lengthy abstract of which has been given -by Ormerod in his “History of Cheshire.” It bears date March 22, -1653, and there are two codicils appended, dated respectively March -23, 1653, and September 10, 1655. By it he bequeaths to his wife, -Mary Bradshaw, all his manors, lands, and hereditaments in Kent and -Middlesex for her life, as jointure in lieu of dower; and devises to -her, and her executors in case of her decease, his manors, &c., in -Kent, for the term of five years, to commence immediately after her -decease, with liberty in her lifetime to dispark the park at Somerhill, -for her subsistence, and for making provision for her kindred, “God -not havinge vouchsafed me issue.” He further devises his manors, &c., -in the counties of Berks, Southampton, Wilts, and Somerset, with his -reversions in Middlesex, in trust to his friend Peter Brereton, his -nephew Peter Newton (the son of his sister Dorothy), and his trustie -servant, Thomas Parnell, and their heirs, for the payment of his -debts, &c., for the payment of £100 per annum, for ten years after his -decease, to his nephew Henry Bradshaw, and £20 per annum to his cousin -Katherine Leigh, for life, with further trust to pay £300 per annum -to his brother Henry Bradshaw, until the estates settled by the will -descend to him; and also to expend £700 in purchasing an annuity for -“manteyning a free schoole in Marple, in Cheshire; £500 for increasing -the wages of the master and usher of Bunbury schoole; and £500 for -amending the wages of the schoolmaster and usher of Midleton schoole, -in Lanc’r (in which twoe schooles of Bunb’rie and Midleton I had part -of my educac’on, and return this as part of my thanfull acknowledgement -for the same). These two sums of £500 to be laid out in purchaseing -annuities.” Then follow a number of small bequests—an annuity of £40 -for seven years to Samuel Roe, his secretary, for maintaining him at -Gray’s Inn, and remunerating his assistance to his executors; £250 -to the poor of Fonthill, Stopp, Westminster, and Feltham; a bequest -of the impropriation of Feltham, for the use of a proper minister to -be established there; an annuity of £20 for providing a minister at -Hatch, in Wiltshire, charged on his estate there; legacies to his -chaplain, Mr. Parr, Mr. Strong, the preacher at the Abbey, and Mr. -Clyve, a Scottish minister; his houses and lodgings at Westminster -to the governors of the almshouses and school there; and the residue -of the estate to his brother Henry, excepting £100 to his niece -Meverell and her sister of the whole blood. The first codicil directs -his executors to sell the Hampshire estates and to fell timber not -exceeding the value of £2,000 on his estates in the county of Kent for -payment of his debts; and the sum of £50 “to my cozen Kath. Leigh who -now liveth with me;” and he further bequeaths all his law books, and -such divinity, history, and other books as his wife shall judge fit, -“to his nephew Harrie Bradshawe.” It may be mentioned that the library -thus bequeathed remained at Marple until the close of the last century, -when, after having been augmented by later generations of the family, -it was sold to Mr. Edwards, of Halifax. Subsequently it was offered -for sale by Messrs. Edwards, of Pall Mall, being then catalogued with -the library of Mr. N. Wilson, of Pontefract, and those of two deceased -antiquaries, the entire collection, according to a writer in the -_Gentleman’s Magazine_ (v. lxxxvi., part 1), being more splendid and -truly valuable than any which had been previously presented to the -curious, and such as “astonished not only the opulent purchasers, but -the most experienced and intelligent booksellers of the metropolis.” -The second codicil gives to his wife’s assignees seven years’ interest -in his Kentish estates after her death, confirms her right to dispark -Somerhill, dispose of the deer, and convert the same to the uses -of husbandry. It further confirms the Middlesex estates to her for -life, and gives her his house at Westminster, held on lease from the -governors of the school there, and directs that £1,000 due from the -State on account of his office of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, -and Chief Justice of Chester, Flint, Denbigh, and Montgomery, be -applied to discharge his debts. It annuls several legacies, and -bequeaths others, among them one of £10 to John Milton; appoints -a legacy of £5 each to all his servants living at the time of his -decease; and makes several additional legal provisions. The will was -proved in London, December 16, 1659, by Henry Bradshaw, the nephew—Mary -Bradshaw, the late wife and sole executrix of the testator, being then -dead, and Henry Bradshaw, the brother, having renounced execution. - -The will is interesting, as showing the extent to which the Lord -President had contrived to enrich himself out of the sequestrated -estates of obnoxious Royalists during the period of the usurpation. -Shortly before the Restoration his nephew Henry was ejected from -Fonthill by the heir of Lord Cottington, who recovered possession of -his ancestral home; and though he managed to secure a large proportion -of the property bequeathed by the will, the benevolent intentions of -the testator were in a great measure frustrated by the changes made in -the disposition of the estate after the return of Charles II. through -the operation of the Act of Confiscation. - -Bradshaw makes allusion in his will to the fact that “God had not -vouchsafed him issue.” Though no children were born to him by his wife, -he is said to have had “an illegitimate son, whose last descendant, -Sarah Bradshaw, married, in 1757, Sir Henry Cavendish, ancestor of -Lord Waterpark.” In the absence, however, of any substantial evidence, -the accuracy of this statement may well be questioned, for we can -hardly suppose the testator would have bequeathed so large a property -to his nephew, and have made no provision for his own offspring, -while permitting him to bear and perpetuate his name. Though the bar -sinister was the reverse of an honourable augmentation, the stigma -of illegitimacy did not attach so much in those days as now. Sir -Henry Cavendish, the ancestor of Lord Waterpark, who was himself -descended from an illegitimate son of Henry, the eldest son of Sir -William Cavendish, of Chatsworth, by his third wife, the renowned -“Bess of Hardwick,” married, August 5, 1757, Sarah (or, according to -some authorities, Mary) only child and heiress of Richard Bradshaw, -who, during her husband’s lifetime, was, in her own right, created -(15th June, 1792) Baroness Waterpark, of Waterpark, in Ireland; and -the supposition that John Bradshaw left an illegitimate son seems -to rest upon the statement made by Playfair, in his “British Family -Antiquities,” and reiterated by Burke, and still more recently in the -“Peerage” of Forster, that this lady was “lineally descended from the -Lord President Bradshaw.” - -Another member of the family employed in the public service during the -Commonwealth period was Richard Bradshaw. His name does not appear in -any of the pedigrees of the Marple line, nor has his identity been -established, though it is very probable he was a nephew of the Lord -President’s, and he was certainly present as one of the mourners at -his funeral. He held the office for some time of Receiver of the Crown -Revenues in Cheshire and North Wales, and was subsequently appointed -to the post of English Resident at Hamburg, whence he was transferred -to Russia, and other of the northern Courts. A great number of his -letters are given in Thurloe’s “State Papers,” and they are especially -interesting as showing the care taken to watch the movements of -Charles II., and the actions of the European Powers likely to render -him assistance in any attempt to recover the throne. In one of these -letters addressed on his return to England to Secretary Thurloe, and -dated from Axeyard, 1st November, 1658, requesting that the sum of -£2,188 0s. 9d. then due to him from the Government might be paid, some -curious circumstances are related in connection with his previous -official life. He says:— - - I am necessitated to acquaint your lordship, that in the yeare - 1648, I beinge then receiver of the crowne-revenue in North-wales - and Cheshire for the state, and cominge to London to passe - accomts, and pay in some money to Mr. Fauconberg the receiver - generall, my lodgings in Kinge Street, Westminster, was broake - into by theeves the very same day the apprentises riss in - London and came down to Whitehall; and £430 was taken fourthe - of a trunke in the chamber where I lay. Though it was a tyme - of great distraction, yet I used such meanes with the warrants - and assistants of Mr. Fauconbridge, as that I found out and - apprehended the fellows the next day, in which the messenger, - Captain Compton, was assistinge to me, whoe were tryed and - condemned at the sessions in the Old Bailey as Compton very well - knowes, being the sonnes of persons of note in Covent Garden. - The prosecution of them cost me above £100, besides the greatest - trouble that ever I had in my life aboute any businesse. But - before my accompte could be declared by the commissioners for - the revenue, whereon I expected allowance for that money, I was - commanded to Hamburg; and now being to settle these accompts in - the exchequer, to have out my ultimate discharge thence, I am told - that it is not in the power of the lords commissioners for the - treasury to give allowance thereof in the way of the exchequer, - without a privy seale to pardon that sume. Therefore I humbly - request that the £430 so taken may be included in the privy seal - with the £3,461 5s. 10d., and then the whole will be £3,891 5s. - 10d., which, if your lordship be satisfied with the accompts, I - pray that Mr. Milbey or Mr. Moreland may have your lordship’s - order to make ready for the seale. - -The riot referred to was no doubt that of the 9th of April, when, -in disregard of the strict Puritan orders in relation to religious -observances, the apprentices were found playing at bowls in Moorfields -during church time. They were ordered by the militia guard to disperse, -but refused, fought the guard, and held their ground. Being soon after -routed by cavalry, they raised the cry of “clubs,” when they were -joined by the watermen. The fight lasted through the night, and in -the morning they had got possession of Ludgate and Newgate, and had -stretched chains across all the great thoroughfares, their cry being -“God and King Charles.” The tumult lasted for forty hours, and was not -put an end to until they were ridden down by a body of cavalry from -Westminster. - -In his petition to the Council of State, praying to be paid the full -sum of £2,188 11s. 4d., Richard Bradshaw states that he had “suffered -the loss of £5,000 in the late wars of this nation, without any -reparation for the same, and for above seventeen years freely exposed -his life at home and abroad in the service of the State; that the same -was disbursed out of his affection to his country, whilst he resided as -public minister in foreign parts, and, if not paid, he should be now, -at his return, rent from his small estate, it being more than he hath -got in the service of the Commonwealth.” - -On the 9th March, 1659-60, the Council directed the amount to be paid, -and on the 12th his accounts were ordered for that purpose to be laid -before Parliament. It does not appear, however, to have been received, -for on the 23rd and 31st he is again found petitioning Thurloe on the -matter, and in the changes that were then taking place it is doubtful -if he ever got anything. Whether, as he feared, he was “rent from -his small estate” or not is not recorded, but it is evident that in -a pecuniary sense he was not so successful as his kinsman, the Lord -President; yet he was a man of much energy and ability, and his letters -give an interesting account of the political affairs of foreign Courts -at the time. He appears to have been continually short of money through -the Government remaining indebted to him, and this fact rather suggests -the idea that Cromwell, who had already broken with John Bradshaw, -desired to hold him as a kind of hostage, and keep him wherever he -chose to place him. - -With a portion of the wealth acquired under John Bradshaw’s will, -Henry, his nephew, in 1693, purchased Bradshaw Hall, in Lancashire, -which, as previously stated, had for many generations been the -residence of another branch of the family, that had then become extinct -in the male line. It is a singular fact that within a comparatively -short period, nearly all, if not all, the branches of the Bradshaw -family became extinct in the male line—the Bradshaws of Haigh, of -Bradshaw, and of Aspull, in Lancashire; of Bradshaw Edge, and of -Barton, in Derbyshire; and finally, as we shall see, of Marple, in -Cheshire, the latter by the death of the Lord President’s grand-nephew -in 1743. - -The subsequent history of the Bradshaws is soon told. Henry, who -inherited the patrimonial estates as well as the bulk of his uncle’s -property, married Elizabeth (erroneously called Magdalene in Ormerod’s, -Forster’s, and Burke’s pedigrees), one of the daughters and co-heirs -of Thomas Barcroft, by whom, on the death of her father in 1688, he -acquired the demesne of Barcroft, in Whalley parish, Lancashire, with -the hall, an ancient mansion dating from the time of Henry VIII. This -Henry made considerable additions to Marple, and erected a great -portion of the outbuildings, as evidenced by the frequent repetitions -of his and his wife’s initials - - B - H E - 1669 - -upon the hall and the stables. By his marriage he had three sons, -Henry, High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1701, who had to wife Elizabeth, -daughter of Richard Legh, of the East Hall, in High Legh, and died in -1724, without issue; Thomas, who died unmarried in 1743; and John, who -predeceased his brother, being also issueless; the estates, on the -death of Thomas, devolving upon the only daughter, Mary, who married -William Pimlot, and by him had two sons, the eldest of whom, John, -succeeded to the estates under a settlement made by his uncle, Thomas -Bradshaw, and had issue a daughter and only child, Elizabeth, married -to Lindon Evelyn, of Keynsham Court, county Hereford, Esq., M.P. for -Dundalk, whose only daughter and heir, Elizabeth, married, December -29th, 1838, Randall Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, elder brother of -the present holder of that title. - -Mary Pimlot, surviving her husband, again entered the marriage -state, her second husband being Nathaniel Isherwood, of Bolton, by -whom she had two sons, Nathaniel, who, under his uncle’s settlement, -succeeded as heir to the Marple and Bradshaw estates on the death -of John Pimlot. He married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Henry -Brabin, of Brabin’s Hall, in Marple, but died without issue in 1765, -when the property passed to his younger brother, Thomas Isherwood, -who married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Attercroft, of Gillibrand -House, near Blackburn, and by her had a son, who died in infancy, and -six daughters. She predeceased her husband; when he married for his -second wife Mary, daughter and heir of Thomas Orrell, of Saltersley, in -Cheshire. This lady, who died 18th May, 1797, bore him four sons and -five daughters. Thomas Bradshaw-Isherwood, the eldest son, succeeded, -but died unmarried 5th January, 1791, when the estates passed to Henry -Bradshaw-Isherwood, the second son, who also died unmarried January -26, 1801, the Marple and Bradshaw properties then devolving upon his -younger brother, John Bradshaw-Isherwood, born 19th June, 1776, who -married, at Bolton, October 19, 1812, Elizabeth, eldest daughter and -co-heir of the Rev. Thomas Bancroft, M.A., vicar of Bolton. In 1815 he -filled the office of Sheriff of Cheshire, and by his wife, who survived -him and died 1st April, 1856, he left, in addition to six daughters, -a son, Thomas Bradshaw-Isherwood, Esq., the present owner of Marple -and Bradshaw, born 10th February, 1820. Mr. Bradshaw-Isherwood, who -is a J.P. and D.L. for Cheshire, married 22nd July, 1840, Mary Ellen, -eldest surviving daughter of the late Rev. Henry Bellairs, M.A., rector -of Bedworth, in Warwickshire, and Hon. Canon of Worcester, one of the -heroes of Trafalgar, by his wife Dorothy Parker, daughter and co-heir -(with Mary, first wife of John, Earl of Strafford, distinguished for -his brilliant services in the battles of the Peninsula and at Waterloo, -and Sarah, wife of Captain Carmichael) of Peter Mackenzie, of Grove -House, Middlesex, descended from the Mackenzies, barons of Kintail. The -issue of this marriage is two sons, John Henry Bradshaw-Isherwood, -born 27th August, 1841, who married, in 1864, Elizabeth, daughter of -Thomas Luce, Esq., formerly member for Malmesbury, and Arthur Salusbury -Bradshaw-Isherwood, born 21st May, 1843. - -We have said sufficient to establish the claim of Marple to rank among -the most interesting of the historic homes of the Palatinate. The -building, which is a good example of the early Jacobean period, with -considerable additions of late seventeenth century work, has undergone -comparatively few changes, having happily escaped those coarse assaults -to which so many of our old mansions have been subjected by modern -renovators. So little is it altered that it would require no great -effort of the imagination to picture the momentous conferences of the -chiefs of Cheshire Nonconformity that were held within its walls, or to -re-people its sombre apartments with the buff-jerkined, jack-booted, -and heavily-accoutred troopers who followed Henry Bradshaw to the -field; indeed, we might almost fancy that the very chairs and tables -have remained undisturbed during the whole two centuries and more that -have elapsed since those eventful days. Of modern furniture there is -comparatively little, almost everything the house contains being of an -age gone by, and in keeping with its ancient character. - -As anything like a detailed description of the interior is beyond the -purpose and the limits of this sketch, we shall content ourselves with -pointing out the principal apartments and some of the more notable -objects they contain. The principal front is on the south side, -from which a porch, supported by stone columns, forming the central -projection from the house, gives admission to the entrance hall, an -apartment 40 feet long and 20 feet wide, lighted at each end by long -low mullioned windows. The floor is laid with alternate squares of -white stone and black marble, and the ceiling, which is flat, is -crossed by massive oaken beams. The want of elevation gives a somewhat -gloomy and depressing effect, and this is heightened by the coloured -glass in the windows, which further subdues the light. The furniture -is of black oak, bright with the rubbings of many generations; and -against the walls are disposed suits of mail, morions, corslets, and -implements of war that have no doubt done duty in many a well-fought -field. On the left of the entrance, leading from the hall, is the -library, twenty feet square, lighted on the south side by a mullioned -window, filled with stained glass, and having the armorial ensigns of -the Bradshaws and their alliances carved upon the wainscot. On the -same floor, and adjoining the library, is the dining-room, a spacious -apartment, thirty feet by twenty feet, with an oriel window at the -north end, commanding an extensive view of the valley of the Goyt -and the surrounding country. The walls of this room are hung with -portraits, and include several that are said to have been brought from -Harden Hall, and to have once belonged to the Alvanley family. Among -them is one of Queen Elizabeth, and others representing the Earls -of Essex and Leicester, Lord Keeper Coventry, Sir Roger Ascham, and -General Monk; there is also a portrait of one of the Dones of Utkinton, -hereditary chief foresters of Delamere, and of his wife, who stands by -his side. Close by the door, on the right of the entrance hall, is a -broad oaken staircase, with decorated balustrades, leading to the upper -chambers. The walls are hung with portraits, views, &c., and in one -corner we noticed an antique spinning-wheel, the property apparently -of some former spinster of the house. The first chamber we enter is -a small ante-room, wainscotted, with a fireplace composed of ancient -Dutch tiles, above which is a shield, with the arms of the Bradshaws -carved in relief, with the date 1665. A flight of circular steps leads -from this chamber to the drawing-room, which is immediately over the -dining-room, and corresponding with it in dimensions. The walls of this -apartment are hung with tapestry of Gobelins manufacture, the subjects -being Diana and her Nymphs, and Time and Pleasure. On the same floor -is another chamber, now occupied as a bedroom, which is interesting -from the circumstance that the black and white timber gable, the only -fragment apparently of the original structure remaining, is exposed to -view, showing where the projecting bay has been added when the house -was enlarged by Henry Bradshaw, the Lord President’s nephew, shortly -after the Restoration. Opposite the wainscotted ante-room before -referred to is a small tapestried bed-chamber, where tradition says the -Lord President first saw the light; and here is the very bed on which, -according to the same reputable authority, he slept—an antiquated -four-poster, very substantial and very elaborately ornamented, with a -cornice round the top, with the following admonitory sentences,[14] in -raised capitals, carved on three sides of it, though it is to be feared -the Lord President did not study them with much advantage:— - - HE THAT IS UNMERCIFUL, MERCY SHALL MISS; - BUT HE SHALL HAVE MERCY THAT MERCIFUL IS. - -And on the inside:— - - LOVE GOD AND NOT GOLD, - SLEEP NOT UNTIL U CONSIDER HOW U HAVE SPENT THE TIME; - IF WELL, THANK GOD; IF NOT, REPENT. - -[Note 14: At Bradshaw Hall, in Chapel-en-le-Frith, the ancient -patrimonial seat of the stock from which the Marple Bradshaws sprang, -there is on the landing of one of the staircases a similar inscription:— - - Love God and not gould. - - He that loves not mercy - Of mercy shall miss; - But he shall have mercy - That merciful is.] - - -There were formerly in this room, and may be now, a helmet, -breastplate, and pair of spurs that were supposed to have belonged -to John Bradshaw, but which are more likely to have been worn by his -elder brother Henry, the Parliamentarian soldier. On the window of the -same chamber is inscribed the well-known prophetic lines that John is -said to have written when a lad attending the Macclesfield Grammar -School. On the right of the entrance hall are two small chambers, of -comparatively little interest; and adjoining them is the servants’ -hall, the most noticeable feature in which is a moulding in stucco, -and here also is repeated the family arms—argent, two bendlets sable, -between as many martlets of the second; with the crest, a stag at gaze -under a vine tree fructed ppr., and the motto, “_Bona Benemerenti -Benedictio_.” A passage in the rear of the house communicates with a -door on the north or terrace front, on the lintel of which is carved -the date 1658. The outbuildings are extensive. They are partly of stone -and partly of brick, and with their quaint gables, pinnacles, and clock -tower form a very picturesque grouping. They are commonly supposed to -have been erected by “Colonel” Henry Bradshaw, for the accommodation of -his Roundhead troopers; but the idea is dispelled by the initials - - B - H E - -and the date, 1669, which may still be discerned—an evidence that they -were erected in more peaceable times by Henry, the Colonel’s son and -successor, who, as we have seen, married Elizabeth Barcroft, and became -heir to much of his uncle’s wealth. Altogether, the old place is a -deeply-interesting memorial of times now happily gone by. Its history -is especially instructive, and it is impossible to wander through its -antiquated chambers without recalling some of the momentous scenes and -incidents in the country’s annals. Happily, evil hands have not fallen -upon it. It is preserved with jealous care; and from the few changes -it has undergone we gather the idea—always a pleasant one—that here -antiquity is reverenced for its worth. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -OVER SANDS BY THE CARTMEL SHORE—WRAYSHOLME TOWER—THE LEGEND OF THE -LAST WOLF. - - -In that sequestered tract of country that stretches away from the -mountain to the main—from the mouth of the Kent to where the Duddon -flows down to join the sea, and extending from the majestic barrier -of the Lake country to the silvery shores of Morecambe Bay—the -wide estuary that divides the Hundred of Lonsdale and separates -the districts of Cartmel and Furness from the other parts of -Lancashire—there is a wealth of natural beauty and many an interesting -nook undreamt of by the ordinary tourist, who, following in the steps -of imitative sight-seers, rushes along the great iron highway to the -North, forgetting that the fairest spots in the world are reserved -for those who have the wisdom to seek out and earn their pleasures -for themselves. In that pleasant corner of Lancashire, mountain and -valley, moor and fell, blend together in happy relationship, presenting -a panorama of swelling hills, wood-clad knolls, and quiet secluded -hamlets within the bright setting of the shimmering sea. It is, as poor -John Critchley Prince was wont to sing:— - - A realm of mountain, forest-haunt, and fell, - And fertile valleys beautifully lone, - Where fresh and far romantic waters roam, - Singing a song of peace by many a cottage home. - -And where— - - Only the sound of the distant sea, - As a far-off voice in a dream may be, - Mingles its tale with the woodland tones, - As the sea waves wash o’er the tidal stones. - -[Illustration] - -But it is not for the lover of the picturesque alone that the district -offers more than ordinary attractions. There are few localities so -rich in records of the past, or surrounded by so many traditional -associations. In addition to the magnificent ruins of Furness, there is -the scarcely less interesting pile of Cartmel, one of the few priory -churches that England now possesses, and which only escaped destruction -in the stormy times of the Reformation by the inhabitants literally -buying off the King’s Commissioners. On Swarthmoor, “the German baron, -bold Martin Swart,” mustered “his merry men” when Lambert Simnel, the -pretender to the Crown, landed at Piel, in 1486, an escapade in which -we fear “Our Lady of Furness” was not altogether free from implication. -Here, too, is Swarthmoor Hall, once the home of Judge Fell; and close -by is the modest Quakers’ Chapel, the first built by George Fox, the -founder of the Society of Friends. Holker Hall has been for a century -and more the home of the Cavendishes, as it was previously of the -Lowthers and the Prestons. The little hamlet of Lindale has been made -the scene of one of the most charming of Mrs. Gaskell’s stories, and -almost within bow-shot is Buck Crag, sheltering beneath which is the -humble dwelling that for many a long year was the abode of Edmund Law, -the curate and schoolmaster of Staveley, the spot where the younger -Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle, and father of Lord Ellenborough, first -saw the light. - -Before the enterprise and skill of Brogden and Brunlees had bridged -the estuaries of the Kent and the Leven, and carried the railway from -Carnforth to Ulverston, the journey to Whitehaven and the western -lakes had to be made across the broad expanse of sand left by each -receding tide, and a perilous journey it was. In bygone days the -monks of Cartmel maintained a guide, paid him out of “Peter’s Pence,” -and, in addition, gave him the benefit of their prayers, which in -truth he often needed; and when their house was dissolved, “Bluff -King Hal” charged the expenses of the office upon the revenues of the -Duchy of Lancaster, so that the “Carter,” as he is now called, is an -old-established institution. There is no beaten pathway “Over Sands,” -for every tide removes the traces of those who have gone before, and -the channels are so constantly shifting that what yesterday might be -firm and solid to the tread, to-day may be only soft and treacherous -pulp. The locality has been oftentimes the scene of mourning and -sorrow, and many are the tales that are told of the “hair-breadth -’scapes” of those who have been overtaken by the “cruel crawling tide” -while journeying over the perilous waste. The old adage tells us that - - The Kent and the Keer - Have parted many a good man and his meear (mare). - -[Illustration: GRANGE-OVER-SANDS.] - -And the registers of Cartmel bear testimony to the fact that, of those -who now sleep peacefully in its “God’s Acre,” a hundred and twenty or -more have met their fate while crossing the shifty channels of this -treacherous shore. The poet Gray, writing in 1767 to Dr. Wharton, -relates a pathetic story of a family who were overtaken by a mist when -half way across and lost their way; and Edwin Waugh, in his pleasant, -gossiping way, tells how an ancient mariner, when asked if the guides -were ever lost on the sands, answered with grim _naïveté_: “I never -knew any lost. There’s one or two drowned now and then, but they’re -generally found somewhere i’th bed when th’ tide goes out.” When the -subjects of the Cæsars had established themselves here, the old Roman -General Agricola made a journey “Over Sands,” and the difficulties he -encountered are related by Tacitus the historian. Mrs. Hemans braved -the dangers, for in one of her letters she says: “I must not omit to -tell you that Mr. Wordsworth not only admired our exploit in crossing -the Ulverston Sands as a deed of ‘derring do,’ but as a decided proof -of taste. The Lake scenery, he says, is never seen to such advantage -as after the passage of what he calls its ‘majestic barrier.’” In the -old coaching days the journey began at Hest Bank, about three miles -from Lancaster, where the guide was usually in waiting to conduct the -travellers across, when a mixed cavalcade of horsemen, pedestrians, and -vehicles of various kinds was formed, which, following the coach, and -headed by the browned and weather-beaten “Carter,” slowly traversed -the trackless waste, the incongruous grouping suggesting the idea -of an Eastern caravan on its passage across the desert. If nothing -else, the journey had the charm of novelty and adventure, which in -some degree compensated for the hazard incurred; and the scenes of -danger and disaster witnessed have furnished the theme for more than -one exciting story, as “Carlyon’s Year” and the “Sexton’s Hero” bear -witness. But the romance of the sands is fast passing away. The guides -have now comparatively little to do, the perilous path is traversed -less and less frequently every year, so that ere long we shall probably -only hear of it as a traditional feature of the times when the name of -Stephenson was unknown and railways were only in the womb of time. - -On the western side of the Milnthorpe Sands, nestling at the foot of -the green slopes of Yewbarrow, with its whitened dwellings peeping -from their garniture of leaves, and its rock-strewn beach lipped by the -capricious sea, is the slowly-rising village of Grange, with its sands -and its sea, its pleasant walks and cheerful drives, all sheltered from -the north winds by the great Cartmel fells clustering at its back. A -place that lures you by the peaceful quietude that prevails, for here -Ethiopian serenaders and blind bag-pipers are unknown, and youthful -lazzaroni with white mice and pink-eyed guinea pigs are beings the -people wot not of. It is not “dressy,” nor is it fashionable in the -sense that Scarborough is, so that you can take your ease in your -inn without risk of being chilled by the freezing presence of Lord -Shingleton or my Lady Marina. The wandering creature who calls himself -a tourist, and is always in search of some new sensation, passes it by -as slow and unexciting, and the herd of holiday-makers who delight to -perform aquatic _poses plastiques_ once a year prefer to do so in such -over-crammed places as Southport, or that marine Babylon—Blackpool. -Nevertheless, it is a pleasant place to stay at when you have nothing -to do, and all the day to do it in; a retreat where you can shake off -those fancies associated with everyday life that cloud the brow and -spoil the digestion, and get rid of that - - Army of phantoms vast and wan - That beleaguer the human soul. - -But our present purpose is not to write a description of Grange, for -though it is a pleasant place to stay at it is also a pleasant place -to go away from—a convenient spot from whence little excursions can -be made to neighbouring places of interest and attraction, and this -time it is Wraysholme Tower, the ruined home of the once powerful -Harringtons, and the rocky promontory of Humphrey Head, where tradition -says the last wolf “in England’s spacious realm” was hunted down, that -attracts our wandering steps. - -As we slowly wend our way towards the upper end of the village, pausing -now and then to gaze across the broad expanse of Morecambe Bay to the -wooded shores on the Lancaster side, and the great fells that stretch -away in rear to join the pale blue hills of Yorkshire, we get sight of -an antiquated building with mullioned windows, now half buried in the -ground, which in former times served as a granary for the storage of -the rich harvests gathered by the fraternity of Cartmel, and hence the -name of “Grange” which has been given to the place. At an angle of the -road, near the higher end, is the church, erected some twenty years -ago through the persevering efforts of a lady resident. Keeping along -the level way, we come presently to a cross-road, and, turning sharply -to the left, pass the farmhouse where, for generations, the “Carters” -have resided. A few minutes’ walk along the railway line brings us to a -pleasant indentation in the shore, where Kent’s Bank, a tiny watering -place, with a trim hotel and cosy-looking villas, bright with flowers -and creeping plants, is striving to rival its more famous neighbour. In -a green nook by the sea is a pleasant mansion that occupies the site -of a more ancient structure, Abbot Hall, once the abode, as tradition -affirms, of the abbots of Cartmel, but, as there were no “abbots” of -that house, it is more likely to have belonged to the fraternity of -Furness, who, as we know, had lands here granted to them as far back as -1135. Mr. Stockdale, in his _Annales Caermoelensis_, suggests that it -was built for the convenience of the abbot when journeying from Furness -to his possessions in Yorkshire. He says:— - - No doubt the puisne monarch (the abbot) and his cavalcade would - travel, in making these journeys, in a stately, lordly, and - ostentatious way, and would pass along the narrow tracks from - the (Furness) Abbey to the Red Lane end, at Conishead Bank, with - more or less difficulty, and then, entering upon the sea sands, - would, in a short time, reach “the Chapel Island,” where, in the - little homely chapel, prayers would be earnestly offered up for - the safe passage of the remainder of the dangerous, though much - the smaller, Morecambe estuary. This needful duty having been - performed, the long cavalcade would slowly wend its way over the - creeks, gullies, and quicksands, till the opposite bank of the - estuary was gained, and then by the old Roman road called now - the Back Lane, to the town of Flookborough, and from thence to - Allithwaite, and by the very old road up and over the precipitous - hill to the abbot’s own comfortable and well-sheltered residence, - Abbot Hall.... As there has always been a tradition that there - was a chapel near Kirkhead and Abbot Hall—some remains of which, - even graves, it is said, existed in the last century—there can but - be little doubt that the abbot and his numerous suite would, after - their night’s rest at Abbot Hall, resort to this chapel and again - pray for a safe passage over the wild and dangerous Lancaster - estuary, eight or nine miles in width, not passed at this day, - even in the presence of a guide, with entire safety.[15] - -[Note 15: Upon the Abbot Hall estate are some lands which still bear the -name of Chapel Fields, in which, at three feet from the surface, -human skeletons have been exhumed. The spot may therefore with much -probability be assumed to have been the site of an oratory, where a -monk of the abbey officiated in offering up prayers for the safety of -such as crossed the sands, Kent’s Bank being the point from which they -would start upon their journey towards Lancaster.] - -A pleasant rural lane leads up from the station at Kent’s Bank to -Allithwaite, a little straggling village, the inhabitants of which -contrive to earn a scanty livelihood by fishing and “cockling” upon -the sands. Steep banks rise on each side, festooned with plumy -ferns and wild flowers, crested with spiked thorn-bushes, scrubby -hazels, and spreading ash-trees, that wave their shadowy branches -overhead. The honeysuckle spreads its delicious perfume around, and -as we saunter leisurely along the sunlight glints through the leafy -openings, shooting down long arrowy rays, that here brighten with -golden touches the gnarled and knotted stem of a sturdy oak, and there -light up a churlish bramble, like a woman’s radiant smile reflecting -its cheeriness upon some worthless Caliban. On the left is Kirkhead, a -lofty knoll, crowned with a prospect tower—Barrow’s summer-house, as -it is called—from the summit of which there is a view that well repays -the labour of ascent. Wraysholme’s ruined tower, whither we are wending -our way, is but a short mile distant, and as we have a long summer -afternoon before us, we may wander at our will. Having mounted the -breezy hill, we lie down on a cushion of soft grass at the foot of the -building to gaze upon the scene, listening the while to the wild bird’s -song and the hoarse melody of the fitful sea. - -The wide expanse of Morecambe Bay lies before us like an out-stretched -panorama, in which every jutting headland, every indentation, and every -crease in the green hills can be distinctly traced. Far below us a long -stretch of shore runs out; an old boat lies upon its side, chained to -a miniature anchor; children are disporting themselves round it, and a -few bare-legged fishermen are busy arranging their long nets, for the -tide is not yet in, though we can see where the crafty silent sea comes -stealing up from the south, each delicate wavelet, as it breaks upon -the yellow sand in a white line of surge, creeping nearer and nearer -to the beach. The softest of summer breezes plays upon the water, -breaking it into innumerable ripples that dance and glitter in the -mellow light. Here and there a few cloud shadows fleck the surface. A -soft summer haze, like an ocean of white mist, hangs in mid distance, -and where it lifts, shows little patches of the blue of heaven beyond. -A broad streak of light marks the line of the horizon where sea and sky -blend together. A solitary white sail glints in the blaze of sunlight, -one or two fishing boats with red-brown sails spot the sea with -colour, and far away a long line of black smoke shows where a steamer -is rapidly ploughing its way towards the Irish coast. Sheltering in -quiet beauty in the little cove below is Kent’s Bank, its buildings, -dwarfed by the intervening space, looking like a group of children’s -toys. Grange is hidden behind the projecting ridge of rock; but Holme -Island, with its pretty little marine temple, stands well out from the -shore, like an emerald gem in the flashing waters. Sheltering it from -the northern blasts, a range of rugged limestone rocks, all channelled -and weather-worn, and fringed with over-lapping trees, is seen; and -there, where a few puffs of white smoke gleam brightly against the deep -blue of space, a train is bearing its living freight across the broad -Milnthorpe Sands. Arnside Knott, with its shady background of wood, -thrusts up its huge form as a foil to quiet Silverdale, reposing by its -side; then, sweeping round in an irregular circle towards the east, we -have an ever-varying shore and an amphitheatre of intersecting hills, -now dark with shadow and now gay with the tints of the many-hued -vegetation, with Ingleborough and the great Dent Fells far, far beyond, -yet, in the pure atmosphere, seeming so near and so clear that we may -almost fancy we can see the purple heather blooming upon their sides. -Further south, bathed in a flood of sunshine, the battlemented keep of -Lancaster Castle comes full in sight, with its frowning gate-tower, -through which many an ill-starred wretch has doubtless trembled as he -passed, and where, upon its threshold, may be said yet to linger the -solemn footprints of mingled innocence and guilt—a stony relic that -calls to remembrance “Old John o’ Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster,” -and turns back the pages of the Book of Time to the turbulent days -which witnessed the fierce forays of the Northern hordes and the still -fiercer struggles of the rival Roses; and beyond the Castle, the green -knolls rising above the water-line in the direction of Heysham and -Sunderland—Cape Famine, as the people call it—looking like so many -islands in a sea of silver. - -Carrying the eye round to the west, a picture scarcely less beautiful -meets the gaze. The low-lying plain on the right—the Wyke,[16] as it -is called—has, within living memory, been reclaimed from the hungry -sea; and where was once old ocean’s bed there are now lush pastures, -and fields of waving grain that give promise of an abundant harvest. -Below us, peeping up from a clump of trees, are seen the ruined walls -of Wraysholme Tower, where the lordly Harringtons held sway, and -with which we shall make more intimate acquaintance by-and-by; and -near thereto Humphrey Head, looking like a monster couchant, thrusts -its huge form far out from the shore. The little village beyond is -Flookborough, and within half a mile is Cark, contiguous to which, -half hidden among the umbraged woods, is Holker, the favourite seat of -the Duke of Devonshire. Across the Leven sands we get a glimpse of -Chapel Island, a little sea-girt solitude, with the crumbling ruins of -its ancient sanctuary peeping through the gloom of the overshadowing -trees, where, in days of yore, the monks of Furness “their orisons and -vespers sung,” and offered prayers “for the safety of the souls of such -as crossed the sands with the morning tide.” Almost within bow-shot are -the rich woods and glades of Conishead; and further on, the old town of -Ulverston can be discerned, with the great rounded hill—the Hoad—in the -rear, on which the monument to the memory of its distinguished son, the -late Sir John Barrow, stands— - - On the gusty down, - Far seen across the sea-paths which he loved, - A beacon to the steersman. - -[Note 16: “Wyke” signifies a bay with a low shore; and the now fertile -plain, which includes some hundreds of acres, protected with deep -embankments and valve gates for the land streams, was reclaimed many -years ago through the enterprise of Mr. Towers, of Dudden Grove, and -the late Mr. Stockdale, of Cark.] - -At the extreme corner of the Furness shore, where the tall chimneys -shoot up and the thick smoke hangs like a pall, is Barrow, which -by the magic power of iron has been suddenly transformed from an -obscure fishing village into a busy and populous town, and the seat -of industrial and commercial activity. Reaching far out into the -sea is lonely wave-girt Walney, with its ruined castle—the pile of -Fouldrey—built on the foundation of the Vikings’ stronghold by the -monks of Furness as a defence against the marauding Scots—looming -darkly against the flashing waters. Black Comb, stern, bleak, and wild, -its gleaming summit breaking through the clouds, lifts its huge form -with frowning majesty above the dreary moors and storm-worn hills; -and, rearward, the eye wanders over the Coniston range to the Old Man, -and thence to Bowfell, the twin pikes of Langdale, and round towards -Skiddaw, where a succession of mighty headlands—the silent companions -of the mist and cloud—crowd one upon another until the dim outlines of -their giant peaks are lost in the blue infinity of space. - -Apart from its natural beauty and the pleasant prospect it commands, -Kirkhead is not without attractions for those who delight in -investigating the memorials of prehistoric times. On the steep -acclivities on the south side of the hill, mantled with ferns and -coarse weeds, and well-nigh hidden with trees and brushwood, is the -entrance to a natural opening or cavern in the limestone rock, 40 or -50 feet in length and about 20 feet high, which in the dim and shadowy -past has evidently been the abode of some primeval Briton. You can get -down to it by an inconvenient track from the top, but the better way -is by a path that winds round the base of the hill, through the scrub, -and along the edge of the meadow until you reach a heap of soil and -_débris_ left from previous explorations, when the entrance is seen -just above. In the excavations that have been made a skull and other -human remains have been discovered, with fragments of rude pottery, -implements of stone, and the bones of the red deer, wild boar, fox, and -other animals. Near the surface was also found a coin of the reign of -the Emperor Domitian (A.D. 84)—strong presumptive evidence that there -have been a succession of tenants, and some of them during the period -of Roman occupation. Repeated examinations have been made of this -primitive abode, and an account of its hidden mysteries will be found -in Dr. Barber’s “Prehistoric Remains.” - -Descending from our lofty eyrie, we pass through the little village of -Allithwaite, and then strike into a pleasant leafy lane on the left, -bordered with tall trees—oak, and ash, and beech—that look as green and -luxurious as if they were buried in some inland combe instead of having -had the sea breezes sweeping over them for many a long winter past. A -little rindle keeps us in pleasant companionship, sparkling here and -there in the deep shadow, and now and then we get glimpses of the level -waste of silver sand and the sea beyond, shining through the summer -haze. A few minutes’ walking and we come in sight of the crumbling -remains of Wraysholme Tower, the object of our present pilgrimage, -standing a little way back on the left of the road. A bright-eyed -youngster holds the gate open for us, with expectant glances, as we -pass through into the farmyard, in which the old weather-worn relic -stands, and the gladsome looks with which our modest _largesse_ is -received assure us that it is not unworthily bestowed. - -[Illustration: WRAYSHOLME TOWER.] - -The embattled tower or peel is all that now remains, and whatever of -other buildings there may have been have long since disappeared. Built -for defence, and as a place of refuge for men and cattle against the -incursions of Scottish marauders and enemies approaching from the Irish -Sea, it formed the strongest and most important feature of the original -structure; and even now, though dismantled and forlorn, and applied to -“base uses” its founders little dreamt of, with its thick walls, its -small jealous windows, and its gloomy apartments, it gives evidence of -purposed resistance to sudden intrusion, and shows that security rather -than convenience was the object of its builders—a lingering memorial -of those grim and stern old times ere order had spread and law had -superseded might, when even power could only feel secure when protected -by strongly-fortified walls, a - - Monument of rudest times, - When science slept entombed, and o’er the waste, - The heath-grown crag, and quivering moss of old - Stalk’d unremitted war. - -The tower in general form is a parallelogram, measuring about -forty-five feet by thirty; the strongly-grouted walls are surmounted -by an overhanging parapet, with a watch-turret projecting from each -angle, giving it the character of a fortalice—as, indeed, it was in the -troublous times when watch and ward and beacon lights were necessary -safeguards against sudden assaults. In an angle of the thick walls -is a spiral stone staircase, communicating with the upper chambers -and the roof—the latter, in its original state, having been flat and -covered with lead. The masonry, though of great strength, is plain -and of the simplest character, the only carved work being the small -square-headed windows in the upper stories, which have foliated lights, -divided by a mullion, and are apparently of later date than the main -structure, having probably been inserted about the close of the long -reign of Edward III. In one of these windows the arms and crests of the -Harringtons and Stanleys were formerly to be seen, but they were some -years ago removed for safety, and are now placed in a window of the -adjacent farmhouse. One of the small diamond panes has the well-known -Stanley crest—an eagle, with wings endorsed, preying upon an infant -in its cradle, with the addition of the fret or Harrington knot—_nodo -firmo_—at each angle. On another pane are the letters Q (the equivalent -of W) H, with the fret above and below—the initials being probably -those of Sir William Harrington, who, according to Dr. Whitaker, -fell mortally wounded on the plains of Agincourt, on that memorable -St. Crispin’s Day in 1415[17]. A third pane has depicted upon it an -eagle’s claw, a cognizance of the Stanleys, with a fleur de lis on each -side. - -[Note 17: This is an error on the part of the learned historian, for Sir -William Harrington’s death did not occur until 1450.] - -It is not known with certainty when Wraysholme was erected; but -probably it was not long after William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke, -founded the Priory of Cartmel (1188); and it may have been intended -as a protection for the fraternity of that house, in the same way -that Piel Castle was for the security of the monks of Furness; but, -if so, the brotherhood did not enjoy a very lengthened tenure, for a -little more than a century after, it is found in the possession of the -great feudal family of the Harringtons of Aldingham, descended from -the Haveringtons or Harringtons of Haverington, near Whitehaven. Sir -Robert Harrington, the first of the name settled at Aldingham, which he -had acquired in right of his wife, had two sons, the younger of whom, -Michael Harrington had—8 Edward II. (1314-15)—a grant of free-warren in -Alinthwaite (Allithwaite), in which township Wraysholme is situated, -but the property eventually passed to the descendants of the elder -brother, Sir John, a great-grandson of whom, Sir William Harrington, -Knight of the Garter, was standard-bearer at the battle of Agincourt, -where he is erroneously said to have lost his life. This Sir William -married Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Robert Neville, of Hornby -Castle, and by her had a son, Sir Thomas Harrington. - -[Illustration] - -In the fierce struggles of the Red and White Roses the Harringtons -ranged themselves on the side of the Yorkists, and suffered severely -in that internecine conflict Sir Thomas Harrington, who married a -daughter of the house of Dacre, and succeeded to the Hornby estates in -right of his mother, fell fighting under the standard of the White Rose -at Wakefield Green, and his only son, Sir John Harrington, received his -death-blow while fighting by his side on that memorable day (December -31, 1460), a day fatal to the House of York, and scarcely less fatal -to the victorious Lancastrians; for the cruelties there perpetrated -by the Black-faced Clifford were repaid with ten-fold vengeance at -Towton a few months later. Drayton, in his “Queen Margaret,” recounts -the butcher-work that Clifford did at Wakefield when the brave Richard -Plantagenet, Duke of York, and his son, the Earl of Rutland, fell -together—when - - York himself before his castle gate, - Mangled with wounds, on his own earth lay dead; - Upon whose body Clifford down him sate, - Stabbing the corpse, and cutting off the head, - Crowned it with paper, and to wreak his teene, - Presents it so to his victorious queene, - -and the “victorious queene,” the haughty Margaret of Anjou, in the -insolence of her short-lived triumph, gave the order,— - - Off with his head, and set it on York gates, - So York may overlook the town of York, - -Dr. Whitaker tells us that when the news reached Hornby that Sir Thomas -and Sir John Harrington, father and son, with their kinsman, Sir -William Harrington, Lord Bonville of Aldingham, were slain, the widow -of Sir Thomas withdrew to her daughter for consolation, but her son’s -widow, Matilda, a sister of the Black-faced Clifford, partaking, as it -would seem, of her brother’s hard nature, remained, and “was at leisure -to attend to business.” - -With Sir John’s death the male line of this branch of the Harringtons -terminated. He left two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth, his co-heirs, -then aged respectively nine and eight years. Their paternal uncle, -Sir James Harrington, took forcible possession of the estates and -claimed them as his own, but on an appeal to the Court of Chancery, he -was dispossessed and committed to the Fleet, when the wardship of the -two young heiresses and the custody of their inheritance were granted -to Thomas Lord Stanley, who considerately married the eldest, Anne, -to his third son, Sir Edward Stanley, the hero of Flodden Field, and -the youngest to his nephew, John Stanley, of Melling, the son of his -brother, the first Sir John Stanley[18] of Alderley, in Cheshire. - -[Note 18: By a curious error, which has been repeated in many of the -published pedigrees, this Sir John Stanley is represented as a base -son of James Stanley, Warden of Manchester, and afterwards Bishop of -Ely. Bishop Stanley’s son, who was also distinguished for his valour on -the field of Flodden, was Sir John Stanley, of Honford (Handforth), in -Cheadle parish. Cheshire.] - -Sir Edward Stanley, who eventually became the possessor of both -Wraysholme and Hornby, the former, as it would seem, having been -forfeited to the Crown by the attainder of his wife’s uncle, Sir James -Harrington, who, with his brother, Sir Robert, fought on the side of -Richard III. at Bosworth Field, had been a soldier from his youth up. -“The camp,” it is said, “was his school, and his learning the pike and -sword.” The lords of Wraysholme, with their retainers, had many a time -and oft set out to repel the Scots in their plundering raids across -the Border, but now they were called upon to meet the Scottish King -himself, who had entered England with a powerful army, and laid waste -some of the Border strongholds. Summoning his followers, the valiant -Stanley prepared himself for the field, when, as the old ballad tells -us,— - - Sir Edward Stanley, stiff in stour,[19] - He is the man on whom I mean, - With him did pass a mighty pow’r, - Of soldiers seemly to be seen. - - Most lively lads in Lonsdale bred, - With weapons of unwieldy weight, - All such as Tatham Fells had fed, - Went under Stanley’s streamer bright. - - * * * * * - - From Silverdale to Kent sand side, - Whose soil is sown with cockle shells, - From Cartmel eke and Connyside, - With fellows fierce from Furness Fells. - -[Note 19: Stour, _i.e_., fight.] - -He and his brave men marched forward until they came to “Flodden’s -fatal field,” when Stanley was entrusted with the command of the rear -of the English army, which he led so valiantly, and made such a sudden -and unexpected onslaught with his bowmen, that the Scots were put to -flight, leaving their King dead upon the field. Scott has enshrined -Stanley’s deeds at Flodden in imperishable verse, and few couplets are -more frequently quoted than that which tells us— - - “Victory!— - Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!” - Were the last words of Marmion. - -Doubtless it was a gay day at Wraysholme when the stout Lancashire -lads, with their brave leader, returned to tell the tale of victory. -Henry VIII., keeping his Christmas at Eltham, the following year -(1514), commanded that Sir Edward Stanley, as a reward for his services -in having won the hill and vanquished those opposed to him, as also -that his ancestors bore the eagle as their crest, should there be -proclaimed Lord Monteagle, which was accordingly done, and by that -title he had summons to Parliament, and was made a Knight of the Garter. - -Sir Edward Stanley, Lord Monteagle, died in 1584, and about this time -the old peel of Wraysholme passed to the Dicconsons, a branch of the -family of that name seated at Wrightington, in Eccleston parish, for -in the following year “Richd. Dicconson, of Raisholme,” appears among -the _liberi tenentes_ in Cartmel parish, and the place continued in -the possession of this family for a century or more. In 1756 it was -purchased by John Carter, of Cart Lane, and given by him, in 1790, -to his daughter Dorothy, the wife of John Harrison, from whom it has -descended through the female line to the present possessor—Thomas Newby -Wilson, of Landing, Newby Bridge. - -The gloomy-looking old tower, in which the chivalrous and intrepid -Harringtons so long held sway, now only exhibits the melancholy -aspects of desertion and decay. It is used as an outbuilding to the -neighbouring farmhouse, and, though much dilapidated, tells more of -time, and time’s slow wasting hand, than of the ruinous havoc of -ruthless war. - -The glory has long passed away, for two centuries and more have rolled -by since it was in the heyday of its prosperity. It is now tenantless -and forlorn, its battlements are broken, its rooms are desolated, and -the wind whistles through the narrow casements that once were storied -with the heraldic achievements of its knightly owners. Old time has -pressed heavily upon it—may no ruder hand hasten its destruction! - -A little more than half a mile from Wraysholme Tower is Humphrey -Head, a huge mass of carboniferous limestone that thrusts its gaunt -form far out into the bay, dividing the Milnthorpe from the Ulverston -Sands. To the north it rises abruptly from the plain, here grim and -grey and lifeless-looking, and there decked with a rich embroidery -of lichens, moss, and trailing ivy, while the ledges of the rock are -covered with a thick vegetation of ash and hazel, the bright greenery -of which is in places relieved by the darker foliage of the yew that -here thrives luxuriously. Round towards the sea the steep acclivities -are all broken, channelled, and weather-worn, with scarcely a sign of -vegetation to relieve their general sterility; and huge heaps that -have been brought down by successive storms lie strewn about the shore -in picturesque confusion. The rocky cliff which rears its naked front -almost perpendicularly to a considerable elevation is not without its -tale of sorrow, as we gather from the following warning, inscribed upon -a block of limestone:— - - Beware how you these rocks ascend, - Here William Pedder met his end, - August 22nd, 1857. Aged 10 years. - -Near the top of the cliff is the Fairies’ Cave—a large cavernous -opening or recess formed by the shrinkage of the limestone; and at -the base is the Holy Well, a mineral spring famed for its curative -properties in Camden’s time, and which even within memory was resorted -to by the Cumberland miners, who came in large numbers to drink its -health-inspiring waters. The spring issues through a fissure in the -rock within a few feet of the ground, the flow being at the rate -of about a gallon a minute, continuing without variation through -the different seasons of the year. The water is perfectly clear and -colourless, and effervesces slightly on agitation—an indication of the -presence of free carbonic acid. Dr. Barber, who has written an account -of the spa, tells us the principal ingredients are the chlorides of -sodium and magnesium, and the sulphates of lime and soda; and that in -its chief characteristics it most resembles the waters at Wiesbaden -and the Ragoczy spring at Kissingen. Its celebrity would seem to have -arisen as much from its diluent powers as from its medicinal virtues; -and probably recent analyses, which have disclosed the fact that it -contains but a small proportion of solid ingredients, have broken -the charm with which traditional piety had surrounded it, and caused -the health-seeking pilgrims who formerly believed in its virtues to -seek elsewhere the refreshing and restorative draughts which nature -provides. The spring is now virtually abandoned; the cottage close by, -in which the high-priestess formerly resided, is tenantless and falling -to decay; but the key of the spring can be had from the neighbouring -farmhouse. - -Tradition gathers round this little corner of Lancashire, and the -shaping power of imagination has clothed it with the weird drapery of -romance—that - - Dubious light - That hovers ’twixt the day and night, - Dazzling alternately and dim. - -When the Harringtons established themselves here the wolf and the -wild boar roamed at large through the thick forests of Cartmel, and -among the legends and scraps of family history that have floated down -through successive generations is the story that on the eminence to -the north of Wraysholme the last wild boar was hunted down; from which -circumstance the hill has ever since borne the name of Boar Bank. It is -said, too, that, far back in the mist of ages, it was from Wraysholme -Tower a gallant company rode forth to hunt the last wolf “in England’s -spacious realm;” and that, after a long and weary chase, the savage -beast was tracked to its lair on the wooded heights of Humphrey Head, -and there transfixed by the spear of a Harrington. Tradition has been -well described as the nursing-mother of the Muses, and these bits of -legendary lore, which have been deeply rooted in the memories, and -for many a generation have delighted the firesides, of the Cartmel -cottagers, have inspired the pen of a local poet, who has told the -story of “The Last Wolf” in spirit-stirring verse. This interesting -ballad, though varying considerably from the current tradition, is -yet a valuable contribution to our Palatine anthology. Its great -length—seventy-five verses—prevents our giving it entire, but the -following passages will give an idea of the salient features of the -story:— - - The sun hath set on Wraysholme’s Tower, - And o’er broad Morecambe Bay; - The moon from out her eastern bower - Pursues the track of day. - - On Wraysholme’s grey and massive walls, - On rocky Humphrey Head, - On wood and field her silver falls, - Her silent charms are shed. - - No sound through all yon sleeping plain - Now breaks upon the ear, - Save murmurs from the distant main, - Or evening breezes near. - - * * * * * - - Within those walls may now be seen - The festive board displayed, - And round it many a knight, I ween, - And many a comely maid. - - For know that on the morrow’s dawn, - With all who list to ride, - Sir Edgar Harrington hath sworn - To hunt the country-side. - - A wolf, the last, as rumour saith, - In England’s spacious realm, - Is doomed that day to meet its death, - And grace the conqueror’s helm. - - And he hath sworn an oath beside, - Whoe’er that wolf shall quell - Shall have his fair niece for a bride, - And half his land as well. - -The “fair niece” is the orphan Lady Adela— - - For beauty famous far and wide, - -whose heart has previously been given to Sir Edgar’s son; but the -course of true love has been characterised by the proverbial absence -of smoothness, and the young knight, to escape his father’s wrath, has -betaken himself to the wars in Eastern lands. - -The night’s carousal draws to a close, and at break of day the -huntsman’s horn wakes the sleepers to a glorious chase, when - - Full threescore riders mount with speed, - -chief among whom, and the competitors for the fair Adela’s hand, are -the two knights, Laybourne and Delisle—the latter the long-lost son of -Sir Edgar, who has returned from the Crusades, and appears in disguise -and under an assumed name, though the old retainers, as they view the -stranger knight, know that - - The long-lost wanderer meets their sight, - Whate’er his name be now. - -The wolf, scared from his covert on Humphrey Head, leads the hunters -a long and exciting chase over Kirkhead, past Holker and Newby, and -across “the Leven’s brawling flood,” to the Old Man of Coniston. The -dogs are again upon the track, and the grisly beast is away through -“Easthwaite’s lonely deep,” through woodland, brake, and forest hoar, -“through Sawrey’s pass,” and on to the shores of Windermere, where, - - With one bold plunge, the mere he takes, - And, favoured by the wind, - The flabbing scent abruptly breaks, - And leaves his foes behind. - -But the “tireless bloodhounds” are once more upon the scent, the rival -knights follow in hot pursuit, and - - Away along the wooded shore - The chase betakes him now, - Beneath the friendly shade of Tower - And craggy Gummerhow. - - Then turn aside to Witherslack, - Where Winster’s waters range, - And thence to shingly Eggerslack, - And sand-surveying Grange. - -Then, with the instinct of despair, the brute makes for his old haunt -on Humphrey Head, as “evening shades appear.” Reaching a deep chasm -in the rock, wolf and hounds rush headlong to their destruction. -Laybourne’s horse rears at the “giddy brink,” but the “bold Delisle” -rushes madly on, crying— - - Adela! I’ll win thee now! - Or ne’er wend forth again. - -Delisle and his “Arab white” pursue their headlong course down the -rocky gulf— - - Awhile from side to side it leapt, - That steed of mettle true, - Then swiftly to destruction swept, - Like flashing lightning flew. - - The shingle in its headlong course, - With rattling din gave way; - The hazels snap beneath its force, - The mountain savins sway. - -By chance the Lady Adela happens to be riding by at the moment, upon -her “palfrey white”— - - When, lo! the wild wolf bursts in sight, - And bares his glistening teeth! - - Her eyes are closed in mortal dread, - And ere a look they steal, - The wolf and Arab both lie dead, - And scatheless stands Delisle! - -The Red Cross knight now reveals himself as the lost son of Sir Edgar. -The father welcomes the wanderer, and in fulfilment of his promise, -bestows “his fair niece for a bride.” The result may be anticipated. -The Prior of Cartmel, happening opportunely to be passing, “to drink -the Holy Well”— - - Sir Edgar straight the priest besought - To tarry for awhile; - Who, when the lady’s eye he caught, - Assented with a smile. - -The “Fairies’ Cave,” on Humphrey Head, served for the nonce as a -chapel, for - - The monk he had a mellow heart, - And, scrambling to the spot, - Full blithely there he played his part, - And tied the nuptial knot. - - And hence that cave on Humphrey Hill, - Where these fair deeds befel, - Is called Sir Edgar’s chapel still, - As hunters wot full well. - - And still the holy fount is there - To which the prior came; - And still it boasts its virtues rare, - And bears its ancient name. - - And long on Wraysholme’s lattice light, - A wolf’s head might be traced, - In record of the Red Cross Knight, - Who bore it for his crest. - - In Cartmel church his grave is shown, - And o’er it, side by side, - All graved in stone, lies brave Sir John - And Adela his bride. - -Such is “The Legend of the Last Wolf.” The supposed monument, “all -graved in stone,” still adorns the choir of Cartmel church. Beneath -the ponderous canopy the recumbent figures of the knight and his lady, -lying side by side, may still be seen, looking the very types of -chivalrous honour and conjugal felicity; and there for certainty is -the sculptured figure of the veritable wolf, reposing quietly at their -feet—confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ, although prosaic -antiquaries, disdaining the faint glimmerings of truth that only steal -through the haze of tradition, tell us, with irreverent disregard for -the poetry of romance, that the story is apocryphal; and further try to -shake our faith by affirming that the figures are those of the valiant -Harrington, who fell fighting for the White Rose at Wakefield, and his -wife, a daughter of the lordly house of Dacre. But we will not discuss -the identity of the departed knights, or the merits of their respective -claims to the battered effigies that have failed to perpetuate their -names—monuments that - - Themselves memorials need. - -High up on Humphrey Head the cave in which the nuptial knot was tied -still remains; and there, at the foot, is the Holy Well, the waters -of which flow as freely as they did in days of yore, though now only -imbibed when a chance wayfarer finds his way to this lonely seaside -nook, and quaffs a goblet to the memories of the - - Brave Sir John, - And Adela his bride, - -and the holy friar who made them one. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - AN AFTERNOON AT GAWSWORTH—THE FIGHTING FITTONS—THE CHESHIRE WILL - CASE AND ITS TRAGIC SEQUEL—HENRY NEWCOME—“LORD FLAME.” - - -If any reader wishes to obtain a brief respite from the busy life of -the “unclean city,” to get away from the noise of looms and spindles, -the smoke of factories and the smell of dyes, and to find within easy -distance of the great manufacturing metropolis a place of perfect quiet -and repose where he may feel that for all practical purposes he is “at -the world’s end,” let him by all means spend a summer afternoon in that -quaint little out-of-the-way nook, Gawsworth, and he will return to the -crowded mart with little inclination to cry out with the Roman Emperor, -“_Perdidi diem_.” Yet how few there are who have made acquaintance with -this _beau-ideal_ of a quiet rural retreat. The places which it is the -proper thing to visit, or “do,” as the phrase is, are all carefully -mapped out for our convenience; but the literary finger-posts afford -but little guidance to the true rambler, who knows that the fairest -spots are those which are oftenest overlooked. Gawsworth may be easily -reached from Alderley or Chelford; but perhaps the most convenient -starting point is Macclesfield, from which it is distant a short four -miles. - -Macclesfield does not present a particularly prepossessing appearance, -though it possesses much that is historically interesting, and -you may here and there see relics of mediæval times; but the long -centuries have wrought many changes in its condition, and those -changes can hardly be said to be from grave to gay. Its forest was -once the hunting-ground of kings. A royal palace occupied a site -very near to the present Park Lane, and in the Fourth Edward’s reign -Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, had a princely residence there. The -town itself was walled, and though there is not now a single stone -remaining, the recollection of its fortifications is preserved in -the streets—Chestergate, Church Wallgate, and Jordangate—which form -the principal outlets from it. Notwithstanding that it once boasted -a royal owner, it now presents but a dingy and uninviting aspect, so -that we are little loth to leave its steep and tortuous streets, and -what Nathaniel Hawthorne would call its ugliness of brick, and betake -ourselves to the open country. - -On getting clear of the town, we enter upon a pleasant rural highway -that rises and falls in gentle undulations. Tall trees border the -wayside, which, as we advance, grow thicker, until we reach a double -line of spreading beeches that meet in an entanglement overhead, -and form a long shady avenue, through which a pleasant vista is -obtained. Now and then we meet a chance wayfarer and occasionally a -sleepy-looking carter with his team, but the road is comparatively -little frequented, and we almost wonder that with the limited traffic -it does not become grass-grown. Though it is quiet now-a-days, it was -lively enough in the old coaching times, when the “Red Rover” and the -“Defiance” were in the zenith of their popularity, and the tootling -of the guard’s bugle daily awoke the echoes to the inspiring notes of -the “British Grenadiers,” for it was then the great highway between -Manchester and the metropolis. But those days are changed, and our -dream of the past is rudely dispelled by the shrill whistle of the -“express” as it shoots along the edge of the Moss, leaving a long white -pennon of steam in its wake. - -As we journey on we get agreeable glimpses of the country, and the -varied character of the scenery adds to the charm. Below us on -the left stretches a broad expanse of bog—Danes Moss, as it is -called—commemorating some long-forgotten incursion of the wild -Scandinavian hordes— - - When Denmark’s raven soared on high. - -On the outskirts of the town is an old farmstead, called Cophurst, -on the site of which, as tradition sayeth, Raphael Hollinshead, the -chronicler, resided three hundred years ago. Close by is Sutton, once -the home of another Cheshire worthy—Sir Richard Sutton—“that ever -famous knight and great patron of learning,” as King, in his “Vale -Royal,” calls him, “one of the founders of Brazenose, in Oxford, where -by his bounty many of Cheshire youth receive most worthy education.” -The foreground is broken into picturesque inequalities, and in the -rear rises a succession of swelling hills, part of the great Kerridge -range—the stony barriers of the Peak country. Where the steep crags cut -sharply against the eastern sky is Teg’s Nose, famed for its gritstone -quarries. Further on, Shutling’s Low rears its cone-shaped peak to a -height of 1,660 feet, and behind we catch sight of the breezy moor, on -the summit of which stands that lonely hostelry, the Cat and Fiddle, -the highest public-house, it is said, to be found in the kingdom. The -great hill-slopes, though now almost bare of wood, once formed part -of the great forest of Macclesfield, in which for generations the -Davenports, as chief foresters, held the power of life and death over -the robber bands who in the old times infested it, as well as the -punishment of those who made free with the Earl’s venison; and they -not only held but exercised their rights, as the long “Robber Roll” -at Capesthorne still testifies. Though it has long been completely -disafforested, the memory of it still lingers. Forest Chapel, away up -in the very heart of this mountain wilderness, perpetuates the name, -and Wildboar Clough—Wilbor Clough, as the Macclesfieldians persist in -calling it—Hoglegh, and Wolfscote remind us of the former denizens -of these moorland wastes. Beyond Teg’s Nose a great gap opens in -the hills, and then Cloud End rears its rugged form—dark, wild, and -forbidding. From the summit, had we time to climb it, a charming -view might be obtained of the picturesquely varied country— - - Of farms remote and far apart, with intervening space - Of black’ning rock and barren down, and pasture’s pleasant face; - And white and winding roads that creep through village, vale, and glen, - And o’er the dreary moorlands, far beyond the homes of men. - -[Illustration: GAWSWORTH OLD HALL.] - -On the right the scenery is of a more pastoral character. Lawns and -meadows stretch away, and the eye ranges over the broad fertile plain -of Cheshire—over quaint sequestered nooks and quiet homesteads, and -old-fashioned villages, with here and there a grey church tower rising -in their midst; over well-tilled fields and daisied pastures, and -league upon league of cultivated greenness, where the thick hedgerows -cross and recross each other in a network of verdant beauty. The -crumbling ruins of Beeston Castle crowning the edge of a bold outlier -of rock, may be dimly discerned, with Peckforton rising close by its -side, and beyond, where a shadowy form reaches like a cloud across the -horizon, we can trace the broken outline of the Welsh hills, with Moel -Fammau towering above them all. - -Presently the battlemented towers of Gawsworth Church are seen peering -above the umbrage; then we come to a cross road, and, turning sharply -to the left, continue along a green old bosky lane, and past the -village school, close to which is a weather-worn memorial of bygone -days—the old wayside cross standing beneath a clump of trees, erected, -as old writers tell us, to “guide and guard the way to church,” and -the sight of which, with the surroundings, calls to remembrance Hood’s -lines on the symbol of the Christian’s faith:— - - Say, was it to my spirit’s gain or loss, - One bright and balmy morning, as I went - From Liège’s lonely environs to Ghent, - If hard by the way-side I found a cross, - That made me breathe a pray’r upon the spot— - While Nature of herself, as if to trace - The emblem’s use, had trail’d around its base - The blue significant Forget-me-not? - Methought, the claims of Charity to urge - More forcibly, along with Faith and Hope, - The pious choice had pitched upon the verge - Of a delicious slope, - Giving the eye much variegated scope;— - “Look round,” it whisper’d, “on that prospect rare, - Those vales so verdant, and those hills so blue; - Enjoy the sunny world, so fresh and fair, - But (how the simple legend pierced me thro’!)”— - “Priez pour les Malheureux.” - -For a short distance the road now descends, and near the bottom a bank -rises abruptly on the right, crowned with a plantation of oak and -larch—the “sylvan shade”—beneath which reposes the “breathless clay” -of the eccentric poet, wit, and player—Samuel Johnson—known by his -generation as “Lord Flame,” of whom we may have something to say anon. -A few yards further on is the new hall, or “New Buildings,” as it is -sometimes called, a plain brick house, the south wing only of which -has been completed, built in Queen Anne’s reign by that Lord Mohun who -brought the noted Cheshire will case to a sanguinary end, when he and -his adversary, the Duke of Hamilton, fell together in a duel in Hyde -Park, Nov. 15, 1712. At this point the view of Gawsworth opens upon -us, presenting one of the fairest pictures of quiet rural beauty that -Cheshire possesses. There is a dreamy old-world character about the -place, a sweet fragrance of the olden time, and a peaceful tranquillity -of the present; and the ancient church, the picturesque half-timbered -rectory, and the stately old hall, with the broad grass-bordered road, -the wide-spreading sycamores, and the old-fashioned fish ponds, in -the weed-grown depths of which every object, with the overarching sky -and the white clouds sailing therein are given back with distinct -vividness, impart an air of venerable and undisturbed respectability. -The place belongs so entirely to the past, and there seems such a -remoteness between the hoar antiquity of a scene so thoroughly old -English and the busy world from which we have just emerged, that we -almost hesitate to advance. - -[Illustration: GAWSWORTH CROSS.] - -There is no village, so to speak, the church, the parsonage, and the -two halls, with a cottage or two adjoining the church steps, being all -the buildings we can see; there is not even that usual and supposed to -be indispensable adjunct of an old English country village, the village -inn, the nearest hostelry being the Harrington Arms, an old coaching -house on the London road, a quarter of a mile or more away. The church, -a grey and venerable pile, with a remarkably well proportioned tower, -which exhibits some good architectural details of the perpendicular -period, stands in its graveyard, a little to the south of a broad -grass-grown road, upon a gentle eminence encompassed by a grey stone -fence that looks as ancient as the building itself. Tall trees -overshadow it—larch and fir—that rear their lofty spines from near the -water’s edge, and, yielding to the northern blasts, bend in graceful -curves towards the ancient fane. You can mount the steps and pass -through the little wicket into the quiet “God’s-acre,” and surely a -spot more suggestive of calm and serious thought is rarely witnessed. -Move slowly through the tall grass and round the green graves where - - The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep, - -Tread lightly upon the weather-stained and moss-grown stones that -loving hands have set up to keep alive the memories of those who sleep -beneath. Near the porch is the chamfered shaft of an ancient cross, -and close by two or three venerable yews cast their funereal shade. -One of them, an aged torso, is garlanded with ivy, and buttressed on -one side by a short flight of steps that have been built against it. -Its gigantic roots grasp the earth with a tenacity that time cannot -relax. It has lived through long centuries, and seen generation after -generation christened, married, and buried, and, though now hollowed -and decayed, the trunk still preserves some of that vitality that was -in its fulness when the valorous Fittons were in the heyday of their -power. - -Separating the churchyard from the road is an artificial lake or -fish-pond, one of a series of three or four, through each of which the -water flows in succession, and where, in the chivalrous days of the -knightly owners of Gawsworth, the water jousts and other aquatic games -took place. But those times of pomp and pageantry have passed away, -and the surface is now seldom ruffled save when occasionally a fish -rises, or a stately swan glides gracefully through the warm sunshine. -In its smooth mirror you can see the old grey tower, the projecting -buttresses, the traceried windows, and the embattled parapets of the -church, with their pleasant environment of green all clearly reflected, -presenting the appearance of an inverted picture; while the old -patrician trees that border the wayside bend over the glassy surface, -creating in places a vernal shade that Undine might delight in. - -On the opposite side is the Rectory, a picturesque old structure of -black and white timber work, “magpie” as the people call it hereabouts, -with quaint overhanging gables, grotesque carvings, and mullioned -windows, with small diamond panes—one of them, that lighting the hall, -a spacious apartment with an open timber roof, containing fragments of -heraldic glass that would seem to have formerly belonged to the church. -There is a wide entrance porch in the centre of the building, and over -the door, between two shields of arms, this inscription—“Syr Edward -Fytton, Knight, with my lady Mare ffyton, hys wyffe”—from which it has -been commonly assumed that the house was built by Sir Edward Fitton, -who married Mary, the daughter and co-heir of Guicciard Harbottle, of -Northumberland, and so would fix the time of erection in the reign -of Henry VIII. But this inscription originally belonged to another -building of later date than the Rectory, which, as we learn from some -verses preserved in Ashmole’s “Church Notes,” taken _circa_ 1654, was -erected by George Baguley, who was rector of Gawsworth from 1470 to -1497. - -The “old” Hall, the ancestral home of the Fittons, now occupied by -Lord Petersham, stands a short distance east of the church. Like -the Rectory, it is half-timbered and of the Elizabethan period, but -the building is now incomplete, a part having been taken down some -seventy years ago, though the original quadrangular form may still be -traced. In the rear, in what has been originally the courtyard, is a -curious octagonal oriel of three stories, each story overhanging the -one immediately below in a sort of telescope fashion. The windows are -filled with leaded panes arranged in a variety of shapes and patterns. -The principal front, which faces the road, has been rebuilt and painted -in imitation of timber-work. Over the principal entrance is a shield -of sixteen quarterings, representing the arms of the Fittons and their -several alliances, surrounded by a garter, on which is inscribed the -motto, “_Fit onus leve_”—a play upon the family name. There is also the -following inscription beneath— - - Hec scvlptvra finita fvit apvd - Villam Galviæ in Hibernia per - Richardvm Rany, Edwardo Fyton - Milite primo dn͞o presidente totius - Provinciæ Conatiæ et Thomoniæ. - Anno Domini 1570. - -In front of the hall is a grove of walnut trees, very patriarchs -of their kind; and adjoining is a large grassy amphitheatre, which -Ormerod, the Cheshire historian, has described as “a deserted pleasure -ground;” but, after careful examination, and with some show of -probability, pronounced by Mr. Mayer to be an ancient tilting ground, -where in times past the warlike Fittons amused themselves and their -Cheshire neighbours with displays of martial skill and bravery. - -Before we enter the church or view the hall, it may be well to glance -briefly at the earlier history of the place. Gawsworth, though now an -independent parish, was formerly included within the limits of the -great parish of Prestbury; and even at the present day the whole of the -townships which surround it—Macclesfield, Sutton, Bosley, North Rode, -Marton, Siddington, and Henbury—all owe ecclesiastical allegiance to -the mother church of that widespread parish. The original name, as we -learn from the Domesday survey, was _Gouersurde_. After the Conquest -it formed part of the possessions of the Norman Earls of Chester; one -of whom, Randle de Meschines, in the twelfth century, gave it to his -trusty follower, Hugh, son of Bigod, with the right of holding his -own courts, without pleading before the prefects at Macclesfield, in -consideration of his rendering to the earl annually a caparisoned -horse; and this Hugh, in accordance with the fashion of the age, -adopted the name of Gawsworth. Subsequently the manor seems to have -passed to Richard Aldford, whose daughter, Lucy, brought it in marriage -to the Orrebies, who held it free from all service save furnishing one -man in time of war to assist in the defence of Aldford Castle. They -retained possession until the reign of Edward I., when Richard, son of -Thomas de Orreby, dying without male issue, his only sister, Isabel, -who succeeded to the inheritance, and who had previously married in -succession Roger de Macclesfeld and Sir John de Grindon, Knight, both -of whom she survived, conveyed it on her marriage in 1316-17 to her -third husband, Thomas Fytton, a younger son of Edmund Fytton, of Bolyn -(Wilmslow); and thus Gawsworth became closely associated with a family -noted for their chivalrous exploits, and famous in the annals of the -county. - -Of the early history of this distinguished family—“Knights of a -long-continued Race and of great worth,” as Webb styles them—who for -so many generations held sway and practised a splendid hospitality in -Gawsworth, but few memorials have been preserved beyond the dry details -embodied in their _Inquisitiones post mortem_ in the Public Record -Office, and the inscriptions which still remain upon the sumptuous -monuments erected to their memory in the church which their pious -munificence reared. - -Thomas Fitton, who acquired the manor of Gawsworth by his marriage -with the heiress of Orreby, had a son also named Thomas, who married -Margaret, a daughter and co-heir of Peter Legh, of Bechton, and added -to the patrimonial estate half of the manor of Bechton and lands -in Lostock-Gralam, which he obtained in right of his wife. It was -during the lifetime of this Thomas that we find the first attempt -made to erect the chapelry of Gawsworth, which was then dependent -upon Prestbury, into a separate parish. At that time the Abbot of -St. Werburg’s, Chester, held the rectory of Prestbury, and in the -chartulary of his house it is recorded that in April, 1382, he conceded -to John Caxton, rector of Gawsworth, the privilege of burying his -parishioners on paying a moiety of the dues within ten days after each -burial, and with a proviso that any parishioner of Gawsworth might be -interred at Prestbury without any claim on the part of the rector of -Gawsworth. - -In explanation of the granting of this privilege it may be mentioned -that in those times, on the formation of a parish, the inhabitants -were required to perform their parochial rites at the mother church, -the “ealdan mynstre” of the parish. But as many parishes were of -considerable territorial extent, those resident in the remote hamlets -found it inconvenient to resort on all occasions to the mother church. -To provide for the spiritual requirements of the people in such -districts, private chapels or oratories, founded by the lords of the -soil, were allowed to be licensed in convenient situations. They were -frequently attached or immediately adjacent to the lord’s mansion, and -were designed more especially for his own accommodation and that of -his dependents; and Gawsworth, which is distant nearly six miles from -Prestbury, was of this class. To prevent such foundations trenching -upon the rights of the mother church, they were merely licensed for -preaching and praying, the ministration of the sacrament of baptism -and the performance of the right of burial being strictly prohibited. -These latter were the true parochial rites, and the grant of them to a -chapel or oratory severed its connection with the parish church, and -converted it into a parochial chapel, or, more strictly speaking, into -an independent church. - -But who was John Caxton, the parson of Gawsworth? The name is not -very frequently met with, and the thought suggests itself that he may -have been, and probably was, a kinsman of that William Caxton who, a -century later, set up his press in the precincts of Westminster Abbey, -and revolutionised the world by practising the art which Gutenberg had -invented. - -In 1391 Thomas Fitton was appointed one of a number of influential -persons in Cheshire who were constituted a commission to levy a subsidy -of 3,000 marks (£2,000) in the city of Chester, on account of the -King’s confirmation of the old charters belonging to that city. He died -in 1397, and was succeeded by his son, Sir Lawrence Fitton, then aged -22, who married Agnes Hesketh, a daughter of the house of Rufford, -in Lancashire. This Sir Lawrence, who held the lordship for the long -period of 60 years, fills no inconsiderable space in the annals of -the county. He was frequently one of the forest justices in eyre, the -assizes being then held in Macclesfield, and took an active part in the -stirring events of his time. When, in 1399, Richard the Second went -over to Ireland to avenge the death of Roger Mortimer, by chastising -the Irish chieftains who had risen in insurrection, he, in order to -increase the strength of his Cheshire guard by a fresh levy, issued -his orders to Sir Lawrence Fitton and others commanding them to summon -the best archers in the Macclesfield hundred between 16 and 60, and -to select a number to go to Ireland in his train, who were to be at -Chester on the morrow of the Ascension of our Lord for inspection by -the King’s officers. The King did not actually sail till the 4th of -June, when he was joined by Sir Lawrence Fitton, who, as appears by -an entry on the Recognizance Rolls of the palatinate, had protection -granted him on his departure; and at this time, under date June 5, -we find a licence to William Prydyn, parson of Gawsworth, Robert de -Tounley, John Tryket, and Matthew del Mere to act as his attorneys and -to look after his affairs while absent in Ireland on the King’s service. - -“When the shepherd is absent with his dog the wolf easily leaps into -the fold.” So says the proverb, and Richard had unpleasant experience -of the truthfulness of it, for scarcely had he loosed his sails before -some of the more discontented of his nobles at home were plotting for -his overthrow. - -Within a month of his departure Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, -the only son of old John of Gaunt, who had been banished the kingdom, -landed at Ravenspur, near Hull—as Shakspere writes— - - The banish’d Bolingbroke repeats himself, - And with uplifted arms is safe arrived - At Ravenspurg, - -and before the end of July was at the head of a large army in the wolds -of Worcestershire. It was not until towns and castles had been yielded -to the invader that the King received intelligence of the insurrection, -for the winds had been contrary, and by the time he landed at Milford -the revolution was virtually accomplished. Ill news does not always -travel apace, and in these days, when the trembling wire speeds the -message through air and sea, it seems difficult to realise the thought -of a rebellion stalking through England unchecked for weeks without -the news reaching in the sister isle him whom it most immediately -concerned. On reaching England, Richard started for Chester, where he -had many friends and his power was strongest. At Flint he was delivered -by the perfidious Percy into the hands of Bolingbroke, thence he was -taken to Chester, and afterwards conveyed to London and lodged in -the Tower, when, after having resigned the crown, he was formally -deposed—an act that was followed by his removal to Pontefract, where, -according to common report, he was murdered by Sir Piers Exton and -his assistants, though it is more likely he was allowed to perish of -starvation. - -Whether Fitton was one of those who hastened to pay court to the -usurper, and in a bad game elected to adhere to the winning side, -is not clear, but he must have quickly accommodated himself to the -changed state of affairs, and to have gained the confidence of -Bolingbroke—“King Henry of that name the Fourth.” - -Scarcely was Richard dead when a great revulsion in public feeling -occurred, old hatreds and jealousies were revived, and those who had -clamoured most for his death now exclaimed— - - Oh, earth, yield us that King again, - And take thou this; - -and the usurping Henry, who had dreamed only of the throne as a bed of -roses, found himself between the fell spectres conscience and insatiate -treason. In Wales, where Richard had possessed a strong attachment, -Owen Glendower raised the standard of revolt, renounced allegiance -to the King, and claimed to be the rightful Prince of Wales, when he -was joined by young Harry Percy, the Hotspur of the famous ballad -of _Chevy Chase_. To meet this new danger, Prince Henry, Falstaff’s -Prince Hal—“the nimble-footed mad-cap Harry, Prince of Wales,” who was -also Earl of Chester, and lived much in the county, joined his forces -to those of his father, and on the 11th January, 1403-4, we find him -directing a writ to Sir Lawrence Fitton, requiring him to repair “to -his possessions on the marches of Wales, there to make defence against -the coming of Owen Glendower, according to an order in Council enacting -that, on the occasion of the war being moved against the King, all -those holding possessions on the marches should reside on the same for -the defence of the realm,” and the Recognizance Rolls show that a few -days later the Lord of Gawsworth was appointed on a commission “to -inquire touching those who spread false rumours to the disquiet of the -people of the county of Chester, and disturbance of the peace therein, -also to array all the fencible men of the hundred of Macclesfield.” - -In 1416, when, after the victory at Agincourt, Henry V. was preparing -for his second expedition to France, with the design of claiming the -crown, Sir Lawrence Fitton, with Sir John Savage, Knight, Robert de -Hyde, Robert de Dokenfield, and John, the son of Peter de Legh, was -appointed collector of the subsidy in the Macclesfield hundred, part -of the 3,000 marks granted to the King by the county of Chester; and -in 1428, with other influential Cheshire knights and gentry, he was -summoned to the King’s Council at Chester, with regard to the granting -of a subsidy to the King (Henry VI.) His death occurred on the 16th -March, 1457, when he must have been over 80 years of age, and his -inquisition was taken 37 Henry VI. (1459), when his grandson Thomas, -then aged 26, was found to be his next heir. As previously stated, -he had to wife Agnes Hesketh. This lady died in 1422, and he would -appear to have re-married, for in the inquisition taken after his death -mention is made of “Clemencia, his wife,” who is said to be then alive. - -During his long life a movement was taking place in the Church which -brought about a great change in religious thought and action, and in -which Wycliffe, the rector of Lutterworth, may be said to have been -the chief actor. The rapacity of the monks was securing or had secured -for themselves the larger portion of the livings of the country, the -parishes being handed over to the spiritual care of vicars, with the -small tithes as a miserable stipend. In this manner the rich rectory of -Prestbury had been appropriated to the Abbey of St. Werburg, Chester; -and possibly it was this circumstance, as much as his own personal -convenience, which induced Caxton, acting under the influence of his -patron, the father of Sir Lawrence Fitton, to seek to detach the chapel -of Gawsworth from the mother church of Prestbury. Having accomplished -this, Sir Lawrence Fitton would seem to have set about the erection of -a building more suited to its increased importance as a parish church, -and an examination of the building points to the conclusion that the -greater portion of the fabric was erected during his lifetime, as -evidenced by the architectural details of the building, as well as -by the shields of arms displayed on different parts of the tower, -representing the alliances of the family, the latest impalement being -the coat of Mainwaring, intended to commemorate the marriage of his son -Thomas with Ellen, daughter of Randle Mainwaring, of Over Peover, which -would seem to fix the date between the years 1420 and 1430, and not in -the reign of Edward III., as generally supposed. In the Cheshire Church -Notes, taken in 1592, there is preserved an account of a window to the -memory of Sir Lawrence Fitton and his wife, which formerly existed in -the church at Gawsworth. He is represented as in armour, and kneeling -with his wife before desks in the attitude of devotion; on his surcoat -were displayed the arms of Fitton, and on the lady’s mantle those of -Hesketh; behind the knight were eight sons, and in rear of the lady -four daughters, and underneath the inscription, “_Orate pro bono statu -Laurencii ffitton milit’ et Agnet’ uxor ejus cum pueris suis_.” - -By his wife Agnes Sir Lawrence Fitton had a son Thomas, who, as stated, -married Ellen, daughter of Randle Mainwaring, of Over Peover, and -their names were in like manner commemorated by a window, which has -now disappeared, comprising three panes, one representing Sir Randle -Mainwaring and his wife Margery, daughter of Hugh Venables, Baron of -Kinderton, kneeling before desks; the second, Thomas Fitton and seven -sons; and the third, his wife and six daughters, all kneeling, and -the inscription, “_Orate pro a’iabus Thomæ ffitton, filii Laurencii -ffitton, et Elene ux’ ejus, et om’ puerorum suorum, qui istam fenestram -fieri fecerunt_.” - -Thomas Fitton pre-deceased his father, leaving a son, also named -Thomas, who succeeded as heir on the death of his grandfather in 1457, -he being then 25 years of age. This Thomas inherited the martial -spirit of his ancestors, and took his share in the fierce struggle of -the White and Red Roses, which destroyed the flower of the English -nobility, and impoverished and well-nigh exhausted the country—“that -purple testament of bleeding war”— - - When, like a matron butcher’d of her sons, - And cast aside some common way, a spectacle - Of horror and affright to passers by, - Our bleeding country bled at every vein! - -He was present in the sanguinary encounter at Bloreheath, near Drayton, -on that fatal 23rd July, 1459—St. Tecla’s Day—when Lord Audley and the -Lancastrians were defeated, and was knighted on the field; and there is -on the Cheshire Recognizance Rolls, under date April 29th, 38-9 Henry -VI. (1460), the record of a general pardon granted to Thomas Fitton and -Richard Fitton, late of Gawsworth; William, son of Lawrence Fitton, -late of Gawsworth; Edward, brother of Thomas Fitton, late of Gawsworth; -some of their kinsmen of the Pownall stock, and other Cheshire -gentry, with a long list of residents in Gawsworth, the retainers of -the Fittons—names that are still familiar in the neighbourhood—“in -consideration,” as it states, “of the good service of the said Thomas -Fitton, Knight, and his adherents at Blore-heth.” His name also occurs -under date June 10, 1463, with those of John de Davenport, of Bramhall; -Hugh Davenport, of Henbury; and Christopher Davenport, of Woodford, in -the appointment of collectors of a subsidy for the King (Edward IV.) in -the Macclesfield Hundred. He married Ellen, daughter of Sir Peter Legh, -of Lyme, but this lady, who predeceased him, bore him no issue. He died -April 27, 1494, when the estates devolved upon his brother and next -heir, Edward Fitton, then aged 60 years. This Edward, by his marriage -with Emmota, the daughter and sole heiress of Robert Siddington, had at -that time acquired possession of two parts of the manor of Siddington, -which had been held by his wife’s family for many generations on the -tenure of rendering a red rose yearly, and thus he added materially to -the territorial wealth and influence of the Gawsworth house. Though -there is no absolute evidence of the fact, there is yet good reason to -believe that the south porch of Gawsworth Church was added or rebuilt -by this Edward Fitton, one of the carved decorations being a rose, in -the leaves of which may be discerned two heads, evidently intended to -represent Henry VII. and his Queen, who, by their marriage, had united -the rival houses of York and Lancaster, and so terminated the long and -bitter War of the Roses. - -Edward Fitton died 15th February, 1510-11, leaving, with other -issue, a son John, who succeeded as heir, and who, as appears by the -inquisition taken after his father’s death, was then 40 years of age. -He had married, in 1498, Ellen, daughter of Sir Andrew Brereton, the -representative of a family that had been seated at Brereton from the -time of William Rufus. By her he had, with other issue, a son Edward, -who succeeded at his death, which occurred on the Sunday after St. -Valentine’s Day, 1525. In the Cheshire Church Notes already referred -to, mention is made of a memorial window formerly existing on the south -side of Gawsworth Church, containing the arms of Fitton quartering -those of Siddington and Bechton, with the inscription underneath: -“_Orate pro a’iabus Edwardi ffitton et Emmotæ uxis suæ, et pro a’iabus -Johannis ffitton, et Elene ux’ sue ... et Roberti Sedyngton et Elene -uxoris sue_;” and there was also formerly in one of the windows of -the south aisle of Wilmslow Church, as we learn from Mr. Earwaker’s -“East Cheshire,” a representation of John Fitton and his wife. The -drawing made by Randle Holmes shows the figure of a knight kneeling on -a cushion and wearing a tabard of arms, the coat being that of Fitton -of Gawsworth; and lower down is a knight kneeling, with his tabard -of arms quarterly—(1) Orreby, (2) Siddington, (3) Bechton, and (4) -Fitton. Behind him kneel eight sons; opposite, also kneeling, is his -wife, wearing an heraldic mantle representing the arms of Brereton, -with a shield containing the same coat above her head; and behind her, -kneeling, six daughters. The inscription had then disappeared, but -it is clear that the first figure was intended for Edward Fitton of -Gawsworth, whilst the other represented his son John, and his wife, -Ellen Brereton, and their children. - -On the death of John Fitton, in 1525, the family estates devolved upon -his eldest son Edward, who received the honour of knighthood, and -in the 35th Henry VIII. (1543-4) held the shrievalty of the county. -He married Mary, the younger daughter and co-heir of Sir Guiscard -Harbottle, a Northumberland knight, and by her had five sons and six -daughters. He died on February 17, 1548, and on his inquisition, which -was taken the same year, Edward Fitton, his son, then aged 21 years, -was found to be his heir. - -Edward Fitton, who succeeded to the Gawsworth estates on the death of -his father, in 1548, was born 31st March, 1527; and when only 12 years -of age had been united in marriage with Anne, one of the daughters of -Sir Peter Warburton, of Warburton and Arley, the lady being a month -younger than himself. He was one of the foresters of Macclesfield, and -was exempted from serving upon juries and at the assizes, in accordance -with the terms of a writ dated 29th March, 5 and 6 Edw. VI. (1532), -addressed to the sheriff of the county. Eight years after his coming -in possession of the patrimonial lands, as appears by letters patent -bearing date 3 and 4 Philip and Mary (1556-7), he, in conjunction with -William Tatton, of Wythenshawe, who in 1552 had espoused his eldest -sister, Mary, obtained a grant from the Crown of Etchells, part of the -confiscated estates of Sir William Brereton, together with Aldford -and Alderley, the property being subsequently partitioned; Aldford -and Alderley remaining with Sir Edward, whilst Etchells passed to his -son-in-law, William Tatton. - -Subsequently his name occurs in the palatine records, with those of -William Davenport, Knt., and William Dokenfield and Jasper Worth, -Esquires, as collectors of a mise in Macclesfield, in 1559-60. - -The influential position which the Fittons held in their own county -was due, as we have seen, not less to their martial bearing than to -their successful marriages, and it was this chivalrous spirit which was -ever a characteristic of the stock that led to their being frequently -employed in the public service. In the person of Sir Edward Fitton the -ancient fame of the family was well sustained. In 1569, the year in -which Shane O’Neill, the representative of the royal race of Ulster, -was attainted in Parliament—that daring chief of a valorous line, whose - - Kings with standard of green unfurl’d, - Led the Red-branch knights to danger; - Ere the emerald gem of the western world - Was set in the crown of a stranger— - -when Ireland was in a state of anarchy and confusion—when the Desmonds -and the Tyrones were trying the chances of insurrection rather -than abdicate their unlicensed but ancient chieftainship, and the -half-civilised people were encouraged in their disobedience to the -law by the mischievous activity of the Catholic clergy, who had been -forcibly dispossessed of their benefices, and therefore wished to -free themselves from the English yoke—Sir Edward Fitton was sent over -to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth to fill the difficult and responsible -post of first Lord President of the Council within the Province of -Munster and Thomond—an office he held for a period of over three -years. His position can hardly be said to have been an enviable one, -for the country at that time had become so wasted by war and military -executions, and famine and pestilence, that two years previously Sir -Henry Sidney, the viceroy, in his letters to Elizabeth, described the -southern and western counties as “an unmeasurable tract, now waste and -uninhabited, which of late years was well tilled and pastured.” He -adds,— - - A more pleasant nor a more desolate land I never saw than from - Youghall to Limerick.... So far hath that policy, or rather lack - of policy, in keeping dissension among them prevailed, as now, - albeit all that are alive would become honest and live in quiet, - yet are there not left alive in those two provinces the twentieth - person necessary to inhabit the same. - -And the description is confirmed by a contemporary writer—a Cheshire -man, by the way, whose early life was spent in the neighbourhood of -Gawsworth (Hollinshead)—who thus expresses the truth with hyperbolical -energy:— - - The land itself, which before those wars was populous, well - inhabited, and rich in all the good blessings of God, being - plenteous of corn, full of cattle, well stored with fruits and - sundry other good commodities, is now become waste and barren, - yielding no fruits, the pastures no cattle, the fields no corn, - the air no birds, the seas, though full of fish, yet to them - yielding nothing. Finally, every way, the curse of God was so - great, and the land so barren, both of man and beast, that - whosoever did travel from one end unto the other he should not - meet any man, woman, or child, saving in towns and cities; nor - yet see any beast but they were wolves, the foxes, and other like - ravenous beasts. - -On the dissolution of the Council in September, 1572, Sir Edward Fitton -returned to England; but remained only a few months, when he was -appointed (March, 1573) Treasurer for the War and Vice-Treasurer and -Receiver-General in Ireland. He appears to have taken up his abode in -Dublin, where in January of the following year he lost his wife. She -was buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in that city, January, 1573-4; -and in the MSS. of Bishop Sterne there is preserved the following -curious account of the ceremonial observed on the occasion of her -funeral:— - - “The order in the presyding for buriall of the worshypful Lady - Fitton, on Sonday, bein the 17 day of January, Anno 1573. - - First, serteyne youmen to goo before the penon with the armes - of Syr Edwarde Fytton, and his wyfe’s dessessed; and next after - them the penon, borne by Mr. Rycharde Fytton, second son to Syr - Edw. Fytton and Lady, his wyfe dessessed; and sarten gentillmen - servants to the sayd Syr Edw. Fytton; then the gentill-hossher - and the chapplens, and then Ulster Kyng of Armes of Ierland, - weyring his mornyng goune and hod, with hys cote of the armes - of Ynglande. And then the corpes of the sayd Lady Fytton, and - next after the corps the lady Brabason, who was the principal - morner, bein lyd and assysted by Sir Rafe Egerton, knyght, and - Mr. Fran. Fytton, Esq., brother to the said Syr Edwarde, and next - after her, Mistress Agarde, wyfe to Mr. Fran. Agarde; then Mrs. - Chalenor, wyfe to Mr. John Chalenor; then Mrs. Dyllon; then Mrs. - Bruerton, being the other III murners. Then Syr Edward Fytton - goying bytwene the Archebysshoppe of Dublin and the Bishop of - Methe; then Sir John Plunkett, Chefe Justice of Ireland; then - Master Dyllon, beying the Chefe Baron; then Mr. Fran. Agard and - Mr. John Chalenor, wyth other men to the number of XIII gentylmen; - then sarten other gentyllwomen and maydens, morners, to the nomber - of VIII; and then the Mayor of Dublyn, wyth his brytherne, the - Schyreffes and Aldermen; and the poure folks VI men on the one - syde of the corse and VI women on the other syde. And so coming - to the cherche of St. Patryke, where was a herse prepared, and - when they cam to the herse, the yomen stode, halfe on the one side - and halfe on the other, the penon berer stood at the fette of the - corps; then the corps was layd upon a payer of trestels within the - herse, and then the III morners were brought to their places by - Ulster Kyng of Armes aforesaid, and the cheffe morner was brought - to her place at the hede of the corps, and so the herse was closd; - and the tow assystants set uppon tow stowles without the rayles, - and then sarvyce was begon by the Bysshope of Methe, and after - sarvyce there was a sermon made, and the sermon endyd, the company - went home to the house of the sayd Sir Edw. Fytton; and the corpse - was buryed by the reverent father, the Bysshop of Methe, and - when the corpse was buryed, the clothe was layd again upon the - trestylls wythin the herse, which was deckyed with scochyens of - armes in pale of hys and her armes, and on the morow the herse was - sett over the grave and the penon sett in the wall over the grave. - And Ulster Kyng of Armes had V yardes of fyne blake clothe for - his lyvery, and 50s. sterling for hys fee, and the herse with the - cloth that was on the corse wyth all the furnyture there of the - herse.” - -It may be mentioned that the claim of Ulster King of Arms to the costly -materials of which the hearse was composed was disputed by the Vicars -Choral of St Patrick’s, and the matter was not settled until 1578, when -a decision was given in favour of the former by the Lord Deputy of the -Council. Sir Edward Fitton died July 3, 1579, and his remains were -interred by the side of those of his wife, the memory of both being -perpetuated in an inscription on a sepulchral brass still remaining in -St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, on which is engraved the figure of -a man with nine children behind him, and, opposite, a woman with six -children behind her, all kneeling. The inscription which is below is as -follows:— - - Glorify thy name, hasten thy - Kingdome; Comforte thy flock; - Confound thy adversaries; - - Ser Edward ffitton, of Gausworth, in the counte of Chester, in - Englande, knight, was sent into Ireland by Quene Elizabeth, to - serve as the first L President of her highnes Counsell within - the province of Connaght and Thomonde, who landing in Ireland on - the Ascention day, 1569, Ao. R. R. Elizabeth XI. lyued there in - the rome aforesaid till Mighellmas, 1572, Ao. Elizabeth XIIIIº.; - and then, that Counsell being dissolued, and he repayring - into England, was sent over againe in March next following as - Threasaurer at Warres, Vice-treasaurer, and general receyvor - within the realme of Ireland, and hath here buried the wyef of - his youth, Anne, the seconnd daughter of Sir Peter Warburton, of - Areley, in the county of Chester, knight, who were born both in - one yere, viz., he ye last of Marche, 1527, and she the first - of May in the same yeare; and were maried on Sonday next after - Hillaries daye, 1539, being ye 19 daye of Januarie, in the 12 yere - of their age, and lyued together in true and lawfull matrymonie - just 34 yeres; for the same Sonday of ye yere wherein they were - maried, ye same Sondaie 34 yeres following was she buried, though - she faithfully departed this lyef 9 daies before, viz., on the - Saturdaie, ye 9 daie of Januarie, 1573; in which time God gave - them 15 children, viz., 9 sonnes and six daughters; and now her - body slepeth under this Stone, and her soul is retourned to God - yt gave yt, and there remayneth in kepinge of Christe Jesus, her - onely Saviour. And the said Ser Edward departed this lyef the - thirde daie of July, Ao. Dni. 1579, and was buried the xxi daie - of September next folowing; whose fleshe also resteth under the - same stone, in assured hope of full and perfect resurrection to - eternall lyef in ioye, through Christe his onely Saviour; and the - said Ser Edward was revoked home into England, and left this land - the ---- day of ---- Anno Domini being the ---- yere of his age. - -At the east end of the north side of Gawsworth Church there is a -replica of this inscription, with the figures of Sir Edward and Lady -Fitton, and their fifteen children. - -A younger brother of Sir Edward was Francis Fitton, who in 1588 married -Katherine, the Countess Dowager of Northumberland, one of the four -daughters and co-heirs of John Neville Lord Latimer. His portrait was -formerly to be seen in the “new” hall at Gawsworth, with a long and -curious inscription surrounding it, recording some of the alliances of -the family. - -Sir Edward Fitton, as stated, died July 3, 1579. His inquisition was -taken the following year, when his son, Sir Edward Fitton, Knight, -then aged 30, was found to be his heir. He was probably at the time -in Ireland, for it was not until April 24, 25 Elizabeth (1583), that -he had livery of his lands. In 1602, as appears by an indenture dated -June 20 in that year, he sold the manor of Nether Alderley, which had -been acquired by his father, to Thomas Stanley, ancestor of the present -Lord Stanley of Alderley. Sir Edward filled the office of President -of Munster, in Ireland, and died in 1606, leaving, by his wife Alice, -daughter and sole heir of John Holcroft, of Holcroft, in Lancashire, -with other issue, a son, Sir Edward Fitton, born 29th November, 1572, -who was created a Baronet in 1617. He died May 10, 1619, being then -aged 47, and was buried at Gawsworth, where a sumptuous monument was -erected to his memory by his wife, “the Lady Ann Fytton,” daughter and -co-heir of James Barratt, of Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, Esq., with the -following extravagant effusion inscribed on a panel below:— - - Least tongves to fvtvre ages shovld be dvmb, - The very stones thvs speak abovt ovr tomb. - Loe, two made one, whence sprang these many more, - Of whom a King once prophecy’d before. - Here’s the blest man, his wife the frvitfvl vine, - The children th’ olive plants, a gracefvll line, - Whose sovle’s and body’s beavties sentence them - _Fitt-ons_ to weare a heavenly Diadem. - -Lady Ann Fitton survived her husband many years. Her will bears date -January 31, 1643-4, but the date of probate has not been ascertained. -In it she bequeaths several small legacies to her grandchildren and -others, appoints her daughter, Mrs. Lettice Cole, sole executrix, and -her two grandchildren, William, Lord Brereton, and Charles Gerard, -supervisors. She died 26th March, 1644, and was buried at Gawsworth. - -On the death of Sir Edward the family estates passed to his son, also -named Edward, who was baptised at Gawsworth, August 24th, 1603, and -must, therefore, have been under age on his accession to the property. -In October, 1622, he married Jane, daughter of Sir John Trevor, of Plâs -Teg, in Denbighshire, by whom he had a daughter, Margaret, who died -in infancy. Lady Fitton died June, 1638, and was buried at Gawsworth, -when Sir Edward again entered the marriage state, his second wife being -Felicia, daughter of Ralph Sneyd, of Keel, in Staffordshire. Concerning -this second marriage there is the following curious entry in the -Corporation books of the borough of Congleton:— - - 1638. Paid for an entertainment for Sir Edwd. Fitton, of - Gawsworth, his bride, father, and mother-in-law, on their - first coming through the town, and divers other gentlemen who - accompanied him and his bride, on their going to Gawsworth to - bring his lady. He sent his barber two days before to the mayor - and aldermen, and the rest, to entreat them to bid them welcome - -12s. 4d. - -The civic authorities of Congleton were noted for their hospitality, -and we may therefore assume that little “entreaty” was required on -the part of the “barber” to secure a cordial welcome for the Baronet -and his bride. We are not told what the entertainment consisted of, -but no doubt the cakes and sack for which the old borough had even -then long been famous entered largely into the festivities, though -the amount charged does not suggest the idea of any very extravagant -convivialities. - -Sir Edward was soon called by the stern duties of the times from the -enjoyment of domestic life. Clouds were gathering upon the political -horizon which heralded a tempest; the seeds of civil war had been -sown, and soon King and Commons were arrayed against each other, -neither caring for peace, for if the olive branch was held out it was -stripped of its leaves, and appeared only as a dry and sapless twig. -In the great struggle between Charles and the Parliament the owner -of Gawsworth espoused the cause of his Sovereign, and distinguished -himself in several military engagements. He raised a regiment of -infantry for the King’s service from among his own tenantry and -dependents, of which he had the command; and the good people of -Congleton, not wishing to have the tranquillity of their town disturbed -by the quartering of his troops in it, in the hope of avoiding the -inconvenience proferred him their hospitality, as one of the entries in -the Corporation accounts shows:— - - 1642. Wine gave to Colonel Fitton, not to quarter 500 soldiers on - the town - -3s. 4d. - -Colonel Fitton fought in the battle at Edgehill, where the two armies -were first put in array against each other, and was also present with -the King at the taking of Banbury, as well as in the operations at -Brentford and Reading. He afterwards took part with Prince Rupert in -the storming of Bristol, and when that city—exceeded only by London -in population and wealth—was, after a terrible slaughter, surrendered -(July 27, 1643) by Nathaniel Fiennes to the arms of its sovereign, he -was left in charge of the garrison, and died there of consumption in -the following month, at the early age of 40. His body was removed to -Gawsworth for interment, and the occasion of its passing through the -town of Congleton is thus referred to in the accounts:— - - Paid for carrying Sir Edwd. Fitton through the town, and for - repairing Rood-lane for the occasion - -4s. 0d. - -In the south-east angle of Gawsworth Church there is a large monument -to the memory of Sir Edward, his first wife, and their infant daughter, -placed there by his second wife, who survived him, and afterwards -re-married Sir Charles Adderley. It consists of an arch resting upon -pillars, beneath which is an altar-tomb supporting the effigies of -Sir Edward and his wife, and that of their infant daughter. A tablet -containing a long Latin inscription, formerly affixed to the south -wall, beneath the canopy, has in recent years been removed to the east -wall of the chancel. - -Sir Edward left no surviving issue, a circumstance which gave rise to -almost endless contentions between the kinsmen of his name and their -cousins—the Gerards. Lawsuit followed lawsuit; long and rancorous were -the proceedings in the “Great Cheshire Will Case,” as it was called; -and the fierce struggle, which began in one century with forgery, -followed by seduction and divorce, was ended in the next, when the -husbands of the two ladies who claimed to be heiresses were slain by -each other in a murderous duel in Hyde Park. Immediately after the -death of Sir Edward Fitton, Penelope, Anne, Jane, and Frances, his -four sisters—married respectively to Sir Charles Gerard, Knight; Sir -John Brereton, Knight; Thomas Minshull, Esquire; and Henry Mainwaring, -Esquire—entered upon possession of the estates; but, after long -litigation, they were ejected by William Fitton, son of Alexander, -second surviving son of Sir Edward Fitton, Treasurer of Ireland, who -claimed under a deed alleged to have been executed by Sir Edward, -settling the estates upon himself, with remainder in succession to his -sons, Edward and Alexander, the latter of whom succeeded him in the -possession, and he obtained three verdicts in his favour. One of the -sisters of Sir Edward Fitton—Penelope—had married Sir Charles Gerard, -of Halsall, in Lancashire, and by him had a son, Sir Charles Gerard, -created Lord Brandon in 1645, and Earl of Macclesfield in 1679. Lord -Brandon was one of the notable gallants at the profligate Court of -Charles II. He held the office of Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and -was also Captain of the Guards—the latter a commission which he -relinquished for a douceur of £12,000 when the King wanted to bestow -the dignity upon his illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth. He kept -up a large establishment in London, surrounded by trim gardens, the -remembrance of which is perpetuated in the names of the streets that -now occupy the site—Gerard Street and Macclesfield Street, in Soho. His -wife, a French lady, brought herself into disfavour at Court through -indulging in the feminine propensity of allowing her tongue to wag too -freely in disparagement of the notorious courtesan, Lady Castlemaine, -as we learn from an entry in “Pepys’s Diary”:— - - 1662-3. Creed told me how, for some words of my Lady Gerard’s - against my Lady Castlemaine to the Queene, the King did the other - day apprehend her in going out to a dance with her at a ball, when - she desired it as the ladies do, and is since forbid attending the - Queen by the King; which is much talked of, my lord her husband - being a great favourite. - -On the restoration of the King, nineteen years after the death of Sir -Edward Fitton, and thirty after the entail had been confirmed, as -alleged by a deed-poll, Lord Gerard produced a will which would be -looked for in vain in the Ecclesiastical Court at Chester, purporting -to have been made in his favour by his mother’s brother, Sir Edward -Fitton. Hot, fierce, and anxious was the litigation that followed, and -in 1663 a small volume was printed at the Hague, entitled, “A True -Narrative of the Proceedings in the several Suits-in-law that have -been between the Right Honourable Charles, Lord Brandon, and Alexander -Fitton, Esqr., published for general satisfaction, by a Lover of -Truth.” Fitton pleaded the deed-poll, but Gerard brought forward one -Abraham Grainger, then confined in the Gate House, who made oath that -he had forged the name of Sir Edward to the deed under a threat of -mortal violence, whereupon the Court of Chancery directed a trial to -determine whether the deed-poll was genuine or not. The forgery was -admitted by Grainger, and corroborated by other witnesses, who deposed -that they had heard Fitton confess that Grainger had forged a deed for -him, for which he had paid him £40. The judgment of the Court was given -in favour of Gerard, and the deed declared to be a forgery. - -The strangest part of the story remains. Grainger, impelled either -by remorse or the desire to escape a heavy penalty by acknowledging -the smaller offence, made a written confession setting forth that he -had perjured himself when he swore that he had forged the name of -Sir Edward, and had been compelled to do so by the threats of Lord -Gerard. Pepys, who had a strong dislike to Lord Gerard, refers to the -circumstance in his “Diary”:— - - My cosen, Roger Pepys, he says, showed me Grainger’s written - confession of his being forced by imprisonment, &c., by my Lord - Gerard, most barbarously to confess his forging of a deed in - behalf of Fitton, in the great case between him and my Lord - Gerard; which business is under examination, and is the foulest - against my Lord Gerard that ever anything in the world was, and - will, all do believe, ruine him; and I shall be glad of it. - -The anticipations of the gossiping diarist were not, however, realised. -The confession, being unsupported by evidence, was discredited, and -Fitton, who was adjudged to be the real offender, was fined £500 and -committed to the King’s Bench. - -Alexander Fitton, who was thus dispossessed of the property, lingered -in prison until the accession of James II., when, having embraced the -Romish faith, he was released from confinement and taken into favour -by the King, who made him Chancellor of Ireland, and subsequently -conferred upon him the honour of knighthood and created him Lord -Gawsworth. He sat in the Irish Parliament of 1689, where he appears to -have been actively employed in passing Acts of forfeiture of Protestant -property, and attainder of Protestant personages. On the abdication of -James he accompanied him into exile, where he remained, and, dying, -left descendants who, it is to be feared, benefited little from the -tutelar dignities his sovereign had conferred upon him. - -The whimsical _finesse_ of the law, which wrested from Alexander Fitton -the lands owned for so many generations by his progenitors and bestowed -them upon the Gerards, though it added wealth, did not convey peace -or contentment to the successful litigants. Their history during the -brief period they owned the Gawsworth estates partakes much of the -character of a romance in real life, but it is one that is by no means -pleasant to contemplate. Charles Gerard, on whom the barony of Brandon -and the earldom of Macclesfield had been successively conferred, died -in January, 1693-4, when the titles and estates devolved upon his -eldest son, who bore the same baptismal name. Charles, the second earl, -was the husband of the lady who, by her adulterous connection with -Richard Savage, Earl Rivers, and as the heroine of the famous law case -that followed upon the birth of the celebrated but unfortunate poet, -Richard Savage, acquired an unenviable notoriety even in that age, when -profligacy formed such a prominent characteristic of society. - -The Countess of Macclesfield, under the name of Madame Smith, and -wearing a mask, was delivered of a male child in Fox Court, near Brook -Street, Holborn, by Mrs. Wright, a midwife, on Saturday, the 16th -January, 1697-8. The earl denied the paternity, and satisfactorily -proved the impossibility of his being the father of the son borne by -his countess; who, on her side, narrated a stratagem she had devised, -whereby the disputed paternity could not be denied. The stratagem was -not unknown in the licentious comedies of the time, but no credit was -given to it in this case; and thus the honour of Gerard was saved -from being tainted by the bastard of Savage. A divorce was granted -in 1698; but the law deemed the earl to be accountable, through his -own profligacy, for the malpractices of his wife, and decreed that he -should repay the portion he had received with her in marriage. With -this amount she married Colonel Brett, the friend of Colley Cibber, by -whom she had a daughter, Ann Brett, the impudent mistress of George -I., her illegitimate offspring by Lord Rivers—Richard Savage, whom she -disowned—being educated at the cost of her mother, Lady Mason. It has -been alleged that Savage was an impostor, and this opinion was held by -Boswell, the biographer of Dr. Johnson, who says: “In order to induce a -belief that the Earl Rivers, on account of a criminal connection with -whom Lady Macclesfield is said to have been divorced from her husband -by Act of Parliament, had a peculiar anxiety about the child which she -bore to him, it is alleged that his lordship gave him his own name, -and had it duly recorded in the register of St Andrew’s, Holborn. I -have,” he adds, “carefully inspected that register, and I cannot find -it.” That Boswell should have failed in the discovery is explained by a -reference to “The Earl of Macclesfield’s Case,” presented to the House -of Lords in 1697-8, from which it appears that the child was registered -by the name of Richard, the son of John Smith, and christened on -Monday, January 18th, in Fox Court, and this statement is confirmed by -the following entry in the register of St. Andrew’s, Holborn:— - - Jany., 1696-7. Richard, son of John Smith and Mary, in Fox Court, - in Gray’s Inn Lane, baptized the 18th. - -Notwithstanding the discredit that has been thrown upon Savage’s story, -there can be little doubt of its truth. It was universally believed at -the time, and no attempt was ever made by the countess to contradict -or to invalidate any of the statements contained in it. Moreover, he -was openly recognised in the house of Lord Tyrconnell, a nephew of -the Countess of Macclesfield, with whom he resided as a guest for two -years, and he was also on terms of acquaintance with the Countess of -Rochford, the illegitimate daughter of Earl Rivers by Mrs. Colydon.[20] - -[Note 20: In a tavern brawl, in 1727, Savage had the misfortune to kill -a Mr. James Sinclair, for which he was tried and condemned to death. -His relentless mother, it is said, endeavoured to intercept the royal -mercy; but he was pardoned through the influence of Queen Caroline, and -set at liberty. He afterwards addressed a birthday ode to the Queen, in -acknowledgment of which she sent him £60, and continued the same sum to -him every year.] - -The Earl of Macclesfield did not long survive the granting of his -divorce. He was sent as Ambassador to Hanover, and died there, November -5, 1701, when the title devolved upon his younger brother, Fitton -Gerard, who died unmarried in the following year, when the Earldom -of Macclesfield became extinct, the estates then passing under the -will of the second earl to his niece and co-heiress, the daughter of -his sister, Charlotte Mainwaring, married to Charles, Lord Mohun, -son of Warwick, Lord Mohun, by Philippa, daughter of Arthur, Earl of -Anglesey. The preference thus shown offended the Duke of Hamilton, who -had married the daughter of another niece, Elizabeth, daughter and -sole heiress of Digby, Lord Gerard—by his wife, the Lady Elizabeth -Gerard—the heir-general of the Macclesfield family, who felt himself -injured by this disposition of the property. A lawsuit to determine -the validity of Lord Macclesfield’s will was commenced, much jealousy -and heart-burning followed, and eventually the two disputing husbands -brought their feud to a sanguinary end in the memorable duel which -proved fatal to both. - -The circumstances of this tragic affair are recorded in Dean Swift’s -“History of the Four Last Years of Queen Anne,” published in 1758, -and are more fully detailed in “Transactions During the Reign of -Queen Anne,” published in Edinburgh in 1790, by Charles Hamilton, a -kinsman of one of the combatants. It appears that upon the return of -Lord Bolingbroke, after the peace of Utrecht, and the suspension of -hostilities between Great Britain and France, the Duke of Hamilton, -long noted for his attachment to the Stuarts, and the acknowledged -head of the Jacobite party, was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary -and Plenipotentiary to the Court of France. Previous to his departure -he wished to bring to a close the Chancery suit which had been -pending between Lord Mohun and himself. With that view he, on the -13th November, 1712, attended at the chambers of Olebar, a Master in -Chancery, where his adversary met him by appointment. In the course of -the interview, Mr. Whitworth, formerly the steward of the Macclesfield -family, gave evidence, and, as his memory was much impaired by age, the -duke somewhat petulantly exclaimed, “There is no truth or justice in -him,” upon which Lord Mohun retorted, “I know Mr. Whitworth. He is an -honest man, and has as much truth as your grace.” This grating remark -was allowed to pass unnoticed at the time, but Lord Mohun afterwards -meeting with General Macartney and Colonel Churchill, both violent -men, and declared partisans of the Duke of Marlborough, who had then -been removed from the command of the army by the party to which the -Duke of Hamilton was attached, it would seem that the offending person -was induced by them to challenge the person offended. Preliminaries -having been arranged, the combatants met in Kensington Gardens, Hyde -Park, on the morning of the 15th November—the duke attended by his -relative, Colonel Hamilton, and Lord Mohun by General Macartney. In a -few moments the affair was ended, and when the park keepers, alarmed by -the clashing of swords, rushed to the spot whence the sound proceeded, -they found the two noblemen weltering in their blood—Lord Mohun was -already dead, and the Duke of Hamilton expired before he could be -removed. Nor had the combat been limited to the principals alone. The -seconds had crossed swords and fought with desperate rancour. Colonel -Hamilton remained upon the field, and was taken prisoner, but Macartney -fled to the Continent. Colonel Hamilton subsequently declared upon -oath, before the Privy Council, that, when they met upon the ground, -the duke, turning to Macartney, said, “Sir, you are the cause of this, -let the event be what it will.” To which Macartney replied, “My lord, I -had a commission for it.” Lord Mohun then said, “These gentlemen shall -have nothing to do here.” Whereupon Macartney exclaimed, “We will have -our share.” To which the duke answered, “There is my friend—he will -take his share in my dance.” Colonel Hamilton further deposed that when -the principals engaged, he and Macartney, as seconds, followed their -example; that Macartney was immediately disarmed; but that he (Colonel -Hamilton), seeing the duke fall upon his antagonist, threw away the -swords, and ran to lift him up; and that, while he was employed in -raising the duke, Macartney, having taken up one of the swords, stabbed -his grace over Hamilton’s shoulder, and retired immediately. - -A prodigious ferment was occasioned by this duel, which assumed a high -political character. Neither of the combatants were men who could lay -claim to any great admiration on the score of integrity or principle. -Lord Mohun had, in fact, been long known as a brawler, and had -acquired an infamous reputation for his share in the murder of William -Mountford, the player, before his own door, in Howard Street, Strand. -The Duke of Hamilton, as we have said, was the recognised head of the -Jacobite faction, whilst his antagonist, Lord Mohun, was a zealous -champion of the Whig interest. The Tories exclaimed against this event -as a party duel, brought about by their political opponents for the -purpose of inflicting a vital wound on the Jacobite cause, then in the -ascendant, by removing its great prop before his departure to the Court -of France. They affirmed that the duke had met with foul play, and -treated Macartney as a cowardly assassin. That the allegation was well -founded may be doubted, for all the evidence points to the conclusion -that both sets of antagonists, seconds as well as principals, were -so blinded by the virulence of personal hatred as to neglect all the -laws both of the gladiatorial art and the duelling code, and assailed -each other with the fury of savages. A proclamation was issued by the -Government offering a reward of £500 for the apprehension of Macartney, -and £300 was offered in addition by the Duchess of Hamilton. After -a time Macartney returned, surrendered, and took his trial, when -he was acquitted of murder, and found guilty of manslaughter only. -Subsequently he was restored to his rank in the army, and entrusted -with the command of a regiment. After the accession of George I. he was -in great favour with the Court of Hanover, and was employed in bringing -over Dutch troops on the occasion of the insurrection in England, which -ended in the capitulation at Preston of the Earls of Derwentwater and -Nithsdale, and other English and Scottish lords and gentlemen. - -The Gawsworth property, which Lord Mohun had acquired by his first -wife, Charlotte Mainwaring, he bequeathed by will to his second wife, -Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Thomas Lawrence, first physician to Queen -Anne; and the Lady Mohun, who thus became possessed of the estates, -which she held in trust, directed that at her death they should -be sold, and the proceeds, after the payment of certain specified -bequests, applied to the use of her two daughters by her first husband, -Elizabeth Griffith, wife of Sir Robert Rich, Bart., and Ann Griffith, -wife of the distinguished soldier and statesman, William Stanhope, who, -in recognition of his public services, was elevated to the peerage, -Nov. 20, 1729, by the title of Baron Harrington, and subsequently -raised to the dignities of Viscount Petersham and Earl of Harrington. -Lord Harrington in 1727 purchased the manor from his wife’s trustees, -and thus passed into the family of Stanhope an estate with which they -had no connection by blood or by alliance. From the first Earl of -Harrington the property has descended in regular succession to the -present owner, Charles Augustus Stanhope, the eighth earl. - -A curious feature in connection with the Old Hall of Gawsworth, and -one strongly suggestive of the warlike spirit of its former owner, -is the ancient tilting ground in the rear of the mansion. Ormerod, -the historian, was of opinion that this relic of a chivalrous age had -been a pleasure ground; but Mr. Mayer, the honorary curator of the -Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, who made a careful survey -some years ago, shows, with much probability, that it was intended -for jousts and other displays of martial skill and bravery. The -“tilt-yard,” the form of which may still be very clearly traced, is -about two hundred yards in length and sixty-five in width, surrounded -on three of its sides by a steep embankment or mound, sixteen yards in -width. Within this enclosure the lists were arranged and the barriers -erected, and here the knights, with pointless lances or coronels in -rest, assembled to perform the _hastiludia pacifica_ or peaceable -jousts for the amusement of the ladies and other spectators who -occupied the embankment. - -At the further end of the long flat is a raised circular mound, with -a base twenty-five yards square, on which was placed the tent of the -Queen of Beauty, who, surrounded by her attendants, could overlook -the whole field, and to her the successful competitors were heralded -to receive at her hand the prize or guerdon to which their chivalrous -skill had entitled them. Near to this mound is a smaller piece of -ground, about fifty-seven yards in length, with three rows of seats -cut out of the bank, on three of its sides, and one row on the fourth, -that nearest the throne of the “Queen of Beauty.” This, Mr. Mayer -surmises, was intended for battles by single combat with the sword and -quarter-staff, for wrestling, and other athletic displays; where, also, -at Christmastide, and at wakes and festivals, the mummers practised -their rude drolleries; where, too, the itinerant bards sang their -rugged and unpolished lays in glorification of the achievements of the -Cheshire warriors of ancient days, and where - - Minstrel’s harp poured forth its tone - In praise of Maud and Marguerite fair. - -The level ground is divided by a small stream that flows through the -middle, and the flat space beyond, which is hemmed in by a mound -similar to that surrounding the “tilting ground,” is supposed to have -been used for such games as football, leap-frog, prison-bars, and -foot-racing, in which the people generally participated. Here, too, -is a raised circular earthwork, corresponding with the lady’s mound -already referred to, where it is probable the awards were made and the -prizes distributed to the successful competitors. The stream, after -passing by the eastern end of the Old Hall, empties itself into the -uppermost of the series of lakes before referred to, which are divided -from each other only by a narrow strip of land, and where, as has been -said, in days of yore the water jousts took place. - -Taken altogether, in the tilting ground, with its raised terraces -for spectators—the court, which formed the arena for quarter-staff, -wrestling, and similar games of strength—and the lakes or ponds, used -for water jousts and other aquatic sports—we have one of the most -remarkable, as well as one of the most complete, memorials to be found -in the North of England illustrative of the manners and customs of our -forefathers—of the military pomp and pageantry, and those displays -of prowess, skill, daring, and strength, which in the reigns of the -Plantagenet and Tudor Kings the English gentry so much encouraged, and -the common people so greatly delighted in—the relic of an age the most -chivalrous and the most picturesque in our country’s history, when -there was no lack of heroism and brave hearts and noble minds, when men -ruled by the stern will and strong arm, and through successive ages -fought the battle of England’s liberties, and laid the foundations of -the freedom we enjoy. The place seems to belong so entirely to a bygone -age that imagination wings her airy flight to those remote days, and -in fancy’s eye we re-people the Old Hall, when - - Every room - Blazed with lights, and brayed with minstrelsy; - -and call up in each deserted nook and shady grove the figures of those -who have long ago returned to dust. We can picture in imagination the -time when these grass-grown terraces were thronged with a gay company -of gallant youths and fair maidens, of stern warriors and sober -matrons, assembled to witness the princely entertainments provided by -the proud owners of Gawsworth. We see the barriers set up, and hear -the braying of the trumpets, and the proclamations of the heralds; we -see the knights, with their attendant esquires, mounted upon their -well-trained steeds, with their rich panoply of arms and plumed and -crested casques, and note the stately courtesy with which each, as he -enters the arena, salutes the high-bred queen of the tournament; we -hear the prancing of horses, the clang of arms, the shock of combat, -and the loud clarions which proclaim to the assembled throng the names -of the gallant victors. But the days of tilt and tournament have passed -away, the age of feudalism has gone by, and in the long centuries of -change and progress that have intervened, time has mellowed and widened -our social institutions, and raised the lower stratum of society to -a nearer level with the higher. Yet, while we boast ourselves of the -present, let us not be unmindful of what we owe to the past, for those -times were instinct with noble and true ideas, and with Carlyle we may -say that, “in prizing justly the indispensable blessings of the new, -let us not be unjust to the old. The old _was_ true, if it no longer -is.” The glories of Gawsworth are of the past. The old mansion is still -to be seen, and the silent pools, the deserted terraces, the forlorn -garden grounds, and the stately trees still remain as representatives -of the once goodly park and pleasaunce, but those who here maintained -a princely hospitality, and bore their part in those splendid -pageantries, are sleeping their last sleep. We may not lift the veil -which hides their secret history, or reveal much of the story of their -hopes and fears, their perils by flood and field, and their deep feuds -and still deeper vengeances. Their graven effigies and gaudily-painted -tombs are preserved to us, but - - The knights’ bones are dust, - And their good swords rust, - Their souls are with the just - We trust. - -In this quiet, out-of-the-way nook, amid these old landmarks, an -afternoon will be neither unpleasantly nor unprofitably spent. We -may learn something of English history, and of the historic figures -which played their parts in our “rough island story.” Our thoughts -and fancies will be stirred anew, and our sense of patriotism will be -nothing lessened by the contemplation of the relics of that past on -which our present is securely built - -Any notice of Gawsworth would be incomplete that did not make mention -of the remarkable series of fresco paintings that were discovered -during the work of restoring the church in the autumn of 1851. At -that time the fabric underwent a thorough repair, and the remains of -coloured ornamentation in the timber-work of the roof led to the belief -that the same method of decoration had been applied to the surface -of the walls. Accordingly a careful examination was made, and on the -removal of the whitewash and plaster some curious and interesting -examples of mediæval art were discovered; but, unfortunately, no effort -was made at the time to preserve them. Happily, however, before their -destruction careful copies were made by a local artist, Mr. Lynch, -which have since been published as illustrations to a work he has -written. The three principal frescoes represented St. Christopher and -the Infant Saviour; St. George slaying the Dragon; and the Doom, or -Last Judgment. From the details they would appear to have been executed -in the early part of the fifteenth century—probably about the time -the tower was built and some important additions made to the main -structure, which, as previously stated, would be between the years 1420 -and 1430. - -At the period referred to, St. Christopher had come to be regarded as -a kind of symbol of the Christian Church, and the stalwart figure of -the saint wading the stream with the Infant Jesus upon his shoulder -was a favourite subject for painting and carving in ecclesiastical -buildings. The Gawsworth fresco is especially interesting, from the -circumstance of its being an exact _fac-simile_ (except that it is -reversed) of the earliest known example of wood engraving, supposed to -be of the date 1423—an original and, as is believed, unique impression -of which was acquired by Lord Spencer, and is now preserved in the -Spencer library. The second picture represents St. George on horseback, -armed _cap-à-pie_, brandishing a sword with his right hand, whilst -with the left he is thrusting a spear into the mouth of the dragon. In -the distance is the representation of a castle, from the battlements -of which the royal parents of the destined victim witness the fray, -whilst the disconsolate damsel is depicted in a kneeling attitude. -The knight’s armour and the lady’s costume furnish excellent data in -fixing the time when the work was done. The third subject—the Last -Judgment—occupied the space between the east window and the south -wall. It was in three divisions, representing heaven, hell, and earth, -and from the prominent position it occupied was no doubt intended -to be kept continually before the eyes of the worshippers, that, to -use the words of the Venerable Bede, “having the strictness of the -Last Judgment before their eyes, they should be cautioned to examine -themselves with a more narrow scrutiny.” - -Among the rectors of Gawsworth was one who added lustre to the place, -but whose name is, curiously enough, omitted from the list given in -Ormerod’s “Cheshire”—the Rev. Henry Newcome, M.A., who held the living -from 1650 to 1657, when he was appointed to the chaplaincy of the -Collegiate Church at Manchester. Newcome was born in November, 1627, -at Caldecote, in Huntingdonshire, of which place his father, Stephen -Newcome, was rector. In January, 1641-2, both his parents died, and -were buried in one coffin, when Henry removed to Congleton, where his -elder brother Robert had recently been appointed by the Corporation -master of the Free School. The circumstance is thus referred to in his -“Autobiography”:— - - I was taught grammar by my father, in the house with him; and when - my eldest brother, after he was Batchelor in Arts, was master - of the Free School at Congleton, in Cheshire, I was in the year - 1641, about May 4, brought down thither to him, and there went to - school three quarters of a year, until February 13, at which time - that eloquent and famous preacher, Dr. Thomas Dodd, was parson at - Astbury, the parish church of Congleton, where I several times - (though then but a child) heard him preach. - -Newcome entered at St. John’s, Cambridge, May 10, 1644, and began -to reside in the following year. In 1646 he was a candidate for the -mastership of a Lincolnshire grammar school, but failed in obtaining -the appointment—a disappointment he bore with much stoicism. In -September, 1647, he was nominated to the mastership of the Congleton -School, and in the February succeeding he took his degree of B.A. - -From his boyhood he seems to have had a fondness for preaching, and -the inclination grew with his years. His first sermon was delivered at -a friend’s church (Little Dalby) in Leicestershire; and on settling -down at Congleton, as he tells us, “he fell to preaching when only -20 years old.” He was appointed “reader” (curate) to Mr. Ley, at -Astbury, and preached sometimes in the parish church and sometimes at -Congleton. At first he “read” his sermons and “put too much history” -into them, whilst “the people came with Bibles, and expected quotations -of Scripture.” Before he had attained the age of 21 he entered the -marriage state, his wife being Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Mainwaring, -of Smallwood, to whom he was married July 6, 1648. He speaks of himself -as rash in taking this step at so early an age, but admits that it -turned to his own good, and he dwells on the excellent qualities of -his wife. It was indeed not only a happy, but in a worldly sense an -advantageous match, as by his alliance with the Mainwarings he became -connected with some of the most influential families in the county, and -to their interest he undoubtedly owed his preferment to Gawsworth. He -was ordained at Sandbach in August, 1648, the month following that of -his marriage, and began his ministerial labours at Alvanley Chapel, in -Frodsham parish, to which place he went for many weeks on the Saturday -to preach on the following day; but before the close of the year he -had settled at Goostrey, where he officiated for a year and a half. It -was whilst residing here that he received the startling intelligence -of the trial and execution of Charles I., for, under date January 30, -1649, he writes: “This news came to us when I lived at Goostrey, and a -general sadness it put upon us all. It dejected me much (I remember), -the horridness of the fact; and much indisposed me for the service -of the Sabbath next after the news came.” Newcome, though a zealous -Presbyterian, was a scarcely less zealous Royalist, and boldly avowed -his abhorrence of the murder of the King. - -Shortly after this event his name was mentioned in connection with the -then vacant rectory of Gawsworth, and an effort was made, through the -interest of the Mainwaring family, to secure his induction under the -Broad Seal. Under the Usurpation Independency was in the ascendant, and -“Dame ffelicia ffitton,” the widow of Sir Edward Fitton, in whom the -patronage of Gawsworth had been vested, was then included in the list -of delinquents whose estates were to be sequestered for loyalty to the -sovereign. Eventually the instrument of institution under the Broad -Seal was obtained. It bears date November 28, 1649, and the opening -sentence sets forth that, “Whereas, the rectory of the parish church -of Gawsworth, in the county of Chester, is become void by the death -of the last incumbent, and the Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal -of England have presented Henry Newcome, a godly and orthodox divine, -thereunto. It is therefore ordered,” &c. Considerable demur was made, -however, to the appointment, and the people locked the church doors -against their new minister; but eventually, as we are told, “it pleased -God to move upon the people when I thought not of it, and they came -(some of the chief of them) over to Carincham on February 12th, and -sent for me, and told me they were desirous to have me before another; -and so were unanimously consenting to me, and subscribed the petition, -not knowing that the seal had come.” - -The obstacles to this induction having been removed, Newcome and -his family took up their abode in the pleasant old rectory-house at -Gawsworth, April, 1650, and on the 14th of the month he preached his -first sermon to his new flock from Ezekiel iii., 5. - -[Illustration: THE REV. HENRY NEWCOME.] - -There are several incidents recorded in his “Autobiography” which throw -light on the life and habits of the youthful divine at this period. -Thus he writes:— - - Whilst living here (Goostrey) my cousin, Roger Mainwaring, would - needs go to Gawsworth (the park being then in the co-heirs’ - possession) to kill a deer, and one he killed with the keeper’s - knowledge; but they had a mind to let the greyhound loose, and to - kill another that the keeper should not know of, partly to hinder - him of his fees and partly that it might not be known that he had - killed more than one. I was ignorant of their design; but had - the hap to be one of the two that was carrying the other little - deer off the ground, when the keeper came and only took it and - dressed it, as he had done the other, and sent it after them to - the alehouse where the horses were. But I remember the man said - this word, that “_priests should not steal_.” I have oft after - thought of it, that when I was parson at Gawsworth, and that - tho’ Edward Morton, the keeper, was sometimes at variance with - me, he never so much as remembered that passage to object against - me; which, though I could have answered for myself in it, yet it - might have served the turn to have been retorted upon me when the - Lord stirred me up to press strictness upon them. But the Lord - concealed this indiscretion of mine, that it was never brought - forth in the least to lessen my authority amongst them. - -It is pleasant to reflect that while Newcome was residing in his snug -parsonage at Gawsworth, he was visited by his brother-in-law, Elias -Ashmole, the learned antiquary and founder of the Ashmolean Museum at -Oxford, who spent some time with him at the rectory and rambled thence -into the Peak country. They had married sisters; Ashmole, who was -Newcome’s senior by ten years, having had to his first wife Eleanor, -daughter of Peter Mainwaring. This lady died in 1641, and in 1649 -Ashmole married Lady Mainwaring, the widow of Sir Thomas Mainwaring, -of Bradfield, who died in 1668; and the same year he again entered the -marriage state, his third wife being Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William -Dugdale, Norroy, and afterwards Garter King of Arms. Ashmole, in his -“Diary,” thus refers to his visit to Gawsworth and his ramble in the -Peak:— - - 1652. - - Aug. 16.—I went towards Cheshire. - - " 28.—I arrived at Gawsworth, where my father-in-law, Mr. - Mainwaring, then lived. - - Sept. 23.—I took a Journey into the Peak in search of plants and - other curiosities. - - Nov. 24.—My Good Father-in-law, Mr. Peter Mainwaring, died at - Gawsworth. - -Oddly enough, Ashmole nowhere makes mention of Newcome’s name in his -“Diary,” but Newcome himself refers to the visit in one of his letters -to his brother-in-law, preserved among Ashmole’s MSS. in the Bodleian -Library, and printed by Mr. Earwaker in his “Local Gleanings,” where, -speaking of the Theatrum Chymicum he had lent to Hollinworth, the -author of “Mancuniensis,” he says, “It was with him when you were with -me at Gawsworth, and I then sent for it home.” - -Puritan though he was, Newcome was by no means of a soured or morose -disposition, nor so rigid in his notions as were some of his southern -brethren. He was fond of amusement within reasonable limits, and his -experiences he relates with charming candour and impartiality. Indeed, -sometimes his hilarity was a little too exuberant. “I remember,” he -says, “this year (1650), when the gentlewomen from the hall used to -come to see us, I was very merry with them, and used to charge a -pistol I had, and to shoot it off to affright them.” Notwithstanding -his liveliness of disposition, he set himself determinedly against the -vices to which some of his parishioners were addicted. Drinking and -swearing seem to have been prevalent, and he records how, one Sabbath -evening, at the house of Lady Fitton, a Mr. Constable,— - - A known famous epicure ... told the lady there was excellent ale - at Broad [heath—what this place was does not appear], and moved - he might send for a dozen, some gentlemen of his gang being with - him. I made bold to tell him that my lady had ale good enough in - her house for any of them; especially, I hoped, on a Sabbath day - she would not let them send for ale to the alehouse. The lady took - with it, and in her courteous way told him that her ale might - serve him. But notwithstanding, after duties, he did send; but - durst not let it come in whilst I staid.... At last I took leave; - and then he said, “Now he is gone! Fetch in the ale.” - -“My lady” was the beautiful and youthful Felicia Sneyd, the second -wife, and then widow of Sir Edward Fitton, who resided at the hall, -her jointure house. In all Newcome’s efforts to improve the spiritual -condition of his parish Lady Fitton warmly joined; the Sacrament, which -hitherto had been discontinued, was with her co-operation revived. -She offered herself to the minister for instruction, and instituted -family prayers twice a day in her house, which Newcome for a while -read; and we gather from several passages that the fascination and -dignified bearing of the youthful widow greatly attracted the divine -of twenty-three. It was not long, however, before he had occasion to -describe another and more painful scene. Lady Fitton, as has been -previously stated, re-married Sir Charles Adderley; and on the 20th -January, 1654, Newcome writes she “was in lingering labour.” - - I had been at Congleton, and was just come home; and they came - shrieking to me to pray with Lady Fitton; she did desire it, it - should seem. I went as fast as I could; but just as I came the - fit of palsy took her. We went to prayer in the gallery for her - again and again. Mr. Machin[21] came in, and he helped me to pray. - We prayed there two or three times over. We begged life for mother - and child, very earnestly at first. After we begged either, what - God pleased. After the night we were brought to beg the life of - the soul, for all other hopes were over. The next day I went, and - prayed by her i’ th’ forenoon. I was much afflicted to see her - die, as in a dream, pulling and setting her head clothes as if she - had been dressing herself in the glass; and so to pass out of the - world. A lovely, sweet person she was; but thus blasted before us, - dyed Jany. 21 (1654), just after evening service. She was buried - the next day, at night.... Sir C. Adderley was removed, and all - manner of confusion and trouble came upon the estate, Mr. Fitton - and the co-heirs striving for possession, which begat a strange - alteration in the place. - -[Note 21: John Machin was then minister of Astbury, and an intimate -friend as well as neighbour of Newcome’s.] - -Lady Fitton, “a very courteous, respectful friend to me while she -lived,” as Newcome observes, lies near the east end of the church of -Gawsworth, close by the communion rails, and near to the stately tomb -of her first husband, on which she is described as “_nulli secundam_.” -In her death Newcome lost a good friend, for the living of Gawsworth -was very poor, and, finding it difficult to equalise the wants of a -growing family and the supplies of a small stipend, he was led to -consider the expediency of removing to some other and more lucrative -charge. His labours had been by no means confined to his own parish. On -the contrary, he devoted a good deal of his time to ministerial work -in other places. The fame of the wonderful young preacher spread to -the larger towns, and those who had heard him once wished to hear him -again. Among other places, he had visited Manchester, and preached in -the Old Church during the sickness of Richard Hollinworth. It was only -on one Sunday, but the generosity of the town brought him considerable -relief at the moment that the necessities of his family were pressing -inconveniently upon him. As Dr. Halley tells us, the relief produced -an effect the contributors did not intend, as it induced him, when -contemplating his removal, to remain in Gawsworth, where Providence had -so unexpectedly relieved him of his anxieties by their liberality. He -painted his rectory-house, parted off a little study from his parlour, -and spent what he could of his friends’ bounty in smartening his home -and making it pleasant and comfortable. - -Newcome was not allowed to remain long in undisturbed tranquillity in -his quiet parsonage. On the 3rd November, 1656, Mr. Hollinworth died; -four days later a meeting of the “Classis” was held at Manchester to -nominate to the vacancy. Three persons were mentioned as suitable—Mr. -Meeke, of Salford; Mr. Bradshaw, of Macclesfield; and Mr. Newcome, -of Gawsworth—but the feeling was so unanimous in favour of Newcome -that nothing was said about the other two. Friday, December 5th, was -fixed for the election; but here a difficulty occurred. Newcome had -spent a Sunday at Shrewsbury as well as at Manchester. He had preached -at “Alkmond’s, and the people of Julian’s” (there were no saints in -Puritanical times) “set their affections” upon him while ministering -in the neighbouring church, and by a curious coincidence, on the same -day that he received intelligence of the arrangement at Manchester -he received letters from the people of “Julian’s,” from the Mayor of -Shrewsbury, and from three of its ministers, entreating him to accept -their invitation. On the Sunday preceding the election at Manchester -he preached in the Old Church, and, as he tells us, “the women were so -pleased that they would needs send tokens,” which amounted to seven -pounds. This gave great dissatisfaction to the proud Salopians, who -were evidently afraid the young preacher might not be proof against the -fascinations of the “Lancashire Witches,” and so they “gave him a very -unhandsome lash” for being drawn away from them by “women’s favours.” -Angry contentions arose, Richard Baxter was asked to interfere, and -a conference was suggested, but the good folks of Shrewsbury were -resolved upon securing the services of Newcome, and would not agree -to arbitration, or listen to any other proposition. They were doomed, -however, to disappointment, and, in opposition to the advice of Baxter, -Newcome, on the 24th of December, made choice of Manchester. - -His removal from Gawsworth was a sorrowful time both for himself and -his rustic congregation. The sight of the wagons sent to remove his -furniture overwhelmed him with sorrow, and when the time came for -leaving the old rectory, he says, “I was sadly affected, and broken -all to pieces at leaving the house. I never was so broken in duty as -I was in that which I went into just when we were ready to go out of -the house;” and he adds, “I prayed the Lord the sin of the seven years -might be forgiven us, and that we might take a pardon with us.” On his -arrival in Manchester he was welcomed with extraordinary manifestations -of friendship and pleasure, and many of the townspeople went out to -Stockport to meet him. - -This “prince of preachers,” as he has been called by his friends, -continued his ministrations in the Church at Manchester until the -passing of the Act of Uniformity, when, unable to conform to the -discipline of the Church, he withdrew from her communion, to the -great grief of his people, by whom he was greatly beloved. On the -passing of the Act of Toleration, at the accession of William of -Orange, the wealthy Presbyterians of Manchester gathered round their -favourite divine and built him a tabernacle on the site of the present -Unitarian Chapel in Cross Street—the first erected for the use of the -Nonconformist body in the town. He was not long permitted, however, to -continue his ministrations, his death occurring on the 17th September, -1695, little more than a year after the opening of the “great and fair -meeting house.” - -The church in which Newcome ministered, and where rest the bones of so -many of the “Fighting Fittons,” well deserves a careful examination. -Let us bend our footsteps towards the ancient fane. It is a fair and -goodly structure—small, it is true, but presenting a dignified and -pleasing exterior— - - Beauty with age in every feature blending. - -The bold, free hand of the old English architect is seen in every -detail—in the deep mouldings, the varied tracery, and the quaintly -grotesque carvings, where burlesque and satire and playful fancy have -almost run riot. The restoring hand of the modern renovator—Sir -Gilbert Scott—is also visible; but what he has done has been well done, -and, if we except the interesting examples of mediæval art to which -reference has already been made, everything that was worth retaining -has been carefully preserved. Though erected at different times, the -general features harmonise and point to the conclusion that nearly the -whole of the existing fabric was erected in the period extending from -the end of the 14th to the middle of the 15th centuries. - -The nave, which is three bays in length, is undoubtedly the oldest -part, and the point at which it originally terminated is clearly -shown by the diagonal projection of the angle buttress which still -remains. The chancel appears to have superseded an older foundation -of smaller dimensions. It is of equal width with the nave, and, in -fact, a continuation of it, and both are covered in with a timber -roof of obtuse pitch, with elaborately moulded and ornamented beams -and rafters. The external walls of both the nave and chancel are -surmounted by an embattled parapet, relieved at intervals with -crocketted pinnacles, that are carried above the edge of the parapet -wall as a termination to each buttress. There being no clerestory or -side aisles, the windows are unusually lofty. They are of pointed -character, with traceried heads and mouldings, terminating in -curiously-carved corbels, that have afforded scope for the humorous -fancy of the mediæval masons. On the south side is an open porch with -stone seats, that has at some time or other been added to the original -structure, as evidenced by the fact that the greater portion of the -buttress has been cut away where it is joined up to the main wall. -It has coupled lights on each side, with hood mouldings, the one on -the west terminating in a curiously-carved corbel, representing a -rose with two heads enclosed in the petals, an evidence that this -part of the fabric must have been built shortly after the union of -the rival houses of York and Lancaster, in the persons of Henry VII. -and Elizabeth the eldest daughter of Edward IV. The tower is well -proportioned, and, rising gracefully as it does above the surrounding -foliage, forms a conspicuous object for miles around. It is remarkable -for the armorial shields, 14 in number, carved in relief, in stone, on -each face. These insignia are especially interesting to the antiquary -and the genealogist, as showing the alliances of the earlier lords -of Gawsworth. They include the coats of Fitton, Orreby, Bechton, -Mainwaring, Wever, Egerton, Grosvenor, and Davenport, as well as those -of Fitton of Bollin, and Fitton of Pownall, and there is one also -containing the arms of Randle Blundeville, Earl of Chester, with whom -the Fittons appear to have been connected. - -The interior of the church is picturesque and well cared for, and -the garrulous old lady who brought us the keys looks upon it with an -affection that is not diminished by the serving and tending of many -long years. It is an interesting specimen of an old English house of -worship. As you cross the threshold a host of memories are conjured up, -and you feel that you are in the sanctuary where in times past have -communed, and where now rest, the remains of a line famous in chivalry, -the members of which, in their day and generation, did good service -to the State. The seats are low and open, and the appearance has been -greatly improved by the removal of the heavy cumbrous pews with which -until late years it was filled. At the east end, within the chancel -rails, are the effigies and stately tombs of the Fittons already -described. The shadows of centuries seem to fall on the broad nave, -while the slanting rays of the westering sun, as they steal through the -tall windows, brighten the elaborate figures of the knights in armour, -and bring out the colouring of gown and kirtle, where their stately -dames are reposing by their side. During the restorations some of them -were removed from their original positions, and shorn of their original -canopies, as the inscription upon a tablet affixed to the north wall -testifies. Near the centre of the aisle is a plain marble slab with a -brass fillet surrounding it, on which is an inscription commemorating -the marriage and death of Thomas Fitton of Siddington, the second son -of Sir Edward of Gawsworth, by his wife Mary, the daughter of Sir -Guiscard Harbottle. - -After our brief survey we passed out through the western door into the -churchyard. The sun was circling westwards over the woods, a warm -haze suffused the landscape, and the shadows were lengthening over the -hillocks and grass-grown mounds in the quiet graveyard. As our cicerone -turned the key in the rusty wards of the lock and turned to depart, -a robin poured out its wealth of song in the neighbouring copse, a -fitting requiem to the expiring day. We stood for a moment looking -through the trees at the picturesque old parsonage. What a lovely -spot!—the spot of all others that a country clergyman might delight to -pass his days in. Well might good Henry Newcome be “sadly affected and -broken all to pieces” at leaving it. - -Another celebrity connected with Gawsworth, though of a widely -different character to Henry Newcome, deserves a passing notice—Samuel -Johnson, popularly known by the title of “Lord Flame,” and sometimes by -the less euphonious _sobriquet_ of “Maggotty Johnson.” This eccentric -character was well known in his day as a dancing master, to which -he added the professions of poet, player, jester, and musician. He -appears to have been among the last of the paid English jesters, those -professional Merry Andrews whose presence was considered indispensable -in the homes of our wealthier forefathers—their duty being to promote -laughter in the household, and especially at meals, by their ready -wit and drollery. Johnson was frequently hired out at parties given -by the gentry in the northern counties, where he had licence to bandy -his witticisms, and to utter or enact anything likely to enliven -the company or provoke them to laughter. “Lord Flame” was the name -of a character played by him in his own extravaganza, entitled -“Hurlothrumbo, or the Supernatural,” a piece which had a lengthened -run at the Haymarket in 1729. It is upon this burlesque that his fame -chiefly rests. After much patient labour he succeeded in getting it -on the London boards. Byrom records the circumstance in his “Journal” -under date April 2, 1729:— - - As for Mr. Johnson, he is one of the chief topics of talk in - London. Dick’s Coffee-house resounds “Hurlothrumbo” from one - end to the other. He had a full house and much good company on - Saturday night, the first time of acting, and report says all - the boxes are taken for the next Monday.... It is impossible to - describe this play and the oddities, out-of-the-wayness, flights, - madness, comicalities, &c. I hope Johnson will make his fortune - by it at present. We had seven or eight garters in the pit. I saw - Lord Oxford and two or more there, but was so intent on the farce - that I did not observe many quality that were there. We agreed - to laugh and clap beforehand, and kept our word from beginning - to end. The night after Johnson came to Dick’s, and they all got - about him like so many bees. They say the Prince of Wales has been - told of “H,” and will come and see it.... For my own part, who - think all stage plays stuff and nonsense, I consider this a joke - upon ’em all. - -On the same day, in a letter to Mrs. Byrom, he writes— - - Mrs. Hyde must let her brother teach (dancing), for - “Hurlothrumbo,” as the matter stands, will hardly be quitted while - it brings a house, and consequently more money, into the author’s - pocket, than his teaching would do of a long time. - -The play was afterwards published with a dedication to Lady Delves, -and an address to Lord Walpole. The former, while remarkable for its -extravagant panegyrism, is interesting from its reference to many of -the local female celebrities of the time. It is as follows:— - -To the Right Honourable the Lady Delves. - - Madam,—When I think of your goodness, it gives me encouragement - to put my play under your grand protection; and if you can - find anything in it worthy of your Praise, I am sure the - _super-naturals_ will like it. I do not flatter when I say your - taste is universal, great as an Empress, sweet and refined as Lady - _Malpas_, sublime as Lady _Mary Cowper_, learned and complete - as Lady _Conway_, distinguished and clear as Mrs. _Madan_, gay, - good, and innocent as Lady _Bland_. I have often thought you - were a compound of the world’s favourites—that all meet and - rejoice together in one: the taste of a _Montague_, _Wharton_, or - Meredith, Stanhope, Sneid, or Byrom; the integrity and hospitality - of _Leigh_ of _Lime_, the wit and fire of _Bunbury_, the sense of - an Egerton, fervent to serve as _Beresford_ or _Mildmay_, beloved - like _Gower_. If you was his rival, you’d weaken the strength of - that most powerful subject. I hope your eternal unisons in heaven - will always sing to keep up the harmony in your soul, that is - musical as Mrs. Leigh, and never ceases to delight; raises us in - raptures like _Amante Shosa_, _Lord Essex_, or the sun. If every - pore in every body in Cheshire was a mouth they would all cry out - aloud, _God save the Lady Delves!_ That illuminates the minds of - mortals, inspires with Musick and Poetry especially. - -Your most humble servant, LORD FLAME. - -The prologue was written by Mr. Amos Meredith, of Henbury, near -Macclesfield, and, at the urgent request of its author, Byrom was -induced to write the epilogue. Johnson’s subsequent career was marked -by many whims and oddities, and even death was not permitted to -terminate his eccentricity, his very grave being made to commemorate it -for the amusement or pity of future generations. As we have previously -stated, he is buried in a small plantation of firs near the road, and a -short distance from the New Hall, in accordance with a request he had -made to the owner in his life-time. His remains are covered by a plain -brick tomb, now much dilapidated, on the uppermost slab of which is the -following inscription:— - -[Illustration] - - Under this stone - Rest the remains of Mr. SAMUEL JOHNSON, - Afterwards ennobled with the grander Title of - LORD FLAME, - Who, after being in his life distinct from other Men - By the Eccentricities of his Genius, - Chose to retain the same character after his Death, - and was, at his own Desire, buried here, May 5th, - A.D. MDCCLXXIII., Aged 82. - Stay thou whom Chance directs, or Ease persuades, - To seek the Quiet of these Sylvan shades, - Here undisturbed and hid from Vulgar Eyes, - A Wit, Musician, Poet, Player, lies - A Dancing Master too, in Grace he shone, - And all the arts of Opera were his own; - In Comedy well skill’d, he drew Lord Flame, - Acted the Part, and gain’d himself the Name; - Averse to Strife, how oft he’d gravely say - These peaceful Groves should shade his breathless clay; - That when he rose again, laid here alone, - No friend and he should quarrel for a Bone; - Thinking that were some old lame Gossip nigh, - She possibly might take his Leg or Thigh. - -On the west side of his tomb a flat stone has been placed in later -years, on which some rhyming moralist has sought to improve on his -character, in a religious point of view, in a lengthy inscription which -says more for the writer’s sense of piety than his regard for prosody:— - - If chance hath brought thee here, or curious eyes, - To see the spot where this poor jester lies, - A thoughtless jester even in his death, - Uttering his jibes beyond his latest breath; - O stranger, pause a moment, pause and say: - “To-morrow should’st thou quit thy house of clay, - Where wilt thou be, my soul?—in paradise? - Or where the rich man lifted up his eyes?” - Immortal spirit would’st thou then be blest, - Waiting thy perfect bliss on Abraham’s breast; - Boast not of silly art, or wit, or fame, - Be thou ambitious of a Christian’s name; - Seek not thy body’s rest in peaceful grove, - Pray that thy soul may rest in Jesus’ love. - O speak not lightly of that dreadful day, - When all must rise in joy or in dismay; - When spirits pure in body glorified - With Christ in heavenly mansions shall abide, - While wicked souls shall hear the Judge’s doom— - “Go ye accursed into endless gloom,” - Look on that stone and this, and ponder well: - Then choose ’twixt life and death, ’twixt - Heaven and Hell. - -Poor Johnson! His last whim has been gratified: his “breathless clay” -reposes beneath the “sylvan shade” that in life he so much delighted -in. The thrush and the blackbird sing their orisons and vespers -there; the fresh and fragrant breeze sweeps by; and the nodding trees -that rustle overhead cast a verdant gloom around, that is brightened -only where the warm sunlight steals through the intricacy of leaves -and dapples the sward with touches of golden light. May no rude or -irreverent hand disturb his resting-place, or “old lame gossip” share -his sepulchre. - -[Illustration: John Dee, the Wizard Warden] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE COLLEGE AND THE “WIZARD WARDEN” OF MANCHESTER. - - -Of those who make up the mighty tide of human life that daily sweeps -along the great highway of traffic between the Manchester Exchange and -the Victoria Railway Station, how few there are who ever give even a -passing thought to the quaint mediæval relic that stands within a few -yards of them—almost the only relic of bygone days that Manchester now -possesses—the College. Pass through the arched portal into the great -quadrangle, the College Yard as it is called, and what a striking -contrast is presented. Without, all is noise and hurry and bustle; -within, quietude and seclusion prevail. The old place is almost -the only link that connects the Manchester of the present with the -Manchester of yore; and surely it is something to feel that within this -eager, striving, money-getting Babylon there is a little Zoar where you -may escape from the turmoil, and the whirl, and the worry of the busy -city, and, forgetting your own chronology, allow the memory to wander -along the dim grass-grown aisles of antiquity, recalling the scenes -and episodes and half-forgotten incidents that illustrate the changes -society has undergone, and show how the past may be made a guide for -the present and the future. - -A wealth of interest gathers round this old time-worn memorial, and -its history is entwined with that of the town itself. That lively and -imaginative antiquary, Whitaker, has striven to prove that upon its -site the subjects of the Cæsars erected their summer camp, but the -story, it must be confessed, rests on but a slender foundation. There -is little doubt, however, that the Saxon thegn fixed his abode here, -and dispensed justice according to the rude fashion of the times—which -means that he did what seemed right in his own eyes, and hanged those -who ventured to question the propriety of his proceedings. The Norman -barons who succeeded him, the Gresleys and the La Warres, the men who -bore themselves well and bravely at Crecy, Agincourt, and Poictiers, -held their court here for generations, until good old Thomas La Warre, -the last of the line, the priest-lord as he has been called—for he held -the rectory as well as the barony of Manchester—gave up his ancestral -home as a permanent residence for the warden and fellows of the ancient -parish church which he caused to be collegiated. But the splendid -provision he bequeathed was not long enjoyed by the ecclesiastics -for whom it was intended. In 1547, when the minor religious houses -were suppressed, the college was dissolved, and the lands, with the -building of the College House, reverted to Edward VI., who granted them -to Edward Earl of Derby, subject to the payment by him of some small -pensions and other charges. On Queen Mary’s accession the Church was -re-collegiated, and the deeds of alienation in part recalled. But the -College House and the lands pertaining to it were never recovered, -though some of the wardens were considerately allowed by the Stanleys -to occupy part of the premises that had belonged of right to their -predecessors. - -In the eventful times which followed, the building experienced many and -various vicissitudes. At the time the fierce struggle between Charles -I. and the Parliament began a part was used as a magazine for powder -and arms, for we read that when the Commission of Array was issued Sir -Alexander Radcliffe, of Ordsall, and his neighbour Mr. Prestwich, of -Hulme, two of the commissioners nominated in the King’s proclamation, -attended by the under sheriff, went to Manchester “to seize ten barrels -of powder and several bundles of match which were stowed in a room -of the College.” During the troublous times of the Commonwealth the -building was in the hands of the official sequestrators, as part of -the forfeited possessions of the Royalist Earl of Derby; and at that -time the monthly meetings of the Presbyterian Classis, the “X’sian -consciensious people” as they were called, were held within the -refectory. A part of the building was transformed into a prison, and -another portion was occupied as private dwellings. In 1650, as appears -by a complaint lodged in the Duchy Court of Lancaster, “a common -brewhouse” was set up on the premises, the brewers claiming exemption -from grinding their malt at the School Mills, to which by custom the -toll belonged, on the plea that the brewhouse was within the College, -the old baronial residence, and therefore did not owe such suit and -service to the mills. - -About the same time a portion of the College barn (between the prison -and the College gatehouse) was converted into a workhouse, the first -in Manchester, having been acquired by the churchwardens and overseers -in order that it might be “made in readiness to set the poor people -on work to prevent their begging.” Another part was used for the -purposes of an Independent church, the first of the kind in the town, -and which would appear to have been set up without “waiting for a -civil sanction.” The minister was John Wigan, who at the outset of his -career had been episcopally ordained to Gorton, which place he left -in 1646, and fixed his abode at Birch, where, we are told, “he set up -Congregationalism.” This brought him in collision with the “Classis.” -Subsequently he left Birch, entered the army, became a captain, and -afterwards a major. The church which he founded in the College barn is -alluded to by Hollinworth. How it came to be established here would -be inexplicable but for the explanation Adam Martindale gives of the -matter. He says:— - - The Colledge lands being sold, and the Colledge itself, to Mr. - Wigan, who now being turned Antipædobaptist, and I know not what - more, made a barne there into a chappell, where he and many of - his perswasion preached doctrine diametrically opposite to the - (Presbyterian) ministers’ perswasion under their very nose. - -Wigan had contrived to attract the notice of Cromwell, and “received -some maintenance out of the sequestrations.” Whether with this and -from pillage and plunder while with the Republican army he obtained -money enough to purchase the lease of the College is not clear, but his -conduct during the later years of his life does not present him in a -very favourable light. During his time a survey of the College property -was made, and it then comprised:— - - Ye large building called ye College in Manchester, consisting of - many rooms, with twoe barnes, one gatehouse, verie much decayd, - one parcell of ground, formerly an orchard, and one garden, now in - ye possession of Joseph Werden, gent., whose pay for ye same for - ye use of ye Commonwealth—tenn pounds yearly. There is likewise - one other room in ye said College Reserved and now made use of - for publique meetings of X’sian consciensious people (_i.e._, the - Classis). - -Neither the sequestrators nor Mr. Wigan were at much pains to preserve -the fabric of the College while it was in their hands. The building and -outhousing fell into decay, and became ruinous; and there is little -doubt this interesting relic would have disappeared altogether but -for the timely interposition of one of Manchester’s most worthy sons. -Humphrey Chetham, a wealthy trader, who had amassed a considerable -fortune, conceived the idea of founding an hospital for the maintenance -and education of poor boys, and also the establishing of a public -library in his native town. He entered into negotiations with the -sequestrators for the purchase of the College, then, as we have seen, -in a sadly dilapidated condition, for the purpose. Owing to some -dispute, the project remained for a time in abeyance, but it was never -entirely abandoned; and in his will Chetham directed that his executors -should make the purchase, if it could be accomplished. After his death -this was done, the building was repaired, and from that time to the -present, a period of more than two hundred years, it has continued to -be occupied in accordance with the founder’s benevolent intentions. -Thus has been preserved to Manchester one of its oldest and most -interesting memorials. - - Many and strange vicissitudes of fate - Those time-worn walls have seen. The dwelling once - Of servants of the Lord; in stormy days, - The home of Cromwell’s stern and armèd band, - A barracks and a prison! Now it stands - A lasting monument of Chetham’s fame, - Unto posterity a boon most rich— - A refuge for the child of poverty, - A still secluded haunt for studious men, - The college of a merchant. - -Though a mighty change has been wrought in the surroundings, the -ancient pile looks pretty much the same as it must have done three -centuries ago, when Warden Dee, who then occupied it, was casting -horoscopes and practising alchemy, and when Drayton saw it, and in his -“Polyolbion” made the Irwell sing— - - First Roche, a dainty rill.... - And Irk add to my store. - And Medlock to their much by lending somewhat more; - At Manchester they meet, all kneeling to my state, - Where brave I show myself. - -The Irwell and the Irk still mingle their waters round the base of -the rocky precipice on which the College stands, but alas for the -daintiness or bravery of either! - -As you enter the spacious courtyard a long, low, monastic-looking -pile with two projecting wings meets the eye, presenting all that -quaintness and picturesque irregularity of outline so characteristic of -buildings of the mediæval period, with scarcely a feature to suggest -the busy life that is going on without its walls. On the right is the -great arched gateway giving admission from the Long Mill Gate, and -which in old times constituted the main entrance. At the opposite or -north-western angle is the principal entrance to the building itself. -As you pass through the low portal you notice on the right the great -kitchen, large and lofty and open to the roof, with its fireplace -capacious enough to roast an ox; adjoining is the pantry, and close -by that most important adjunct the buttery. On the other side of the -vestibule, and separated from it by a ponderous oaken screen, panelled -and ornamented, and black with age, is the ancient refectory or dining -hall, where the recipients of Chetham’s bounty assemble daily for their -meals and chant their “_Non nobis_.” It is a spacious apartment, with a -lofty arched roof and wide yawning fireplace, preserving not merely the -original form and appearance but the identical arrangement of the old -baronial and conventual halls. In pre-Reformation times this was the -chief entertaining room, and its appearance suggests the idea that in -those remote days the ecclesiastics of Manchester loved good cheer, and -were by no means sparing in their hospitalities. At the further end, -opposite the screen, may still be seen the ancient daīs, raised a few -inches above the general level of the floor, on which, in accordance -with custom, was placed the “hie board,” or table dormant, at which sat -the warden, his principal guests and the chief ecclesiastics ranged -according to their rank above the salt, whilst the inferior clergy -and others were accommodated at the side tables—the poor wandering -mendicant who, by chance, found himself at the door, and being admitted -to a humble share of the feast, taking his position near the screen, -and thankfully fed, like Lazarus, with the crumbs that fell from the -great man’s table. - -At the further end of the vestibule you come upon the cloisters -surrounding a small court, and note the crumbling grey walls and -vaulted passages of this the most perfect and most characteristic -portion of the original building. - -Just before reaching the cloisters, you ascend by a stone staircase, -guarded by massive oak balusters, that leads up to the library, where, -as “Alick” Wilson sings— - - Booath far and woide, - Theer’s yards o’books at every stroide, - From top to bothum, eend and soide. - -They are disposed in wall cases extending the length of the corridors, -and branching off into a series of mysterious-looking little recesses, -stored with material relics of the past, old manuscripts, and treasures -of antiquity and art of various kinds, each recess being protected -from the encroachments of the profane by its own lattice gate. Here - - The dim windows shed a solemn light, - -that is quite in keeping with the character of the place, and as you -pass along you marvel at the plenteous store of ponderous folios -and goodly quartos, in their plain sober bindings, that are ranged -on either side, and you reflect upon the world of thought and the -profundity of learning gathered together, until the mind becomes -impressed with a feeling of reverence for the mighty spirits whose -noblest works are here enshrined. - -Until late years this gloomy corridor was at once a library and museum. -High up on the ceiling, on the tops of the bookcases and in the window -recesses, were displayed a formidable array of sights and monsters, as -varied and grotesque as those which appalled the heart of the Trojan -prince in his descent to hell—skeletons, snakes, alligators, to say -nothing of the “hairy man,” and such minor marvels as Queen Elizabeth’s -shoe, Oliver Cromwell’s sword, - - An th’ clog fair crackt by thunner-bowt, - An th’ woman noather lawmt nor nowt. - -Formerly, at Easter and other festivals, crowds of gaping holiday -folk thronged the College, and gazed with vacant wonderment at the -incongruous collection, while the blue-coated cicerones, to the -discomfort of the readers, in sonorous tones bawled out the names of -the trophies displayed, concluding their catalogue with an account -of the wondrous wooden cock that is said (and truly) to crow when -it smells roast beef. But the quietude is no longer broken by these -inharmonious chantings—the strange collection has been transferred -to a more fitting home, and the scholar may now store his mind with -“the physic of the soul” and hold pleasant intercourse with antiquity -without being rudely recalled to the consciousness of the present by -such startling incongruities. - -At the end of the corridor a heavy oaken door admits you to the -reading-room, a large square antique chamber, with arched ceiling and -panelled walls, and a deeply-recessed oriel opposite the door, that -by the very cosiness of its appearance lures you to stay and drink -“at the pure well of English undefiled.” In the window lighting this -pleasant secluded nook is a shield on which the arms of the benevolent -Chetham are depicted in coloured glass—arms that gave him much trouble -to obtain, and the cost of which led him to facetiously remark that -they were not depicted in such good metal as that in which payment for -them was made, to which Lightbowne, his attorney, assented, sagely -observing, “there is soe much difference betwixt Paynter’s Gould and -Current Coyne,” a conclusion the correctness of which we will not stay -to dispute. No doubt it was the thought that he had “paid for his -whistle” that led the careful old merchant to adopt the suggestive -motto, “_Quod tuum tene_.” The furniture corresponds with the ancient -character of the room. In one corner is a carved oak buffet of ancient -date, with a raised inscription, setting forth that it was the gift -of Humphrey Chetham. There are ponderous chairs, with leather-padded -backs, studded with brass nails; and still more ponderous tables, one -of which we are gravely assured contains as many pieces as there are -days in the year. Over the fireplace, surmounted by his coat of arms, -is a portrait of the grave-visaged but large-hearted founder, with -pillars on each side, resting on books, and crowned with antique lamps, -suggestive of the founder’s desire to diffuse wisdom and happiness by -the light of knowledge; and, flanking them, on one side is a pelican -feeding its young with its own blood, and on the other the veritable -wooden cock already mentioned; antique mirrors are affixed to the -panelling; and dingy-looking portraits of Lancashire worthies gaze at -you from the walls—Nowell and Whitaker, and Bolton and Bradford, with -men who have reflected lustre upon the county in more recent times, -not the least interesting being the two portraits lately added of the -venerable president of the Chetham Society, and that indefatigable -bibliopole, the late librarian, Mr. Jones. - -On the ground floor, beneath the reading-room, is an apartment of -corresponding dimensions, which at present more especially claims our -attention. It is commonly known as the Feoffees’ room; but in bygone -days it was appropriated to the use of the wardens of the College. It -is a large, square, sombre-looking chamber, with a projecting oriel -at one end, and small pointed windows, with deep sills and latticed -panes, that, if they do not altogether “exclude the light,” are yet -sufficiently dim to “make a noonday night.” As you cross the threshold -your footsteps echo on the hard oak floor—all else is still and silent. -A staid cloistered gloom, and a quiet, half monastic air pervades the -place that carries your fancies back to mediæval times. The walls for a -considerable height are covered with black oak wainscotting, surrounded -by a plaster frieze enriched with arabesque work. The ceiling is -divided into compartments by deeply-moulded beams and rafters that -cross and recross each other in a variety of ways, all curiously -wrought, and ornamented at the intersections with carvings of fabulous -creatures and grotesque faces. On one of the bosses is a grim-visaged -head, depicted as in the act of devouring a child, which tradition -affirms is none other than that of the giant Tarquin, who held -threescore and four of King Arthur’s knights in thraldom in his castle -at Knot Mill, and was afterwards himself there slain by the valorous -Sir Lancelot of the Lake, who cut off his head and set the captives -free; all which forms a very pretty story, though we are more inclined -to believe that the mediæval sculptor, thinking little and caring less -for Tarquin or the Arthurian knights, merely copied the model of some -pagan mason, and reproduced the burlesque figure of Saturn eating one -of his own children.[22] On one side of the room is a broad fireplace, -with the armorial ensigns of one of the Tudor sovereigns behind, and -those of the benevolent Chetham on the frieze above. The whole of the -furniture is in character with the place—quaint, old-fashioned, and -substantial. Shining tall-backed chairs are disposed around the room, -and in the centre is a broad table of such massiveness as almost to -defy the efforts of muscular power to remove it. - -[Note 22: In the church of Mont Mijour there is a bracket on which -is carved a head devouring a child, closely resembling the one in -the warden’s room of the College, and supposed to be intended for a -caricature of Saturn.] - -A special interest attaches to this sombre-looking chamber from the -circumstance that tradition has associated it with the name of Dr. -Dee, the “Wizard Warden” of Manchester, and that here Roby has laid -the scene of one of his most entertaining Lancashire Legends. In this -“vaulted room of gramarye,” it is said, our English “Faust” had his - - Mystic implements of magic might, - -practised the occult sciences, cast his nativities, transmuted the -baser metals to gold, and, as the common people believed, held familiar -intercourse with the Evil One, and did other uncanny things. But of Dee -and his doings we purpose to speak anon. - -The wardenship of Dr. Dee forms a curious chapter in the ecclesiastical -history of Manchester, and at the same time presents us with a -humiliating picture of the condition of society in the golden days -of the Virgin Queen. It has been said that witchcraft came in with -the Stuarts and went out with them; but this is surely an injustice -to the memory of Elizabeth’s sapient successor, for the belief in -sorcery, witchcraft, enchantment, demonology, and practices of a -kindred nature were widely prevalent long ere that monarch ascended the -English throne. Henry VIII., in 1531, granted a formal licence to “two -learned clerks” “to practise sorcery and to build churches,” a curious -combination of evil and its antidote; and ten years later he, with -his accustomed inconsistency, issued a decree making “witchcraft and -sorcery felony, without benefit of clergy.” - -The belief in these abominations was not confined to any one class -of the people, or to the professors of any one form of faith. On the -contrary, Churchmen, Romanists, and Puritans were alike the dupes of -the loathsome impostors who roamed the country, though each in turn -was ready to upbraid the others with being believers in the generally -prevailing error, and not unfrequently with being participators in -the frauds that were practised. The great and munificent Edward, -Earl of Derby, “kept a conjuror in his house secretly;” and his -daughter-in-law, Margaret Clifford, Countess of Derby, lost the favour -of Queen Elizabeth for a womanish curiosity in “consulting with wizards -or cunning men.” The bishops gave authority and a form of licence to -the clergy to cast out devils; Romish ecclesiastics claimed to have -a monopoly of the power; and the Puritan ministers, not to be behind -them, tried their hands at the imposture. - -Education had then made little progress, and the men of Lancashire, -though the merriest of Englishmen, were as ignorant and superstitious -as they were merry. Nowhere was the belief in supernatural agency more -rife than in the Palatinate. The shaping power of the imagination had -clothed every secluded clough and dingle with the weird drapery of -superstition, and made every ruined or solitary tenement the abode of -unhallowed beings, who were supposed to hold their diabolical revelries -within it. The doctrines of necromancy and witchcraft were in common -belief, and it is doubtful if there was a single man in the county who -did not place the most implicit faith in both. Hence, Queen Elizabeth, -if it was not that she wished to get rid of a troublesome suitor, may -have thought there was a fitness of things in preferring a professor -of the Black Art to the wardenship of Manchester; believing, possibly, -that one given to astrology, and such like practices, could not find -a more congenial home than in a county specially prone, as Lancashire -then was, to indulge in _diablerie_ and the practice of alchemy and -enchantment. - -A brief reference to the earlier career of Dr. Dee may not be -altogether uninteresting. According to the genealogy drawn up by -himself, he belonged to the line of Roderick the Great, Prince of -Wales. His father, Rowland Dee, who was descended from a family settled -in Radnorshire, carried on the business of a vintner in London; and -there, or rather at Mortlake, within a few miles of the city, on -the 13th July, 1527, the future warden first saw the light. After -receiving a preliminary education at one or two of the city schools, -and subsequently at the Grammar School of Chelmsford, he entered St. -John’s College, Cambridge, being then only fifteen years of age; and -during the five years he remained there he maintained, with unflinching -strictness, the rule “only to sleepe four houres every night; to allow -to meate and drink (and some refreshing after), two houres every day; -and,” he adds, “of the other eighteen houres, all (except the tyme -of going to and being at divine service) was spent in my studies -and learning.” On leaving the University he passed some time in the -Low Countries, his object being “to speake and conferr with some -learned men, and chiefly mathematicians.” He made the acquaintance of -Frisius, Mercator, Antonius Gogara, and other celebrated Flemings; -and on his return to England he was chosen to be a Fellow of King -Henry’s newly-erected College of Trinity, and made under-reader of the -Greek tongue. His reputation stood very high, and his mathematical -and astronomical pursuits, in which he was assisted by some rare and -curious instruments—among them, as we are told, an “astronomer’s staff -of brass, that was made of Gemma Frisius’ divising; the two great -globes of Gerardus Mercator’s making; and the astronomer’s ring of -brass, as Gemma Frisius had newly framed it,” which he had brought -from Flanders—drew upon him among the common people the suspicion of -being a conjuror, an opinion that was strengthened by his getting up -at Cambridge a Greek play, the comedy of “Aristophanes,” in which, -according to his own account, he introduced “the Scarabeus his flying -up to Jupiter’s pallace, with a man and his basket of victualls on -her back; whereat was great wondring, and many vaine reportes spread -abroad of the meanes how that was affected.” Though causing “great -wondring,” and seeming at that time too marvellous to be accomplished -by human agency, it was in all probability only a clumsy performance, -and much inferior to the ordinary transformation scene of a modern -pantomime. The “vaine reportes,” however, led to Dee’s being accused of -magical practices, and he found it expedient to leave the University, -having first obtained his degree of Master of Arts. In 1548 he went -abroad and entered as a student at Louvain, where his philosophical -and mathematical skill brought him under the notice of some of the -continental _savants_. Apart from his intellectual power, he must in -his earlier years have possessed considerable charms both of person and -manner, for he contrived to gain friends and win admiration wherever he -went. He was consulted by men of the highest rank and station from all -parts of Europe, and before he left Louvain he had the degree of Doctor -of Laws conferred upon him. - -On quitting that University, in 1550, he proceeded to Paris, where -he turned the heads of the French people, who became almost frenzied -in their admiration of him. He read lectures on Euclid’s Elements—“a -thing,” as he says, “never done publiquely in any University of -Christendome,” and his lectures were so fully attended that the -mathematical school could not hold all his auditors, who clambered -up at the windows and listened at the doors as best they could. A -mathematical lectureship, with a yearly stipend of 200 crowns, and -several other honourable offices were also offered him from “five -Christian Emperors,” among them being an invitation from the Muscovite -Emperor to visit Moscow, where he was promised an income at the -Imperial hands of £2,000 a year, his diet free out of the Emperor’s -kitchen, and to be in dignity and authority among the highest of the -nobility; but he preferred to reside in his native country, and, -foregoing these inducements, he returned to England in 1551. - -The fame of his marvellous acquirements had preceded him, and on -his arrival he was presented by Secretary Cecil to the young King, -Edward VI., who granted him a pension of 100 crowns a year, which -was soon “bettered,” as he says, by his “bestowing on me (as it were -by exchange) the rectory of Upton-upon-Seaverne,” in Worcestershire, -and to this was added the rectory of Long Leadenham, in Lincolnshire. -Though holding these two benefices, it is somewhat remarkable that Dee -does not appear to have ever been admitted to Holy Orders. There is no -very clear evidence that he at any time occupied his Worcestershire -parsonage, but he must have been resident for a while at Long -Leadenham, for at that place a stone has been found inscribed with his -name and sundry cabalistic figures, indicating that he had at some time -lived in the parish. If he ever resided at Upton-upon-Severn he must -have found an uncongenial neighbour in Bishop Bonner, who then held the -living of Ripple—for the one was visionary, sensitive, and unpractical, -and the other stern, cruel, and unscrupulous, while on religious and -political questions their views were as wide apart as the poles. - -On the 6th of July, 1553, Edward VI. finished his “short but saintly -course,” and the solemn sound then heard from the bell-towers of -England, while it announced the fact of his decease, crushed the hopes -of Dee, for a time at least, and in a proportionate degree raised the -expectations of Bonner. Mary had not been many months upon the throne -before Dee was accused of carrying on a correspondence with Princess -Elizabeth’s servants and of compassing the Queen’s death by means -of enchantments. He was cast into prison and tried upon the charge -of high treason, but acquitted; after which he was turned over to -Bonner to see if heresy might not be proved against him. Christian -martyrdom, however, was not in Mr. Dee’s vocation, and so, after -six months’ detention, on giving satisfaction to the Queen’s Privy -Council, and entering into recognisances “for ready appearing and -good abearing for four months longer,” he was set at liberty August -19, 1555, to find that during his incarceration his rectory had been -bestowed upon the Dean of Worcester, Bonner having detained him in -captivity in order that he might have the disposal of his preferment. -The following characteristic letter, written about this time, and -addressed from the Continent (endorsed “fro Callice to Bruxells”), has -been recently unearthed from among the Marian State papers by that -painstaking antiquary, Mr. J. Eglinton Bailey, F.S.A., and printed in -Mr. Earwaker’s “Local Gleanings:” - - My dutye premysed unto youre good L’rdshype as hyt apperteynethe. - This daye abowt iiij of the clocke at after noone my L. - Chawncelare (Gardyner) taketh his Jorneye toward England havynge - rather made a meane to a peace to be hereafter condyscendyd unto, - than a peace at thys tyme yn any pointe determyned. In England - all ys quyete. Souch as wrote trayterouse l’res (letters) ynto - Germany be apprehendyd as lykewyse oothers yt dyd calculate ye - kynge and quene and my Lady Elizabeth natyvytee, wherof on Dee and - Cary and butler, and on ooyr of my Lady Elezabeths ... ar accused - and yt they should have a famylyare sp(irit) wch ys ye moore - susp’ted, for yt fferys on of ther a(ccu)sers-hadd ymedyatly upon - thaccusatys bothe hys chyldr(en) strooken, the on wth put deathe, - thother wth blyndnes. Thys trustynge shortly to doe youe yn an - ooyr place bettre servyce I bed yowr good Lordshype most hartily - to farewell. Wryte ffro Cales ye viijth of June. - -Yowr Lordshyps most asured - THO. MARTYN. - -Happily for Dee, Mary’s reign was not of long duration, and on the -accession of Elizabeth he was at once restored to the sunshine of Royal -favour and courted by the wealthy and the great. He was consulted -by Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, by the Queen’s -desire, respecting “a propitious day” for her coronation, and he says,— - - I wrote at large and delivered it for Her Majesty’s use, by the - commandment of the Lord Robert, what in my judgment the ancient - astrologers would determine on the election day of such a time as - was appointed for Her Majesty to be crowned in. - -At the same time he was presented to the Queen, who made him great -promises, not always fulfilled—amongst others, that where her brother -Edward “had given him a crown she would give him a noble.” - -Dee was a great favourite with Elizabeth, who could well appreciate -his intellectual power, coupled as it was with some personal graces. -She frequently visited him at his house to confer with him and to have -peeps at futurity; and nothing perhaps better illustrates the faith the -“Virgin Queen” had in his astrological powers than the circumstance of -her consulting him, as other virgins in less exalted stations consult -“wise men,” upon the subject of her matrimonial projects, and also that -she had her nativity cast in order to ascertain if she could marry with -advantage to the nation. The credulous Queen placed the most implicit -confidence in Dee’s predictions. She was full of hope that the genius -and learning which had already worked such wonders would accomplish yet -more, and that he would eventually succeed in penetrating the two great -mysteries—the Elixir Vitæ and the Philosopher’s Stone—those secrets -which would endue her with perpetual youth and fill her treasury with -inexhaustible wealth. - -The fame of the English seer became more and more widely spread. -Invitations poured in upon him from foreign courts, and his visits to -the Continent became frequent. In 1563 he was at Venice; the same year, -or the one following, he was at Antwerp, superintending the printing of -his “Monas Hyeroglyphica.” An original copy of this work is preserved -in the Manchester Free Library. Casauban acknowledges that, though -it was a little book, he could extract no reason or sense out of it. -Possibly he was one of those who, as Dee says, “dispraised it because -they understood it not.” Let us hope Dee’s patron was more fortunate, -for she had the advantage of reading it under the guidance of its -author, in her palace at Greenwich, after his return from beyond seas. -The book is dedicated to the Emperor Maximilian, to whom Dee presented -it in person, being at the time, as there is some reason to believe, on -a secret mission, for Lilly says, “he was the Queen’s intelligencer, -and had a salary for his maintenance from the Secretaries of State.” - -After his return, he was sent for on one occasion, “to prevent the -mischief which divers of Her Majesty’s Privy Council suspected to be -intended against Her Majesty, by means of a certain image of wax, with -a great pin stuck into it, about the breast of it, found in Lincoln’s -Inn Fields,” and this, we are told, he did “in a godly and artificial -manner.” In 1571 he again went abroad, and while returning became -dangerously ill at Lorraine, where the Queen despatched two English -physicians “with great speed from Hampton Court,” to attend him, “sent -him divers rareties to eat, and the Honourable Lady Sydney to attend on -him, and comfort him with divers speeches from Her Majesty, _pithy_ and -_gracious_.” On his return he settled in the house which had belonged -to his father, at Mortlake, in Surrey, a building on the banks of the -Thames, a little westward of the church. Here for some time he led a -life of privacy and study, collecting books and manuscripts, beryls and -magic crystals, talismans, &c., his library, it is said, consisting of -more than 4,000 volumes, the fourth part of which were MSS., the whole -being valued at the time at more than £2,000. - -In his “Compendious Rehearsall” there is a curious account of a visit -which Elizabeth, attended by many of her Court, made to his house at -Mortlake:— - - 1575 10 Martii.—The Queens Majestie, with her Most honourable - Privy Councell, and other her lords and nobility, came purposely - to have visited my library; but finding that my wife was within - four houres before buried out of the house, her Majestie refused - to come in; but willed me to fetch my glass so famous, and to shew - unto her some of the properties of it, which I did; her Majestie - being taken downe from her horse (by the Earle of Leicester, - Master of the horse, by the Church wall of Mortlak), did see - some of the properties of that glass, to her Majestie’s great - contentment and delight, and so in most gracious manner did thank - me, &c. - -The glass is supposed to have been of a convex form, and so managed as -to show the reflection of different figures and faces. - -On the 8th October, 1578, the Queen had a conference with Dee, at -Richmond, and on the 16th of the same month she sent her physician, -Dr. Bayly, to confer with him “about her Majestie’s grievous pangs -and paines by reason of toothake and the rheum, &c.;” and before the -close of the year he was sent a journey of over 1,500 miles by sea and -land, “to consult with the learned physitions and philosophers (_i.e._ -astrologers) beyond the seas for her Majestie’s health recovering and -preserving; having by the right honourable Earle of Leicester and Mr. -Secretary Walsingham but one hundred days allowed to go and come in.” - -After his return, Elizabeth honoured him with another visit, as appears -by the following entry in his “Diary”:— - - 1580. Sept. 17th.—The Quene’s Majestie came from Rychemond in her - coach, the higher way of Mortlak felde, and when she came right - against the Church she turned down toward my howse; and when she - was against my garden in the felde she stode there a good while, - and then came ynto the street at the great gate of the felde, - when she espyed me at my doore making obeysciens to her Majestie; - she beckend her hand for me; I came to her coach side, she very - speedily pulled off her glove and gave me her hand to kiss; and to - be short, asked me to resort to her court, and to give her to wete - when I cam ther. - -In less than a month he received another visit from his patron, when -the shadow of death was over his house; for his mother, who shared the -house at Mortlake with him, had expired a few hours before the arrival -of the Royal party. This time Elizabeth seems to have come less to -please herself than to comfort her favourite:— - - Oct. 10th.—The Quene’s Majestie, to my great comfort (_hora - quinta_), cam with her trayn from the court, and at my dore - graciously calling me to her, on horsbak, exhorted me briefly to - take my mother’s death patiently; and withall told me that the - Lord Threasorer had gretly commended my doings for her title, - which he had to examyn, which title in two rolls, he had browght - home two hours before; she remembred allso how at my wive’s death - it was her fortune likewise to call uppon me. - -The “title” alluded to had reference to the doubts Elizabeth affected -to have as to her right to rule over the new countries that were at -the time being discovered by her gallant sea captains, when, to ease -her scruples, she had desired Dee to give her a full account of the -newly-found regions. This he did in a few days, producing two large -rolls, which he delivered to the Queen “in the garden at Richmond;” and -in which not only the geography, but also the history, of the English -colonies throughout the world was given at length. Dee must have made -a liberal draught upon his imagination in producing such a work; and -Elizabeth, credulous as she was, could hardly have looked upon his -account of Virginia or Florida or Newfoundland as trustworthy history. -She wished to believe it, however, and therefore signified her gracious -approval of Dee’s production, much to the disgust of Burleigh, who in -the Queen’s presence openly expressed his disbelief; and when, four -days later, Dee attended at the Lord Treasurer’s house, he refused -to admit him, and when he came forth, as he says, “did not, or would -not, speak to me, I doubt not of some new grief conceyved.” On further -examination of the writings, Burleigh’s misgivings may have been -removed, or, as is much more likely, deeming it unwise to provoke a -quarrel with one whom the Queen delighted to honour, he strove to make -amends for his discourtesy, for he sent Dee a haunch of venison three -weeks after. Though the breach was healed, the scholar’s fear of the -Lord Treasurer was not altogether dispelled, if we may judge from a -dream with which he was troubled shortly afterwards, when, as he says— - - I dreamed that I was deade; and afterwards my bowels were taken - out. I walked and talked with diverse, and among other with the - Lord Threasorer, who was come to my house to burn my bones when I - was dead, and thought he looked sourely on me. - -Mr. Disraeli, in his “Amenities of Literature,” rightly estimated the -character of the “Wizard Warden” of Manchester when he remarked that -“the imagination of Dee often predominated over his science—while both -were mingling in his intellectual habits, each seemed to him to confirm -the other. Prone to the mystical lore of what was termed the occult -sciences, which in reality are no sciences at all, since whatever -remains occult ceases to be science, Dee lost his better genius.” -Casaubon maintains that throughout he acted with sincerity, but this -may be very well doubted. It is true that until he dabbled in magical -arts he gave most of his time and talents to science and literature, -but in the later years of his life he laid aside every pursuit that did -not aid in his alchemical and magical studies, and rapidly degenerated -into the mere necromancer and adventurer. Conjuror or not, he sported -with conjuror’s tools; and when in the ardour of his enthusiasm he -claimed to hold intercourse with angelic beings whom he could summon -to his presence at his will, and boasted the possession of a crystal -given him by the Angel Uriel, which enabled him to reveal all secrets, -he naturally subjected himself to suspicions which, as he afterwards -lamented, “tended to his utter undoing.” - -Many of the incidents of his life are recorded in his “Private Diary,” -edited for the Camden Society by Mr. J. Orchard Halliwell, and the -portion relating to the period of his wardenship of Manchester has -since been edited from the autograph MSS. in the Bodleian Library, with -copious notes, and the errors of the Camden edition corrected by Mr. J. -Eglinton Bailey. This journal gives a curious insight into the private -life and real character of the strange yet simple-minded writer, -relating, as it does with much circumstantial detail, his family -affairs, his labours and rewards, and his trials and tribulations. -There are notes of the visits paid to him by great people; of his -attendances at Court; entries of those who consulted him as to the -casting of their nativities; particulars of moneys borrowed from time -to time (for, though he received large fees and presents, he was almost -continuously in a state of impecuniosity); and the ordinary small talk -of a common-place book. On the 15th June, 1579, his mother surrendered -the house at Mortlake to him, with reversion to his wife and his -heirs. On the 5th February in the preceding year he had married, as -his second wife, a daughter of Mr. Bartholomew Fromonds, of East -Cheam, a fellow-worker in alchemical pursuits, the lady being 23 years -of age and Dee 51. They do not appear to have had many sympathies -in common. She was a strong-minded, shrewd, managing woman, with a -somewhat vixenish temper, who exercised considerable influence over -her visionary and unpractical husband, and kept him in awe of her, -though not sufficiently to restrain his reckless expenditure on books, -manuscripts, and scientific instruments. Occasionally he complains of -her irritability, but it must be confessed that, with her domestic -cares, the worry of her “mayds,” the sickness of her children, and the -difficulty she had in getting from her mystical husband sufficient -money for the needful expenses of her household, the poor woman had -anxieties enough to try the most enduring patience and sour the -sweetest temper. On one occasion he writes: “Jane most desperately -angry in respect of her maydes;” at another time he puts up a prayer -to the angels that she may be cured of some malady that so she may “be -of a quieter mind, and not so testy and fretting as she hath been.” -And again, “Katharin (a child under eight years) by a blow on the eare -given by her mother did bled at the nose very much, which did stay for -an howre and more; afterward she did walk into the town with nurse; -upon her coming home she bled agayn.” - -Though Dee was much noticed and flattered by Elizabeth, the preferment -she so often promised him was slow in coming; perhaps it was that the -calculating Queen wished to ascertain the full value of his horoscope, -which could be only done by the efflux of time, though, if the -prosperity of her reign depended upon the day he had chosen for her -coronation, she then had abundant proof of his magical skill. Dee was -beginning to lose heart, his finances were getting low, he was in the -usurer’s hands, and his pecuniary obligations were disquieting him. At -this time came the crisis of his life. In 1581 he formed the disastrous -friendship with Kelly, whom he took into his service as an assistant in -his alchemical and astrological labours. - -This individual, whose dealings in the Black Art would fill a volume, -was a crafty and unscrupulous schemer—a clever rogue, who, without a -tithe of the learning or genius of Dee, contrived to work upon his -credulity to such an extent that Dee believed him to have the power of -seeing, hearing, and holding “conversations with spirituall creatures” -that were invisible and inaudible to Dee himself. Kelly, who was -nearly thirty years the junior of Dee, having been born in 1555, “left -Oxford,” says Mr. John Eglinton Bailey, in his admirable notes to the -reprint of Dee’s “Diary,” “abruptly to ramble in Lancashire,” and -for some delinquencies, coining it is said, had his ears cut off at -Lancaster. Mr. Bailey says that he had been a lawyer, and Lilly states -on the authority of his sister that he had practised as an apothecary -at Worcester. Of a restless, roving, and ambitious disposition, he was - - Everything by turns, and nothing long. - -It was his practice to raise the dead by incantations, and to consult -the corpse for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge, as he pretended, -of the fate of the living. Weever, in his “Ancient Funeral Monuments” -(p. 45), says that upon a certain night in the park of Walton-le-Dale, -near Preston, with one Paul Wareing, of Clayton Brook, he invoked one -of the infernal regiment to know certain passages in the life, as also -what might be known of the devil’s foresight of the manner and time -of the death, of a young nobleman in Wareing’s wardship. The ceremony -being ended, Kelly and his companion repaired to the church of Walton, -where they dug up the body of a man recently interred, and whom, by -their incantations, they made to deliver strange predictions concerning -the same gentleman, who was probably present and anxious to read a -page in the book of futurity. This feat, which was no doubt performed -by a kind of ventriloquism, is also mentioned by Casaubon. It is not -said when the circumstance occurred, but a local historian, anxious -to supply the omission, gives the date August 12, 1560, and says that -Dee was present. This, however, must be an error, for Kelly could then -have been only five years of age, and Dee did not make his acquaintance -until long afterwards. - -Kelly was a notorious alchemist and necromancer long before Dee became -associated with him, and after the unfortunate intimacy commenced he -acted as his amanuensis, and performed for him the office of “seer,” -by looking into the doctor’s magic crystal,[23] a faculty he himself -did not possess, and hence he was obliged to have recourse to Kelly for -the revelations from the spirit world. It would seem, therefore, that -“mediums” are by no means a modern invention. Dee says he was brought -into unison with him by the mediation of the Angel Uriel, and their -dealings and daily conferences with the spirits are fully recorded in -Casaubon’s work, entitled, “A True and Faithful Relation of what passed -for many years between Dr. John Dee and some Spirits.” They had a black -spectrum or crystal—a piece of polished cannel coal, in which Kelly -affirmed the Angels Gabriel and Raphael, and the whole Rosicrucian -hierarchy, appeared at their invocation—and hence the author of -“Hudibras” says,— - - Kelly did all his feats upon - The devil’s looking-glass—a stone; - Where playing with him at bo-peep - He solved all problems ne’er so deep. - -[Note 23: Dee’s magic crystal, or show stone, was preserved at -Strawberry Hill until that famous collection was dispersed. A -correspondent in _Notes and Queries_ (2nd S., No. 201) says that John -Varley, the painter, well known to have been attached to astrology, -used to relate a tradition that the Gunpowder Plot was discovered by -Dr. Dee with his magic mirror; and he urged the difficulty, if not the -impossibility, of interpreting Lord Mounteagle’s letter without some -other clue or information than hitherto gained. In a Common Prayer -Book, printed by Baskett in 1737, is an engraving of the following -scene: In the centre is a circular mirror on a stand, in which is -the reflection of the Houses of Parliament by night, and a person -entering carrying a dark lantern. Next, on the left side are two men -in the costume of James’s time, looking into the mirror—one evidently -the King, the other evidently, from his secular habit, not the doctor -(Dee), but probably Sir Kenelm Digby. On the right side, at the top, -is the eye of Providence darting a ray on the mirror; and below are -some legs and hoofs, as if evil spirits were flying out of the picture. -The plate is inserted before the service for the 5th November, and -would seem to represent the method by which, under Providence (as is -evidenced by the eye), the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot was at that -time seriously believed to have been effected. The tradition must have -been generally and seriously believed, or it never could have found its -way into a Prayer Book printed by the King’s printer.] - -When an incantation was to take place, “The sacred crystal was placed -on a sort of altar before a crucifix, with lighted candles on either -side, and an open Psalter before it,” and prayers and ejaculations -of the most fervid description were intermingled with the account -taken down at Kelly’s dictation of the dress and hair, as well as the -sayings and movements, of the angels. Dee was infatuated with his new -acquaintance, and every experiment he suggested was tried, at whatever -cost, and hence it was not long before Kelly’s weak and credulous dupe -found himself in straitened circumstances. It was at this time that the -Earl of Leicester, the Queen’s favourite, proposed dining with him at -Mortlake and bringing Albert Lasque, the Palatine of Sieradz, who was -then in England, with him, when Dee had to explain that he could not -give them a suitable dinner without selling some of his plate or pewter -to procure it. Leicester mentioned the circumstance to the Queen, who -speedily helped her old favourite out of the difficulty by sending him -“forty angells of gold.” He thus relates the circumstance:— - - Her Majestie (A. 1583 Julii ultimo) being informed by the right - honourable Earle of Leicester, that whereas the same day in the - morning he had told me, that his Honour and Lord Laskey would dyne - with me within two daies after, I confessed sincerely unto him, - that I was not able to prepaire them a convenient dinner, unless - I should presently sell some of my plate or some of my pewter for - it. Whereupon her Majestie sent unto me very royally, within one - hour after, forty angells of gold, from Syon, whither her Majestie - was new come by water from Greenewich. - -At the same time he makes the following entry in his “Diary”:— - - Mr. Rawlegh his letter unto me of hir Majestie’s good disposition - unto me. - -the writer being Sir Walter Raleigh, who was then in great favour with -Elizabeth, and himself a patron of Dee’s. - -The visit of Count Lasque was an important event in Dee’s career. The -Polish noble was accounted of great learning, and fond of “occult -studies.” He paid frequent visits to the house at Mortlake, where he -was admitted to the _séances_ of the English magician, and became much -impressed with his learning and professed knowledge of the mystical -world. When the time came for Lasque to return he suggested that -Dee should go out with him to Poland, with his wife and children, -accompanied by Kelly and his wife and brother, and their servants. -When in his castle at Sieradz they could make their experiments in -undisturbed seclusion. Seeing no prospect of the fulfilment of the -promises made to him at home, and being hampered with debt, Dee, who -was then in his 57th year, was nothing loth to try his fortune abroad -once more. They left in September, and it was six years before any of -them again set foot on English soil. The departure is thus recorded in -the “Diary”:— - - Sept. 21st (1583).—We went from Mortlake, and so to the Lord - Albert Lasky, I, Mr. E. Kelly, our wives, my children and familie, - we went toward our two ships attending for us, seven or eight myle - below Gravessende. - -The period of their residence abroad was a chequered one, and many -and extraordinary were their adventures and experiences, alternating -between honour and discredit—between luxury and distress. For many -months they were hospitably entertained by Count Lasque while engaged -in their researches for the Philosopher’s Stone, but finding that -they spent more gold than they were able to produce he got tired, and -persuaded them to pay a visit to Rudolph, King of Bohemia, who, though -a weak and credulous man, soon became conscious of the imposture that -was being practised, and passed them on to Stephen, King of Poland, -at Cracow, but he declined to have anything to do with them, and the -Emperor Rudolph refused to pay their expenses, or further encourage -their experiments, though he permitted them to reside at Prague, and -occasionally to appear at Court, until they were banished from the -country at the instigation of the Pope’s Nuncio, who stigmatised them -as “notorious magicians.” Dee lamented the “subtill devises and plotts” -laid against him, and pathetically added, “God best knoweth how I -was very ungodly dealt withall, when I meant all truth, sincerity, -fidelity, and piety towardes God, and my Queene, and country.” - -The old man had surrendered himself entirely to Kelly. Under his -iniquitous influence he degenerated into a mere necromancer, and was -sinking more and more into discredit. On leaving Bohemia the two -adventurers found an asylum in the Castle of Trebona, whither the -Count of Rosenberg had invited them, and where, for a time, they were -maintained in great affluence, owing, as they affirmed, to their -discovery of the secret of transmuting the baser metals into gold. -Kelly would seem to have learned some secrets from the German chemists -which he did not reveal to his employer, but by their possession -contrived to increase his influence over him, while he himself had -recourse to the worst species of the magic art for the purposes of -avarice and fraud. It was while at Trebona that Kelly produced the -wonderful elixir, or Philosopher’s Stone, in the form of a powder, -which Lilly, in his “Memoirs,” says he obtained from a friar who -came to Dee’s door. With this “powder of projection,” or “salt of -metals,” as it was variously called, they were enabled to coat the -baser metals with silver or gold, and would seem to have hit upon the -process which, a century and a half later, Joseph Hancock introduced -into Sheffield—that of electro-plating. Among other transmutations -they converted a piece of an old iron warming pan, by warming it at -the fire, into (or covered it with) silver, and sent it to Queen -Elizabeth.[24] Why, when they were about it, they did not “transmute” -the whole pan is not stated, but it would seem they were not able -to work the discovery easily or quickly enough to make it pay, for -heart-burnings, jealousies, and disputations arose, and quarrels became -of frequent occurrence. At one time Kelly got such a hold upon his dupe -as to persuade him that it was the Divine will that they should have -their wives in common; then a rupture occurred between the ladies, who, -however, became reconciled to each other, and we have the entries in -the Diary— - - April 10th (1588).—I writ to Mr. Edward Kelly and to Mistress - Kelly ij charitable letters requiring at theyr hands mutual - charity. - -And— - - May 22nd.—Mistris Kelly received the sacrament and to me and my - wife gave her hand in charity; and we rushed not from her. - -Peace was restored, but it must have been of short duration, for we -find a few months later— - - July 17th.—Mr. Thomas Southwell of his own courteous nature did - labor with Mr. Edmond Cowper, and indirectly with Mistress Kelly, - for to furder charity and friendship among us. - -[Note 24: Ashmole, in his MS., 1790, fol. 58, says, “Mr. Lilly told me -that John Evans informed him that he was acquainted with Kelly’s sister -in Worcester, that she showed him some of the gold her brother had -transmuted, and that Kelly was first an apothecary at Worcester.”] - -True to his sordid and scheming nature, Kelly, who had become a -full-blown knight, contrived to possess himself of the greater part of -Dee’s treasures—“the powder, the bokes, the glass, and the bone”—and -then, having no longer any need of the old man’s co-operation, took -himself off to earn elsewhere a success that, however, proved only -very short-lived, for it was not long before, being detected in some -knavery, he fell into disgrace, and was immured by the Emperor Rudolph -in one of the prisons of Prague. Queen Elizabeth hearing of him, sent a -messenger—Captain Peter Gwinne—secretly for him to return; but he was -doomed to end his days in a foreign land, for in an attempt to escape -from one of the windows of the castle he fell to the ground, and was so -bruised and shattered that he died in a few hours—his elixir, it would -seem, not being sufficient to communicate immortality to its possessor. - -Forsaken by his companion, Dee resolved on returning to England. -Elizabeth, who had heard of the doings of the two adventurers, and -being, moreover, much impressed with the silvered piece of the -warming pan, sent the doctor friendly messages desiring his return, -with letters of safe conduct, and Lord Rosenberg, who had welcomed -the coming, was now no less hearty in speeding his parting guests, -an attention that is not surprising when it is remembered that for -two years or more he had had quartered upon him two families who -maintained somewhat questionable relations, and lived upon anything -but friendly terms with each other—two quarrelsome women, a whole bevy -of turbulent and unruly children, and a staff of servants that were -continually causing disquiet by their “unthankfulnesse” and discontent; -to say nothing of a brace of conjurors who crowded his castle, or, at -least, were believed to, with imps, hobgoblins, and ghostly visitants -of various kinds, and who there practised all sorts of _diablerie_. -The count made him magnificent promises, and gave him a present of -money; and we can quite believe that he and those about him were not -very much overcome when Dee and his household divinities left Trebona -Castle and turned their faces homewards. They travelled with great pomp -and state, having “three new coaches made purposely for my foresaid -journey,” “twelve coach horses,” “two and sometymes three waines,” -with “twenty-four soldiers,” and “four Swart-Ruiters,” as a guard -of honour; the “total summe of money spent” being £796—well-nigh -sufficient for a royal progress. On November 19, 1589, the Dees -“toke ship by the Vineyard,” and December 2nd “came into the Tems to -Gravesende.” They landed the following day, and on the 19th the doctor -was “at Richemond with the Queen’s Majestie,” when, according to -Aubrey, who received the information from Lilly, he was very favourably -received. - -Though Dee and his family “cam into the Tems” on the 2nd December, it -was not until Christmas Day that they again entered upon possession -of the old home at Mortlake. And a comfortless coming home and a -sorrowful Christmas Day must have been that 25th of December, 1589. -Courted by “Christian Emperors,” Dee had lived long enough to realise -the value of the aphorism which says “Put not your trust in princes!” -Feeble with years, broken in health, and overwhelmed by his losses -and disappointments, the old man chafed and became fretful; while his -comparatively youthful spouse—for Jane Dee was then in the prime of -womanhood—was becoming increasingly irritable under the increasing -cares of a growing family, and the difficulties she experienced in -obtaining even decent food and raiment for them. - -On reaching their once pleasant abode on the banks of the Thames, they -found it dismantled and in part dilapidated. While abroad, silvering -his old warming-pan and dreaming dreams of inexhaustible wealth, Dee -had little dreamed of what was going on at home. Scarcely had he -and his quondam associate reached the castle of Count Lasque than -Nicholas Fromonds, his brother-in-law, who had been left in charge -of the old house, and was to occupy it as tenant, “imbezeled,” sold, -and “unduly made away” his furniture and “household stuff;” and a -noisy rabble, believing that the old man had dealings with the devil, -broke in, ransacked the whole place, and destroyed nearly everything -that remained. Scarcely anything was left. 4,000 volumes, including -the precious manuscripts, that had taken more than 40 years to get -together, and had cost him £2,000, an enormous sum if we consider the -value of money at that time, were scattered; though, through the -efforts of his friends, some of them were afterwards recovered, as -he said, “in manner out of a dunghill, in the corner of a church, -wherein very many were utterly spoyled by rotting, through the raine -continually for many years before falling on them, through the decayed -roof of that church, lying desolate and wast at this houre.” The “rare -and exquisitely-made instruments mathematicall,” the “strong and -faire quadrant of five foote semi-diameter;” the two globes, on one -of which “were set down divers comettes, their places and motions;” -the sea compasses; the magnet-stone “of great vertue;” the “watch -clock,” which measured the “360th part of an hour,” were all purloined, -“piecemeal divided,” or “barbarously spoyled and with hammers smit in -pieces.” Harland and Wilkinson, in their “Lancashire Folk-Lore,” say -that when the house was attacked, “it was with difficulty Dee and his -family escaped the fury of the rabble;” but this is a mistake, for, -as previously stated, they were at the time beyond the seas, and in -blissful ignorance of what was taking place. - -Dee’s affairs were now in a deplorable condition. The destruction of -his library was a terrible calamity. He was involved in debt, his -creditors were becoming clamorous, and, as he laments, “the usury -devoureth me, and the score, talley, and booke debts doe dayly put me -to shame in many places and with many men.” His old friend and patron, -the Queen, who had not yet lost faith in his astrological powers and -discoveries, sent him in the year following his return “fiftie poundes -to keep Christmas with,” and promised him another “fiftie poundes” -out of her “prevy purse.” Many other friends sent him presents, in -all about £500; but he was still struggling in poverty, and craving -for some lucrative office, that he might free himself from his -difficulties. In his distress he memorialised the Queen, through the -Countess of Warwick, earnestly requesting that commissioners might be -appointed to inquire into and decide upon his claims. His indebtedness -then amounted to nearly £4,000, and the story he tells of the shifts -he had recourse to, to save his family from “hunger starving,” is -truly pathetic. He had been constrained, he says, “now and then to -send parcells of furniture and plate to pawne upon usury,” and when -these were gone, “after the same manner went my wife’s jewells of gold, -rings, braceletts, chaines, and other our rarities, under thraldom of -the usurer’s gripes, till _non plus_ was written upon the boxes at -home.” Upon the report the Queen “willed the Lady Howard to write some -words of comfort to his wife, and send some friendly tokens beside;” -she further sent through Mr. Candish (Cavendish) her “warrant by word -of mowth to assure him to do what he would in philosophie and alchemie, -and none shold chek, controll, or molest him,” and as a mark of her -regard, on two occasions, “called for him at his door” as she rode by. - -About this time a domestic difficulty of a different nature occurred. -Dee’s nurse became “possessed,” and he had to try his skill in -exorcising what he believed to be the evil spirit, though, as the -result showed, with indifferent success. The incident is thus referred -to in his “Diary”:— - - Aug. 2nd, 1590.—Nurs her great affliction of mynde. - - Aug. 22nd.—Ann my nurse had long byn tempted by a wycked spirit: - but this day it was evident how she was possessed of him. God is, - hath byn, and shall be her protector and deliverer! Amen. - - Aug. 25th.—Anne Frank was sorowful, well comforted, and stayed in - God’s mercyes acknowledging. - - Aug. 26th.—At night I anoynted (in the name of Jesus) Anne Frank, - her brest with the holy oyle. - - Aug. 30th.—In the morning she required to be anoynted, and I did - very devowtly prepare myself, and pray for vertue and powr, and - Christ his blessing of the oyle to the expulsion of the wycked; - and then twyse anoynted, the wycked one did resest a while. - - Sep. 8th.—Nurse Anne Frank wold have drowned hirself in my well, - but by divine Providence I cam to take her up befor she was - overcome of the water. - - Sep. 29th.—Nurse Anne Frank most miserably did cut her owne - throte, afternone abowt four of the clok, pretending to be in - prayer before her keeper, and suddenly and very quickly rising - from prayer, and going toward her chamber, as the mayden her - keeper thowt, but indede straight way down the stayrs into the - hall of the other howse, behinde the doore did that horrible act; - and the mayden who wayted on her at the stayr fote followed her, - and missed to fynd her in three or fowr places, tyll at length she - hard her rattle in her owne blud. - -Dee tried hard to regain the parsonages and endowments of Upton and -Long Leadenham, of which Bonner had many years previously dispossessed -him, but he was “utterly put owt of hope for recovering them by the -Lord Archbishop and the Lord Threasorer.” Elizabeth had, on one -occasion, promised him the deanery of Gloucester, but objection was -raised on the ground of his not being in Holy Orders; subsequently he -had the promise of some small advowsons in the diocese of St David’s; -but the promise which was pleasant to the bear was roken to the hope. -Failing these, he applied for reversion of the mastership of the -Hospital of St. Cross, at Winchester. The Queen and the Lord Treasurer -were favourably disposed, and Mr. J. Eglinton Bailey, in his admirable -notes, to which we have before made reference, cites a Latin document -which he found among the State Papers, dated May, 1594, being a grant -to Wm. Brooke, Lord Cobham, K.G., of the next advowson of the hospital -of Holyrood, near Winchester, of the Queen’s gift, by the vacancy of -the See, to present John Dee, M.A., on the death or resignation of Dr. -Robert Bennett, the then incumbent. Bennett, however, did not die, or -did not resign in reasonable time, for Dee never got installed; or it -may be that the Archbishop (Whitgift) had interposed, for a month after -the “grant” just mentioned, we find in the “Diary” an entry in which -he thus gives vent to his feeling of mortification and disappointment, -after an interview with the Primate:— - - June 29th, 1594.—After I had hard the Archbishop his answers and - discourses, and that after he had byn the last Sonday at Tybald’s - (Theobald’s) with the Quene and Lord Threaserer, I take myself - confounded for all suing or hoping for anything that was. And so - adieu to the court and courting tyll God direct me otherwise! The - Archbishop gave me a payre of sufferings to drinke. God be my help - as he is my refuge! Amen. - -When Dee ceased to supplicate, his wife took up the parable, and with -much more satisfactory results. On the 7th of December, in the same -year, we read:— - - Jane, my wife, delivered her supplication to the Quene’s Majestie, - as she passed out of the privy garden at Somerset House to go to - diner to the Savoy, to Syr Thomas Henedge. The Lord Admirall toke - it of the Quene. Her Majestie toke the bill agayn, and kept (it) - uppon her cushen; and on the 8th day, by the chief motion of the - Lord Admirall, and somewhat of the Lord Buckhurst, the Quene’s - wish was to the Lord Archbishop presently that I should have Dr. - Day his place in Powles (_i.e._, the Chancellorship of St. Paul’s). - -Possibly the Queen or the Archbishop, or both, were getting wearied -with the constant appeals of their tedious and egotistical suitor, for -a month later occurs the entry:— - - 1595. Jan. 8th.—The Wardenship of Manchester spoken of by the Lord - Archbishop of Canterbury. - - Feb. 5th.—My bill of Manchester offered to the Quene afore dynner - by Sir John Wolly to signe, but she deferred it. - - April 18th.—My bill for Manchester Wardenship signed by the Quene, - Mr. Herbert offring it her. - -And so the magician of Mortlake was commissioned to minister among the -Lancashire witches, and an exceedingly unpleasant time he had of it, as -we shall presently see. - -Though the appointment was made, the patent was not yet sealed. Dr. -Chadderton did not actually relinquish the wardenship of Manchester -until the confirmation of his election to the see of Lincoln, May 24, -1595. Immediately after appears the entry in the “Diary”:— - - May 25th, 26th, 27th.—The Signet, Privy Seale, and the Great Seale - of the Wardenship. - -The old man was evidently too poverty-stricken to pay the fees, for he -significantly adds, “£3 12s. 0d. borrowed of my brother Arnold.” - -At last the long-hoped-for preferment was secured, and the Warden elect -at once began to prepare for removal to his new sphere of duty. Though, -as before stated, the building of the College had been acquired by the -Earls of Derby, under the Confiscating Act of Edward VI., the Wardens -continued to reside there. On the 11th June Dee “wrote to the Erle of -Derby his secretary abowt Manchester College;” and on the 21st June he -makes the entry:— - - The Erle of Derby his letter to Mr. Warren for the Colledge. - -Mr. Warren being apparently the agent of the Earl, and the “secretary” -previously mentioned. Having thus put matters in train for the -occupation of his new home, he set about the letting or disposal of the -old one, for we read:— - - July 1st.—The two brothers, Master Willemots, of Oxfordshere, - cam to talk of my howse-hyring. Master Baynton cam with Mistress - Katharyn Hazelwood, wife to Mr. Fuller. - -Meantime the Manchester people, and more especially the fellows of -the College, were curious to know something about the new Warden, -of whom rumour had said so many strange things. On the 12th July he -records that “Mr. Goodier, of Manchester, cam to me;” and on the -28th July he received “a letter from Mr. Oliver Carter, Fellow of -Manchester College,” of whom we shall have more to say by-and-by. Mr. -Goodier, it may be presumed, was not altogether uninfluenced by worldly -considerations in thus paying his respects at Mortlake. The worthy -burgher was a man of some consequence in his way, and much given, it -is said, to the improvement of his temporal estate. He resided at the -“Ould Clough House,” a building adjacent to the College, “over anendst -the church,” as the Court Rolls of the day describe it, had served as -senior constable, and had also filled the more important office of -borough-reeve. He had, moreover, farmed the tithes of the Warden and -Fellows, and seems to have made a somewhat wide interpretation of his -lease, for shortly before he had prosecuted one of the Fellows for -withholding the surplice fees, which he claimed to have of right. It -is not unlikely, therefore, he had an ulterior object in journeying to -London and offering his civilities to Dee. A year or two before, he had -married a rich widow, Katharine, the relict of Ralph Sorrocold, and the -mother of John Sorrocold, at whose house, the Eagle and Child, opposite -Smithy Door, John Taylor, the “water poet,” when on his “Pennyless -Pilgrimage,” lodged, and whose wife he immortalised in his homely -rhymes— - - I lodged at the Eagle and the Child, - Whereat my hostess (a good ancient woman) - Did entertain me with respect not common. - - * * * * * - - So Mistress Saracole, hostess kind, - And Manchester with thanks I left behind. - -On the 31st July, the “very virtuous” Countess of Warwick, who -had proved her friendship for Dee by urging his claims upon the -consideration of the Queen, did this evening, as he says— - - Thank her Matie in my name and for me for her gift of the - Wardenship of Manchester. She took it gratiously, and was sorry - that it was so far from hers; but that some better thing neer hand - shall be ffownd for me; and if opportunitie of tyme wold serve, - her Matie wold speak with me herself. - -It is significantly added that “the firstfruits were forgiving by her -Matie,” which was fortunate, as it saved him the necessity of borrowing -money to pay them. Her Majesty, however, never found the “opportunitie -of tyme” to speak with her aged _protégé_, and Dee eventually left -without the satisfaction of a parting interview. - -Dee’s prospects were now brightening, and, though late in the evening -of life, there was again a prospect of sunny weather. Misfortunes, it -is proverbially said, seldom come singly—the same rule, it would seem, -holds good in regard to prosperity—for scarcely had Dee obtained his -preferment when Providence added to his domestic bliss. A daughter -was born unto him (he was now in his 69th year), and the christening, -as may be supposed, was a great affair, the sponsors, who by the -way, all appeared by deputy, being the Lord Keeper—Sir Christopher -Hatton, it has been said, but more probably another Cheshire man, Sir -Thomas Egerton, afterwards Lord Chancellor, for Hatton had been in his -grave four years or more—Lady Mary Russell, Countess of Cumberland, -the mother of the stout-hearted Lady Anne Clifford, Dowager Countess -of Pembroke and Montgomery, of famous memory; and the Lady Frances -Walsingham, widow of Sir Philip Sidney, and the wife of the unfortunate -Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, whom Elizabeth, in 1601, beheaded. - -The time of the new Warden was now much occupied in visiting and -receiving visits. On the 13th, and again on the 22nd of September, -he was the guest of the Earl of Derby at Russell House, and on -the 9th Oct. he “dyned with Syr Walter Rawlegh, at Durham House,” -in the Strand. On the 25th Oct. we find him urging “Mr. Brofelde, -Atturny-General, for som land deteyned from the Coll.” (ege). Then come -the entries,— - - Nov. 8th.—My goods sent by Percival toward Manchester. - - Nov. 26th.—My wife and children all by coach toward Coventry. - -Coventry was on the road towards Manchester. Finally, we have the great -mathematician himself following in their wake— - - 1595-6. Feb. 15.—I cam to Manchester a meridie nova 5. - -The severance from old scenes and old associations must have been -a painful one. It could only have been dire necessity that induced -the vain and pedantic philosopher to forsake the pleasant vicinity -of Richmond; to leave the courtly gallants and the staid and erudite -_savants_ who had frequented his modest “mansion” to settle down -among the hard-headed, but uncultured and unappreciative people of -Manchester—to immure himself in a place that must have been even less -attractive then than it was a century or more after when Brummell’s -regiment was ordered there, and the Beau sold out rather than submit to -the infliction of being quartered in it. Abroad Dee had been welcomed -wherever he had gone, and received with all the state and courtly -ceremonial due to one of such prodigious learning. At Mortlake he -had enjoyed the sunshine of royal favour, had been honoured with the -frequent visits of the Queen and her Ministers, and accustomed to the -friendship and society of such polished wits as Walsingham and Raleigh, -and Cavendish and Sir Philip Sidney— - - Sidney, than whom no gentler, braver man - His own delightful genius ever feigned, - -And whom Spenser, in his “Shepheards’ Calendar,” named— - - The President - Of noblenesse and chivalree. - -At Manchester he had to deal with a rude, boisterous, and uncultivated -people, who openly reviled him—a rough metal that all his incantations -and alchemical skill could not transform into refined gold; and withal -he had to contend with a body of clergy who abhorred the unlawful arts -he was supposed to practice, and who treated him in consequence with -implacable hatred. Of a truth his position was not an enviable one. - -Lancashire was at that time the great scene of religious conflict—the -battle-ground of angry polemics and fiercely-contending factions. -It was accounted as more given to Romanism than any other county -in England, and in the rural districts the Protestant cause seemed -rather declining than advancing. Dr. Chadderton, who preceded Dee in -the Wardenship, had carried on a vigorous persecution of those who -still adhered to the unreformed religion, the more obstinate of whom -he imprisoned in the New Fleet, a building adjoining his residence in -the College. He had further hit upon an ingenious way of convincing -these recusants of the error of their ways—as they would not attend -church to hear the sermons preached by the Puritanical Fellows he gave -orders to his clergy to read prayers in the apartments where they were -confined, especially at meal times, so that they had the pleasant -alternative of taking theological nourishment with their food or going -without victuals altogether. Chadderton’s Protestantism had been -intensified by his exile during the Marian persecutions, and as Dee had -been deprived of his rectories of Upton and Long Leadenham, and had -suffered imprisonment at the hands of Bonner, it was not unreasonably -believed that he would follow in the steps of his predecessor, and be -no less zealous in hunting up seminary priests, and punishing those -who resorted to their secret masses. But Dee’s church principles were -not particularly pronounced. Devoted to mathematical and scientific -pursuits, he did not greatly concern himself with either Popish or -Puritan theology; preaching was not in his line, and he cared little -for those controversial sermons which only provoked strife between the -professors of the old and the new faith, and excited bitterness in -the minds of all. He was content to leave the Papists to the watchful -care of the powerful Earl of Derby and their opponents to do as they -pleased, provided they gave him no trouble. His colleagues were greatly -angered at his lack of zeal, and interminable quarrels were the -consequence. - -Saturday, the 20th of February, 1596, was a great day in Manchester, -and one to be held in remembrance. The church bells filled the air with -their clanging melodies, and the groups of curious onlookers at the -church stile and in the grass-grown graveyard denoted that something -unusual was astir. And there was, for the great philosopher whose -marvellous skill had astonished half the Courts of Europe, and about -whom rumour had told so many curious tales, was come to preside over -the ancient College, and direct the ecclesiastical affairs of the -parish, and on that raw February morning was to be installed in his -office. Manchester had never seen such a Warden before, and has not -seen such another since. The ceremony, we are told, was gone through -with “great pomp and solemnity.” Of those assisting at it were Edmund -Prestwich, of Hulme; Richard Massey, the representative of a family of -some consequence living “in the Milnegate, neere unto a street comonly -called Toad-lane;” George Birch, of Birch, in Rusholme, the brother -of Robert Birch, one of the Fellows, and nephew of William Birch, -who at one time had been the Warden of the College; Ralph Byrom and -Thomas Byrom, wealthy traders of the Kersal stock; Ralph Houghton, -another trader; Henry Hardy, and Richard Nugent, who afterwards became -a benefactor to the town, but whose bequest, through the negligence -of trustees, has long since been lost. Dr. Hibbert mentions these -names, though he does not give his authority. Dee, however, was fond -of ostentation and display, and we may be sure would omit nothing -that would impart dignity and importance to the proceedings. We are -not told which of the Fellows were present. Nowell, who was then in -his 90th year, would be too old and infirm to undertake the toil of a -journey from London; but the bold and outspoken Puritan divine, Oliver -Carter, would of a certainty be in his place; and probably with him -would be his equally zealous coadjutor, Thomas Williamson; though both -must have been greatly exercised in spirit at the thought of God’s -heritage being lorded over by one of such questionable antecedents. -Humphrey Chetham had not then amassed a fortune, and acquired fame as a -reformer of ecclesiastical abuses. He was only in his sixteenth year; -but he may have been, and very likely was, among the spectators, and in -his young mind may have wondered how and by what mysterious influences -so valuable a preferment had fallen to one who, not having obtained -ordination, had not even received authority to preach. - -The Manchester as Dee saw it must have presented a very different -aspect to the Manchester of to-day. Leland, who had visited the place -sixty years previously, described it, in his “Itinerary,” as “the -fairest, best builded, quickest, and most populous town in Lancashire,” -which, by the way, was not saying very much, seeing that, as compared -with other parts of the kingdom, the county was thinly-peopled and -ill-cultivated, and the neighbourhood of the town little else than -extensive moors, mosses, and quagmires, where the stranger rarely -adventured himself, and so “very wild and dangerous” that Bishop -Downham pleaded its inaccessibility as a reason for seldom or never -visiting it. The extent of the town proper could have been little more -than that of an inconsiderable village of the present day, for though, -unfortunately, there is no plan of it as then existing, the enumeration -of the streets in the old Court Rolls of the manor enables us to form a -tolerably accurate estimate of its limits. Within a few hundred yards -of the Church the whole of the business of the place was located, and -what was then town was but a congeries of crooked lanes and devious -by-ways, with quaint black and white half-timbered dwellings standing -on either side in an irregular, in-and-out, haphazard sort of way, and -some very much inclined to “stand-at-ease,” yet rendered picturesque -by their very irregularity and their innumerable architectural caprices -and fantasies, their queer-looking and curiously-carved gables, their -oddly-projecting oriels and cunningly-devised recesses, and the varied -and broken sky-lines of their roofs, so different to those dull, dreary -uniformities of brick the present generation is compelled to gaze upon. -Deansgate, Market Sted Lane, and Long Millgate were the principal -streets. These stretched irregularly towards the open country, and from -them a few narrow intricate lanes branched off in the direction of the -Church and the College. On the east and south sides of the churchyard -were then, as now, several public-houses, where the bride ales and -wedding feasts were held, and to restrain the extravagances of which -numerous sumptuary laws had to be enacted. Round the Market Sted were -the shops and “stallings” of the principal traders, who, clad in their -own fustian, measured out their manufactured wares and sent out their -pack-horsemen, with tingling bells, to sell them wherever and whenever -they could find a buyer. Here also were located the “booths” in which -the Portmotes and the Courts Leet and Baron of the manorial lords were -held, and contiguous thereto were the Pillory, the Whipping Post, -and the Stocks, where rogues and dishonest and drunk and disorderly -townsmen were punished. On the north side of the church—Back o’th’ -Church, as it was called—between the churchyard and the College gates, -stood the bull oak, where bulls were usually baited. The butts for -archery practice, where every man between 16 and 60 had to exercise -himself in the use of the good yew bow, were on the outskirts of -the town, one being on the south side, where Deansgate merged into -Aldport Lane, and the other, at Collyhurst, on the north. The cockpit -stood on what was then called the “lord’s waste,” the vacant land in -the rear of the Market Sted, which still retains the name of Cockpit -Hill. Hanging Ditch was, as its name implied, a ditch, part of the old -moat or fosse connecting the Irwell and the Irk, down which the water -still flowed at a considerable depth below the footway, Toad Lane and -Cateaton Street being but a continuation of it. Over this old and then -disused watercourse was a stone bridge, the arch of which may still -be seen—the Hanging Bridge, so named from the drawbridge which had -preceded it, where officers were stationed to see that horses and cows -did not pass over into the churchyard. Near the bridge was the smithy, -which gave the name to Smithy Door and Smithy Bank. In Smithy Door, -near the entrance to the Market Sted, was the town pump or conduit, -fed from a natural spring, near the top of the present Spring Gardens, -where the good wives of the town went for their water, and waited their -“cale” till they got it, gossiping and quarrelling with each other the -while. At the foot of Smithy Bank was Salford Bridge—the only bridge -over the Irwell connecting the two towns—a structure of three arches, -and so narrow that foot-passengers had occasionally to take refuge in -little recesses while vehicles passed along. In the centre of it was -the dungeon, which in earlier days had served the purpose of a chapel. -Withy Grove was in truth a group of withies, the old “Seven Stars,” and -a few other dwellings, being all that existed to give the character of -street. At the higher end was Withingreave Hall, the town house of the -Hulmes of Reddish, progenitors of William “Hulme the Founder,” with its -gardens, orchard, and outbuilding, and beyond a pleasant rural lane led -on to Shudehill. Market Sted Lane, a narrow and tortuous thoroughfare, -extended no further than the present Brown Street, Mr. Lever’s house, -which occupied the site of the White Bear, standing in what was then -the open country. The picturesque old black and white houses that -bordered each side had their pleasant gardens in rear; and beyond, -towards Withy Grove in one direction and Deansgate in the other, were -meadows and pasture fields. In one of those fields, on the south side, -was the mansion of the Radcliffes, surrounded by a moat that gave -the name to Pool Fold, and which was oftentimes the scene of much -mob-justice and very much misery, for here was placed the ducking-stool -for the punishment of scolds and disorderly women,— - - On the long plank hangs o’er the muddy pool, - That stool, the dread of ev’ry scolding quean. - -From its frequent use we may suppose that in those days the female -portion of the community were neither very amiable nor very virtuous. -Long Millgate ran parallel with the Irk, an irregular line of houses -with little plots of garden behind forming the boundary on each side, -and a little way up a rural lane, shaded with hedgerow trees, branched -off on the right, known as the Milner’s Lane—the present Miller Street. -The Irk, a pure and sparkling stream, was noted for its “luscious -eels.” The Masters of the Grammar School had the exclusive fishery -rights from Ashley Lane to Hunt’s Bank, and the Warden and Fellows -of the College might have envied them their monopoly had they not -themselves been able to obtain their Lenten fare from the equally clear -and well-stocked waters of the Irwell, which then glided pleasantly -by, innocent of dyes and manufacturing refuse. Altogether the place -presented more the semi-rural aspect of a country village than an -important town, as Leland represented it to be. Picturesque, it is -true, yet it possessed many unpleasant features withal. The streets -and lanes were ill-paved and full of deep ruts and claypits, for every -man who wanted daub to repair his dwelling dug a hole before his -door to obtain it. The eye, too, was offended by unsightly cesspools -and dunghills that were to be seen against the Church walls, on the -bridges, and, in fact, at every turn. - -[Illustration: THE COLLEGE, MANCHESTER.] - -Though some of the more remote parts of the parish were barren and -uncultivated, the immediate environments of the town were characterised -by much that was exceedingly beautiful, with a wilder sort of -loveliness, increased by the natural irregularities of the surface, -and the great masses of foliage, part of the old forest of Arden, that -extended far away. On the north, Strangeways Park, with its umbraged -heights, its sunny glades, and shady dingles, stretched away towards -Broughton, Cheetham, and Red Bank. Near thereto was Collyhurst Park, -with the common, on which the townsmen had the right to pasture their -pigs, and where the town swine-herd daily attended to his porcine -charge; and the deep sequestered clough through which the Irk wound -its sinuous course, its surface chequered by the shadows of the -overhanging hazels and brushwood; and beyond, the extensive chase of -Blackley, with its deer leaps, and its aërie of eagles, of herons, and -of hawks. On the south was the stately old mansion of Aldport, standing -in a park of 95 acres, occupying the site of Campfield and Castlefield, -and reaching down to the banks of the Irwell, with the great parks of -Ordsal and Hulme on the one side and those of Garratt and Ancoats on -the other. - -It can hardly be said that among the inhabitants a very high state of -civilisation prevailed. If thrifty and industrious, they were certainly -not very refined, nor blessed with “pregnant wits,” as good Hugh Oldham -affirmed, nor yet remarkable for their moral excellence. Boisterous -and laughter-loving, they delighted in outdoor games and uproarious -sports,—the wild merriment of the day being oftentimes followed by -the wilder merriment of the evening. Bull-baiting, wrestling, and -cock-fighting were the leading diversions, “unlawful gaming” and -“lewdness” were frequently complained of, and the ale-houses, to -which the more dissolute resorted, were the scenes of riots and feuds -that not only caused annoyance and scandal to the more well-disposed, -but endangered the public peace to a greater degree than we can now -easily conceive. Under such circumstances it is hardly surprising that -they should have entertained little reverence for their spiritual -pastors, many of whom, by the way, were only a degree less ignorant and -disorderly than themselves, for in those days the curate of Stretford -kept an ale-house, the rector of Chorlton eked out a scanty subsistence -by doing a little private pawnbroking, while the parson of Blackley was -“passing rich” on a stipend of £2 3s. 4d. a year. - -Such was the Manchester of which Dee had become the ecclesiastical -head. However apathetic he may have been as to the spiritual affairs -of the parishioners committed to his care, he was by no means wanting -in energy when his own temporal interests were concerned. Scarcely had -he taken up his abode at the College than we find him entertaining at -dinner two influential tenants—Sir John Byron, of Clayton, and his -son, and bargaining with them about the price of hay before the grass -was actually grown. A month later he records the “possession taking -in Salford,” and he quickly found himself in litigation with the -College tenants of some of the lands there. The tenants were a source -of trouble, and oftentimes disturbed the even tenor of his way, while -the collecting of his tithes was not unfrequently a cause of anxiety -also. He complains of being “occupied with low controversies, as with -Holden of Salford, and the tenants of Sir John Biron, of Faylsworth,” -of “much disquietnes and controversy about the tythe-corn of Hulme,” of -the “Cromsall corne-tyth” being “dowted of and half denyed,” and then -“utterly denyed,” and of his riding to Sir John Byron “for a quietnes,” -and “to talk with him abowt the controversy between the Colledg and -his tenants.” Notwithstanding these unhappy disputations he had some -pleasant days. Thus, on the 26th June (1596), as he tells us— - - The Erle of Derby, with the Lady Gerard, Sir (Richard) Molynox - and his lady, dawghter to the Lady Gerard, Master Hawghton, and - others, cam suddenly uppon (me), after three of the clok. I made - them a skoler’s collation, and it was taken in good part. I - browght his honor and the ladyes to Ardwyk grene toward Lyme, as - Mr. Legh his howse, 12 myles of, &c. - -Dee was eager for sympathy and approval of his favourite schemes and -pursuits, and, being a man of the world, he knew the value of such -friendships. As he was, moreover, given to hospitality, there is little -doubt the “skoler’s collation” would be as sumptuous as the College -larder would afford. A few days later (July 5) he was visited by Mr. -Harry Savill, the antiquary, and Mr. Christopher Saxton, the eminent -chorographer, who had come to make a survey of the town; and on the -following day, Dee, with Saxton and some others, rode over to Hough -Hall, in Withington, the mansion of Sir Nicholas Mosley, who had in -the same year become the purchaser of the manor of Manchester. The -survey was completed on the 10th July, and on the 14th Saxton “rode -away.” It is much to be regretted that no copy of Saxton’s work, so -far as is known, has been preserved; for an authentic plan of the town -in Elizabeth’s reign would be a valuable addition to the topographical -records of Manchester, and would enable us to see exactly what -progress was made in the extension of the town between that time and -the Commonwealth period, when another survey—the earliest reliable one -extant—was taken. - -Before the close of the first year of his Wardenship, Dee was invited -to exercise the power he was commonly believed to possess of casting -out devils; but he prudently declined. About two years previously five -members of the household of Mr. Nicholas Starkey, of Cleworth, in -Leigh parish, became demoniacally possessed, through the influence, -as was said, of a conjuror named Hartley. Margaret Byrom, of Salford, -who happened to be on a visit at Cleworth, became infected with the -malady. This occurred on the 9th January, 1596-7; and at the end -of the month she returned to her friends at Salford, when Dee was -importuned to deliver her from the evil spirit which tormented her. -The Warden, however, refused, telling her friends he would practise no -such unlawful arts as they desired; but, instead, advised they should -“call for some godlye preachers, with whom he should consult concerning -a public or private fast,” and at the same time he sharply rebuked -Hartley for following his contraband calling. Possibly the failure -of his previous attempt to exorcise the spirit in the case of “Nurse -Anne Frank” had induced a wholesome prudence on his part, though his -refusal made him unpopular with his parishioners, who were offended -at his withholding the relief they believed it was in his power to -give, and his Puritan colleagues took advantage of his unpopularity to -make his life miserable. Oliver Carter, who had held his fellowship -for more than a quarter of a century, and had become the recognised -head of the Presbyterian faction in the district, was chief among the -malcontents, and a sore thorn in the side the doctor found him. Carter -disliked alchemical philosophers as much as he hated Popish recusants, -and denounced the Warden’s intercourse with the spirit world as a -scandal upon the Church. The Presbyterian Fellow had little respect -for lawfully-constituted authority, and his open resistance in matters -of ceremony had aforetime brought him in collision even with the -cautious and temperate Bishop Chadderton, who had found it necessary -to enforce some little submission to ecclesiastical law. It is not -surprising, therefore, that he should have shown little regard for the -authority of the new comer, whom he looked upon as a Court spy, and -detested accordingly. He was a continuous source of annoyance, and his -contumacious demeanour, his “impudent and evident disobedience in the -Church,” and persistent obstructiveness are frequently complained of, -thus— - - Jan. 22, 1579.—Olyver Carter’s thret to sue me with proces from - London, &c., was this Satterday in the church declared to Robert - Cleg. - - Sept. 25.—Mr. Olyver Carter his impudent and evident disobedience - in the church. - - Sept. 26.—He repented, and some pacification was made. - - Nov. 14.—The fellows would not grant me the £5 for my howse-rent, - as the Archbishop had graunted; and our foundation commandeth an - howse. - - July 17, 1600.—I willed the fellows to com to me by nine the next - day. - - July 18.—They cam. It is to be noted of the great pacification - unexpected of man which happened this Friday; for in the forenone - (betwene nine and ten), when the fellows were greatly in doubt - of my heavy displeasure, by reason of their manifold misusing of - themselves against me, I did with all lenity enterteyn them, and - shewed the most part of the things that I had browght to pass at - London for the colledg good, and told Mr. Carter (going away) that - I must speak with him alone. Robert Leghe (one of the four clerks) - and Charles Legh (the brother of Robert, and receiver) were by. - Secondly, the great sute betwene Redich (Redditch) men and me was - stayed, and Mr. Richard Holland his wisdom. Thirdly, the organs - uppon condition were admitted. And, fourthly, Mr. Williamson’s - resignation granted for a preacher to be gotten from Cambridge. - -Reconciliation was thus effected, but it was not long before there was -a renewal of hostilities, for, under date Sept. 11, we find— - - Mr. Holland, of Denton, Mr. Gerard, of Stopford (Stockport), Mr. - Langley, &c., commissioners from the Bishop of Chester, authorised - by the Bishop of Chester, did call me before them in the Church - abowt thre of the clok, after none, and did deliver to me certayne - petitions put up by the fellows against me to answer before the - 18th of this month. I answered them all codem tempore, and yet - they gave me leave to write at leiser. - -Amid these harassing anxieties and unseemly disputations with the -unruly Fellows, Dee’s alchemical studies were not neglected. He had -secured another medium in the place of Kelly—Bartholomew Hickman, -who turned out to be nearly as great a knave, though not nearly half -so clever as his predecessor, and, losing confidence, Dee discharged -him and burnt all the records of what he had seen and heard in the -wonderful show-stone. The next day Roger Kooke, who had previously been -in the service of the philosopher, and to whom he had revealed “the -great secret of the elixir of the salt of metals,” offered “the best of -his skill and powre, in the practises chymicall.” He was quickly set -to work, but young Arthur Dee finding by chance among his papers what -seemed a plot against the father, he was charged with the conspiracy, -when Dee cried, “_O Deus libera nos a malo!_ All was mistaken, and -we are reconcyled godly;” and he again dreamed of his “working the -philosopher’s stone.” He would appear, however, to have subsequently -parted with Kooke, for before his death Hickman had been restored to -favour. - -Though devoted to scientific pursuits, it must not be supposed that -the Warden neglected his official duties, or that he was by any means -unmindful of the secular interests of the Collegiate body. His business -exactitude and active zeal in this direction, however, did not always -meet with the approval of his neighbours, or at least of such of them -as happened to be tithe-farmers or College tenants. In May of the year -following his induction we find him with his curate, Sir Robert Barber -(clerics commonly affected the prefix of “Sir” in those days), Robert -Tilsey, the parish clerk, and “diverse of the town of diverse ages,” -making a careful perambulation of the bounds of the parish with the -view of determining its exact limits, a procedure that somewhat alarmed -Mr. Langley, the rector of the adjoining parish of Prestwich, who smelt -litigation in Dee’s anxiety “for avoiding of undue encroaching of any -neighbourly parish, one on the other.” On another occasion he was -careful to note that— - - At midnight (January 22, 1599), the College gate toward Hunt’s - Hall did fall, and some parte of the wall going downe the lane— - -the “lane” being the narrow passage that led from the north side -of the church, by the venerable tree where bulls were baited, and -past the prison to Irk Bridge, then known as Hunt’s Bank, a name it -retained until modern times, when it was superseded by the present -Victoria Street. The gate-house, which, as before stated, was at one -time used as a workhouse, stood on this, the westerly side of the great -quadrangle, the gates opening into Hunt’s Bank. Though they have long -since disappeared, the evidences of their former existence may still be -traced in the wall. - -After an absence in London he paid an official visit to the Grammar -School, where he “fownd great imperfection in all and every of -the scholers, to his great grief,” a record that must be taken as -reflecting on Dr. Cogan, the head master, whose time appears to have -been divided between the teaching of youth and the practice of physic. -In August, 1597, the “Erle and Cowntess of Derby” having taken up their -abode at Aldport Lodge, Dee entertained them at “a banket at my lodging -at the Colledge hora 4½.” There are many other entries of visits from -distinguished personages, among them Sir Urian Legh, of Adlington, -the reputed hero of the ballad of “The Spanish Lady;” Sir George -Booth, sheriff of Cheshire; Mr. Wortley, of Wortley. Probably, also, -Camden, the historian, for it is recorded that when that distinguished -antiquary visited the town, Dee pointed out to him the inscription of -some Roman remains at Castle Field, attributable to the Frisian cohort, -which occupied the station there. While dispensing his hospitalities -the poor old man was suffering from lack of money, his financial -difficulties being as great as ever, and we find him raising loans on -the security of his diminished stock of plate, &c.— - - Feb. 17, 1597.—Delivered to Charles Legh the elder (the receiver - of College before referred to), my silver tankard with the cover, - all dubble gilt, of the Cowntess of Herford’s gift to Francis her - goddaughter, waying 22oz., great waight, to lay to pawne in his - own name to Robert Welshman, for iiijli tyll within two dayes - after May-day next. My dowghter Katherin and John Crocker and I - myself were at the delivery of it and waying of it in my dyning - chamber—it was wrapped in a new handkercher cloth. - -Many similar transactions are recorded—indeed, he appears to have been -continually borrowing money from his friends, and almost as frequently -lending his books to them. Dee was certainly not one of those who -believe that “imparted knowledge doth diminish learning’s store,” for -he was ever ready to place his literary treasures at the service of -others, and frequent entries occur of his lending rare and valuable -works to those he thought capable of understanding and appreciating -them. - -It was some little relief to him when, on the 2nd December, 1600, his -son Arthur had a grant of the chapter clerkship, though before he could -pay £6 for the patent he - - Borrowed of Mr. Edmund Chetham, the schoolmaster (the uncle of - Humphrey, the founder) £10 for one yere uppon plate, two bowles, - two cupps with handles, all silver, waying all 32oz. Item, two - potts with cover and handells, double gilt within and without, - waying 16oz. - -The Warden’s pecuniary embarrassments kept him in discredit with his -parishioners, who naturally looked with disfavour upon an ecclesiastic -that did not pay his debts, especially when, as they believed, it -required only a very little closer intimacy with the evil one to enable -him to do so. The fellows maintained their hostility, his neighbours -became more and more unfriendly, the urgency of his creditors was -oppressive, and on every hand he was assailed with suspicions of -sorcery. The nine years he was in Manchester was the most wretched -portion of his life. Unable to bear the odium attaching to him, he -petitioned King James that he might be brought to trial, “and by -a judicial sentence be freed from the revolting imputations” his -astrological and other inquiries had brought upon him; but Elizabeth’s -wary successor, who detested his mysteries, would have nothing to say -to him. Weary with the struggle, he quitted Manchester in November, -1604, and once more sought shelter in the house at Mortlake. Of the -closing years of his chequered life little is known, but that little -is sad enough. The friends of former years had died or forgotten him, -and the new generation of Court favourites left him to pass his few -remaining days in poverty, sickness, and desolation. After all his -tricks and conjurations the once haughty philosopher was reduced to -such miserable straits that he oftentimes had to sell some of his books -before he could obtain the means wherewith to purchase a meal. The -prediction of the Earl of Salisbury that he “would shortly go mad” was -nearly being realised, for in the midst of his poverty, and while on -the very verge of the grave, he resumed his occult practices, in which -he was aided by the formerly discarded Bartholomew Hickman. At last, -in poverty and neglect, wearied and worn out, the miserable wreck of -an ill-spent life, he, in 1608, passed away at the advanced age of 81, -and was buried in the chancel of the church at Mortlake without any -tombstone or other memorial to preserve his name. - -[Illustration: MORTLAKE CHURCH.] - -Of the numerous family that had once gathered round his hearth few -remained at the time of his dissolution, death or estrangement having -removed nearly all. His son Michael had died in infancy. His busy, -shrewish wife died on the 23rd March, 1605. Of the other seven children -Katherine was the only one who clung to him to the last. Rowland, on -completing his studies at the Manchester Grammar School, obtained -an exhibition at Oxford, but of his subsequent career nothing is -known, nor, with the exception of Arthur, can we trace anything of -the after-history of the others. Arthur, his first-born, resided in -Manchester for some time, and subsequently practised as a physician. -He married Isabella, one of the daughters of Edmund Prestwich, of -Hulme Hall, and afterwards was chosen physician to Michael III., the -first Czar of Russia, and for many years he resided in that country, -where his wife died, July 6, 1634, after having borne him 12 children. -Returning to England, he was sworn physician to Charles I., and located -himself at Norwich, where he continued to reside until his death, -September, 1651. Anthony à Wood, in his _Athenæ_, mentions that Arthur -Dee, when an old man, spoke in full confidence of his father’s goodness -and sincerity, and affirmed that in his youth, when he had initiated -him in some of his mystical pursuits, he had seen enough to satisfy him -that he had discovered many marvellous secrets, and only lacked the -means to make them available. The son may not have been altogether an -impartial witness, but it would be unfair to judge the father by the -standard of the present day. - -Dee lived in an age when everybody believed in the occult sciences, -and in the power of summoning visitants from the world of shadows by -incantations and other mysterious means. Half a century before his -death he had been pre-eminent for his learning, his eloquence, and -his scientific attainments, and he was undoubtedly one of the great -lights of his era. Camden styled him _nobilis mathematicus_, and he -may fairly be accounted the prophet of the arts which Bacon and Newton -were afterwards to reveal. A ripe scholar, well skilled in chemistry, -mathematics, and mechanics, and the master of the whole circle of the -liberal arts as then understood— - - He sought and gathered for our use the true. - -He was one of the first who accepted the theory of Copernicus, and he -successfully performed the labour of correcting the Gregorian calendar. -He was, moreover, a good linguist, an earnest antiquary, and a diligent -searcher of those records which tend to elucidate the history of the -country, and to him is due the credit of first suggesting the formation -of a “National Library,” for the preservation of those ancient writings -in which lie “the treasures of all antiquity, and the everlasting -seeds of continual excellency.” Paradoxical as it may seem, there -was with the splendour and universality of his genius much childlike -simplicity; and his credulous confiding nature often exposed him to the -iniquitous arts of those about him; while his reckless extravagance, -his love of ostentatious display, his debts, and his carelessness of -the method which brought relief, kept him in continuous disquiet. He -was part of the age in which he lived in that he was fond of alchemy, a -believer in the divining-rod, and a devout practitioner of the astral -science; but it is to be feared that his straitened circumstances -sometimes prompted him to have recourse to tricks and artifices that -his better judgment condemned. He was a strange mixture of pride and -gentleness, of goodness and credulity. He discoursed learnedly with -foreign philosophers, tended his little folks in their sicknesses, -and soothed them in their childish griefs and sorrows; gazed into the -glittering depths of his magic mirror and smiled good temperedly at his -shrewish wife’s scoldings; dispensed his hospitalities and gossiped -freely with the aristocratic personages who sought his society, and -pawned his property to pay for their entertainment; contended with -an archbishop and sought peace with the irrepressible Carter and his -unruly associates; but we willingly forget the weaknesses and the -foibles of the man when we remember the genius and the learning of -the philosopher. With all his failings Dee possessed much kindness of -heart, and though Manchester may not have been greatly advantaged by -the ecclesiastical supervision of the “Wizard Warden,” he was yet, in -many respects, much to be preferred to the needy Scotch courtier whom -King James appointed as his successor. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: BEESTON CASTLE.] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -BEESTON CASTLE. - - -The traveller who has ever journeyed in the “Wild Irishman” between -that hive of industry, Crewe, and the ancient city upon the Dee, will -have noticed upon his left, midway between the two places, a bold -outlier of rock that rises abruptly from the great Cheshire plain, with -the ivy-covered remains of an ancient castle perched upon its summit. A -better position for a fortress it is difficult to conceive. It looks as -if nature had intended it as a place of defence; and evidently Randle -Blundeville, the crusader Earl of Chester, thought so, when, in those -stormy days in which the Marches were the constant scene of struggle -and strife, and - - Like volcanoes flared to heaven the stormy hills of Wales! - -he chose it as the site for one of his border strongholds. - -Avoiding, for the nonce, the “Irishman,” we will avail ourselves of the -more convenient, if more common-place, “Parliamentary,” as it enables -us to alight at Beeston—for that is the place to which our steps are -directed, and almost within bowshot of the relic of ancient days, of -which we are in search. Beeston is not a town—it can hardly be called a -village even, the houses are so few, and neighbourhood there is none. -The little unpretentious railway station is innocent of hurry and -bustle, and seems almost ashamed of disturbing the rural tranquillity; -the Tollemache Arms, a comfortable hostelrie standing below the -railway, opens its doors invitingly; a peaceful farmstead or two, -surrounded by verdant pastures and fields of ripening corn, with here -and there a cleanly whitewashed cottage, half hidden among the trees -and hedges, are almost the only habitations we can see. - -A few minutes’ walk along a sandy lane, that winds beneath the trees -and across the sun-bright meadows, where cattle are pasturing and -haymakers are tossing the fragrant grass, brings us to the foot of the -castle rock. The huge mass of sandstone lifting its unwieldy form above -the surrounding greenery seems to dominate the entire landscape. Few -landmarks are more striking, and, as you draw near, the hoary time-worn -ruin crowning the summit, and looking almost gay and cheerful in the -fresh morning sunlight, reminds you, only that the water is wanting, of -those picturesque strongholds that crest the rocky heights along the -lonely reaches of the Rhine— - - High from its field of air looks down - The eyrie of a vanished race; - Home of the mighty, whose renown - Has passed and left no trace. - -On the north-easterly side the hill rises slopingly, but towards the -south and west it shoots up abruptly from the plain, presenting a mass -of jagged perpendicular rock three hundred and sixty feet in height. -Seen from the distance, it looks as if it had been upheaved by some -convulsive effort of Nature, and then toppled over, the foundations -standing up endways. Keeping to the left, we ascend by a path steep -and rough, and stony withal. Brushwood and bracken, and the wild, old, -wandering bramble border the way; and now and then a timid sheep rushes -out from some shady nook and gazes wonderingly at us as we go by. The -turf in places is short and slippery, for the rabbits keep it closely -cropped; and were it not for a fragment of jutting rock, or the branch -of a tree that occasionally proffers its friendly aid, we should find -the ascent at times difficult and toilsome. Little more than half way -up we come to the outer line of the fortifications, where a small lodge -has been erected, through which we gain admission into the dismantled -interior. - -The ruin is complete, and at the first glance presents only the -appearance of crumbling masses of shapeless masonry, that, having -outlived the necessities which called them into existence, time has -clothed with saddest beauty. The ivy spreads its roots and clings with -fond tenacity, the long grass waves, and the nettles grow in rank -profusion; yet the remains are so far perfect that the searching eye of -the archæologist can readily discern their purpose, determine the plan, -and reconstruct in every detail. The outer ballium, which is pierced by -a few embrasures, extends in the form of an irregular semicircle round -the sloping sides, and where the cliff is not perpendicular, about -five or six acres being comprehended within the area. The entrance is -so narrow that only one or two persons can pass through at a time—a -feature that indicates the rude and lawless period of its erection, -when strength and security were the chief objects aimed at. It has been -guarded by a square tower, and the remains of seven other towers or -bastions, mostly round, and similar in appearance to the Moorish towers -which became so general in England after the return of the barons -from the Crusades, occur at irregular intervals. The court itself is -a large, rough pasture, broken and uneven. A pair of kangaroos are -disporting themselves among the moss-grown fragments, and a few deer -are quietly browsing upon the green turf; but there is no picturesque -assemblage of ruins, or trace of any previously-existing building, -though it was once a busy hive of life and work. Nothing now remains -but a few weedy heaps of masonry, the shattered keep, and the small -inner bailey which occupies the highest and most inaccessible part of -the rock, covering an area an acre in extent. - -The keep was formerly protected and is still separated from the outer -court by a broad, deep moat, hewn out of the solid rock, that extends -round two sides and terminates near its precipitous edge. It is now -dry and partly choked with weeds and rubbish, and a path has been -made across where formerly a drawbridge only gave access. The great -barbican, though roofless and forlorn, is imposing even in its decay, -and gives a distinct impression of its former strength and solidity. -It was proof against bows and arrows, battering rams, and similar -engines of primitive warfare, and, ere “villainous saltpetre had been -dug out of the bowels of the harmless earth,” must have been, barring -treachery from within, absolutely impregnable. The round towers that -flank the entrance are clothed with the greenest and darkest ivy, that -mingles with and seems to form part of the ruined mass to which it -clings so lovingly, making it more picturesque than it could ever have -been in the days of its proud and pristine splendour. The walls are of -immense thickness, and on the face of each, near the top, where the -ashlar-work has not been destroyed, a kind of arcade ornament may still -be discerned. An early English arch unites the two towers, and beneath -it we can see the grooves wherein the portcullis used to descend to bar -the ingress and egress of doubtful or suspected visitors. The entrance, -like that to the outer court, is very narrow; passing through, a few -steps cut out of the sandstone rock, and which have been worn by the -tread of many generations, lead to the inner court or bailey, environed -on two sides by lofty walls, from which project great bastions that -have for centuries braved the winter’s wrath and rejoiced in the -summer sunshine. The interior is now a vacant space, except for the -few fragments of masonry that serve to indicate what once was there. -This was the citadel, so to speak. In it was the home of the lordly -owner of the castle (and scant and rude enough it must have been), -the outer court being used as the quarters for the garrison. Here we -are shown the well-house and the famous well from which, in bygone -days, the occupants drew their supply of water, and which now forms -an object of attraction to wondering visitors. It is a remarkable -work, and says much for the perseverance and skill of those who made -it. The depth is said to be no less than 366 feet—nearly double that -of the well at Carisbrook—the water, it is believed, being level -with Beeston Brook, which flows near the foot of the castle rock. A -tradition was widely prevalent, and is still believed in many a rustic -home in the locality, that a great amount of treasure lies buried at -the bottom, having been cast in it during a time of peculiar exigence -by one of the earlier lords of Beeston; but the story may be dismissed -as resting upon no better foundation than the shaping power of the -imagination. There is no water in it, nor has there been for years, -owing to the drainage below, and for a long time it was choked with -rubbish; but some five-and-thirty or forty years ago it was cleared -out to the very bottom, when the only treasures discovered were an old -spade and a fox’s head. We peer into the darksome vault, but the gloom -is impervious; then the janitor produces a frame with a few lighted -candles upon it, which he lets down by a rope and pulley. As it slowly -descends the light gradually diminishes until it becomes a mere speck, -and we are enabled to form some idea of the amazing depth to which the -rock has been excavated. Having done this, he will, if it will add to -your pleasure and you are ready to listen, give you his version of -Beeston’s history—lead you where nobles and high-born dames have held -their banquets; show you the iron rings to which, in bygone days, the -troopers fastened their horses; and then relate with circumstantial -detail the legend of the lost treasure, and tell you how, long, long -ago, a trusty servitor was let down to the bottom of the well in the -hope of recovering it, and that when he was wound up again he was -speechless, and died before he could reveal the mysteries he had seen. - -For the boldness and beauty of its situation Beeston may be fairly said -to be unrivalled, and from the wide extent of country it commands it -must, in the days of watch and ward, have been admirably adapted either -for the purposes of offence or defence. From the summit of the glorious -old relic we can sweep the whole arch of the horizon, from the pale -blue hills of Wales on the one hand, to the brown heathy wastes that -once formed part of the great forest of Macclesfield on the other. The -palatinate which boasts itself the Vale Royal of England is usually -reckoned a flat county, and this is in a great measure true, for league -upon league of broad, flat, fertile meadows spread before us, but -the eye as it ranges into the distance passes over a rich variety of -undulating country. Above the round-topped woods of Delamere we catch -sight of the eminence on which the Saxon city of Eddisbury once stood, -and the bold promontories of Frodsham and Halton guarding the shores -of the Mersey; eastwards are seen the umbraged heights of Alderley, -and further to the right the range of hills that form the barrier of -the county, and separate it from the Peak district of Derbyshire; -while more to the south, where a cloud of smoke hangs lazily upon the -landscape, is Crewe, the great central point of railway enterprise and -railway industry. Gleaming in the warm sunshine upon the left we note -the stately tower of Chester Cathedral rising proudly above the humbler -structures that, like vassals, gather round, and we recall the stormy -times when from its walls, on that sad September day, the ill-fated -Charles the First, after a fitful gleam of prosperity, saw his gallant -cavaliers borne down by the stern soldiers of Cromwell’s army on Rowton -Moor, a disaster that turned the fortunes of the King and sealed the -fate of Beeston. In rear one can look down the wide estuaries of the -Dee and the Mersey, and along the great western horn of Cheshire, as it -stretches away towards the Irish Sea. More to the left the mountains -of Wales loom darkly and mysteriously, as distant mountains always do, -and spread along the line of the horizon until their further summits, -softened by the mellowing haze of distance, can hardly be distinguished -from the azure dome above; the bold form of Moel Fammau may be seen -rising conspicuously, and when the day is clear those who are blessed -with a keen eyesight may, it is said, discern even the peak of Snowdon, -seeming to touch the far-off western sky. - -Glorious is the prospect that spreads around. What a wealth of pastoral -loveliness lies before us, everywhere exhibiting the signs of fertility -and cultivation. All within the limits is a green and beautiful expanse -made up of copse and lea, of level meadow breadths and cattle-dappled -pastures, that rejoice in the warm sunshine, with little hamlets and -villages and shady lanes, old manor houses and churches—the monuments -of the past mingling with the habitations of contemporary life and -activity. Natural beauty is everywhere, and the eye is delighted with -its variety of extent. After leisurely contemplating the scene the -mind is enabled to occupy itself with the details. We can note the -exquisite contrasts of colour and the coming and going effects of the -cloud-shadows as, wafted by the softest of summer zephyrs, they slowly -chase each other over the woods and verdant glades. The slumber of a -summer day lies profoundly as a trance upon the scene. The lowing of -the kine in the neighbouring meadows, the harsh note of the corncrake, -and the soft dreamy call of the cuckoo are the only sounds that break -upon the ear. Bunbury twinkles through its screen of leaves far below -us, and we can discern the tower of the venerable church where lie the -bones of some of the lords of Beeston, and where still may be seen the -sumptuous monuments that perpetuate their names. In front, and almost -at our feet, is the Chester and Ellesmere Canal, glistening like a line -of liquid silver, and the railway, over which the iron horse glides -swiftly every day, running parallel with it, types of the past and -present modes of travel. The white road that crosses them both leads up -to Tarporley, where there is an ancient church (or rather was, for in -the last few years it has been almost entirely rebuilt), and several -monuments that well deserve inspection. Close by is Utkinton, for many -a generation the home of the proud family of the Dones, hereditary -chief foresters of Delamere, one of whom, John Done, the husband of -that proverbial exemplar of unsurpassable perfection, the fair Lady -Done,[25] in 1617 ordered so wisely the sports of James the First, -when that monarch took his pleasure and repast in the forest, that, as -the author of _The Vale Royal_ tells us, he “freely honoured him with -knighthood and graced his house at Utkinton with his presence;” but the -house which he graced by his presence was made the scene of revelry and -pillage by the soldiers of his son, the hall being plundered, and the -plate, jewels, and writings taken away by the Royalist forces shortly -after the breaking out of the civil war. - -[Note 25: “As fair as Lady Done” is a well-known Cheshire proverb. -Pennant (“Tour from Chester to London, 4 ed., p. 8”), referring to this -lady, who was the daughter of Sir Thomas Wilbraham, of Woodhey, says -that “when a Cheshire man would express super-eminent excellency in one -of the fair sex he will say, ‘There is a Lady Done for you.’”] - -On the western side the view is singularly impressive. The rock is -perpendicular, its ruggedness being softened only by the ferns and -mosses that have attached themselves to the clefts and crevices, -and the shrubs and trees that grow out from the gaping stones. You -look down from the giddy height on to the road immediately beneath, -where the little homesteads and cottages seem reduced to lilliputian -dimensions, and the laden waggon going by looks no bigger than a toy. -Carrying the eye round towards the south, the Broxton hills come in -view; nearer is the lofty height of Stanner Nab; and then, separated -only by a narrow valley, the most prominent feature in the whole -landscape, the richly-wooded eminence of Peckforton, surmounted by the -castle, with its great round keep and broken and picturesque line of -towers and turrets, that Lord Tollemache built some five-and-thirty -years ago as a reproduction of the fortified stronghold of the early -Edwardian period. - -The historical associations of Beeston impart a deeper interest to the -beauty of its natural surroundings. Its annals run back to the time -of Randle Blundeville—Randle the Good, as he is sometimes called—the -most famous of the Cestrian Earls. This Randle succeeded to the earldom -on the death of his father, Hugh Cyveliock, in 1187, and shortly -afterwards married the Lady Constance, widow of Geoffry Plantagenet, a -younger son of Henry II., the mother of the young Prince Arthur whom -King John cruelly put to death—a lady from whom he was afterwards -divorced. They were turbulent times in which he lived, and he bore his -full share in the stirring events that were then occurring; but, though -one of the most powerful nobles of the land, his power was generally -exercised in the interests of his legitimate sovereign. When Richard -the Lion-hearted, returning from his encounters with the infidel in -Palestine, was detained a captive in Austria, and the treacherous -John, to whom he had committed the care of the kingdom, basely sought -to appropriate the crown, Earl Randle and his knights and retainers, -with Earl Ferrars and others, besieged his castle of Nottingham, and -valorously maintained the cause of the absent King. After Richard’s -death, when John had succeeded to the throne, he remained loyal to him -as he had done to his predecessor, though he had the courage to rebuke -him for violating the wives and daughters of the nobility. Afterwards -we find him taking part in that ever memorable council which assembled -on the greensward of Runnymede, “encircled by the coronet of Cooper’s -Hill,” which secured the rights of the people of England, and the Great -Charter that still remains the foundation of their liberties, when— - - England’s ancient Barons, clad in arms, - And stern with conquest, from their tyrant King - (Then render’d tame), did challenge and secure - The charter of our freedom. - -When that memorable June day had waned—when the Great Charter had -been won, and the thoughtful night which followed had passed—when men -began to think that the pledges so readily given would be as readily -violated, and that concessions extorted could only be maintained by -force of arms, Randle Blundeville remained faithful to his faithless -King, and defended his cause against the Barons and the Dauphin of -France, to whom they had traitorously offered the English crown. - -The great Earl was then in the plenitude of his power, and when the -tyrant John had paid the penalty of over-indulgence in peaches and new -cider, he proved himself a firm and faithful champion of his son, the -young King Henry, and, with Earl Pembroke, was mainly instrumental in -securing him upon his father’s throne, and by that means releasing -England from the dominion of a stranger. When the kingdom had settled -into peace, having assumed the cross in fulfilment of a vow he had -previously made, the Earl betook himself to the Holy Land:— - - To chace the Pagans in those holy fields - Over whose acres walk’d those blessèd feet - Which, many hundred years before, were nail’d - For our advantage on the bitter cross. - -He remained absent for about two years, during which time he assisted -in the taking of Damietta; and immediately on the return from his -crusading expedition he set about the erection of the Castle of -Beeston, for the greater security of his palatinate against the -incursions of the brave but troublesome Welsh, with whom he had -previously had many encounters, bringing to his aid that Saracenic -style of architecture he had found so well adapted for defence, and -which is so admirably represented in the ivy-coloured walls and -bastions of Beeston. - -Randle Blundeville was a famous warrior, and withal a mighty castle -builder, for, in addition to re-edifying the castle of Deganwy, on -the Conway, which had been partially destroyed during the numerous -conflicts with Prince Llewelyn, he built the castles of Beeston in -Cheshire, and Chartley in Staffordshire. He also founded and endowed -the Abbey of Grey Friars, in Coventry, and a religious house on the -banks of the Churnet, near Leek, to which latter, at his wife’s -desire, he gave the name of Dieu-la-cresse—“May God increase it”—and -transferred to it the Cistercian brotherhood of the Abbey of Poulton, -near Chester, who had found their home there too circumscribed, and -probably uncomfortably near the Welsh Marches—an act of piety he had -been directed to perform, as the old monkish legends declare, by his -grandfather in a vision. He believed in dreams, and he appears to -have had equal faith in the piety of the monks, for it is recorded -of him that, being overtaken in a storm at sea when returning from -his crusading expedition, and the ship being in danger of sinking, he -refused to lend a helping hand in righting it until midnight, when, -as he affirmed, the monks of Dieu-la-cresse would be supplicating -Heaven on his behalf; and that, consequently, God would then give him -strength. The ship was saved, and, as their prayers had evidently -availed so much, it may be assumed that the brethren of Dieu-la-cresse -were a more than usually righteous fraternity. - -The castles of Beeston and Chartley were both commenced in the same -year (1220), and to defray the cost of their erection the Earl “took -toll throughout all his lordships of all such persons as passed by the -same, with any cattel, chaffre, or merchandize.” The reason for the -erection of Beeston is not far to seek. The Welsh were troublesome -neighbours, for though the Red King and the English-born Henry—the -“Lion of Justice,” as he was called—had tried to unite their country -with England, they had been neither exterminated nor enslaved, and for -long years— - - All along the border here - The word was snaffle, spur, and spear. - -In these border struggles Earl Randle found himself on one occasion -shut up in the castle of Rhuddlan—then called Rothelent—to which he had -retreated, and hard pressed by his foes. At this time his constable -of Cheshire, that doughty warrior Roger Lacy, baron of Halton, whose -fierceness had earned for him the sobriquet of “Hell,” happening to be -at Chester, hastily mustered all the beggars, minstrels, debauched men, -harlots, and other disorderly characters who were then assembled at the -fair, and with this tumultuous company marched to his master’s rescue. -The Welsh, who were as much alarmed at the sight of such a multitude -as the French were at the sight of Talbot, raised the siege and fled; -and the Earl, returning in safety, in reward and in memory of such -welcome service, conferred upon his trusty follower the government and -licensing of all beggars, vagrants, strollers, and minstrels within the -limits of his earldom, a privilege which Lacy in turn bestowed upon -his steward, Hugh Dutton; and the Duttons of Dutton, his successors, -continued to exercise the right until the passing of the Vagrant Act, -a few years ago—the custom being for them or their deputies to ride -through the streets of Chester to St. John’s Church every year, with -the minstrels of Cheshire playing before them; after which their -licenses were renewed. After this adventure, peace was concluded (1222) -between the Earl and Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, which was happily -cemented by the marriage in the same year of Randle’s nephew and heir, -John Scot, Earl of Huntingdon, with Llewelyn’s daughter Helen. - -Randle Blundeville, after having held the earldom for the long period -of fifty-two years, died at Wallingford on the 26th Oct. 1232, and -was buried at St. Werburg’s, Chester, his heart being deposited in -the Abbey of Dieu-la-cresse. Having no issue, his sister’s son, John -the Scot, succeeded; but he bore rule only five years, dying in 1237, -having, as was commonly believed, been poisoned by his wife, the Welsh -princess. - -That amiable lady not having borne him any children, his vast -possessions should by right have devolved upon his sisters; but King -Henry, being unwilling, as he said, “that so great an inheritance -should be divided among distaffs,” considerately took the earldom into -his own hands, and gave them other lands instead. In this transaction -there is little doubt but that the King got the best end of the -bargain, though it might have been better for his grandson if the -“distaffs” had been left in undisturbed possession of their property; -for in that case it is more than probable England would not have had to -deplore the defeat at Bannockburn which made Scotland a nation. - - Maidens of England, sore may ye mourn, - For your lemans ye have lost at Bannockburn. - -Of the sisters of John Scot, Margaret, the eldest, was the grandmother -of John Baliol, who became a competitor for the crown of Scotland. -Isabella, the second sister, by her marriage with Robert le Brus, the -Lord of Annandale, had a grandson—the brave and heroic Robert Bruce—the -“Bruce of Bannockburn,” and the idol of the Scottish people. - -After Henry the Third had assumed the Earldom of Chester the castle -of Beeston was left to the charge of castellans, and the people of -Cheshire had a sorry time of it; for David, the son of Prince Llewelyn, -endeavoured to cast off the English yoke, and long and bloody were -the struggles for freedom on the one hand, and for dominion on the -other—the county being overrun and ravaged alternately by friends and -enemies until nearly every rood of land was soaked with the blood -of the combatants. In the attack made by the King in 1245 the whole -borderland was laid waste, and the wyches or salt-pits were destroyed. -Eleven years later the county was plundered and desolated by the -Welsh; and in the year 1256 the young Prince Edward, to whom Henry had -two years previously assigned the Principality, made his first progress -into Cheshire, when his castle of Beeston was placed in the charge of -Fulco de Orreby. This year was an eventful one, for before its close -the Welsh again arose in insurrection, when Prince Edward was compelled -to retire; but the King marched an army to his support, wasting the -harvest as he advanced, and well-nigh depopulating the county, when, as -the ancient chronicler, Matthew Paris, records, “the whole border was -reduced into a desert, the inhabitants were cut off by the sword, the -castles and houses burnt, the woods felled, and the cattle destroyed by -famine.” - -The day was not far distant when Beeston was to be wrested from its -royal possessor, and find itself garrisoned by the soldiers of a -rebellious subject The struggle between the Crown and the Barons had -commenced, and was continued under varying circumstances; but the -Sovereign was eventually borne down by the union of ambitious nobles. -The rival armies met at Lewes, and in that hollow which the railway now -traverses, on the 14th of May, 1264, the King saw his army defeated -by the valorous Simon De Montfort, Earl of Leicester, aided by the -forces of the Welsh Prince Llewelyn, and he himself, with his son -Prince Edward and the King of the Romans, made prisoners. The next day -a treaty, known as the _mise_ of Lewes, was entered into; but the King -and his son were detained as hostages until all matters in dispute -should be settled. In this forced peace Edward was compelled, by a deed -executed at Woodstock, December 24, 1264, to surrender his Earldom -of Chester, and with it his castle of Beeston, to the victorious De -Montfort, in whom the administration of the realm was then virtually -vested. - -The victory was short-lived; but it had a result that will be ever -memorable, for immediately after, De Montfort summoned a great council -of the nation—the first in which we distinctly recognise the Parliament -of England; for he not only called together the barons, prelates, -and abbots, but also summoned two knights from each county, two -citizens from each city, and two burgesses from each borough. Thus was -the democratic element—the foundation of the House of Commons—first -introduced; and, as the Poet Laureate sings, England became - - A land of settled government, - A land of just and old renown, - Where freedom slowly broadens down, - From precedent to precedent. - -De Montfort was now in the fulness of his power; but his elevation -was dangerous for himself. His natural and acquired superiority -provoked the jealousy of those around him, and brought about his own -destruction. As when the light is brightest, so the shadow is ever -darkest, and his success was the ultimate cause of his downfall. The -Parliament which sprang out of the turbulence of civil war assembled -on the 26th January, 1265; and in the month of May following Prince -Edward, thanks to the fleetness of his horse, having effected his -escape from Hereford, where he had been in “free custody,” placed -himself at the head of a numerous army, the loyal barons being speedily -in arms. Gloucester, Monmouth, and Worcester, were successively taken; -De Montfort’s son was defeated at Kenilworth; and then the victorious -Royalists advanced to Evesham, to give battle to the father, who was -posted there. The contest, which lasted until night, was marked with -unusual ferocity; no quarter was asked or given; the Avon was crimsoned -with the blood of the slain; and, to add to the horrors, while the -dreadful carnage was going on, the air was darkened, and a storm such -as England has rarely witnessed burst over the combatants. Drayton, in -his “Polyolbion,” describes the horrors of that dreadful day— - - Shrill shouts, and deadly cries, each way the air do fill, - And not a word was heard from either side but “kill!” - The father ’gainst the son, the brother ’gainst the brother, - With gleaves, swords, bills, and pikes were murdering one another. - The full luxurious earth seems surfeited with blood, - Whilst in his uncle’s gore th’ unnatural nephew stood; - Whilst with their charged staves the desperate horsemen meet— - They hear their kinsmen groan under their horses’ feet, - Dead men and weapons broke do on the earth abound; - The drums bedash’d with brains do give a dismal sound! - -On the fatal 4th of August, 1265, the narrow bridge at Evesham afforded -little chance of escape from the slaughter of Edward’s horsemen, and -when the storm was over, and the sun had gone down, the pale moon on -that warm summer night glittered on the corslet of the gallant Simon -de Montfort, whose mangled body was stiffening upon the gory sward, to -be sent off on the morrow to the wretched widow as a testimony of the -Royalist success; his eldest son, Henry de Montfort, lay stretched by -his side, and but for the determined bravery of a few devoted fellows, -who bore his wounded form away upon their shields, Guy, the youngest, -would have shared their fate. Such was the ghastly end of one of the -lords of Beeston—the champion of English liberties and the originator -of our representative Parliament. - -When it became known that Prince Edward was in the field, his Cheshire -adherents at once took up arms; and on the Sunday following his -escape from Hereford James de Audley and Urian de St Pierre possessed -themselves of Beeston, and held it in the name of the King; and as -soon as the fight at Evesham was ended, the youthful conqueror, with -his victorious army, marched proudly through the undulating country -and along the great northern road to his Cheshire stronghold with the -wounded Guy de Montfort, Humphrey de Bohun, and Henry de Hastings, as -captives; and where, on his arrival, Lucas de Tanai, whom the elder -De Montfort had made Justiciary of Chester, and Simon, the Abbot of -St. Werburg’s, came to surrender the city of Chester, which had then -withstood a ten weeks’ siege, and to bespeak the royal clemency for -themselves. The whole of De Montfort’s possessions, including the -earldom of Chester, and with it the castle of Beeston, were forfeited -by his rebellion, and reverted back to the crown; and on the 27th -August, twenty-three days after the great battle, the Prince granted a -charter, confirming to the barons of Cheshire all the privileges which -Randle Blundeville had previously bestowed upon them. - -Once more the royal ensign with the golden lions waved above the -battlements of Beeston; a garrison was left in charge, but, the country -having become tranquillised, the gallant Edward went to win fresh -laurels beneath the sunnier skies of Palestine. In 1269 he took the -cross at Northampton, and, accompanied by some of the more powerful -nobles, set out for the Holy Land, stormed the city of Nazareth, gained -several victories over the Moslems, and displayed a personal prowess -equal to that of the lion-hearted Richard, and a military skill that -was infinitely greater. At Acre he escaped the poisoned dagger of -the treacherous Saracen by the devotion of his queen, who sucked the -poison from the wound at the risk of her own life—so, at least, the old -chroniclers affirm, and we are not inclined to reject so touching a -story, even though it may have come to us from a Spanish source. While -on his journey homewards he received the tidings of his father’s death, -but, instead of returning immediately, he made a triumphal progress -through Italy, crossed the Alps, and proceeded to the Court of France, -where he narrowly escaped death through the treachery of the Count of -Chalons. - -On arriving in England he was crowned at Westminster with Eleanor his -wife, August 19th, 1274. The hospitalities of his coronation were -scarcely over ere he set about the accomplishment of the great scheme -he had resolved upon—the union of the whole island of Britain in one -compact monarchy—Wales, his old battle-ground, then presenting a -tempting opportunity for commencing the work of conquest. Llewelyn, the -Welsh prince, though he promised fealty to the English crown, refused -to appear at the coronation, whereupon Edward repaired to Chester, -summoned his friends, and prepared to march against the Principality. - -Beeston becomes once more the scene of bustle and excitement; mail-clad -warriors are hurrying to and fro; the pennons of the knights, gay -with their distinctive blazonings, flutter in the breeze; lance and -spear, and helm and burgonette, gleam brightly in the sunlight—and -the echoes of the stern old fortress are again aroused by the sounds -of martial preparation; for an army has been levied and all are eager -to advance. Llewelyn was summoned to meet the King at Chester, but -refused; he was again summoned to attend the Parliament at Westminster, -and again he declined to appear; his lands were then declared forfeit, -and Edward led his invading host into his territory. Conscious of their -inability to withstand their more powerful neighbours in the field, -the Welsh retired to the mountain fastnesses, which had many a time -and oft enabled their ancestors to hold their own against their Saxon -and Norman oppressors; but, Edward having successfully penetrated to -the very heart of the country, Llewelyn was compelled to submit to the -hard terms the victor thought fitting to impose, which, by the way, -left only to the vanquished prince the sovereignty of Anglesey and the -district of Snowdon. - -Unhappily for Llewelyn, he put faith in the prophecy of Merlin, -the native bard and necromancer, which, it is alleged, foretold -that he should be the restorer of Brutus’s Empire in Britain. His -compatriots chafed under the usurped dominion, and maintained a dogged -resistance to the invaders. In hope of the fulfilment of the wizard’s -prognostications, Llewelyn availed himself of the fancied security of -England to break out into open insurrection. The castle of Hawarden -was surprised, and the governor, Roger de Clifford, carried off a -prisoner; the border castles of Rhuddlan and Flint were besieged; and -then, leading his forces down into the lowlands, the English intruders -were driven back across the Marches. Elated by his successes, he then -marched into Radnorshire, where, after passing the Wye, his army was -defeated by Edward Mortimer, and Llewelyn himself, while bravely -endeavouring to retrieve the misfortune, met the death he had so -ardently sought for; David, his brother, lord of Denbigh, was at the -same time made prisoner, and executed as a traitor. Such was the end of -Llewelyn, the great hero of Wales, and her last prince; and with his -end expired the government and distinction of the Welsh nation, after -long centuries of warfare maintained by its sons for the defence and -independence of their homes— - - Such were the sons of Cambria’s ancient race— - A race that checked victorious Cæsar, aw’d - Imperial Rome, and forced mankind to own - Superior virtue, Britons only knew, - Or only practised; for they nobly dared - To face oppression; and, where Freedom finds - Her aid invok’d, there will the Briton die! - -At this time (1283) Edward held his court at Rhuddlan, and to appease -the conquered people hit upon the politic, though dangerous, expedient -of promising them for their prince a native of the Principality, who -never spoke a word of English, and whose life and conversation no man -could impugn. By this bold manœuvre he succeeded in obtaining their -submission, and he fulfilled his promise to the very letter; for he -removed his Queen Eleanor to Carnarvon, which was then so far completed -as to allow of her reception, and there, on the 24th of April, 1284, -she gave birth to a son—Edward of Carnarvon, the victim of Berkeley -Castle, and the subject of Marlowe’s tragedy—who was created Prince of -Wales—a title the heirs to the crown have ever since retained. - -The sanguinary extirpation of Cambrian independence, while ultimately -a blessing to the native race, was also a good thing for those who -dwelt within the borderland of Cheshire, inasmuch as it spared their -country from a continuance of the bloodshed and devastation it had been -subjected to during the centuries of struggle between the Saxon and -the Celt. The land had rest, and for a hundred years or more from that -time Beeston is found to occupy but a comparatively small space in the -chronicles of the kingdom. - -The power wielded by the first Edward fell from the feeble grasp of -his son and successor. In the fifth year of that unfortunate monarch’s -reign we find the custody of the castle being transferred from John de -Serleby to John de Modburly, who appears to have been acting as the -deputy of Sir Robert de Holland, the head of the great feudal house of -that name in Lancashire, who, in the same year, by the king’s favour, -had been appointed his Chief Justice of Chester and custodian of his -castles of Chester, Rhuddlan, and Flint, and three years later Holland -was re-appointed to the same office. This Sir Robert, who had married -a great-granddaughter of that paragon of beauty, if not of chastity, -Rosamond Clifford—the “Fair Rosamond” of mediæval romance—founded the -Benedictine Priory at Up-Holland, in his own county; he was held in -great esteem by Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Lancaster, the king’s -cousin, who made him his secretary, and he was in that earl’s retinue -on the occasion of the rising of the barons to remove the De Spencers -from the royal councils, for which act his estates were forfeited after -the defeat at Boroughbridge in 1222, when the Earl, himself, was made -prisoner and conveyed to Pontefract, where, to satisfy the vindictive -favourites of the king, he was beheaded. - -During the protracted reign of Edward III. and the long French wars, -in which the Cheshire men, under the immediate eyes of the king and -his son, the Black Prince, won so much renown, several castellans were -appointed in succession, though it does not appear that the castle was -at any time the scene of active military operations. On the death of -Edward, his grandson, Richard, the eldest son of the Black Prince, who -was then only eleven years of age, succeeded to the throne, to find, as -many others have done, what it is to be— - - Left by his sire, too young such loss to know, - Lord of himself, that heritage of woe. - -A “heritage of woe” truly, for his reign, from the beginning to its -close, was one of continuous anarchy and disturbance. On the 23rd -November, 1385, we find him appointing John Cartileche janitor of his -castle of Beeston for life, in the room of Sir Alan Cheanie, who had -then only lately died. The appointment was made under the king’s seal, -and about the same time Richard himself paid a visit to the chief city -of his palatinate—the object, no doubt, being to ingratiate himself -with his Cheshire friends, and, that being so, it is probable Beeston -was on the same occasion graced with his presence. Loyalty to the crown -was a strong characteristic of the Cheshire men, a feeling that was -no doubt strengthened by the many marks of royal favour their county -had received from its earls, in whom they recognised their titular -sovereigns; hence the intimate relations which existed between the king -and the palatinate. When the Duke of Gloucester assembled a body of -men in order that he might retain control of the youthful sovereign, -Richard hastened to Chester and called out his loyal Cheshire guard; -and when, in 1397, by what in modern times would be called a _coup -d’état_, he determined on overthrowing the regency and recovering the -power which Gloucester and his cabal of nobles had deprived him of, and -in furtherance of that object had summoned a Parliament to meet him at -Westminster in September, he, to guard against any possible resistance -on the part of the disaffected nobles, surrounded the house with a -guard of two thousand of his Cheshire archers, each wearing as a badge -the white hart lodged, the cognisance of his mother, the “Fair Maid of -Kent,” which Richard had then adopted. - -The power thus regained was wielded neither wisely nor well. On the -death of John o’ Gaunt, in 1399, Richard, to replenish his exhausted -exchequer, seized his possessions into his own hands, leaving to the -banished son of “time-honoured Lancaster,” the youthful Bolingbroke, -nothing but the empty title. This arbitrary abuse of power naturally -inflamed the resentment of Bolingbroke, who resolved upon accomplishing -the king’s dethronement, and it was not long before the opportunity -offered for putting his scheme into execution. While the unsuspecting -Richard was leading the Cheshire bowmen among the bogs and thickets of -Ireland, in order to quell the insurrection and punish the murderers of -Mortimer, Bolingbroke, taking advantage of his absence, embarked with a -small retinue and landed “upon the naked shore of Ravenspurg,” a place -on the Humber, where, at a later date, Edward IV. landed on a similar -errand, with an excuse plausible as that of the duke whose exploit he -imitated. He quickly mustered a force of 60,000 men; towns and castles -surrendered to him; and before Richard could return the invader had -virtually made himself master of the kingdom. When he did arrive, there -being no army to receive him, seven loyal Cheshire men, John Legh of -Booths, Thomas Cholmondely, Ralph Davenport, Adam Bostock, John Done -of Utkinton, Thomas Holford, and Thomas Beeston, each with seventy -retainers, became his body guard, wearing his cognisance of the white -hart upon their shoulders, and keeping watch over him day and night -with their battle-axes. - -This would appear to have been the occasion when, according to Stow, -Beeston was chosen by the king, on account of its strength and -the usually loyal feelings of the county, for the custody of his -treasures, when jewels and other valuables said to be worth 200,000 -marks (£133,333) were deposited in it for safety. The castle was -then garrisoned by a force of a hundred men; but it says little for -their valour that, without striking a blow, they surrendered it to -the victorious heir of Lancaster, who, anticipating Richard’s advance -towards his trusty friends in Cheshire, where his power was strongest, -and wishing to intercept his communications, had marched through -Gloucester, Hereford, and Ludlow to Shrewsbury, crying havoc and -destruction to Cheshire and Cheshire men as he went; and who was then -at Chester, where he had caused to be beheaded that loyal and loving -subject, Sir Piers Legh, the founder of the house of Legh of Lyme—a -Cheshire worthy who had been the companion in arms of the Black Prince, -and whose name is still perpetuated in the inscription which one of his -descendants placed in the Lyme Chapel, in Macclesfield Church— - - Here lyethe the bodie of Perkyn a Legh, - That for King Richard the death did die, - Betrayed for righteovsnes; - And the bones of Sir Piers, his Sonne, - That with King Henrie the Fift did wonne - In Paris. - -The hapless king, finding his power gone and his castles of Carnarvon, -Beaumaris, and Conway destitute of provisions, gave himself up to -Percy, Duke of Northumberland, who conveyed him to Flint, whither -Bolingbroke repaired from Chester to receive him. Thence the fallen -monarch was removed to Chester; but he could only have remained a day -or two, for on the 21st August he was at Nantwich, a prisoner on his -way to the Tower, having on the morning of that early autumn day passed -with his captors beneath the frowning walls of Beeston, so lately lost -to him. The close of that sad journey of triumph and humiliation has -been thus described by our greatest dramatist:— - - Then, as I said, the duke, great Bolingbroke— - Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed, - Which his aspiring rider seemed to know, - With slow but stately pace kept on his course, - While all tongues cried—“God save thee, Bolingbroke!” - You would have thought the very windows spake, - So many greedy looks of young and old - Through casements darted their desiring eyes - Upon his visage; and that all the walls, - With painted imag’ry, had said at once— - “Jesu preserve thee! Welcome, Bolingbroke!” - Whilst he, from one side to the other turning, - Bare-headed, lower than his proud steed’s neck, - Bespake them thus—“I thank you, countrymen!” - And thus still doing, thus he pass’d along. - -Alas, poor Richard! Where rides he the while? - - As in a theatre, the eyes of men, - After a well-grac’d actor leaves the stage, - Are idly bent on him that enters next, - Thinking his prattle to be tedious; - Even so, or with much more contempt, men’s eyes - Did scowl on Richard. No man cried, “God save him;” - No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home; - But dust was thrown upon his sacred head; - Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off— - His face still combating with tears and smiles, - The badges of his grief and patience— - That had not God, for some strong purpose, steel’d - The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted, - And barbarism itself have pitied him. - But Heaven hath a hand in these events, - To whose high will we bound our calm contents; - To Bolingbroke are we sworn subjects now, - Whose state and honour I for aye allow. - -Ere many moons had waxed and waned the humbled and wretched king, who -had resigned his crown to the usurper, fell beneath the murderous -battle-axe of Piers Exton, “within the guilty closure of the walls” of -Pontefract, that— - - Bloody prison, - Fatal and ominous to noble peers; - -and very near the spot where, less than sixty years before, Sir Robert -Holland’s patron, the “good Earl of Lancaster,” had yielded up his life. - -In the fierce struggle between the Red and White Roses—that “convulsive -and bleeding agony of the feudal power” which destroyed the flower of -the English nobility, and well-nigh exhausted the nation—we hear little -of Beeston, though the victorious Bolingbroke’s son, the “nimble-footed -madcap Harry, Prince of Wales,” lived much of his time within the -palatinate, and the Cheshire men figured prominently in the stirring -events of those stirring times. - -In 1460, when the compromise was made by which the “meek usurper” was -to retain the crown for the remainder of his life, and Richard of York -become heir at his death, we find an entry on the Patent Rolls granting -to him the Principality of Wales and the Earldom of Chester, in which -Beeston is included in the recital of the manors and castles considered -as appendages to the earldom. The honours and possessions thus acquired -were not, however, to be long enjoyed, for before the close of the year -Henry’s Queen—Margaret of Anjou—refusing to acquiesce in an arrangement -that set aside the claims of her son, took up arms on his behalf, and, -aided by some of the most devoted supporters of the Lancastrian cause, -marched northwards. The opposing forces met on Wakefield Green on the -31st December, 1460. The army of the White Rose was completely routed, -and Beeston’s lately designated lord, the Duke of York, and his son, -the Earl of Rutland, fell together—butchered, it is said, in cold blood -upon the field by the black-faced Clifford. - -The grant of 1460 is the last occasion on which mention is made of -Beeston as an ordinary fortified stronghold. When Henry of Richmond -came out of the field of Bosworth, a victor, he planted the heel of -the sovereign upon the necks of the nobles, and destroyed their power -by putting down their retainers. He freed their lands from the burden -of supporting an army of the State; but, while doing so, he succeeded -in breaking up the feudal system. From that time the decay of Beeston -may be said to date, and the old fortress must have soon begun to -show signs of dilapidation, for Leland, in his _Genethliacon Eadverdi -Principis_ written in 1548, describes it as being then in a shattered -and ruinous condition. In the reign of Elizabeth the site was alienated -from the Earldom of Chester, and given by the Queen to her dancing -Chancellor, “the grave Lord Keeper,” Sir Christopher Hatton, who -subsequently conveyed it to the manorial lords of Beeston; and so it -again became attached to the manor from which it had originally been -severed. In this way it became part of the possessions of that famous -Cheshire hero, Sir George Beeston—a veteran soldier who had borne -himself bravely and well in the siege of Boulogne and the fight at -Musselburg, and whose warlike spirit was not even subdued by age, for -it is recorded that in the glorious victory over the Spaniards at the -time of the Armada, when he was nearly ninety years old, he displayed -such gallantry that Elizabeth knighted him for his achievements. The -brave old knight closed a life of honour in 1601, being then 102 years -of age, and was buried at Bunbury, where his recumbent effigy upon -an altar-tomb beneath a pointed arch may be seen, with a long Latin -inscription above it in which his services to his country are recorded. -The granddaughter of Sir George Beeston conveyed the manor and castle -in marriage to William Whitmore, of Leighton, Esquire, from whom it -descended through the Savages to Sir Thomas Mostyn, who died in 1831, -when the property passed by sale to the present Lord Tollemache. - -For more than a generation Beeston remained uncared for, and ceased to -have any significance as a military station. Under the vigorous rule -of the Tudor sovereigns there had been no incursion or civil commotion -that rendered a display of strength and resistance necessary, and it -was not until the great outbreak of the seventeenth century, when -almost every considerable mansion in Cheshire was garrisoned for king -or Parliament, that it was again put into a state of defence and made -to undergo the ordeal of a protracted siege. At the beginning of 1643 -Sir William Brereton, the Parliamentary commander, who had occupied -Nantwich with a force of 2,000 or 3,000 men, found himself menaced by -Sir Thomas Aston, who at the time was holding the fortified city of -Chester on behalf of the King, and had attacked and pillaged Middlewich -and other places. Under such circumstances, Beeston, offering as it -did so many natural advantages, was too important a station to be -neglected, and accordingly on the night of the 21st February (1642-3), -300 of the Parliamentary soldiers climbed the hill, and established -themselves in possession, not, however, without some opposition, for it -is recorded that on the same night they were met by the horse of the -array on Te’erton (Tiverton, the adjoining township) townfield, where -one of Colonel Mainwaring’s officers was slain on the Parliamentary -side, and a few others of the King’s, who were buried at Tarporley. -The first work of the Puritan garrison was to repair and strengthen -the fortifications, and put the castle in such a condition as would -secure its holders against attack. The contest between sovereign -and subject continued throughout the year, with varying results. In -November, General Brereton, at the head of the Cheshire and Lancashire -forces, marched into Wales, but hearing of the arrival (at Parkgate, -probably) of Royalist reinforcements from Ireland, hastily fell back -upon Nantwich. His retreat would seem to have disheartened the garrison -at Beeston, for within three weeks Captain Steel, the commandant, -surrendered the castle, without the semblance of a struggle, to Captain -Sandford, an Irish officer, who, with eight men, had a little before -daybreak on the morning of the 13th December (1643) crept up the hill, -and got possession of the upper ward. The story of the capture is told -with much circumstantiality in the “Diary” of Edward Burghall, the -Puritan schoolmaster of Bunbury, and subsequent vicar of Acton:— - - December 13th.—A little before day, Captain Sandford (a zealous - Royalist), who first came out of Ireland with eight of his - firelocks, crept up the steep hill of Beeston Castle, and got into - the upper ward, and took possession there. It must be done by - treachery, for the place was most impregnable. Captain Steel, who - kept it for the Parliament, was accused, and suffered for it; but - it was verily thought he had not betrayed it wilfully; but some - of his men proving false he had not courage enough to withstand - Sandford to try it out with him. What made much against Steel was - he took Sandford down into his chamber, where they dined together, - and much beer was sent up to Sandford’s men, and the castle after - a short parley was delivered up, Steel and his men having leave - to march with their arms and colours to Nantwich, but as soon as - he was come into the town the soldiers were so enraged against - him that they would have pulled him to pieces had he not been - immediately clapped in prison. There was much wealth and goods in - the castle, belonging to gentlemen and neighbours, who had brought - it thither for safety, besides ammunition and provisions for half - a year at least, all which the enemy got. - -Six weeks after, as we learn from the diarist, Steel was “shot to -death, in Tinker’s Croft, by two soldiers, according to judgment -against him. He was put into a coffin, and buried in the churchyard. -He confessed all his sins,” it is added, “and prayed a great while, -and, to the judgment of charity, died penitently.” The stern Puritans -could scarcely have given a milder judgment, for the dining together -and regaling of Sandford’s men with “much beer” must have told greatly -against the recreant Steel. - -The surrender of Beeston was a great blow to the revolutionary -cause. The neighbouring country now lay at the mercy of Lord Byron -and the Royalist troops, who ravaged the entire district. Crewe Hall -capitulated; the halls of Dorfold and Doddington surrendered without -offering any resistance; Middlewich was captured, and on the 17th -January, 1644, an assault was made on Nantwich, when, after some busy -days of hard fighting, Captain Sandford met a soldier’s death, within -a day or two of that on which poor Steel was led out to execution. -The siege continued for more than a week, when Fairfax, fresh from -his victories in Yorkshire, with Colonel Monk, who afterwards played -so prominent a part in bringing about the Restoration, came to the -relief of the beleaguered town, and the Royalists gave way to superior -numbers. They were, however, left in undisturbed possession of Beeston -until the 20th October following, when “the council of war at Nantwich -hearing that the enemy at Beeston were in want of fuel and other -necessaries layed strong siege to it.” For nearly five months the siege -was continued, when Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice arrived with a -considerable force, relieved the invested garrison on the 17th March, -and two days later plundered Bunbury and burnt Beeston Hall. Scarcely -had they departed than, as we learn from the “Diary,” the Puritan -soldiers again appeared:— - - 1645, April.—The Parliament again placed forces round Beeston - Castle, where they began to raise a brave mount with a strong - ditch about it, and placed great buildings thereon, which were - scarce finished but news came that the king and both the princes - (Maurice and Rupert) with a strong army were coming towards - Chester. The Parliament army marched towards Nantwich, leaving the - country to the spoils of the forces in Chester and Beeston Castle. - -The garrison thus relieved sallied out on the 4th June, and made an -unsuccessful attack on Ridley Hall. Ten days after came the disastrous -defeat at Naseby, which put the Parliamentarians in possession of -nearly all the chief cities of the kingdom. Three anxious months -passed, and then (September 24th, 1645), the unhappy monarch, standing -upon the leads of the Phœnix Tower on Chester walls, witnessed the -fluctuating progress of the last effort on Rowton Moor for the -maintenance of the Royal power, saw his gallant kinsman, the Earl -of Lichfield, with many gentlemen besides, fall dead at his feet, -and all that had hitherto survived of his broken remnant of a host -either taken prisoners or driven in headlong rout and ruin from the -fatal field. “Thenceforth the king’s sword was a useless bauble, less -significant than the ‘George’ upon his breast.” - -[Illustration: THE PHŒNIX TOWER, CHESTER.] - -With the loss at Chester vanished the last hope of Charles. Three weeks -after, the castle of Beeston was delivered up to Sir William Brereton, -the garrison, though at times subjected to the severest privations, -having bravely held it for the space of nearly a year. Burghall thus -tells the tale of the surrender:— - - November 16th.—Beeston Castle, that had been besieged almost a - year, was delivered up by the Captain Valet, the governor, to Sir - William Brereton; there were in it 56 soldiers, who by agreement - had liberty to depart with their arms, colours flying, and drums - beating, with two cart loads of goods, and to be conveyed to - Denbigh; but 20 of the soldiers laid down their arms, and craved - liberty to go to their homes, which was granted. There was neither - meat nor drink found in the castle, but only a piece of a turkey - pie, and a live peacock and a peahen. - -The heroic defence of the castle by the Royalist garrison, and their -long endurance, even after their cause had become hopeless and all -chance of succour had disappeared, presents a remarkable contrast to -the meek surrender of Captain Steel and his three hundred Puritan -soldiers to Sandford’s gallant little band of cavaliers. In the spring -of the following year the old fortress, which had withstood the -batterings of time and been so often exposed to the storms of war in -the troubled reigns of the Plantagenets, but which had never yielded to -assault, was dismantled, and since then it has gradually sunk into its -present state of extreme but picturesque decay. - -Since the days of the Stuarts little historical interest has attached -to it. Its glories are of the past. Its palmy days are over—for it has -outlived the needs that called it into being, and survives only to show -us how men lived and acted in those stern times when they knew no other -law than that which Wordsworth speaks of— - - The old good rule, the simple plan, - That they should get who have the power, - And they should keep who can, - -and when even power could only feel secure when defended by iron -force. We love our country with love far brought from out the historic -past—the past on which the present is securely built—and we cherish the -relics of its ancient chivalry and romance, but the spirit of the age -is opposed to the revivication of feudal customs and feudal prejudices. -The time when it was only possible for men to hold their own by length -and strength of arm has gone by never again to return. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -WHALLEY AND ITS ABBEY—MITTON CHURCH AND ITS MONUMENTS—THE -SHERBURNES—THE JESUITS’ COLLEGE, STONYHURST. - - -Whalley—the Field of Wells, as our Saxon forefathers called it—is -one of the most picturesque, as also one of the most interesting -villages in Lancashire. It is the centre, too, of a district which -almost claims to rank as classic ground. Few places possess greater -charms from a scenic point of view, or a higher interest from the -historical associations attaching to them. The parish to which it -gives name covers a wide extent of territory. Originally, before the -great parishes of Blackburn, Chipping, Mitton, Rochdale, Ribchester, -and Slaidburn had been carved out of it, it embraced an area of four -hundred square miles; and even now it is accounted the largest parish -within the diocese, being equal to about one-ninth of the whole county. -Well might the chief ecclesiastics of this, the oldest Christian -edifice in Lancashire, dignify themselves in old times with the -imposing title of “Deans” of Whalley, though the magnitude of their -domain was surely not a sufficient justification for their setting at -naught the decrees of Holy Church, and the vows of celibacy it imposed, -by perpetuating a race of priests who married and transmitted their -offices from father to son for successive generations: a state of -things that continued until the Council of Lateran not only forbade but -disannulled such marriages, and so destroyed the constitution by which -the church of Whalley had been governed for nearly five hundred years. - -A more charmingly diversified country than that of which this quiet -little pastoral village is the centre it is difficult to conceive. -Within the wide range of vision it commands we may note the type of -almost every stage of civilisation the country has passed through. -Though a railway viaduct, lofty as the Pont du Gard, bridges the -Calder, and a tall chimney or two may here and there be seen, the -virgin features of the country have as yet been happily but little -scarred by the intrusion of manufacturing industry. The wild breezy -moors and the wooded cloughs and dingles retain much of their primitive -character, while the fair and fertile valley still bears evidence -of the patient labour of the monks in redeeming the soil from its -primeval barrenness. Every object that can beautify or adorn the -landscape is there in picturesque variety, charming by the very order -of Nature’s disorder. The Ribble, winding its way towards the sea, as -it flows by Ribchester, reminds us of the days when the Roman held -dominion—when the subjects of the Cæsars built their fortresses and -reared their stately temples, and their chief, Agricola, taught the -naked and woad-stained Britons the science of agriculture and the arts -of civilisation. The quaint Runic crosses standing in the churchyard, -weathered and worn with the blasts of twelve hundred years, serve -as memorials of the time when Edwin, the Saxon king of Northumbria, -embraced the doctrines of the Cross, and the great missionary Paulinus -brought the glad tidings to our pagan forefathers dwelling in this -remote corner of Lancashire; for tradition affirms that on this spot -the Gospel of Peace and Love was proclaimed in those ancient days. - - There stands the messenger of truth; there stands - The legate of the skies, his theme divine, - His office sacred, his credentials clear; - By him the violated law speaks out - Its thunders, and by him, in strains as sweet - As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace. - -And the venerable church—“the white church under the Leigh,” as it -was anciently designated—that peeps above the enshrouding foliage, is -doubtless the successor of a pagan temple, for it was then the fashion -to convert the edifices of the old religion to the purposes of the new. -The ruined keep of Clitheroe Castle, crowning the limestone rock that -rises abruptly from the plain, carries the mind back to the times of -the stout Norman earls, when men ruled by the stern will and the strong -arm, and vigilant sentinels upon the watch-towers looked afar for the -blaze of the baleful fires that should warn them of the approaching -foe. Within a short two miles of the stately stronghold of the Lacies -are the dilapidated remains of Waddington Hall—a house which, though -it escaped the fiercer tide of politics and strife, is yet associated -with the period when England was drained of its best blood by the -Wars of the Roses; for it was at Waddington, which had for a time -afforded him an asylum, that the “meek usurper,” Henry VI., after the -disastrous fight at Hexham, in 1464, was betrayed into the hands of -his enemies, and, though he escaped for a moment, he was caught ere he -could cross the Ribble at Brungerley hipping-stones, and given up to -the vengeance of his successful rivals, for which act of perfidy his -captor, Thomas Talbot, was rewarded by the Yorkist Edward with grants -of land. He did not, however, long enjoy them, for when the White Rose -of York drooped before Henry of Richmond on the Field of Bosworth, -the same Talbot experienced one of the common reverses of war, and -had to surrender his ill-gotten gains. Westward, lying among the tall -trees, where the sharp corner of Yorkshire runs in between the Hodder -and the Ribble, is Little Mitton Hall, another relic of the past that -serves to tell the story of the changing life of our great nation, and -to show how the frowning fortress gradually softened into the stately -mansion when order spread as law succeeded might, and time had widened -and mellowed our social institutions. The giant form of Pendle Hill, -sloping upwards from the green valley, with its wild gorges, where the -old forest of Bowland formerly stretched its length, its broad turfy -swamps, its sombre masses of blackened rock, and its bleak ridges of -“cloud-capped” desolation overshadowing the verdant landscape, conjures -up humiliating memories of the credulity, the ignorant superstition, -and the revolting practices which obtained for merry-hearted Lancashire -so unenviable a reputation in the golden days of the virgin queen and -her successor, the vain and weak-minded James— - - Pendle stands - Round cop, surveying all the wild moor-lands, - And Malkin’s Tower, a little cottage, where - Report makes caitiff witches meet, to swear - Their homage to the devil, and contrive - The deaths of men and beasts. - -The genius of superstition that fills the mind with - - Shaping fantasies that apprehend - More than cool reason ever comprehends, - -still lingers, and the voices of tradition may occasionally be heard -in the embowered gloom of its solitary cloughs and dingles; but under -the disenchanting influences of steam Pendle has lost much of that -weird character of wonder and fear with which the shaping power of the -imagination had enshrouded it, though it still retains much of its wild -and uncultivated character, and there are spots that remain almost as -savage and unfrequented, if not as much feared, as in the days of the -“British Solomon,” when its secluded hollows and heathery wastes were -commonly believed to be the scenes of midnight feasting and diabolical -revelries, and everything and everybody were supposed to be under the -evil influence of decrepit hags who had sworn to do the devil service, -and were endowed by the Prince of Darkness with the power to work -destruction on man and beast. Happily, in these days, a gentler species -of witchcraft prevails. Though the spells of the Lancashire witches -are as potent as ever, they are exercised without fear of judge or -jury. Few escape the fascinations, and, it may be added, still fewer -desire to do so. But Pendle has other associations than those with -which the pedantic Master Potts and Harrison Ainsworth have made us -familiar. It was upon its broad peak that George Fox, the founder of -the Society of Friends, received his “first illumination.” There, as he -tells us in his _Journal_, “the Lord let me see in what places He had -a great people to be gathered together;” and then he adds, “As I went -down I found a spring of water in the side of the hill, with which I -refreshed myself, having eaten or drunken but little for several days -before.” The spring is still there, and to this day is known in the -neighbourhood as George Fox’s well. - -Wiswall, uprising in peaceful serenity upon the skirts of Pendle, -calls to remembrance the conflict between monarchy and monasticism—the -“Pilgrimage of Grace,” and the penalty that Paslew, the last abbot of -Whalley, paid for his share in that uprising—the destruction of himself -and the house over which he had so long presided, for it was upon a -gallows erected in front of Wiswall Hall, the place of his birth, -and in sight of the abbey, which had then passed into profane hands, -that Paslew was ignominiously hanged. A flat gravestone, in the north -aisle of Whalley Church, marks the last resting-place of the ill-fated -ecclesiastic. A floriated cross and a chalice, the emblems of his -office, are carved upon it, with the simple and touching inscription— - - Jhu fili dei miserere mei - J P - -[Illustration] - -Well might he ask pity from above, for, poor man, in the days of -his adversity he found none below. Let us hope, however, that the -malediction which tradition says the dying man pronounced upon those -who should despoil his house has lost its force, if it ever had any, -and that a Braddyll and an Assheton may now step across his grave -without risk of destruction. - -But the glory of Whalley is the famous abbey, with which Whitaker’s -history has made us so familiar. Though it is now only a picturesque -ruin— - - A pile decayed, - ... in cunning fashion laid, - Ruined buttress, moss-clad stone, - Arch with ivy overgrown, - Stairs round which the lichens creep, - The whole a desolated heap— - -there yet remains much to delight the eye. The groined gateway -shrouded in the gloom of a stately avenue of limes, the spacious -hospitium, the cloister court, with its beautifully-decorated arches, -the chapter-house, the abbot’s lodgings, the refectory, and the huge -kitchens, with their capacious fire-places, may still be seen, but -the crowning feature of all, the glorious conventual church, with its -choir and its transepts, has disappeared, a small fragment of the walls -and the foundations of its mighty pillars alone remaining. Corbel and -capital, mullion and transom, broken columns and fragments of masonry -lie strewn about, some half buried in the rank grass and nettles, -telling the story of its former magnificence. Until recent years, when -it was blown down in a storm, an ancient cherry tree that must have -been in its prime when Whalley was in the fulness of its glory, grew in -one of the courts, contributing its fair white blossoms to the summer -beauty. There you can see where the monks sat in the sanctuary; that -grass-grown court was their cemetery; yonder is the nameless tomb of a -forgotten abbot; and that arch, with a span of nearly eighteen feet, -marks the resting-place of another. Verily, the monks of Whalley were -as splendid in their obsequies as in their hospitalities. The floor is -carpeted with turf, and the walls are canopied by the heavens; ivy, -the flower of ruin, lends its melancholy charm, and the clustering -masses that uphold the crumbling buttresses spread their garniture of -green to hide the signs of decay, and mock the greyness of time with -a decoration that lasts but for a season. As you wander about seeking -for the best points of view, or musing upon the fallen fortunes of the -house, you will gaze again and again upon the broken arches and the -empty windows, and think - - How many hearts have here grown cold, - That sleep these mouldering stones among; - How many beads have here been told; - How many matins have been sung. - -A spot more suited to the contemplative mind you will rarely see. -Sequestered, solemn, still, the calm tranquillity is in perfect keeping -with the sepulchre of human greatness, and the mind brooding upon -the past overleaps the boundaries of centuries. In this spot orisons -and vespers have been sung; the low sweet music of the Litany of the -Cross has rolled; through the “long drawn aisle and fretted vault” -the pealing organ has swelled the anthem’s note; and where now the -sod is shaded by the overhanging verdure the funeral procession has -often passed, the white-robed monks chanting awhile the soul-stirring -“_Supplicante parce Deus_.” The following lines seem so applicable to -the place that we make no apology for transcribing them:— - - Around the very place doth brood - A strange and holy quietude, - Where lingers long the evening gleam - And stilly sounds the neighbouring stream. - - I know not if it is the scene, - Bosom’d in hills by the ravine, - Or if it is the conscious mind - Hallows the spot and stills the wind, - And makes the very place to know - The peace of them that sleep below, - Investing Nature with the spell - Of that strange calm unspeakable. - - Methinks that both together blend - To hallow their calm peaceful end— - The thoughts of them that slumber there - Seem still to haunt the holy ground; - And e’en the spot and solemn air - Themselves partake that calm profound. - Methinks that He who oft at even - Brings stillness o’er the earth and heaven, - Till mountains, skies, and neighbouring sea - Blend in one solemn harmony, - Hath caused e’en Nature’s self to grace - This sweet and holy resting-place. - -Amid the venerable and peaceful shade we seem again to hear - - Litanies at noon, - Or hymn at complin by the rising moon, - When, after chimes, each chapel echoed round, - Like one aerial instrument of sound, - Some vast harmonious fabric of the Lord’s, - Whose vaults are shells, and pillars tuneful chords; - -and we are almost tempted to forget the errors of the monks, and to -think only of them as the precursors of a simpler and purer religion. -In the seclusion of their solitary lives they laboured earnestly and -with prayerful zeal, for with them _laborare est orare_ was no idle -expression. They threw the fervour of their souls into their work, and -dispensed their hospitalities with a lavish hand; but they taught no -liberty, and preached no freedom, to a Christian world. The knowledge -they cherished most was as a lamp beneath a bushel—it kept all in -darkness but themselves. Better that their system should pass away, and -that their houses should be dismantled and left only to beautify and -adorn the landscape, than that we should have a return to their sensual -pageantry and pent-up learning. - -Many stories are related of the doings and misdoings of the brotherhood -at Whalley in those far-off days; but the legend that they disturbed -the peace of the fair anchorites who had their habitation in the -hermitage close by the great gate of the abbey must surely be a fable, -though tradition affirms that the lady hermits were not always spotless -in their lives, and a more trustworthy authority records that one of -them, Isold de Heton, a fair widow, who, in the first transports of her -grief, had vowed herself to Heaven, led a disorderly life there, to the -scandal of the abbey and the prejudice of the morals of the fraternity. -Here is the story of the profane doings of this dissolute votaress, as -set forth in the representation made to that paragon of virtue, King -Henry the Eighth, of blessed memory:— - - Be it remembered that the please and habitacion of the said - recluse is within place halowed and nere to the gate of the seyd - monastre, and that the weemen that have been attendynge to the - seyd recluse have recorse dailly into the seyd monastre for the - levere of brede, ale, kychin and other things; the whych is not - accordyng to be had withyn such religyous plases: and how that - dyvers that been anchores in the seyd plase have broken owte and - departed: and in especyal how that now Isold of Heton is broken - owte, and so levying at her owne liberte by this two yere and - mor, like as she had never been professyd; and that dyvers of the - wymen that have been servants there, have been misgovernyd and - gotten with chyld within the seyd plase halowyd, to the great - displeasuance of hurt and disclander of the abbey aforeseyd, &c. - -On this report the pious Henry, as in duty bound, suppressed the little -hermitage, and cast its inmates upon the world. - -The Calder still flows on bright and clear as it did of yore; but -the glories of the abbey of Whalley have for ever passed away, and -the roofless ruined walls serve only to remind us of the days of the -old Catholicism; whilst across the valley, crowning a thickly-wooded -eminence that rises from the slopes of Longridge Fell, we can see the -tall towers of Stonyhurst, which may be said to typify the new—for the -monasticism which Henry so ruthlessly rooted out has been revived in -a new form in the stately mansion which once formed the home of the -Sherburns. To that seminary of learning, the college of the fathers of -the Society of Jesus, and the _alma mater_ of so many of the Catholic -gentry of England, let us now bend our steps, taking in the way the -little hamlet of Mitton, and its ancient church, in which so many of -the former lords of Stonyhurst repose. - -Leaving the village of Whalley at the upper end, we pass beneath the -viaduct, and continue along a pleasant rural high road that winds away -to the right in sweetest solitude. The tall hedgerows are fresh with -their summer foliage, and fragrant with the odours of the honeysuckle, -the sweetbriar, and the wealth of floral beauty that spreads around. -Now and then we get a glimpse of the Calder, flowing “with liquid lapse -serene,” here coming out of the verdant shade, and there going into it -again, and murmuring its admiration of the scene in a perpetual song of -joyousness. Presently the trees thicken, and through the openings we -look over a country serenely pastoral in its character, with its wooded -bluffs, its level holms, and wide-spreading pastures, through which the - - Cold springs run - To warm their chilliest bubbles in the grass. - -Behind us rises Whalley Nab, with the old abbey nestling at its foot; -the wooded heights above Wiswall, Billinge Hill, and the bleak, -cloud-mottled heights of the majestic Pendle. In mid-distance the -broken keep of Clitheroe Castle gleams in the mellow light, and just -below the tower of Clitheroe Church may be discerned. Sweeping round -towards the north, Waddington Fell, Bleasdale Moor, and the wooded -heights of Bowland Forest come in view; and, far beyond, the shadowy -peaks of Pennygent and Ingleborough, reminding us of the old saw— - - Pendle Hill and Pennygent and Little Ingleborough, - Are three such hills as you’ll not find by searching England thorough. - -Nearer we see the woods about Whitewell, a spot dear to every lover of -the gentle craft, and to the artist a very storehouse of scenic beauty; -the opening shows where the Hodder flows down to add its tributary -to the Ribble; further westward we have the huge form of Longridge -Fell stretching across the landscape, with Kemple End, and the wooded -eminence rising from its lowest spur, on which stands the stately hall -of Stonyhurst. - -A little more than half an hour’s walking brings us to Mitton, a -pleasant little rural hamlet occupying a narrow tapering strip of land -that runs in between the two rivers, the Hodder and the Ribble, and -very near the point where the latter is joined by the Calder. As the -old distich reminds us— - - The Hodder, the Calder, the Ribble and rain - All meet in a point on Mitton’s domain. - -The rivers keep us in pleasant companionship, but, happily, the rain -is absent. Before we cross the Ribble we get sight of the ancient hall -of Little Mitton, lying among the trees; on the left a gabled mansion -built by the Catteralls in the days of the seventh Henry, which, though -it has been modernised and part rebuilt in recent years, still retains -its spacious entrance hall, with the original arched timber roof, -the exquisitely carved oaken screen, and the gallery above. With the -exception of the great hall at Samlesbury it is the finest room in -any house in the country, and its erection must well-nigh have laid a -forest prostrate. Well might Whitaker express the hope that “it might -never fall into the hands who have less respect for it than its (then) -owner; and that no painter’s brush or carpenter’s hammer might ever -come near it, excepting to arrest the progress of otherwise inevitable -decay.” Thomas Catterall, the last of the name who held Little Mitton, -granted the manor in 1579 to his daughter Dorothy, and her husband, -Robert Sherburn, a younger son of the house of Stonyhurst, and their -grandson, Richard Sherburn, in the reign of Charles the Second, sold -it to Alexander Holt, of the ancient family of Holt of Grislehurst. -Subsequently it passed by purchase to John Aspinall, Esq., and his -grandson, Ralph John Aspinall, Esq., of Standen Hall, the late High -Sheriff of Lancashire, is the present possessor; Mr. John Hick, -formerly M.P. for Bolton, being the occupant. - -The village of Milton is finely embosomed among tufted trees upon a -slope that rises gently from the valley, watered by the Ribble and its -tributary streams, and is as thoroughly picturesque and “old English” -as you would wish to see. As you approach, the grey embattled tower -of its venerable church peeping above the umbrage forms a pleasing -object, but its appearance does not improve on a closer acquaintance, -for the hand of the spoiler has been busy, and a coating of coarse -stucco effectually conceals the ancient masonry. It should be said, -however, that a good deal has been done in recent years to atone -for the tasteless barbarism of bygone churchwardens, and Nature has -lovingly aided in the work by spreading a mantle of living green so as -to hide many of the tasteless deformities. The church is a small and -unpretending structure, though of considerable antiquity, some parts -dating as far back as the reign of the third Edward, and probably -it occupies the site of a still earlier building. The tower is of -much later date, and like many other old churches the exterior, by -its architectural diversities, gives ample proof of alterations and -“improvements” at distant periods. The churchyard delights you by its -placid beauty, and the little hamlet sleeping peacefully at the foot is -in perfect harmony with the scene. When we entered the enclosure the -doors of the church were fastened, but the sexton, who was pursuing his -vocation in the corner of the graveyard, offered to bring the keys and -show us whatever was worth seeing. - -The interior has been lately restored, and the old timber roof of -the nave, which was previously hidden by a flat plaster ceiling, has -been again exposed to view. There are also some remains of ancient -carving, carefully preserved, and an oaken screen separating the nave -from the chancel that well deserve inspection. The lower portion -belonged originally to Cockersand Abbey, the monks of that house being -patrons of Mitton; and it was removed to its present position when -the fraternity was dissolved. The fragment of an inscription still -remaining shows that it was made in the time of William Stainford, and -this helps us to fix the date, as Stainford was abbot of Cockersand -from 1505 to 1509. One peculiarity noticeable is that, unlike other -churches, you have to descend into the chancel from the nave by a -few steps, an arrangement necessitated by the natural formation of -the ground, which declines considerably towards the east. Within the -chancel is an old oak chest, bound with iron, and triple-locked, with -the date 1627 carved upon it. On the top is a copy of Burkett’s -“Expository Notes on the New Testament,” a paraphrase on the Book of -Common Prayer, and one or two other theological works fastened with -chains—the village library of former days, as the inscription in one of -them testifies: “_Ex Libris Ecclesiæ Parochialis de Mitton 1722_.” - -But the great feature of Mitton, and that which most attracts the -attention of visitors, is the Sherburn Chapel, the mausoleum of the -former lords of Stonyhurst. It is situated on the north side of the -chancel, from which it is separated by a parclose screen, and is -remarkable as containing an assemblage of recumbent figures and other -family memorials such as very few old country churches can boast. - -It was erected on the site of the ancient chantry of St Nicholas by -Sir Richard Sherburn, of Stonyhurst, who died in 1594, as appears by -his will, which expressly directs that his body shall “be buryed at -my parish church of Mitton, in the midest of my new quere.” His tomb -is the oldest in the chapel, and upon it are the recumbent figures -in alabaster, life size, of the knight and “Dame Maude, his wife,” a -daughter of Sir Richard Bold, of Bold, who predeceased him. The body -of the tomb is enriched with heraldic shields representing the family -alliances, and there are some panels of figures. The inscription, -which is in old English characters, describes Sir Richard as “master -forrester of the forest of Bowland, steward of the manor of Sladeburn, -Lieutenant of the Isle of Man, and one of Her Majesty’s Deputy -Lieutenants.” He commenced the building of the present mansion of -Stonyhurst, or rather the rebuilding, for it stands on the site of -an older house, a portion of which still exists, employing in the -decoration some of the stone carvings from the neighbouring Abbey of -Whalley, among them being noticeable two shields of arms, one bearing -the cognisance of the Lacies, the founders of that house. Sir Richard -lived during the eventful reigns of the Tudor sovereigns, and he seems -to have accommodated himself very happily to the varying circumstances -of those stirring times, conforming without scruple to the religious -changes which occurred in the days of Henry, Edward, Mary, and -Elizabeth, and to have succeeded in making considerable additions -to his patrimonial estates the while. His friend and contemporary, -Edward, Earl of Derby, told George Marsh, the Bolton martyr, that the -true religion was that which had most good luck, and this article of -faith Sir Richard Sherburn very rigidly maintained. He succeeded to -the family estates on the death of his father, Thomas Sherburn, in -1536, and two years later, being then only 15 years of age, he married -his first wife, the daughter of Sir Richard Bold. He was nominated -one of the commissioners for the suppression of the religious houses -in the reign of Henry VIII., and for the sale of the chantry lands -in that of Edward VI., and in 1544 he had the honour of knighthood -conferred upon him for his bravery at the burning of Leith. In the -first year of Edward VI., when a writ of Parliamentary summons was -re-issued to Lancaster, Liverpool, Wigan, and Preston, he was returned -as member for the last-named borough, and in the first Parliament of -Mary’s reign he was returned as knight of the shire for the county -of Lancaster, and shortly afterwards was nominated high steward and -master forester of the Forest of Bowland, where he gave evidence of his -faith in the excellency of the game laws by “vigorously prosecuting -various individuals for unlawfully hunting deer and other game within -the forest.” In the reign of Elizabeth he was associated with the Earl -of Derby, the Bishop of Chester, Sir John Radcliffe, and Sir Edward -Fitton in executing the penal laws against those who adhered to the -Romish faith, and in 1581 he was appointed by Cecil, Lord Burleigh, -along with other commissioners, to compound with the tenants who had -obtained fraudulent leases of the tithes and other properties of the -College of Manchester. Four years later he was one of the Lancashire -magistrates who promulgated an order against the profanation of the -Sabbath by “wakes, fayres, markettes, bayre-baytes, bull-baits, ales, -May-games, resortinge to alehouses in tyme of devyne service, pypinge, -and dauncinge, huntinge, and all maner of vnlawfvll gamynge.” In 1588, -on the occasion of the threatened invasion by Spain, he was one of -the eighty loyal gentlemen of Lancashire who formed themselves into -an association for the defence of Queen Elizabeth against “Popish -conspiracies,” and from the “intolerance and insolence” of the Papacy. -Baines says that he was allowed by Elizabeth, as an especial favour, to -have his chapel and his priest at Stonyhurst, but the accuracy of this -statement may very well be doubted, for it is more than probable, as -the late Canon Raines observed in the “Stanley Papers,” that “at this -time, and long afterwards, the family held the Reformed faith, nor does -it appear when they became absorbed by the Church of Rome.” Under his -munificent hand the splendid mansion of Stonyhurst arose, but death -overtook him before he had completed his work. He died July 26th, 1594, -leaving to his son and heir, Richard, among other things, “all my armor -at Stonyhurste, and all my iron to build withall, so that he fynishe -the buildinge therewith now already begonne—the leade, buildinge, -stone, and wrought tymber.” - -The monument perpetuating the names of this Richard, the “fynisher” -of Stonyhurst, and his first wife, Katharine, daughter of Charles, -Lord Stourton, is affixed to the north wall of the chapel. The pair -are represented as kneeling before a faldstool or litany desk, with -their hands uplifted, as if in prayer, the figures strongly thrown out -and gorgeously coloured. The man wears a full skirted jerkin and the -Elizabethan ruffs, and his wife is habited in a long gown with a hood -falling over the top of her head. The inscription records that he was -Captain of the Isle of Man for fifteen years, and that his wife died -there in childbed of twins, “and their lieth intomb’d.” In the panel -beneath is a carving in _alto relievo_, representing the twins in bed -with their nurses watching over them. - -Richard Sherburn again entered the marriage state, his second wife -being Ann, daughter of Henry Kighley, and widow of Thomas Hoghton, -of Hoghton Tower; but this lady, who died at Lea, October 30th, -1609, bore him no issue. He died in 1629, at the advanced age of -eighty-three, and was in turn succeeded by a son, also named Richard, -whose altar-shaped tomb, on which are the recumbent figures of himself -and his wife, bears a lengthy inscription recording the family history -for four generations. “He was,” it states, “an eminent sufferer for his -loyal fidelity to King Charles I. of ever blessed memory.” He lived to -see the restoration of the Stuarts, and died February 11th, 1667, aged -eighty-one years. - -Another altar-tomb, on which lie the recumbent effigies of a knight -and his lady, is to the “pious memory” of Richard Sherburn, son of -the last-named, and his wife Isabel, daughter of John Ingleby, of -Lawkeland, in Yorkshire. The inscription, among other things, records -that “he built the almshouse and school at Hurst Green, and left divers -charitable gifts yearly to the several townships of Carleton, Chorley, -Hamilton, and Lagrim, in Lancashire; Wigglesworth and Guisely in this -(York) county; departing this life (in prison for loyalty to his -sovereign), at Manchester, August 16th, A.D., 1689, in the 63rd year -of his age. He, like many other of the Catholic gentry of Lancashire, -being devoted to the family of the expatriated James by hereditary -attachment and personal affection, looked upon the exiled monarch as -a martyr to his religious convictions, and could not therefore be -persuaded that he was absolved from his allegiance or at liberty to -transfer it to the Prince of Orange.” The inscription on his tomb -adds—“The said Isabel (his wife), by whom, at her own proper charge, -these four statues were erected, died April 11th, 1663, whose mortal -remains are together near hereunto deposited.” - -As the “four statues,” _i.e._, of Richard Sherburn and his wife, and -his father and mother, were not erected until 1699, thirty-six years -after the lady’s death, it may be assumed that she bequeathed the funds -“necessary to defray” the cost of their erection. Whitaker, in his -“History of Whalley,” remarks that the two male figures on these tombs -are probably the latest instances (that is, of former days) of cumbent -cross-legged statues in the kingdom, and this is probably so, as it -has been commonly supposed that the latest recumbent monumental figure -is that enshrined in Westminster Abbey, and erected in 1676, to the -memory of William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle. The effigies at Mitton -were executed by Stanton, the well-known lapidary, at a cost, it is -said, of £253. - -There is another monument to the memory of Richard Sherburn, eldest son -of the Richard just named, who succeeded on his father’s decease, but -enjoyed the estates only for a few months, his death occurring April -6th, 1690, when, having no issue, the Stonyhurst possessions devolved -upon his brother Nicholas, who had had the dignity of a baronetcy -conferred upon him by Charles II. during the lifetime of his father. He -was the last of the name who resided at Stonyhurst, and died without -surviving male issue December 16th, 1717. His monument was placed -beside those of his ancestors by his only surviving daughter and heir, -Maria Winifred Francesca, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. The inscription, -which is said to have been written by the duchess herself, is perhaps -unsurpassed in prolixity and extravagant adulation, and deserves to -be noted as a specimen of the way in which great families were wont, -a couple of centuries ago, to glorify themselves in their own charnel -houses, forgetting that of the long laudatory inscriptions which family -pride had made fashionable, - - One half would never be believed, - The other never read. - -Here it is:— - - This monument is to the sacred and eternal memory of Sir Nicholas - Shireburn and his lady. Sir Nicholas Shireburn, of Stonyhurst, - Bart., was son of Richard Shireburn, Esq., by Isabel his wife, - daughter of John Inglesby, of Lawkeland, Esq. Nicholas Shireburn - had by his lady, whose name was Katharine, third daughter and - co-heir to Sir Edward Charleton, of Hesleyside, in Northumberland, - Bart., by Mary, eldest daughter and co-heir of Sir Edward - Widderington, of Cartington, in Northumberland, Bart., three - children; the eldest, Isabella, died the 18th of October, 1688, - and is buried at Rothburgh, in Northumberland, in the quire - belonging to Cartington, where Sir Nicholas then lived; a son - named Richard, who died June 8th, 1702, at Stonyhurst; another - daughter named Mary, married May 26, 1709, to Thomas, Duke of - Norfolk.—Sir Nicholas Shireburn was a man of great humanity, - sympathy, and concern for the good of mankind, and did many - good charitable things whiles he lived; he particularly set his - neighbourhood a spinning of Jersey wool, and provided a man to - comb the wool, and a woman who taught them to spin, whom he kept - in his house, and allotted several rooms he had in one of the - courts of Stonyhurst, for them to work in, and the neighbours - came to spin accordingly; the spinners came every day, and span - as long a time as they could spare, morning and afternoon, from - their families. This continued from April, 1699, to August, 1701. - When they had all learn’d, he gave the nearest neighbour each - a pound or half a pound of wool ready for spinning, and wheel - to set up for themselves, which did a vast deal of good to that - north side of Ribble, in Lancashire. Sir Nicholas Sherburn died - December 16, 1717. This monument was set up by the Dowager Duchess - of Northfolk, in memory of the best of fathers and mothers, and in - this vault designs to be interr’d herself, whenever it pleases God - to take her out of this world. - - Lady Sherburn was a Lady of an excellent temper and fine - sentiments, singular piety, virtue, and charity, constantly - imployed in doing good, especially to the distressed, sick, poor, - and lame, for whom she kept an apothecary’s shop in the house; - she continued as long as she lived doing great good and charity; - she died Jan. 27th, 1727. Besides all other great charities which - Sir Nicholas and Lady Sherburn did, they gave on All Souls’ Day a - considerable deal of money to the poor; Lady Sherburn serving them - with her own hands that day. - -Of a truth man is a noble animal—splendid in ashes and pompous in the -grave! - -There is yet another inscription from the pen of the dowager duchess, -to the memory of her second husband:— - - In this vault lies the body of the Hon. Peregrin Widderington. - The Hon. Peregrin Widderington was youngest son of William, Lord - Widderington, who died April 17th, 1743. This Peregrin was a - man of the strictest friendship and honour, with all the good - qualities that accomplished a fine gentleman. He was of so amiable - a disposition and so ingaging that he was beloved and esteemed - by all who had the honour and happiness of his acquaintance, - being ever ready to oblige and to act the friendly part on all - occasions, firm and steadfast in all his principles, which were - delicately fine and good as could be wished in any man. He was - both sincere and agreeable in life and conversation. He was born - May 20th, 1692, and died Feb. 4th, 1748-9. He was with his brother - in the Preston affair, 1716, where he lost his fortune, with his - health, by a long confinement in prison. This monument was set up - by the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, in memory of the Hon. Peregrin - Widderington. - -Though careful to record the descent as well as the “good qualities” -and “delicately fine principles” of the amiable Peregrin, her -grace, whose grammar, by the way, is somewhat obscure, has curiously -enough, while perpetuating the fact of her previous marriage, omitted -all mention of her relationship to the dear departed, and has thus -inadvertently done an injustice to his memory as well as to her own, -for ill-natured people have wickedly suggested that their union never -had the sanction of a priest, and that, as the old sexton assured -William Howitt when he visited Mitton nearly half a century ago, the -“accomplished fine gentleman” was only a “tally husband,” a belief that -still prevails in many a cottage home in the district. The “Preston -affair,” so delicately alluded to, was the occasion when the old -Pretender, the Chevalier de St. George, made the rash and abortive -attempt to recover the Crown of England by an appeal to civil war, and -a portion of the rebel army, headed by the ill-fated Lord Derwentwater -and General Foster, penetrated as far south as Preston, where it was -met by the King’s forces, under Generals Wills and Carpenter, and -compelled to surrender; when no fewer than seven lords and 1,500 men, -including officers, were made prisoners, among them being the Hon. -Peregrin Widderington and his father, William, Lord Widderington, -the latter of whom was impeached before the House of Lords for high -treason, but afterwards reprieved and pardoned. The Widderingtons, like -the Sherburns, had for successive generations been devotedly attached -to the Stuart cause, the Lord Widderington of a former day having lost -his life at Wigan Lane on the 25th August, 1651, while bravely fighting -by the side of Lord Derby and the gallant Sir Thomas Tyldesley. - -As previously stated, Sir Nicholas Sherburn was the last of the name -who resided at Stonyhurst. In his time considerable additions were -made to the mansion. He rebuilt the principal front, placed the two -eagle-crowned cupolas on the summits of the old battlemented towers, -dug out the ponds in front of the hall, and laid out the gardens -in the stiff fantastic Dutch style then fashionable; but before he -had completed the work he had the misfortune to lose his only son, -Richard Francis, a youth of nine years, who, as tradition affirms, -was poisoned with eating yew berries gathered in the dark avenue at -Stonyhurst—the fruit of - - Some dark, lonely, evil-natured yew, - Whose poisonous fruit—so fabling poets speak— - Beneath the moon’s pale gleam the midnight hag doth seek. - -The untimely death of his heir so affected Sir Nicholas that he -abandoned his design, quitted Stonyhurst, and never returned. A -monument to the memory of the ill-starred boy adorns the chapel at -Mitton, and among the floral decorations upon it is a bunch of yew -berries; beyond this there is no evidence of the cause of death -save the tradition which has been handed down through successive -generations, and is still implicitly believed by the village gossips. - -On the death of Sir Nicholas Sherburn, in 1717, the baronetage became -extinct, and the extensive possessions of his house, in default of -a male heir, passed, in accordance with the provisions of his will, -dated August 9th of that year, after the decease of his widow, to his -only daughter, Maria Winnifred Francesca, wife (first) of Thomas, -eighth Duke of Norfolk, and (secondly), as already stated, of the Hon. -Peregrin Widderington. The duchess died without issue September 25th, -1704, and was buried, in accordance with her expressed desire, at -Mitton, when the estates reverted to the issue of her aunt Elizabeth, -sister of Sir Nicholas Sherburn, who had married William, son and heir -of Sir John Weld, of Lullworth Castle, in Dorsetshire. Edward Weld, -the grandson by this marriage, was the first to inherit the property, -and from him the estates passed in 1761 to his eldest son, Edward -Weld, Esquire, who had to his second wife Mary Anne, youngest daughter -of William Smyth, Esquire, of Brambridge, in Hampshire, who survived -him, and in her second widowhood, as the relict of Thomas Fitzherbert, -of Swinnerton, was privately married to “the first gentleman of -Europe”—George, Prince of Wales, afterwards George the Fourth. On the -death of Edward Weld, the first husband of Mrs. Fitzherbert, in 1775, -without issue, the property passed to his only surviving brother, -Thomas Weld, of Lullworth, who in 1794, when through the fury of the -French Revolution the Jesuits were driven from their college at Liege, -granted that body a lease of the Stonyhurst estate, and subsequently -the property became theirs by purchase. - -Looking upon these magnificent memorials—this blazonry of human -greatness—and contrasting the achievements of the sculptor’s art as -here displayed with the bare simplicity and, until recent years, we -might have said meanness, of the sanctuary itself, from which they -are only separated by an open screen, it is difficult to avoid the -conclusion that the proud Sherburns were more concerned for the -perpetuation of their own greatness than for the honour and glory -of God. Infinitely more appropriate is the humble and prayerful -ejaculation we found graven upon the stone of poor Abbot Paslew, at -Whalley, than this ostentatious chronicling of the virtues of poor -frail humanity. - -Having spent some time in the examination of the Sherburn Chapel we -stepped out into the quiet graveyard, among the grass-grown hillocks -where the “rude forefathers” tranquilly repose, and— - - Their name, their years, spelt by th’ unletter’d muse, - The place of fame and elegy supply. - -Underneath one of the windows on the north side, half hidden in docks -and nettles, we noticed the cumbent figure of a knight in armour -sculptured in stone, the counterpart of one of those we had seen -inside. There is a curious tradition connected with it. It is said that -when the effigies of the Sherburns came down from London they were a -good deal talked of in the neighbourhood. A village stonemason hearing -of the sum they had cost, and piqued at the want of appreciation of his -own skill, declared that he could have done the work equally well. This -was repeated at the hall, when the man was sent for, questioned, and -ordered to make good his boast. This he did by producing the imperfect -copy now in the churchyard, and the story adds that the Sherburns -gave him £20 in acknowledgment of his skill. On the south side of the -church yard is the circular carved head of an ancient cross that was -dug up by a former clerk; there are also several curious gravestones, -including one to the memory of an ecclesiastic, Thomas Clyderhow, the -same, probably, whose curious will, made in 1506, or rather the copy -of it, is preserved in the Townley MSS. Many members of the great -family of Talbot, as well as that of Winckley, have here found a -resting-place, and altogether Mitton is full of interest, as well from -its associations as from the secluded beauty of its situation. - -But we have loitered long by the way—who would not loiter in such a -pleasant old-world nook?—and must now betake ourselves to Stonyhurst. - -[Illustration] - -From the silent resting-place of the Sherburns to their old ancestral -home the walk is little more than a couple of miles, and a pleasanter -bit of country is rarely traversed. Half a mile brings you to the -banks of the Hodder, where a noticeable feature meets the eye that -brings to remembrance the “twa brigs of Ayr.” At this point two bridges -bestride the river, which, by the contrast in their appearance, not -inaptly symbolise the difference between the old times and the new. -One, that by which we cross, is a comparatively modern erection, with -parapet walls and bold projecting piers; the other, which is placed -a hundred yards or so lower down, is a primitive-looking structure -of ancient date, extremely narrow, as most old bridges are, and now -only serving as a footpath to the cottages close by, though rendered -picturesque by the profuse growth of ivy and weeds upon it. The old -bridge, however, possesses more than a passing interest, and may fairly -claim to rank as one of the historic sites of Lancashire; for it was -here that Cromwell held a council of war with General Ashton, on the -16th August, 1648, when the Scots had penetrated into Lancashire, -and there was a general fear that they might reach London, in which -case the hopes of the Parliamentarians would be crushed. The Duke of -Hamilton had at the time entered the county with a large force; and -Sir Marmaduke Langdale, with another army, acting in concert, was -moving in a parallel direction. The Roundhead troopers, under General -Lambert, being insufficient in number to arrest their progress, -withdrew into Yorkshire; when Cromwell, who had just succeeded in -reducing Pembroke, marched northwards, and, forming a junction with -Lambert at Knaresborough, hastened into Lancashire to attack the -invaders. On the 16th August he arrived at the little bridge over -the Hodder, where he met Major-General Ashton, with a Lancashire -force; and, after consultation with him, determined upon the plan of -operations—the result, as is well known, bringing victory to the arms -of the invincible Ironsides and overwhelming disaster to the Royalist -cause. That night the future Lord Protector was an unbidden guest at -Stonyhurst, and was, doubtless, more free than welcome. Tradition still -points to the old oak table near the entrance, on which it affirms that -Cromwell slept, while his men bivouacked in the grounds,[26] though the -accuracy of the story may well be doubted, for the stern warrior was -hardly likely to put up with so indifferent a couch when the “Papist’s -house” afforded so much better accommodation. The next morning he -marched with his followers towards Preston, forced the bridge, and in -a conflict which lasted several hours completely routed Hamilton’s -army, the waters of the Ribble and the Darwen being crimsoned with the -lifeblood of the combatants. It was Charles’s last appeal to arms, and -when intelligence of the disaster reached him in the Isle of Wight he -told Colonel Hammond, the governor, that “it was the worst news that -ever came to England.” For the king it was; for there is little doubt -that Cromwell’s victory hastened the action of the Republicans, and -precipitated that event which the world has ever since condemned. - -[Note 26: In his despatch to the Speaker of the House of Commons, -Cromwell says: “That night quartered the whole army in the field by -Stonyhurst Hall, being Mr. Sherburn’s house, a place nine miles distant -from Preston;” and Captain Hodgson, an officer who accompanied him, -writes: “We pitched our camp at Stanyhares Hall, a Papist’s house, one -Sherburn’s.”] - -[Illustration] - -But we are wandering from our story, and more peaceful scenes await -us. As we approached the Hodder the sun shone full and strong, and -flashed and glittered upon its rippling surface, broken at the time -into innumerable wavelets where the full-uddered kine were plunging and -wading in the shallows to cool themselves after the heat of the bright -summer day. Half a mile or so up the river, half hidden among the -trees on the hillside, we catch sight of the Hodder Place, or Hodder -House, as it is sometimes called—a kind of novitiate or preparatory -school in connection with the seminary at Stonyhurst. After crossing -the river, our road lay along a wild old wandering lane that winds away -to the left, rising and failing in a succession of gentle eminences, -filled with quiet nooks, whose vernal shade tempts you to relax your -speed and while away the passing hours in listless contemplation of -the wealth of beauty that Nature, with lavish hand, has spread around. -Then a steep ascent occurs, and as we mount the stony and intricate -path we look through the tangled vegetation to the green links of -undulating woodland and the distant hills that swell gently into the -blue of infinite space, and now and then get a glimpse of the tall -towers and dome-crowned cupolas of Stonyhurst shooting above the rich -umbrage that environs them. Then another climb, and we are in front of -the old mansion of the Sherburns, though, in truth, it now presents a -different aspect to that it must have done when Sir Nicholas “set his -neighbourhood a spinning of Jersey wool,” and my Lady Sherburn—playing -the part of Lady Bountiful—“kept an apothecary’s shop in the house,” -and distributed her alms to her poorer neighbours “with her own hands.” - -Before venturing upon a description of the building, let us refer for a -moment to the account which Dr. Whitaker, in his “History of Whalley,” -gives of the circumstances that led the disciples of Ignatius Loyola -to establish a seminary in this picturesque corner of busy, practical -Lancashire:— - - On the north-west border of the county is the ancient seat of - the Shireburn family. After the death of Sir Nicholas Shireburn, - Bart., in 1720, it was possessed by his daughter Mary, Duchess of - Norfolk, till 1754. It then became the property of Edward Weld, - Esq., of Lullworth Castle, Dorset, whose son, the late Thomas - Weld, Esq., converted it, in 1794, into a college, or house of - education, for young pupils of the Roman Catholic religion. - This gentleman’s benevolent view was to facilitate the means - of religious and literary instruction for persons of his own - persuasion, who had now lost all the resources which the British - transmarine colleges and seminaries had afforded during two - hundred years. He had received his education among the English - Jesuits abroad, and he had witnessed the violent seizure and - ejection of his old masters from their College of St. Omer, which - was perpetrated by the French Parliament of Paris in 1762. This - college was one of the principal houses of education which the - British Catholics had formed on the continent, while the severity - of the penal laws prohibited such institutions in their own - country. The English fathers of the society, not disheartened by - persecution, proceeded to form new establishments, for the same - purpose of education, in the Austrian Netherlands, and again in - the city of Liege; and they were dislodged, pillaged, and ejected, - with similar injustice and violence, by the governments which - admitted the suppression of their order, by Pope Clement XIV. in - 1773, and finally, by the revolutionary armies of France in 1794. - In their uttermost distress they took advantage of the humane - lenity of our Government, which allowed them to settle and to open - schools for pupils of their own religion, under security of the - oath of civil allegiance which was prescribed by the Act of 1791. - Under the immediate protection of Thomas Weld, Esq., the gentlemen - expelled from Liege by the French conducted the small remnant of - their flourishing seminary to Stonyhurst; and, in the course of - twenty-one years, by unremitting industry, they have improved it - into a distinguished seminary and house of education, of which - they justly acknowledge Thomas Weld, Esq., as the founder and - principal benefactor. It is filled at present (1816) by more than - two hundred and fifty students of the Roman Catholic religion, - sent thither from most parts of the world; and their established - reputation for good order and regularity has justly procured for - them the countenance and favour of their neighbours. - -An amusing story is related of the eagerness of the students of Liege -to get possession of their new quarters in Lancashire. Tradition says -that the last person to quit the college at Liege was George Lambert -Clifford, and that he was the first to enter the new institution at -Stonyhurst. Another student, Charles Brooke, was equally anxious for -the honour; and when they came in sight of the building both ran at -their utmost speed down the avenue. Brooke reached the entrance first; -but Clifford, arriving almost at the same moment, and seeing a window -open, scrambled through it, and so entered the building while his -competitor was waiting for admission by the ordinary way. - -In addition to that from Mitton, there is another road by which -Stonyhurst may be reached, leading up from Hurst Green—a little village -near the bottom of the hill, half a mile away, and past the cemetery. -The approach is by a broad avenue of spreading trees, a quarter of a -mile in length, the vista being terminated by the principal front of -the mansion, half revealed through the leafy screen, and which gains -in importance and architectural effect by its natural surroundings. At -the end of the avenue the road is flanked on each side by an ornamental -sheet of water, part of the old pleasure grounds as laid out in the -stiff and formal fashion prevalent in the time of the last Sherburn; -and, beyond, a dwarf wall is carried across, forming the boundary of -the court. In the centre is an ample gateway, with ornamental gateposts -on each side; and from this point the entire front of the mansion, in -all its stately proportions, appears in view. - -[Illustration: STONYHURST.] - -As previously stated, Sir Nicholas Sherburn made considerable additions -to the old home; but was prevented from carrying out to their fullest -extent the plans he had prepared, through the untimely death of his -only son. The work, however, which he left undone has been completed on -an even more extensive scale by the present owners. A college church -and other buildings have also been erected to meet the requirements of -the institution; and altogether the place presents a much more imposing -appearance than it could at any time have done during its occupancy by -the Sherburns. The chief feature in the main façade is the entrance -tower, which forms the central compartment, and is advanced slightly -from the line of the main structure. It is a handsome erection, -essentially Italian in character, though exhibiting some details of the -late Tudor type, and is ascribed, though erroneously as we believe, to -Inigo Jones. The basement is occupied by an arched portal, forming the -chief entrance, and is surmounted by an ornamental cornice supported on -each side by double-fluted columns, above which is a carved escutcheon, -with the arms of the Sherburns quartered with those of the Bayleys—the -family through whom they acquired the Stonyhurst property. The “red -hand” of Ulster is also displayed—an evidence that the shield must -have been placed there in the time of Sir Nicholas Sherburn, he being -the only member of the house who had the baronetcy. The three upper -stories are each pierced with a square window, mullioned and transomed -and flanked with coupled columns, similar to those on the basement. An -embattled parapet surmounts the structure, and in the rear rise two -octagonal towers, covered with dome-like cupolas crowned with eagles. -These latter were erected in 1712 for the modest sum of £50, as -appears by the “artickles of agreement” made in that year and still -preserved among the Stonyhurst muniments. From the entrance tower -two wings extend, one on each side, both being similar in style and -dimensions, though they are of different dates; that on the south being -coeval with the tower itself, whilst the one on the north was erected -so recently as 1842. From the south-west angle a corridor extends at -right angles, connecting the main building with the chapel, a handsome -Gothic edifice in the florid or perpendicular style of architecture, -erected in 1835, from the designs of Mr. Scoles, of London, and -resembling very much in external aspect that splendid monument of -mediæval art—the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. - -The recollection of the doings of the order which at one time exercised -such a powerful influence over the cabinets and councils of Europe, if -it did not create a feeling of awe, at least induced one of curiosity -to see the system pursued in what has been the _alma mater_ of so many -members of that notable fraternity. Though we had omitted to provide -ourselves with that customary “open sesame,” a letter of introduction, -our request to see over the establishment was at once courteously -complied with. - -Passing beneath the great arched portal and along a corridor on the -left we were ushered into a waiting-room the walls of which are hung -with a series of views, engravings, and photographs representing -the hall of Stonyhurst at different periods of its history. The -attendant then led the way into a paved court directly opposite the -principal entrance. It is quadrangular in form, and from it you can -note the general disposition of the buildings, their architectural -characteristics, and the difference between the old and the new work. -The additions harmonise and exhibit a striking unity with the general -features of the pile, while possessing the conveniences required by -the present occupants. Altogether it conveys the idea of the ancient -baronial hall erected when the manor house had disengaged itself from -the castle, and law having succeeded to the reign of the strong hand, -beauty and ornament were considered more than strength and resistance. -The south side is the more ancient, the greater part having been -erected during the lifetime of Sir Nicholas Sherburn, though there are -some remains of a still earlier date. There are unmistakable evidences, -however, of substantial repairs having been made at the time the house -was transferred to the Jesuit Fathers, and the leaden waterspouts bear -the date 1694, the year they acquired possession. A handsome oriel -projects from the main wall, and beneath is a doorway giving admission -to the range of apartments on this side of the building; there are also -indications of several other doors that formerly existed, but in the -rearrangement of the interior they have been built up. The north wing, -which has been added in recent times, is of corresponding form and -dimensions, though much plainer in detail, its severity of character -almost approaching to baldness. - -Entering by the door beneath the oriel on the south side we pass into -a corridor that runs the entire length of the wing. At the western end -is an antiquated apartment lighted by a five-light pointed window with -traceried head, the old chapel or domestic oratory of the Sherburns, -but now used for school purposes. Quitting this room we are next -conducted through a series of corridors, galleries, and apartments, -a detailed description of which is not only beyond our purpose but -would be wearying to the reader. Among them is a room deserving of -especial notice—the refectory—the banquetting hall of the former -lords of Stonyhurst, which, though it has been extended at one end -and subjected to other alterations, still retains many of its ancient -features unimpaired. It is a spacious apartment, ninety feet by -twenty-seven feet, with two recessed oriels and a fireplace capacious -enough to roast an ox. It is fitted up in a style harmonising with its -ancient characteristics, and is very suggestive of the abundance and -lavish hospitality that were here displayed in bygone days; when the -“two-hooped pot” was indeed a “four-hooped pot,” and fell felony it was -to drink small beer. The floor is of marble, arranged in lozenge-like -patterns, and a raised daïs or platform of the same material extending -across the southern end terminates in the oriel recesses before -referred to. The walls have the addition of a dado of oak and an -elaborately ornamented frieze in relief. Across the northern end is -a gallery protected by an open balustrade, adorned in front with the -head and antlers of the moose deer and other trophies of the chase, and -having the following inscription carved beneath:— - - QUANT JE PUIS. HUGO SHERBURN ARMIG, ME FIERI FECIT. ANNO DOMINI - 1523. ET SICUT FUIT SIC FIAT. - -Over the fireplace is the Sherburn coat of arms, with the motto, -“_Quant je Puis_,” and the date, MDCLXXXIX. A large number of portraits -are placed against the walls, many of them those of distinguished -alumni of Stonyhurst, while others are again commemorated by their -heraldic shields in painted glass placed in the two oriel windows. At -one end of the room is a large painting, the “Immaculate Conception,” -which is said to be an original of Murillo. - -Contiguous to the great dining-room is the library and museum, -which may be reckoned among the chief attractions of the place. The -library certainly contains a remarkably fine collection of works, -including many of extreme rarity and value. There are about thirty -thousand volumes in all, and the collection of ancient MSS., missals, -black-letter books, and examples of early typography are especially -interesting. Upon shelves reaching from floor to ceiling, in galleries -and recesses, upon tables and in glass cases, and, in short, in every -nook and corner, are these literary treasures displayed. A world of -thought, a mighty mass of intellectual matter, is spread about, before -which the haughty Aristarch himself, without any consciousness of -humiliation, might have doffed “the hat which never veiled to human -pride.” Every school of thought, every department of literature is -represented; here are sombre-looking folios of ancient date that -scholars of the old English school might well delight in, and there, -dapper duodecimos of the present age to gratify the taste of the modern -dilettante reader whose platonic love of literature is influenced more -by the external vanities—the gold and glitter without than the solid -thought within. Among these curiosities of book-craft, and especially -deserving of note, is a copy of Caxton’s “Boke of Eneydos” (1490), a -translation of a French novel partly based upon the Æneid of Virgil, -which provoked the anger of Gavin Douglas, who savagely attacked Caxton -for translating a book from the French, professing to be a translation -of Virgil when it had nothing to do with it— - - Clepaud et Virgil in Eneados - Quihilk that he sayes of French he did translait. - It has nothing ado therewith, God wate, - Nor na mare like than the Devil and Sanct Austin. - -There is also an imperfect copy of that remarkable work, the “Golden -Legend”—the first attempt to render hagiology amenable to the laws -of reason and decency, and which from its containing a translation -into English of the whole of the Pentateuch, and a great part of the -Gospels, became one of the principal instruments in preparing the way -for the Reformation. The first edition of the work was printed by -Caxton in folio 1483-4, the Stonyhurst copy is of the date 1493, and -must, therefore, be the third, the one generally accepted as having -issued from the press of Wynkyn de Worde, and of which only nine copies -are known to exist. A singularly interesting relic, screened in a -glass case, is a small prayer-book which tradition affirms to be the -identical one that Mary Queen of Scots carried with her to the scaffold -when she was beheaded. It is said to have been given by her confessor -to the library at Douay; subsequently it was transferred to the college -at Liege, from which place it found its way to Stonyhurst when its -owners removed there. It is remarkable for the sharpness and beauty -of the type, which bears a close resemblance to the court-hand of the -Tudor period, as well as for the richness of the binding. The cover is -of crimson silk velvet, embossed, with the words “Maria” and “Regina” -in silver gilt capitals, with the arms of France and England quartered, -and a crown, rose, and pomegranate. If this book ever belonged to the -Queen of Scots there is good reason to believe that it must previously -have been owned by her kinswoman and namesake, Mary of England, for -the reason that the pomegranate was the emblem of Spain, and one of the -badges of Catherine of Arragon, and Mary herself used as a device the -pomegranate and rose combined. - -Another feature of the library is the collection of ancient illuminated -missals, the largest and probably the most beautiful in the kingdom. -There is also a copy of the Gospel of St. John, believed to have been -transcribed in the seventh century, and said to have been found in -the tomb of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral, and a MS. copy of the -Homilies of Pope Gregory, attributed to Simon, Abbot of St Albans, in -the twelfth century. In another room is the valuable collection of -books presented to the college in 1834 by the Lady Mary Ann, widow of -James Everard, tenth Lord Arundell of Wardour, and numbering about five -thousand volumes. - -The contents of the museum at Stonyhurst are many and varied; some are -ancient, some modern, some of great historic interest, and some, it may -be said, of little or no interest at all. To learn what they are we -must yield ourselves and listen _auribus patulis_ to the descriptions -of our courteous cicerone, who is familiar with the history and uses -of each and all. Here we find displayed the cap, rosary, seal, and -reliquary of that impersonation of goodness and incorruptibility, Sir -Thomas More, and near it a fragment of chain mail taken from one of the -dusky warriors of King Theodore; porphyry from the ruins of ancient -Carthage, and pistols that played a part in the fight at Navarino; -chips from the cedars of Mount Lebanon, and prize cups of silver -awarded to shorthorns of the Stonyhurst breed, for be it known that -Papal bulls are not the only ones with which the Jesuit Fathers at -Stonyhurst have concerned themselves. Now our attention is drawn to the -seals of James the Second and Fenelon, and to a quaint old jewel case -of lapis lazuli once possessed by Queen Christina of Sweden; and anon -to the tobacco pouch of a Sioux Indian; next we are shown a huge rusty -key that belonged to the far-famed abbey of Bolton, and an antique -gold ring turned up by the plough near Hoghton Tower some years ago -with the arms of Langton on the seal, and the motto “_De bon cuer_” on -the inner side, and that, for aught we know, may have been dropped at -the time of that lawless foray in 1589 which cost Thomas Hoghton, the -builder of Hoghton Tower, his life, and lost the manor of Lea to the -proud family of the Langtons. Here is a bit of masonry brought from one -of the Holy Places, and there a bullet taken from the body of a British -soldier at Sebastopol. Indian bows and arrows, swords, spears, and -other implements of warfare are exposed to view, with grim relics from -Waterloo, the Crimea, and Lucknow, that call up mingled memories of -bloodshed and bravery. Many of the curiosities are deposited in glass -cases to protect them from the touch of the vulgar or profane; there -are ivory carvings of wonderful workmanship; crucifixes, triptychs, and -devotional tablets; ancient bronzes, Papal medals, seals, and coins of -every nation under the sun, sufficient in number and variety to turn -the head of a numismatist and set the student of history a-thinking of -the changes the whirligig of time has brought about, and the dynasties -that have risen and passed away since they received the impresses they -still display. - -From the library we return through the dining-hall to an apartment -named, from its proportions, the Long Room, occupied chiefly as a -museum of natural history. Tables run the entire length, filled with -geological and mineralogical specimens illustrative of every epoch -in the world’s history; precious stones of every hue; fossil remains -and skeletons of creatures of various kinds; delicately-tinted -shells, and eggs of every shape and size; butterflies, beetles, and -birds the splendour of whose plumage would defy the painter’s art to -imitate, many of them the gift of a former student of the college, -the distinguished naturalist and genial, hospitable, and cultivated -gentleman, Charles Waterton. Another room is fitted up with mechanical -appliances, models of steam engines, &c., and adjoining it is one -devoted to the purposes of a laboratory. - -One of the great attractions of the place is the Sodality Chapel, -as it is called, devoted to the use of the students whilst “saying -their office,” small, but a very marvel of architectural skill and -decorative art. As we pass through the ante-chapel our attention is -arrested by a large plaster model of Auchterman’s celebrated sculpture, -the Dead Christ supported by the Virgin, placed there to commemorate -the services of Father Clough, who for a period of twelve years was -rector or principal of the college. The Sodality Chapel was erected -in 1856 from the designs of Mr. C. A. Buckler, of Oxford. It is -Gothic in character of the 15th century period, and is remarkable for -the elaborate carving and sculpture, and the profuse decoration in -polychrome displayed. There is an apsidal termination lighted by three -two-light windows with oak traceried panelling carried round; the altar -has wreathed columns of alabaster, and the reredos is of stone and -alabaster, with a statue of the Virgin in the centre, surmounted by a -richly-decorated canopy. The windows are filled with stained glass, -the work of Hardman, of Birmingham. Close to this beautiful example of -Gothic art is the Community Chapel, in which the students attend mass -every morning. - -As previously stated, there is another church connected with the -institution, St Peter’s, erected nearly half a century ago, and of much -larger dimensions, being intended for the use of the neighbourhood as -well as that of the inmates of the college. It will accommodate about -1,500 worshippers, and, considering the date of its erection, will bear -favourable comparison with many of the Gothic structures of more recent -years. Painting, carving, and sculpture have been freely employed, -with everything that could add to that architectural effect the love -of which forms so distinguishing a feature of the Roman Church. -The interior, with its spacious nave, its “long drawn” aisles, its -lofty arches, and its elegant oak-panelled roof, has a very imposing -appearance. The high altar has a reredos behind, rich in carving, and -above is a magnificent window divided into five lights with a traceried -head, and subdivided by double transoms into fifteen compartments, -each filled with the image of one of the apostles or saints in stained -glass, while the storied windows of the clerestory “shoot down a -stained and shadowy stream of light.” Within the sanctuary are two -niches occupied with statues of SS. Peter and Paul, and we also noticed -two coloured frescoes, the work of Wurm and Fischer, of Munich, the one -representing Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the order, administering -the communion to his first missionary companions, and the other, St. -Francis Xavier, “the apostle of India and Japan,” who threw around -the society the lustre of poetry in action, and “the mists of the -wonderful, if not the dignity of historic heroism,” preaching to the -Indians, some of whom are represented as breaking their idols in his -presence. - -The college chapel, as we have said, is situated near the south-west -angle of the main structure. Occupying very nearly a corresponding -position at the north-west side is the hospital, connected with the -main building by a broad corridor, the walls of which are hung with -portraits and engravings. - -Any notice of Stonyhurst would be incomplete that did not make mention -of the gardens and pleasure grounds. Though somewhat diminished in -size by the additions made from time to time to the college buildings, -they remain pretty much in the same stiff and formal style in which -they were laid out a couple of centuries ago. They are pleasant in -themselves and pleasantly situated, commanding as they do a widespread -view of the surrounding country, a country rich in everything that -can beautify or adorn the landscape. A curious feature noticeable is -the lofty, solid, well-trimmed walls of yew which extend in various -directions. Though more remarkable for their quaintness than their -natural beauty, they furnish a pleasant shade for the students, -and have a certain air of antiquity that well accords with the -surroundings. In one part of the grounds is a large circular bowling -green, on the edge of which is placed the Roman altar found among some -rubbish in the neighbourhood in 1834, and evidently the one found at -Ribchester which Camden saw in 1603. It originally bore an inscription -setting forth that it was dedicated by a Captain of the Asturians to -the mother-goddesses, but this can now only in part be deciphered, the -greater portion of the lettering having become obliterated by exposure -to the weather. The following is Camden’s rendering:— - - DEIS MATRIBVS - M. INGENVI - VS. ASIATICVS - DEC. AL. AST. - SS. LL. M. - -Within the garden is a capacious circular basin, in the centre of -which, on a square pedestal, is the figure of a man in chains, said -to be that of Atilius Regulus; and near thereto is the observatory, -a building consisting of a central octagon and four projecting -transepts, fitted up with every necessary scientific appliance. The -kitchen gardens are on the south-east side, and eastward of them is -the famous “Dark Walk,” a long avenue of firs, cedars, and yews, very -patriarchs of their kind, that meet overhead, and impart a green tinge -to everything around, creating a solemn and mysterious gloom, fitted -for reflection and the meditations of the religious devotee—a solemn, -cool, and shady retreat—a very grove of Academe, and the place of all -others to dream away a summer afternoon. These trees must have budded -and flourished through long centuries of time; successive generations -of Sherburns have paced beneath their vernal shade; here the tender -tale, the word that sums all bliss, the— - - Sweet chord that harmonises all - The harps of Paradise, - -has doubtless oft been breathed to the fair daughters of the house; and -here, if tradition is to be believed, the last scion of the Sherburns -plucked the poisonous fruit that terminated a long and illustrious race. - -The college at Stonyhurst has accommodation for 300 students, and we -were informed at the time of our visit that, including the pupils at -the Hodder House, about 250 were receiving instruction. It does not -come within our province to enter into the scholastic arrangements of -the place or the educational course pursued, and the domestic life of -the establishment is a subject too lengthy for our notice. It may be -said, however, that everything which efficient teaching can accomplish -is done; everything that skill and ingenuity and means can provide in -the shape of scientific and mechanical appliances to aid the efforts -of the teacher is there. As you pass along the corridors, and through -the halls and classrooms, you are struck with the quietude, the order, -and the perfect discipline which prevail. Morality among the students -is maintained by the strictest supervision, and equal care is bestowed -in the development of their mental powers, with the natural result -that the institution has earned the fullest confidence of its Catholic -patrons, while its pupils have given proof of the excellence of their -training by their scholarly attainments, and the distinctions so many -of them have earned in the competition for honours at the examinations -of the London University. The life at Stonyhurst is one in which -teacher and taught are in kindly sympathy with each other, and where -associations are formed productive of quiet happiness to the one and -joy and gladness to the other. - -After our perambulation of the college we lingered for some time in -the gardens enjoying the prospect from the high ground, looking across -the broad fertile valleys of the Ribble and the Calder to the bleak -ridges of Pendle and the wooded heights of Bowland Forest. Daylight -was melting away into the soft warm haze of a summer eve, deepening in -splendour the woods and meads and darkening hills beyond. A peaceful -calm pervaded the scene, the stillness being only broken as now and -then some feathered warbler trilled out its evening lay, or the wind -rustled with plaintive cadence through the trees that waved sleepily -overhead, making a dreamy lullaby. Then, as the sun circling towards -the glowing west, and the chapel bell summoning the collegiates -to vespers, warned us of the approach of night, we bade adieu to -Stonyhurst, and, descending by a steep path that winds round the edge -of a thick wood, were soon wending our way along the quiet old country -lanes to our quarters at Whalley. - -[Illustration: ADLINGTON HALL.] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -ADLINGTON AND ITS EARLIER LORDS—THE LEGHS—THE LEGEND OF THE SPANISH -LADY’S LOVE—THE HALL. - - -Cheshire, says Speed, in his “Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain” -(1606), “may well be said to be a seed-plot of gentilitie and the -producer of many most ancient and worthy families.” Smith says that -“it is the mother and nurse of gentility of England;” and, if we -may believe the author of “The Noble and Gentle Men of England,” it -contains at the present day a larger number of old county families than -any other English shire of equal size. “Cheshire, Chief of Men,” or, as -it is versified, - - Cheshire, famed for chief of men, - High in glory soars again, - -is a popular proverb in the palatinate, though Grose maliciously -insinuates that the Cheshire men fabricated the proverb themselves. If, -however, Menestrier’s definition of a gentleman, that he must be one -“_de nom d’armes et de cir_,” holds good, then the men of Cheshire may -pride themselves upon a lineage unsurpassed by the gentry of any other -county. Among those who have brought renown, the Leghs have ever held a -foremost place, and have proved themselves the worthy compeers of the -Grosvenors, the Egertons, the Davenports, and other of the valiant men -of Cheshire whose names are - - Writ in the annals of their country’s fame. - -Adlington, the ancestral home of one of the older branches of this -widespread family, is a pleasant old mansion, possessing, besides its -own particular attractions as a good specimen of the half-timbered -manor house of bygone days, much that is interesting in its memories -and associations. It lies, too, in the midst of a spacious park, -prettily feathered with woodlands, and environed with much rural -beauty, so that it is altogether a pleasant place to spend a summer day -in—a spot where you may find enough to occupy your thoughts without -satiety or weariness. - -The railway carries you within a hundred yards or so of the park-gates. -A roadside inn—the Unicorn’s Head—(the crest of the Leghs), and a few -picturesque cottages, with cunningly devised porches of open rustic -work, and little plots of garden in front, gay with flowers of every -hue—tall lilies and roses that sway their heads in the passing breeze, -and sweet-scented creepers that trail around and half hide the little -old-fashioned windows—constitute what there is of village. Close by -the station, and abutting upon the high-road, is the old smithy. As we -go by, the smith is hard at work, the sparks fly merrily, and under -the ponderous strokes of his hammer the anvil rings as melodiously as -it did a hundred years ago, when, on a bright morning, Handel, while -taking a constitutional with his host, Charles Legh, of Adlington, -listened to it and first conceived the idea of the “Harmonious -Blacksmith,” the score of which he wrote down immediately on his return -to the hall, where it was long preserved. The park, which is well -stocked with deer, is of considerable extent, varied and picturesque, -and marked by much unrestrained beauty; for Art and Nature seem both -to have stopped short of “improvement,” and to have given Time the -opportunity of softening the harsh outline of man’s labours. It is not -too tamely kept, however, nor yet too rigidly subjected to rule, the -open lawns and broad sunny glades being chequered with clumps of wood -and sturdy trees— - - Whose boughs are moss’d with age, - And high top bald with dry antiquity, - -whilst through the grassy meads and beneath the woodland shade, -pranked with a thousand silvery shapes of beauty, the freakish Deane— - - A gentle stream, - Adown the vale its serpent courses winds, - Seen here and there through breaks of trees to gleam, - Gilding their dancing boughs with noon’s reflected beam, - -as it hastens on to mingle its waters with the Bollin, and unite with -it in helping the Mersey to do honour to the British Tyre. It is a -lovely summer day, with just sufficient breeze to cool the overheated -atmosphere, and give a pleasant and invigorating freshness to it; -the sunbeams are dappling the rich sward with their playful and -ever-changing patches of light, and the air is balmy with the odours -of the new-mown hay. The lark carols joyously in the bright blue sky, -the insects are busy in the tall grass, and the lowing of the kine in -the distant meadows, the merry song of the haymakers spreading out -the fresh-cut swaths, and the creaking of the waggon as it bears its -fragrant load to the stackyard, blending together, make a rustic music -delighting to the heart of him who loves the sounds of country life. - -As we leisurely wend our way along the broad gravelled path we have -time to note the more prominent features of the surrounding country; -and assuredly there are few localities in the county where the scenery -is more agreeably diversified, the prospect embracing— - - Hill and dale, and wood and lawn, - And verdant fields, and darkening heath between, - And villages embosomed soft in trees. - -A long line of stately chestnut trees bounds one side of the walk. -Eastward the view is limited by a range of undulating eminences -that stretch along the line of the horizon, dark, shadowy, and -lonely-looking, in places, a kind of mountain wall—the outwork, so to -speak, of the Peak hills beyond—with upland pastures and sweet verdant -slopes, green where the grass has been newly mown, and tinged with -yellow where the grain is ripening in the bright August sunshine, -showing where man has encroached upon Nature’s wild domain, and what -good husbandry has won from the bleak wastes that once formed part of -the great forest of Macclesfield. Hidden from view in a green, cup-like -hollow in the hills is the “lordly house of Lyme,” that calls up -memories of the deeds at Crescy, in which the flower of the Cheshire -chivalry were engaged; for it was in acknowledgment of the seasonable -aid Sir Thomas Danyers rendered to the “Boy Prince,” when on that -bloody field his Royal father bade him “win his spurs and the honour of -the day for himself,” that Richard the Second bestowed the fair domain -of Lyme upon Sir Piers Legh, a younger son of the house of Adlington, -who had wed Sir Thomas’s daughter. Just above the hall the “Knight’s -Low” lifts its tree-crowned summit; tradition hovers around it, and -tells us that far back in the mist of ages a knightly owner of Lyme -there found his resting-place. - -Peeping out from the thick umbrage on the adjacent height we get a -glimpse of the modern mansion of Shrigley—the successor of an ancient -house that for full five centuries and a half was the abode of the -once famous, though now extinct, family of Downes; the chiefs of which -held the hereditary forestership of Downes and Taxal, in the Royal -forest of Macclesfield, with the right of hanging and drawing within -their jurisdiction, and further claimed the privilege of holding the -King’s stirrup when he came a-hunting in the forest, as well as of -rousing the stag for his amusement; in allusion to which office they -bore a white hart upon their shield of arms, with a stag’s head for -crest. But Shrigley has other associations. In more recent times the -name was identified with an outrageous case of abduction—the carrying -off and pretended marriage of the youthful heiress of that pleasant -domain by the notorious adventurer, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in 1826. -Below, where the great break occurs in the mountainous ridge, and the -hills look as if riven asunder by the stroke of a giant’s hand, lies -the little town of Bollington, where the cotton trade has established -itself, and the tall chimneys—the “steam towers,” as Crabbe calls -them—do their best, though in a small way, it is true, to detract from -the natural beauties of the landscape. The hill which terminates the -ridge nearest to us bears the name of the Nab, and the one that bounds -the opposite side of the defile, the summit of which is crowned with -a whitewashed summer-house that gleams brightly in the sunshine, is -popularly known as White Nancy. With White Nancy the Kerridge hills, -famed for their freestone quarries, come in view. The name (Cær Ridge) -suggests the idea that the Romans had a camp or minor station in the -vicinity, and the opinion is strengthened by the fact that one of their -highways led eastwards over the rocky ridge. - -Southwards, near the foot of the Kerridge range, lies the old and -somewhat dingy-looking town of Macclesfield, the view of which is, -however, happily shut out by intervening plantations and the eminence -on which stands Bonishall, for a time the residence of Lord Erskine, -the grandson of the distinguished Lord Chancellor, and occupying -the site of an older house, where, in the days of the Virgin Queen, -a branch of the Pigots of Butley, had their abode. Round towards -the right, through the openings in the dark belt of trees, the long -crescent-like sweep of Alderley Edge is seen rising sheer from the -plain to a considerable elevation, and extending a couple of miles or -so, with its rough projecting rocks full of changeful picturesqueness -of indentation, and rich in their exquisite variety of form and -colour. The steep slopes are clothed with vegetation and crested with -a miniature forest of pines and fir trees that mingle their dark-hued -verdure with the brighter foliage of the oak and the birch, making a -little fairyland of woodland beauty, the natural charm of which is -heightened by the cloud-shadows gliding slowly across. With a keen eye -Stormy Point can be discerned standing out a mass of sombre crag, in -striking contrast to the scenery around. The Beacon close by reminds -us of the troublous times when our grandfathers were in daily dread of -invasion, and erected this signal that they might pass the warning on -should their Gallic neighbours put foot on British soil. The Edge is -not without its tale of wonder, nor will it lose the recollection of -it while the sign of “The Wizard” adorns the neighbouring hostelry, or -“The Iron Gates” that of its rival. But we are not now concerned with -the legend of the countless milk-white steeds or the nine hundred and -ninety-nine slumbering knights—“the wondrous cavern’d band”— - - Doom’d to remain till that fell day, - When foemen marshall’d in array, - And feuds intestine shall combine - To seal the ruin of our line. - -Our walk has brought us to the lawn in front of the mansion, but before -we enter let us take a glance at the past history of the house and its -possessors. - -Before the days of Duke William, the Norman conqueror, Adlington formed -part of the demesne of the Saxon Earl of Mercia. The name is supposed -by some authorities to be derived from the Saxon words _adeling_ -(noble), and _ton_ (a town), but in the Doomsday Book it is written -Edulvintone, signifying Edwin’s town, the inference being that Edwin, -then Earl of Mercia, a grandson of Earl Leofric and that fair Lady -Godiva whose memory the good people of Coventry delight to honour, had -a residence here, and this is the more probable origin. The account -in the great Norman survey is summed up in the word “Wasta,” from -which it is clear that the district had at that time been devastated -or laid waste by the invaders, and the reason of this is not far to -seek, though the story is not without a spice of romance. Edwin and -his brother Morcar, Earl of Northumberland, were two of Harold’s chief -generals at the battle of Hastings. Knowing the power and influence -they possessed throughout the country north of the Trent, William set -himself diligently to discover the means of effecting their overthrow. -The Saxons generally were more impassioned than politic, and Edwin, -having conceived an affection for the conqueror’s daughter, Adela, -consented to abdicate his position as a condition of obtaining that -princess’s hand. As far as a Norman word could bind she was given to -him, whereupon he laid down his arms and undertook to pacify and to -bring over to the invader nearly a third of the kingdom. Immediately -he had done so the treacherous William, feeling himself secure, broke -the promise he had given and refused to accept him for his son-in-law. -Stung with the insult thus offered to himself and his house, Edwin -and his brother flew to arms, and roused their countrymen into open -revolt. The brave Saxons entered into a solemn league and covenant to -expel the foreigners from their soil, or perish in the attempt. Famine, -pestilence, and war did their worst. The Normans devoted themselves -on the one hand to havoc, ruin, and desolation; while on the other, -the outraged Saxons dealt death around them wherever they had the -power. The foreigner was bent upon extermination, and between him and -the native Saxon no intercourse existed save that of revenge and a -rivalry as to which should inflict the greatest amount of injury upon -the other. As a consequence, the country was drenched with slaughter -and made the scene of violation, rapine, and murder. In the bloody -conflict no place suffered more than this part of Cheshire, the -frequent occurrence of the phrase “Wasta” in the survey evidencing the -destruction accomplished by fire and sword. After fruitless struggles, -Edwin, with a small band of followers, fled towards Scotland, but -being overtaken near the coast he turned upon his pursuers. A fierce -resistance was made, in which he was slain, when his head was cut off -and sent as a trophy to the victorious William, and so perished the -first owner of Adlington of whom history has furnished us with any -particulars. - -On the death of Edwin the manor with other of his possessions were -given by the Conqueror to that pious profligate, Hugh d’Avranches, -surnamed Lupus, whom he had created Palatine Earl of Chester, and -who, being more concerned for the pleasures of the chase than the -cultivation of the soil, appears to have retained Adlington in his own -hands as a hunting seat, for in the Norman Survey it is mentioned as -then having no less than seven “hays” (deer-fences or enclosures in -which deer could be driven) and four aeries of hawks. It remained in -the possession of the Norman earls until the time of John Scot, the -seventh and last, who died without male heirs, when Henry the Third, -with somewhat indistinct ideas with regard to _meum_ and _tuum_, -took the earldom into his own hands, deprived Earl John’s sisters of -their heritage, and so sowed the seeds of discontent that produced a -plentiful crop of troubles for King Henry’s grandson when he succeeded -to the crown. - -Immediately after this high-handed procedure Adlington is found in -the possession of Hugh de Corona, who would appear to have held it -by a grant direct from the Crown, for a Crown rental was payable for -the manor for centuries. He also held the superior lordship of Little -Neston-cum-Hargrave, in the Hundred of Wirral, as well as lands in -Penisby, in the same hundred, formerly belonging to the hospital of St. -John, at Chester. By his wife Amabella, daughter of Thomas de Bamville, -of Storeton, near Chester, he had, in addition to a son, Hugh, two -daughters—Sarah, to whom he gave his lands in Penisby, and Lucy, who -became the wife of Sir William Baggaley, or Baguley, according to the -modern orthography, whose monumental effigy has lately been placed in -the old hall at Baguley.[27] In 1316 Hugh de Corona gave the whole of -his manors of Parva Neston and Hargrave, excepting a third part of the -same held in dower by his wife Lucy, and the tenements held in dower -by Margaret, his mother, to John de Blount, or Blound, citizen of -Chester, in consideration of an annual payment of ten marks; by another -charter, executed about the same time, he granted the reversion of the -said third part to the said John, and in the same year the grantee -was released from the payment of the ten marks, and an amended grant -of the manors “in fee simple” was made to him, with the exception of -the dower estates. On the 15th March, 10 Edward II. (1316-17), Thomas -de Corona appeared in the Exchequer at Chester, and prayed that these -three grants might be enrolled, and they now appear on the Plea Rolls, -together with a separate one granting the reversions. Finally, in the -27 Edward III., Thomas de Corona, the grandson of Hugh, quit-claimed to -John, son of John de Blound, all title to the manors. - -[Note 27: The mutilated effigy of Sir William Baggaley, after being -discarded from the church at Bowdon and lost for several generations, -was, some years ago, discovered by Mr. John Leigh, of Manchester, and -the author, affixed to a wall in the garden of a house at Mill Bank, -Partington, near Warrington. It was subsequently acquired by Mr. T. -W. Tatton, and removed by him to its present position in the hall at -Baguley. An account of it was given in the _Manchester Courier_, March -13, 1866.] - -Having in this way completely alienated the Wirral estates, -Adlington seems to have been made the chief abode of the Coronas. -Lucy, the daughter of Hugh de Corona, who became the wife of Sir -William Baggaley, had a son, John, who died without issue, and two -daughters—Isabel, who married Sir John de Hyde, and Ellen, who -became the wife of John, son of Sir William Venables, of Bradwell, -Knight, younger brother of Sir Hugh Venables, Baron of Kinderton, -but who assumed the surname of Legh, the maiden name of his -mother, Agnes de Legh, as also of the place (High Legh) where he -was born and resided until he became the possessor by purchase of -Knutsford-Booths-cum-Norbury-Booths, from William de Tabley, 28 Edward -I., 1300. - -Hugh de Corona, the second of the name who resided at Adlington, had a -son, John, who inherited the estates, and was in turn succeeded by his -son, Thomas de Corona, who died unmarried in the reign of Edward III., -when the male line of the family became extinct. By a deed executed in -the early part of Edward II.’s reign, this Thomas granted to John de -Venables, _alias_ Legh, and Ellen de Corona, or Baggaley, his wife, all -his part of the manor and village of Adlington, excepting the lands -which Margaret, his mother, and Lucy, the widow of his grandfather, -Hugh de Corona, the second of the name, had in dower; and by another -charter, dated 9 Edward II., he gave to the said John Legh and Ellen, -his wife, all the rest of his lands in Adlington previously held in -dower by his mother and grandmother. Thus John de Legh became lord of -Adlington, and on the paternal, as his wife Agnes de Legh was on the -maternal side, founder of the house of Legh of Adlington, a house that -has held possession of the manor for an uninterrupted period of more -than five centuries and a half. - -John de Legh, who acquired the lordship of Adlington by his marriage -with Agnes de Corona, could boast a lineage as ancient and honourable -as that of the Conqueror himself. When the subjugation of England was -accomplished the Norman invader was enabled to reward his faithful -followers out of the numerous forfeitures that had accrued through -the fruitless insurrections of Earl Edwin and the other Saxon nobles. -Hugh d’Avranches, or Hugh Lupus, as he was more generally designated, -from the wolf’s head which he bore for arms, and which may have been -given as symbolical of his gluttony, a vice Oderic says he was greatly -addicted to, though he does not appear to have been with the invading -army at Hastings, having followed the victor in the succeeding year, -was largely instrumental in establishing William upon the English -throne. In acknowledgment of his services, as well as for his valour in -reducing the Welsh to obedience, he had conferred upon him in 1070 the -whole of the fair county of Cheshire, “to hold of the King as freely -by the sword as the King himself held the realm of England by the -crown”—he was, in fact, a Count-Palatine, and all but a king himself. -Thoroughly appreciating the conditions of his tenure, he, in order the -more effectually to secure it, divided his palatinate into eight or -more baronies, which he distributed among his warlike followers upon -the condition of supporting him with the sword as he was in turn to -support the King. He also established his officers as well as his own -courts of law, in which any offence against the dignity of “the Sword -of Chester” was as cognisable as the like offence would have been at -Westminster against the dignity of the Royal crown.[28] - -[Note 28: The “Sword of Chester” is now preserved in the British -Museum. The last instance of the exercise of the Earl’s privileges was -in 1597 when the Baron of Kinderton’s Court tried and executed Hugh -Stringer for murder.] - -One of the eight barons created by Hugh Lupus was Gilbert, a younger -son of Eudo, Earl of Blois, and a first cousin of the Conqueror. -He was one of the combatants at Hastings, where he received the -honour of knighthood for his valour in the field, and he afterwards -rendered important services against Edgar Atheling, as well as in the -subjugation of the Welsh, for which welcome aid Earl Hugh rewarded him -with considerable estates in the newly-acquired county, and he chose -Kinderton as the seat of his barony. Like his patron, he was devoted -to the pleasure of the chase, and from that circumstance acquired the -name of Venables _(Venator abilis)_, which some of his descendants -have retained to the present day, in the same way that another Norman -chieftain, a nephew of Hugh Lupus, and a mighty hunter withal, took the -name of Grosvenor—Gilbert _Le Gros venor_—which is now perpetuated by -the ducal house of Westminster. - -Gilbert Venables, Baron of Kinderton, who was a widower at the time of -the Norman Conquest, again entered the marriage state, his second wife -being Maud, the daughter of Wlofaith Fitz Ivon, another Norman soldier, -who had the lordship of Halton, near Daresbury, conferred upon him by -the gift of his brother Nigell, Baron of Halton. This lady bore him in -addition to a son, William, who succeeded to the barony of Kinderton, -and a daughter, Amabella, who became the wife of Richard de Davenport, -a second son, Thomas Venables, whose exploits, if that most respectable -authority, tradition, is to be believed, rivalled those of the mythical -champion, St George, and that more modern hero, More of More Hall, who— - - With nothing at all, - Slew the Dragon of Wantley. - -Here is the story as veraciously recorded by an ancient chronicler -in the Harleian MSS. (No. 2,119, art. 36) In the time of this Thomas -Venables, it says, “Yt chaunced a terrible dragon to remayne and -make his abode in the lordshippe of Moston, in the sayde countye of -Chester, where he devowred all such p’sons as he lay’d hold on, which -ye said Thomas Venables heringe tell of, consyderinge the pittyfull and -dayly dystruction of the people w’thowte recov’ie who in followinge th’ -example of the valiante Romaynes and other worthie men, not regarding -his own life, in comparison of the commoditie and safeguard of his -countrymen, dyd in his awne p’son valiantlie and courragiouslie set on -the saide dragon, where firste he shotte hym throwe with an arrowe, and -afterward with other weapons manfullie slew him, at which instant tyme -the sayd dragon was devowringe of a child. For which worthy and valiant -act was given him the Lordshippe of Moston by the auncestors of the -Earle of Oxford, Lord of the Fee there. And alsoe ever since the said -Thomas Venables and his heires, in remembrance thereof, have used to -bear, as well in theire armes, as in their crest, a dragon.”[29] The -old chronicler has omitted to give us a description of this wonderful -creature, but doubtless it bore a close resemblance to the monster of -Wantley, whose appearance is thus pourtrayed in the “Percy Reliques”:— - - This Dragon had two furious Wings, - Each one upon each Shoulder, - With a sting in his Tayl - As long as a Flayl, - Which made him bolder and bolder. - He had long Claws, - And in his Jaws, - Four and Forty Teeth of Iron, - With a Hide as Tough as any Buff, - Which did him round Inviron. - - Have you not heard that the Trojan Horse - Held seventy men in his Belly! - This Dragon was not quite so big, - But very near, I’ll tell ye. - Devour did he, - Poor children Three, - That could not with him grapple; - And at one Sup - He eat them up, - As one should eat an Apple. - -[Note 29: The Venables, Barons of Kinderton, bore for their crest a -wivern (_i.e._, dragon), with wings endorsed, gules, standing on a fish -weir, or trap, devour-a child, and pierced through the neck with an -arrow, all ppr.] - -The sixth in direct descent from the first Baron of Kinderton was Sir -William Venables, who, by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas -Dutton of Dutton, had two sons, Sir Hugh, who inherited the barony, and -Sir William, to whom his father gave the lordship of Bradwall, near -Sandbach. This William was twice married, his second wife being Agnes, -daughter and heir of Richard de Legh, of the West Hall, near Knutsford, -and the widow of Richard de Lymme. By her he had John Venables, who, as -previously stated, assumed his mother’s maiden name of Legh. He became -the owner by purchase of Norbury Booths, and married some time previous -to 1315 Ellen de Corona, who inherited the Adlington estates under the -settlement of her grand-nephew, Thomas de Corona. Four sons were born -of this marriage, three of whom became the founders of distinct houses: -John, ancestor of the Leghs of Booths; Robert, to whom, at the death of -his mother in 1352, the manor of Adlington reverted under the Corona -settlement, and who thus became progenitor of the Leghs of Adlington, -Lyme, Ridge, Stoneleigh, Stockwell, &c.; William, founder of the line -of Isall in Cumberland, and from whom descended Sir William Legh, -Bart., Lord Chief Justice of England; and Peter de Legh, who in right -of his wife Ellen, daughter and heir of Philip de Bechton, acquired -the Bechton estates, which were in turn conveyed by his two daughters, -Margaret and Elizabeth, to their respective husbands, Thomas Fitton, of -Gawsworth, and John de Davenport, of Henbury. - -Robert de Legh, who succeeded to the manor of Adlington on the death -of his mother in 1352, had a commission as a justice in eyre for -Macclesfield, and was also appointed a steward of the manor and forest -of Macclesfield. He was twice married, his first wife being Sibilla, -the daughter of Henry de Honford, of Honford (Handforth), by whom he -had, in addition to two daughters, Robert, who succeeded as heir to the -Adlington estates, and Hugh, who predeceased him. His second wife was -Maud, the daughter and heir of Adam de Norley of Northleigh, of the -manor of that name, near Wigan, Knight. This lady, who is said to have -been his second cousin, and very young at the time of her marriage, -bore him two sons in his old age, Peter or Piers, and John. Peter, who -was born about the year 1361, married in 1388, Margaret, the daughter -and heiress of that famous Cheshire hero, Sir Thomas d’Anyers, who -distinguished himself at the battle of Crescy[30] by taking prisoner -the Count de Tankerville, chamberlain to the King of France, and -rescuing the standard of the Black Prince when it was in danger of -being captured, in acknowledgment of which services his daughter -afterwards received a Royal grant of the manor of Lyme Handley, and, -with her husband, became progenitor of the Leghs of Lyme and the Leghs -of Ridge. John de Legh, the younger son by the second marriage, was -keeper of Macclesfield Park prior to 1395, and was sometimes designated -John de Macclesfield. He was living in 1399, and had issue. - -[Note 30: It has been frequently stated that Peter Legh, the first of -Lyme, also fought at Crescy; but he was not born until fifteen years -after that famous victory.] - -Robert de Legh died at Macclesfield, about the year 1370. Before his -death his wife Maud, who survived, conveyed to him all her estates -in trust for their son, Piers Legh, who, at the time of his father’s -death, was a child of nine years. Six years after the death of Sir -Robert the name of his widow was unpleasantly associated with a charge -of fraud, as appears by the Chamberlain’s accounts at Chester, she -being indicted with one Thomas le Par, who possibly may have been more -active in the matter than herself, with fabricating, in the name of -Adam de Kingsley, the trustee, a false settlement of the Broome estates -within Lymm in fraud of the heir and in favour of her youngest son, -John, and his heirs male; and with having, through such false charter, -unjustly retained possession of the land for six years after her -husband’s death. The issue of the indictment is not recorded; but it -is clear that if she had succeeded her act would have given to her son -John a considerable estate, to the disadvantage of his elder brother. - -Robert de Legh, who inherited the manor of Adlington on the death -of his father, _circa_ 1370, was, in 1358, in the retinue of Edward -the Black Prince in the war in Gascony; and there is an entry in the -Palatinate Rolls at Chester that he, with William de Bostock and -Hugh, son of Thomas le Smyth, of Mottram, entered into a recognisance -indemnifying the chamberlain for any moneys that might be due to two of -the Cheshire archers who were serving under him while with the prince. -In 1360-61, as appears by the Recognisance Rolls, he had granted to -him the custody of the lands in Cheshire lately belonging to Henry de -Honford, then deceased, with the wardship and marriage of his daughter -and heiress, Katherine. In 1382, Joan, Princess of Wales, the widow -of the Black Prince, and the once “Fair Maid of Kent,” gave to him -and William del Dounes a lease for twelve years of her part of the -town of Bollington, with the water-mill there, on a payment of eight -marks yearly. He appears to have succeeded his father in the office -of bailiff of the manor of Macclesfield, and to have held it until -1382, when his half-brothers, Peter and John, were appointed in his -stead. He died on the 9th November, 1382, leaving by his wife Matilda, -daughter of Sir John Arderne, of Aldford, Knight, a son, Robert, born -at Roter-le-Hay, and baptised at Audlem on the 2nd March, 1361-2, and -then aged 20; and two daughters—Margery, who became the wife of Thomas -de Davenport, of Henbury, and Katherine, who married Reginald Downes. - -Robert de Legh made proof of age on the 3rd March, 1382-3. On the 13th -May following he had livery of his father’s lands, and on the 18th June -he had also, as heir of his mother, livery of what pertained to her as -one of the heirs of Alina, daughter of Robert Daa, whose lands were -then in the king’s hands. In 1385, or thereabouts, he married Isabel, -daughter and heir of Sir Thomas de Belgrave, Knight, who brought him -the manor of Belgrave, with several other estates in Cheshire and -Flintshire. With these, and the lands in Hyde, Stockport, Romiley, -and Etchells, the inheritance of his mother, the influence and social -importance of the family were largely increased, while Robert de Legh -himself, by the active part he took in the service of his country, -as well as in the administration of the affairs of his own county, -attained to considerable distinction, and well sustained the honour and -dignity of his house. In July, 1385, shortly after his marriage, he had -protection of his lands guaranteed to him on his departure to Scotland -in the King’s service, the occasion being the expedition headed by -Richard in person, following upon the invasion of John of Gaunt, which, -however, terminated without any trial of strength in battle, for while -the English army proceeded northwards, took Edinburgh, and marched -towards Aberdeen, wasting the country as it advanced, the Scotch, -with their French allies, in turn entered Cumberland and Westmorland, -burning and plundering as they went on every side. In the succeeding -year Robert de Legh had the honour of knighthood conferred upon him, -and shortly after (September 26, 1386), on the threatening of a French -invasion, he, with Robert de Grosvenor, Knight, Reginald del Dounes, -and William de Shore, had protection granted on his departure for -the coast, there to stay for the safe custody of those parts and the -defence of the realm. In 1389 a contention arose between Sir Robert and -his kinsmen Peter, of Lyme, and John, his brother, a renewal probably -of a former dispute, touching the manner in which they should discharge -their several offices within the hundred of Macclesfield, when Sir -Robert with his sureties entered into recognisances to the King for one -thousand marks, to keep the peace towards Peter and John Legh, they at -the same time entering into counter-recognisances of the same amount -to keep the peace towards Sir Robert. He and Peter de Legh, of Lyme, -having been entrusted with the custody of John, the son and heir of -William Launcelyn, during his minority, an order was made to them in -1392, as appears by the Recognisance Rolls, to deliver possession of -all his inheritance to the said John on his making proof of age; at -the same time a like order was made with reference to Thomas, son and -heir of William Voil, who, while under age, had been in their custody, -and in the same year a commission was issued to Sir Robert, jointly -with Peter Legh, to arrest all malefactors and disturbers of the peace -within the hundred of Macclesfield. On the 12th October, 1393, John -de Massey, of Tatton, Sheriff of Cheshire, having been attainted, a -commission was issued to Sir Robert Legh and others, directing them to -arrest him and Thomas Talbot, Knight, and convey them to the castle -of Chester, and two days afterwards another commission was issued -appointing Sir Robert de Legh sheriff of the county during pleasure, -in the place of Massey. In 1394, when Richard the Second proceeded -to Ireland to quell the revolt which had broken out among the native -chiefs, taking with him four thousand knights, and thirty thousand -archers, including many of the noted Cheshire bowmen, we find Sir -Robert Legh, of Adlington, accompanying him, he being in the train of -Thomas, Earl of Nottingham; before his departure license was given to -William de Shore, William de Prydyn (afterwards rector of Gawsworth), -and Henry Marchall, to act as his attorneys during his absence. On the -23rd September, 1396, a commission was issued appointing him one of the -King’s justices for the three hundreds of the eyre of Macclesfield; -on the 12th February following he was a second time made Sheriff of -Cheshire; six months later (August 20th, 1397) he had a grant of an -annuity of £40, the King retaining him in his service for life; and -as a further mark of his sovereign’s favour he had conferred upon him -on the 4th October following the office of Constable of the Castle of -Oswaldestre (Oswestry) for life, with £10 yearly and the accustomed -fees. In 1398 he was again named one of the justices for the three -hundreds of the eyre at Macclesfield, and on the 20th August in the -following year, when the banished Bolingbroke, taking advantage of -the King’s absence in Ireland, had returned to England, raised the -standard of insurrection, and eventually compelled the humbled and -wretched Richard to renounce the crown, John de Legh, of Booths, one -of the seven gallant Cheshire men who had met the King on his landing -in Wales, submitted himself to the usurper, when Sir Robert de Legh of -Adlington and Sir John Stanley became sureties in £200 for his good -behaviour. Unlike his relative of Lyme, Peter Legh, who remained true -to his sovereign to the last, and at Chester sealed his loyalty with -his life, as his monumental inscription in Macclesfield old church -still testifies, and whose name Daniel thus perpetuates— - - Nor thou, magnanimous Legh, must not be left - In darkness, for thy rare fidelity— - To save thy faith—content to lose thy head, - That reverent head, of good men honoured— - -Sir Robert of Adlington elected to join the winning side, and repaired -to Shrewsbury, where he made his submission to the victorious -Bolingbroke, and afterwards joined with Sir James Booth and other -Cheshire men in furthering his cause. In this it must be admitted the -lord of Adlington showed as little gratitude as loyalty, for it was -only a few short months before that he had been retained and pensioned -by the king, and made constable or keeper for life of Oswestry Castle, -with an adequate salary; and had, moreover, been honoured in receiving -his sovereign as his guest during the sitting of the Parliament at -Shrewsbury, the occasion being the memorable one when Bolingbroke -charged the Duke of Norfolk with treason to his liege lord the king. -After Richard’s deposition and the accession of Bolingbroke as Henry -IV., Sir Robert was made one of the conservators of the peace for the -hundred of Macclesfield, and about the same time had a confirmation -of the letters of the 20th August, 1397, granting him the annuity of -£40 for life. Hugh le Despencer, Knt., having in 1401 been appointed -steward of Macclesfield, and surveyor, keeper, and master of the -forests of Macclesfield and Mara, and all other of the Prince’s forests -in Cheshire for life, Sir Robert de Legh was appointed by him to act -as his deputy. In the follow-year (Oct 16, 1402) he was again named one -of the justices for the three hundreds of the eyre at Macclesfield, -and at the same time a commission was issued to him and the other -justices, directing them to inquire into the doings of certain -malefactors and disturbers of the peace in the hundred of Macclesfield -of whose enormities the Prince (as Earl of Chester) had been informed. -After the battle of Shrewsbury, in which the valorous Hotspur lost -his life, Henry, who had found the throne of an usurper only a bed of -thorns, had to direct his arms against the obnoxious Glendower, and -the young Prince of Wales, then only seventeen years of age, who was -appointed to head the expedition, issued his precept (11th January, -1403-4) to Sir Robert Legh and others “to hasten to his possessions -on the Marches of Wales, there to make defence against the coming of -Owen Glendower, according to an order in council, enacting that, on -the occasion of war against the King and the kingdom of England, all -those holding possessions on the Marches nearest to the enemy should -reside on the same for the defence of the realm.” This order, however, -would seem to have been countermanded, for in an old MS. account of -the family, beautifully written on vellum, and still preserved at -Adlington, it is stated that on the breaking out of the revolt in -the north of England, when the Earl of Northumberland, the Earl of -Nottingham, Lord Bardolf, and Scrope, Archbishop of York, confederated -to place the Earl of March on the throne, Sir Robert Legh received a -summons from the Prince of Wales, as Earl of Chester, countermanding -one previously issued, and “requiring him to attend him (the Prince) -in person at Warrington on Thursday the next, or on Friday at Preston, -or on Saturday at Skipton-in-Craven, with 100 defensible, honest, able -bowmen, in good array for war, to go with him thence to his father the -King, then on his journey to Pontefract.” This was on the 26th May, 6 -Henry IV. (1405), and it is the last occasion on which Sir Robert’s -name occurs in connection with any important movement, for three years -later (August, 1408) he brought to a close a short but very active and -eventful life, being then only forty-seven years of age. - -Sir Robert Legh, of Adlington, made his will on the 9th August, 1408, -and he must then have been _in extremis_, for he died before the 18th, -and was buried, in accordance with his expressed desire, in the Church -of St. Mary de la Pree, near Northampton. Among other things, he -directed the payment of 14 marks (£9 6s. 8d.) to a priest celebrating -in the church of Prestbury for two years—probably the priest serving -at one of the chantry altars there. The inquisition taken after his -death is interesting as showing the extent of the family possessions -at that time. They included the whole of the manor of Adlington, a -moiety of the manor of Hyde, the manor of Belgrave, 40 acres of land -in Eccleston, 12 messuages and 20 acres of land in Stockport, three -messuages and 20 acres of land in Romiley, one messuage and 20 acres -of land in Cheadle, one messuage in Macclesfield, one messuage and -three acres of land in Rainow within the forest of Macclesfield, two -messuages and two acres of land in Bollington, one messuage and 10 -acres of land in Budworth, in the Fryth (the forest of Delamere), one -messuage and 10 acres of land in Tyresford, two messuages and two -acres of land in Kelsall, one messuage and 20 acres of land in Legh, -four salt pits, four shops and land in Northwich, three messuages in -Chester, one messuage and 20 acres of land in Warford, two messuages -and 40 acres of land in Mottram Andrew, one messuage and 20 acres of -land in Fulshaw, and the third part of one messuage and two acres of -land in Mottram-in-Longdendale. By his wife, Elizabeth Belgrave, he -had two sons—Robert, who inherited Adlington, and Reginald, of Mottram -Andrew, who built the tower and south porch of Prestbury church, as -the inscription on his sepulchral slab in the chancel there, which -may still be seen, testifies,[31] and two daughters. The name of his -second wife is not known with certainty, but she did not long wear the -trappings of widowhood, for on the 28th February, 1409-10, as appears -by an enrolment on the Recognisance Rolls in the Record Office, she had -a pardon granted to her for marrying Richard de Clyderhow without the -licence of the Earl of Chester. - -[Note 31: It is somewhat remarkable that though the Leghs have been -settled in the parish for more than five centuries, and have been -patrons of the church for many generations, there is not a single -monumental inscription or other memorial of them in the church, -excepting that of Reginald Legh, of an earlier date than the one of -Charles Legh, who died in 1781.] - -Robert Legh, who succeeded as lord of Adlington, though he was only -twenty-two years of age at the time of his father’s death, did not long -enjoy possession of the property. Dr. Renaud, relying apparently on the -MS. at Adlington, says that he died in 1410, but this statement, as we -shall hereafter see, is inaccurate. Shortly after he entered upon his -inheritance, a dispute arose between him and the Grosvenors, of Eaton, -touching their respective rights to certain lands at Pulford and other -places in the neighbourhood of Chester, under the settlement of Robert -Legh’s maternal grandfather, Thomas de Belgrave, and his wife, who was -heiress of Pulford. Eventually the two disputants, with their relations -and friends, on the 14th April, 1412, repaired to the “Chapel” at -Macclesfield—the old church of St Michael—when a very remarkable -ceremony took place, which is thus recorded in the pages of Ormerod:— - - A series of deeds relating to these lands having been publicly - read in the chapel, it was stated that Sir Robert de Legh, Isabel, - his wife, and Robert de Legh, their son and heir, having claimed - them, it had been agreed, in order to settle their differences, - that Sir Thomas Grosvenor should take a solemn oath on the body of - Christ, in the presence of 24 gentlemen, or as many as he wished. - Accordingly Robert del Birches, the Chaplain, whom Robert de Legh - had brought with him, celebrated a mass of the Holy Trinity, and - consecrated the Host, and after the mass, having arrayed himself - in his alb, with the amice, the stole, and the maniple, held - forth the Host before the altar, whereupon Sir Thomas Grosvenor - knelt down before him whilst the settlements were again read by - James Holt, counsel of Robert de Legh, and then he swore upon the - body of Christ that he believed in the truth of these charters. - Immediately after this Sir Lawrence de Merbury, sheriff of the - county, and 57 other principal knights and gentlemen of Cheshire - affirmed themselves singly to be witnesses of this oath, all - elevating their hands at the same time towards the Host. This - first part of the ceremony concluded with Sir Thomas Grosvenor - receiving the sacrament, and Robert Legh and Sir Thomas kissing - each other in confirmation of the aforesaid agreement. Immediately - after this, Sir Robert publicly acknowledged the right to all - the said lands was vested in Sir Thomas Grosvenor and his heirs, - and an instrument to that effect was accordingly drawn up by - the notary, Roger Salghall, in the presence of the clergy then - present, and attested by the seals and signatures of the 58 - knights and gentlemen. - -The historian of Cheshire, in commenting upon the pomp and circumstance -attending the settlement of this family dispute, remarks: “Seldom will -the reader find a more goodly group collected together, nor will he -easily devise a ceremony which will assort better with the romantic -spirit of the time, and which thus turned a dry legal conveyance into -an exhibition of chivalrous pageantry.” - -Robert Legh inherited the martial spirit of his father, and was not -long, after he had succeeded to the estates, in seeking an opportunity -to display his prowess. In 1415, Henry V., having revived the old claim -to the crown of France, determined upon an invasion of the French -King’s dominions, whereupon Robert Legh engaged himself to join in -the expedition, and accordingly, on the 18th July, protection of his -lands whilst abroad in the retinue of the King was granted him. The -force mustered at Southampton early in August, and on the 11th of the -month the fleet, consisting of 1,400 vessels, with 6,000 men-at-arms -and 24,000 archers, an army of picked men, strong of limb and stout of -heart, caring little for the abstract justice of the cause for which -they were to fight, content to know that they would receive their due -share of the “_gaignes de guerres_,” set sail. On the 14th, the force— - - A city on the inconstant billows dancing, - -arrived in the Seine, and landed near the fortified town of Harfleur, -which surrendered on the 22nd September. Henry’s army had, however, -to contend with a more powerful foe than the French. Disease made -frightful ravages in his camp, the poisonous miasma of the marshes of -Harfleur carrying off in those few weeks fully five thousand of the -besiegers. On the 7th October the remnant of the army advanced, and on -the 25th the splendid victory of Agincourt was achieved. Robert Legh, -however, was not permitted to share in the glories of that memorable -day, he having died of the pestilence five days after the surrender -of Harfleur, and an inquisition by virtue of a writ of _diem clausit -extremum_, dated 16th October, 1415, was taken. - -He was succeeded by his only son, also named Robert, who, though then -only five years of age, boasted the possession of a wife, he having, -in accordance with the fashion of the time, and well nigh before he -could quit his cradle, been wedded to Isabel, one of the daughters of -Sir John Savage, of Clifton, Knight, who was entrusted with the custody -of his lands during his minority. On the 16th October, 3 and 4 Henry -V. (1416), Robert Legh’s young widow petitioned for and had livery of -dower, and shortly after she became the wife of William Honford, of -Chorley, a younger brother of Sir John de Honford, of Handforth. - -On the 4th May, 1431, Robert Legh made proof of age, when his mother’s -second husband, William Honford, “aged 60 and upwards,” was one of the -witnesses, and testified “that the said Robert was born at Adlynton, -and baptized in the church at Prestbury, the Tuesday on the feast of -the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (March 25, 1410), and was -aged 21 on the feast of the Invention of the Holy Cross (May 3) then -last past; and that he, William, was present at Prestbury the day when -Robert Hyde, his godfather, came to the church at Prestbury with the -said Robert.” (Earwaker.) - -The name of Robert Legh appears among those who on the 3rd March, -1435-6, were summoned to attend the Council of the boy King Henry VI. -at Chester, when he and the others then assembled, in the name of the -whole community of the county of Chester, granted to the King a subsidy -of 1,000 marks (£666 13s. 4d.); and on the 28th May, in the same year, -he with Robert de Honford, Knight, Robert Massy of Godley, and John -Pygot were appointed collectors of the subsidy within the hundred -of Macclesfield. In March, 1441-2, a further subsidy of 3,000 marks -(£2,000) having been granted by the county, Robert Legh was again -deputed, with the others named, to collect the same within the hundred. - -In the MS. account of the Legh family, preserved at Adlington, and -to which reference has already been made, it is said that, in 1447, -Robert de Legh obtained a licence from the Bishop of Coventry “to keep -a chaplain to perform mass and other divine offices in any of his -manor houses within the diocese for the term of thirty years, without -prejudice to the curate of the place, on which licence a domestic -chapel was built at Adlington.” The chapel thus erected stood in the -park, within a few hundred yards of the front of the present mansion, -and on the site known at the present day by the name of the Chapel -Field. - -The first connection of the Leghs with the manor of Prestbury dates -from 1448, when the manor with the great and small tithes, which had -previously been leased to the Pigots, of Butley, were demised by -the Abbot of St Werburgh’s, Chester, to Robert Legh for thirty-nine -years, together with the Heybirches and Ewood, and also the advowson -of the church of Prestbury, and all other rights and appurtenances -belonging to it and the manor, the vicar’s endowment excepted—one -of the conditions being that the lessee should provide a fit and -proper chaplain to celebrate divine service in the chapel of Poynton, -within the parish of Prestbury, during the continuance of the lease, -a condition, however, that was not always observed, for in 1500 the -tithes of Poynton were sequestrated in consequence of the omission or -neglect to fulfil the condition named. Some dispute having subsequently -arisen, a new lease was granted in 1461, which was renewed in 1493. -This last expired in 1524, and in the year following another lease -was granted for forty years. On the 9th March, 1462 (2 Edward IV.), -the King, as Earl of Chester, granted to Robert Legh a licence to -enclose and impark a certain wood called Whiteley Hay and Adlington -Wood, and also a place called Whiteley Green, with liberty to hold the -park so enclosed and imparked to him and his heirs for ever. The place -remained enclosed until the early part of the last century, when it -was disparked, and a tract of land more conveniently near the hall -applied to the purpose. In 1478 his mother, Matilda, who had survived -her first husband sixty-three years, and had also outlived her second -husband, William de Honford, died. She must have been very old, for -in the inquisition taken after her death her son Robert was said to -be sixty-eight years of age. He had livery of the lands held by her -in dower, but did not long enjoy possession of them, for his death -occurred on the 21st January following. As already stated, he had been -married in his infancy to Isabella, daughter of Sir John Savage, of -Clifton. This lady predeceased him, and he afterwards married Isabella, -a daughter of Sir William Stanley, of Stanley, Stourton, and Hooton, -who, according to the Adlington MS., was within the prohibited degrees, -being of the blood of his first wife, and, consequently, it was thought -prudent, if not indeed necessary, to make the marriage valid, to obtain -a dispensation from the Pope. - -On the death of Robert Legh, his eldest son, who bore the same name, -and who was then fifty years of age, and married to Ellen, daughter -of Sir Robert Booth, of Dunham Massey, Knight, succeeded to the -patrimonial lands. Two years afterwards, a quarrel having arisen -between Edward IV. and James III. of Scotland, which resulted in the -breaking off of the marriage treaty between the English Princess Cicely -and the son of the Scottish King, and the resumption of hostilities -between the two countries, a commission was issued (November 18, 1480) -to Robert Legh, and other persons therein named, requiring them to -array the fencible men of the hundred before the Christmas following, -and to command the same to be in readiness in warlike attire to attend -upon the Earl of Chester on three days’ notice; and on the 15th January -following another commission was issued to the same persons, requiring -them to communicate with the gentlemen of the hundred to determine the -number of horsemen, with their harness, that could be raised in their -households, and to make a return before the Wednesday next before the -Feast of the Purification. A third commission was issued to them in -May, 1481, to array the fencible men of the hundred between the ages of -sixteen and sixty, and to appoint a certain day for the same to depart -“_pro viagio dicti partes nostri versus partes socie_.” Mr. Earwaker -cites a deed from which it appears that on the 6th December, 1483, John -Legh, a younger brother of Robert, a priest in orders, and then rector -of Rostherne, and Douce or Dulcia, his sister, granted to the said -Robert all their right and title to the manor and church of Prestbury. - -The fierce struggle of the Red and White Roses destroyed the power and -weakened the influence of the English nobility and their feudatory -chiefs by sweeping away the heads of the principal families. Their sun -went down when the stout Earl of Warwick, the renowned “King-maker,” -lay weltering in his gore upon the field at Barnet; Tewkesbury -extinguished their hopes; and the fight at Bosworth ended a contest -which, in the field and on the scaffold, had cost the lives of more -than sixty princes of the royal family, above one-half of the nobles -and principal gentlemen, and above a hundred thousand of the common -people of England. Fortunately for themselves, the lords of Adlington -passed harmless through that eventful period. It does not appear that -Robert Legh took any very active part in the protracted struggle -between the rival houses of York and Lancaster. The Lyme Leghs had -plucked the “pale and maiden blossom” and given their verdict “on the -White Rose side,” but there is reason to believe that, in the closing -years of his life at least, the sympathies of Robert Legh were on the -side of the Red Rose of Lancaster. It may be that, like the kinsmen of -his father’s second wife, the Stanleys of Lancashire, he believed that -to be “the true policy which had the most success,” and, like them, -have been a faithful adherent of the party of “good luck.” Certain it -is that the great and exhausting quarrel between these rival houses, -which brought death and destruction to so many an English home, left -his house with unimpaired estates and undiminished power; but he -did not long survive the close of that unhappy struggle, his death -occurring on the 8th December, 1486, when he must have been sixty-eight -years of age. By his wife, whom he predeceased, and who died in 1504, -he had Thomas Legh, who succeeded as his heir, four younger sons, and -one daughter. - -Thomas Legh was thirty-five years of age when he entered upon his -inheritance, and he had then been married about seven years, his wife -being Katharine, daughter of Sir John Savage, of Clifton, and sister of -Thomas Savage, Archbishop of York, the founder of the Savage chantry in -Macclesfield church, and of Ellen Savage, who married Sir Piers Legh, -of Lyme. - -Two years after the victory at Bosworth, which gave the crown of -England to Henry of Richmond, a desperate effort was made by the -friends of the fallen tyrant, Richard III., to secure the throne for -the impostor Lambert Simnel, and when the new King’s crown was in peril -at the battle of Stokefield, Thomas Legh’s relative, Piers Legh, of -Lyme, drew his sword and fought valiantly to defend it. In November of -that year (1487) a subsidy was voted to the King by his loyal subjects -in the county of Chester, and the name of Thomas Legh, of Adlington, -occurs _inter alia_ among those authorised to collect the portion due -from the hundred of Macclesfield. - -In 1498 he obtained a licence from the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry -to have mass and other divine offices performed by a fit chaplain in -the chapel situated within his manor of Adlington—a renewal, it would -seem, of the privilege conceded to his grandfather, Robert Legh, in -1447. When Henry’s eldest son, Arthur, Prince of Wales, succeeded to -the earldom, he was at great pains to guard against any encroachment -affecting the “sword and dignity of Chester,” and with that object -made a searching inquiry as to the authority in which many of his -feudatories exercised their privileges. Among them Thomas Legh, in -1499-1500, had a _quo warranto_, requiring him to show cause why he -claimed to have a park at Whiteley Hay and to hold a court-leet, &c. He -replied, setting forth the grant made by Edward IV. to his grandfather; -he further pleaded right of free-warren in all his Cheshire -possessions, and claimed the assize of bread and ale, the punishing of -scolds by the cucking-stool, of bakers by amercement or the pillory, -and brewers by judgment of the tumbrell, and to have amercements and -fines for trespasses, offences, and effusions of blood in affrays -presented within the leet to be assessed by the jury. The answer must -have been deemed satisfactory, for no further action appears to have -been taken against him in the Earl’s court. - -If we may judge from some of the enrolments on the Recognisance Rolls, -Thomas Legh must have been a somewhat turbulent subject, and have been -frequently at variance with his neighbours and friends. Impatient -of the dilatory and uncertain processes of the law, he sometimes -had recourse to the simpler and less tardy method of taking the -adjustment of his differences into his own hands, a mode of procedure -that occasionally brought him into trouble, and subjected him to the -inconvenience of having to find sureties for his good behaviour. -He oftentimes appeared in the legal arena, and not unfrequently -his quarrels were with his wife’s father, Sir John Savage, who was -then residing at the park at Macclesfield, the custody of which had -been granted him by King Henry in acknowledgment of his services at -Bosworth. Thus, on the 14th November, 1488, he was required to enter -into a recognisance of 1,000 marks that he and all his children and -servants would keep the peace towards Sir John Savage, sen., knight, -and on the same day he entered into another recognisance of the like -amount that he, his children, and servants would keep the peace towards -Nicholas Davenport, of Woodford, and his servants. On the 28th April, -1489, he again gave sureties in two sums of 1,000 marks each that -he would keep the peace towards his father-in-law, Sir John Savage, -his children, and servants, and Nicholas Davenport, of Woodford, -his children, and servants, and at the same time he entered into a -further recognisance of £200 to keep the peace towards Hamo Ashley, -Esq. Whatever may have been the cause of the difference with his -father-in-law, it was a long time before the variance was composed, for -on the 20th April, 1490, he again appeared in the law courts, when he -was required to find sureties in 1,000 marks to keep the peace towards -him. On the 11th May, 1495, he and his brother, John Legh, of Lawton, -entered into recognisances of 1,000 marks each to abide the award of -Hamnet Massy and others named, touching all disputes between the two -brothers and Nicholas Davenport and William Honford, of Davenport -and Honford, at the same time entering into recognisances for the -same amounts. The arbitration must have been very protracted, for -the recognisances and counter recognisances were renewed on the 12th -April, 1496, again on 9th September in the same year, and a third time -on the 19th June, 1498. On the 8th June, 1501, Thomas Legh was again -required to give sureties, this time in £100, to keep the peace towards -John Carter and Robert Rokeley; and on the 19th September, 1502, he -entered into recognisances of £100 to keep the peace towards Richard -Phillips, chaplain. He either lacked prudence, or his neighbours must -have been more than ordinarily litigious, for it was not long before -he was again involved in a suit, this time at the instance of Robert -Walls, the representative of a family located at Adlington. He appears -to have been then outlawed in error, for on the 5th March, 1st and 2nd -Henry VIII., proceedings were taken against Roger Downes and others for -restitution of goods seized under the outlawry. In July of the same -year he entered into recognisances to the Earl of Chester to keep the -peace towards his neighbour, Sir John Warren, of Poynton. - -In the Calendar of Warrants, removed from Chester to the Public Record -Office, London, there is one dated at Ludlow Castle, 1st April, 12th -Henry VII., 1497, appointing the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of -Lichfield and Coventry, and others named, a commission to levy money -in the counties of Chester and Flint, to aid the King in repelling the -unprovoked invasion of James IV. of Scotland, who, in violation of -the treaty of 1493, had raised an army in support of Perkin Warbeck -and crossed the borders, spoiling and plundering the country. The -Parliament which assembled at Westminster in January of that year had -granted him £120,000 under certain restrictions, and on the 6th April, -Thomas Legh, and other loyal men of Cheshire, assembled at Chester, -and in the name of the county granted him a further sum of 1,000 marks. -Four days later a commission was issued to Thomas Legh and others to -array the fencible men of the hundred before the 1st May following, for -the purpose of aiding in the war against the Scotch. Henry VII., in the -indulgence of his inordinate passion for money, had frequent recourse -to a system of benevolences or contributions, apparently voluntary, -though, in fact, extorted from his wealthier subjects, and also to -the granting of subsidies—“reasonable aids,” as they were called. In -1501, on the occasion of the marriage of Arthur, Prince of Wales, with -Katharine of Arragon, afterwards the unhappy queen of Henry VIII., -a subsidy was granted by the county of Chester, and Thomas Legh was -appointed with others to collect the portion due from his own hundred. - -When Henry of Richmond came out of the field of Bosworth a victor -it was to rule over a nation weak and impoverished, and bleeding at -every vein. The sword had vied with the axe, and the nobles had shown -themselves too powerful for the comfort or security of the monarch. -To destroy their influence the King determined upon the suppression -of their retainers—virtually the rent of the lands granted in -knights’ service, thus freeing their properties from the burden of -supplying the armies of the State. In this way peace and good order -were re-established, and an end put to those intestine wars which had -well-nigh exhausted the country. Though the Leghs had not suffered -to any appreciable extent from these internal broils, it is more -than probable that less attention had been paid to their ancestral -home than would have been the case had public affairs been in a more -settled state. With the return to a more peaceful order of things they -had leisure to add to the beauty and convenience of their permanent -home. Architecture marks the growth and development of human society, -and the progress of refinement as well as the changes society had -undergone rendered alterations at Adlington necessary for the comfort -and convenience of the inmates. Thomas Legh, if he did not rebuild the -house, remodelled and greatly enlarged it; and much of the traceried -panel-work forming part of the ancient screen, as well as other carved -work still remaining, was no doubt executed during his time. In -commemoration of his work, he caused his name and that of his wife, -with the date, to be affixed in carved Lombardic letters— - - =Thomas Legh & Catarina Sauage uxor ejus= - =Ao. Doi. Mo cc/ccc Vto R. R. H. bij., xx.= - -The inscription appears over the high-place at the west end of the -great hall, and was probably replaced in the last century during the -occupancy of Charles Legh. - -Thomas Legh died August 8, 1519, leaving, with other issue, a son, -George Legh, then aged 22 years, who succeeded as his heir. - -“Better marry over the mixen than over the moor” has ever been a -favourite proverb with the men of Cheshire; and the heads of the house -of Legh evidently believed in the soundness of the advice it conveyed, -for, from the time their Norman progenitor first settled in the county, -they had been content to mate within their own shire. The first of -the manorial lords of Adlington to depart from this long-established -custom was George Legh, who, in 1523, married the daughter of a -Huntingdonshire squire—Joan, daughter of Peter Larke, and a sister of -that Thomas Larke on whom Cardinal Wolsey had bestowed the rich rectory -of Winwick, in Lancashire—and it can hardly be said that the departure -added much to the reputation of his house, the supposed antecedents of -the lady having given rise to no inconsiderable amount of scandal. It -is said that, previous to her marriage with Thomas Legh, Joan Larke -had been the mistress (not the illegitimate daughter, as a recent -writer has unnecessarily sought to disprove) of Cardinal Wolsey. The -statement is evidently made on the authority of one of the “Articles -of Impeachment” against Wolsey presented to Parliament by a committee -of the House of Lords, December 1, 1529, and quoted in Lord Herbert of -Cherbury’s “Life of Henry VIII.” The story is a curious one, and, if -true, reflects little credit either upon the Cardinal or his frail -companion. The accusation is embodied in the 38th article— - - That the sd Cardinal did call before him Sir Jno. Stanley, kt., - which had taken a farm by convent seal of the Abbot and Convent of - Chester; and afterwards by his power and might, contrary to right, - committed the said Sir Jno. Stanley to the prison of Fleet by the - space of one year, until such time as he compelled the sd Sir Jno. - to release his convent seal to one Leghe, of Adlington, which - married one Lark’s daughter, which woman the sd lord cardinal - kept and had with her two children; whereupon the sd Sir John - Stanley, upon displeasure taken in his heart, made himself monk in - Westminster, and there died. - -The story, it must be confessed, has much improbability about it; -and may, as has been suggested, have been prompted by feelings of -malice against the fallen ecclesiastic. Certain it is, the charge was -not pressed to a direct issue. Whatever may have been the relations -existing between Wolsey and the wife of Thomas Legh, there is no doubt -that in the short interval between the expiry of the lease of the -Prestbury tithes, in 1523-4, and the granting of a new one by the Abbot -of St Werburg, in the following year, a dispute had arisen between -George Legh and Sir John Stanley respecting them. It is not improbable -that the latter had endeavoured to steal a march upon his neighbour by -securing a lease of a portion of them to the disadvantage of the Leghs, -who, as we have seen, had been farmers of the impropriate rectory for a -lengthened period, and that the Cardinal, who is known to have been a -patron of the Larkes, was then appealed to with a view of inducing the -monks of Chester to grant George Legh a renewal of the privileges his -family had so long enjoyed. If so, the appeal was unsuccessful, for in -1524-5 a new lease for forty years was granted, which was subsequently -renewed. - -Sir John Stanley was a natural son of James Stanley, warden of -Manchester, and afterwards Bishop of Ely, a younger son of that Thomas, -Lord Stanley, who placed the crown of the vanquished Richard upon the -head of the victorious Richmond on the field of Bosworth. He commanded -his father’s retainers at the battle of Flodden Field, in 1513, when -his uncle, Sir Edward Stanley, afterwards created Lord Monteagle, led -the forces of Lancashire and Cheshire, and Sir Edmund Savage, mayor of -Macclesfield, and so many of the burgesses of that town were slain; -and on that occasion by his valour in the field won his golden spurs. -He married Margaret, the only daughter and heir of William Honford, of -Honford, by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir John Savage, and was -consequently closely allied to the Leghs of Adlington. In 1528 he and -his wife prayed for a divorce in order that they might severally devote -themselves to a religious life, and be quit of the world for ever. The -divorce was granted, and he became a monk of Westminster, where he -died; his wife also entered a religious house, but must have abandoned -her intention of becoming a recluse, for she afterwards married Sir -Urian Brereton, by whom she had a family, who through her inherited -the Honford estates. Though Sir John assumed the cowl and tonsure of -a monk, it is hardly credible, even supposing the story of Wolsey’s -arbitrary exercise of power to have been true, that he forsook the -society of his wife, retreated from the world, and disappeared in the -shadow of the cloister “from displeasure taken in his heart” upon a -matter of such comparatively little moment, and occurring four or five -years previously. - -A recent writer, in an account of Adlington, says that Sir John Stanley -“was himself an ecclesiastic and warden of Manchester;” that his claim -“was espoused by the Bishop of Ely, his father;” and that “the battle -seems in reality to have been fought between the powerful Bishop of -Ely on the one hand, and the yet more powerful Cardinal on the other.” -These statements are entirely erroneous. Sir John, in early life, -had embraced the profession of arms; as a soldier he had earned his -knighthood by bravery on the field; and, being married, he would by the -canons of the Church be disqualified from holding an ecclesiastical -preferment, while, as a fact, his father, the Bishop of Ely, had been -in his grave eight or nine years when the dispute respecting the -Prestbury tithes arose. - -George Legh died on the 12th June, 1529, at the early age of -thirty-two. His will was only made on the day preceding his decease, -and the broad lands of Adlington were transmitted to his only son, -Thomas Legh, then an infant two years of age. His wife survived -him, and was remarried to George Paulet, brother of the Marquis of -Winchester, and she with her second husband appear to have resided -at Adlington during the minority of the heir, for in a return of the -clergy serving at the various chapels of ease within the parish of -Prestbury there occurs the name of Sir James Hurst, a stipendiary -priest, paid by George Pollet (Paulet), and apparently serving in -the chapel at Adlington. By an unaccountable error Thomas Legh, of -Adlington, has been confounded with another personage of the same name, -who, as one of the commissioners under Sir Thomas Cromwell, took an -active part in the suppression of the religious houses. The mistake -will be apparent when it is remembered that at the time (1536) that -worthy was denouncing monachism and despoiling the monks of their lands -and houses Thomas Legh, of Adlington, was only in his ninth year, and -before he had attained to manhood the great and lesser monasteries had -been swept away. - -Whilst he was in his minority he had been united in marriage with -one of the younger daughters of the great house of Grosvenor—Mary, -the daughter of Robert Grosvenor, of Eaton, the direct ancestor of -the present Duke of Westminster. It is not known with certainty how -the match was brought about, but in those days the lord of the fee -was entitled to the wardship of the heir, with the right to put up -his or her hand to sale in marriage; and if Richard Grosvenor, as -is not unlikely, had the wardship of the Adlington estates, he may -have thought the alliance a desirable one for a younger member of his -numerous family. It was to avoid the evil arising from this feudal -practice that so many early marriages were in former times resorted -to, parents being oftentimes prompted to seek an eligible match for -their heirs while under age to free them from the exactions and other -consequences of wardship—a circumstance that could have been little -understood by the President Montesquieu, when he cast the sneer upon -our country in saying there was a law in England which permitted girls -of seven years of age to choose their own husbands, and which, he -added, was shocking in two ways, since it had no regard to the time -when nature gives maturity to the understanding, nor to the time when -she gives maturity to the body. Mary Grosvenor survived her husband -and remarried Sir Richard Egerton, of Ridley, Knight, with whom she -appears to have resided at Adlington during the minority of the son by -her first husband. She had the manor and tithes of Prestbury settled -upon her as dower; and in 1558 her second husband is found attending a -meeting in the church at Prestbury, and acting there in the capacity of -warden—an office then held in much higher esteem than at the present -day. The lady deserves to be held in special remembrance by the men -of Cheshire, from the circumstance that she is generally believed to -have superintended the education and taken a kindly interest in the -well-being of a notable Cheshire worthy, who attained the highest -honours of the peerage, Richard Egerton’s base-born son by Alice -Starke, of Bickerton—Thomas Egerton, Viscount Brackley, Lord Keeper and -Chancellor of England, ancestor of the great Duke of Bridgewater, as -well as of the present Earl of Ellesmere—a worthy who, if precluded by -the circumstances of his birth from deriving honour from an illustrious -ancestry, reflected on them, his descendants, and his county the -lustre of a name brighter than any other its annals can boast. It -is pleasant to think that some of the earlier years of the great -Chancellor were spent within the old house at Adlington, and that the -generous-hearted lady to whom he owed so much was not forgotten when -he had attained to distinction, and she in her old age had become the -victim of religious persecution.[32] She died in 1599, having survived -her first husband for the long period of fifty-one years. In her will, -dated 18th October, 1597, she appoints the Lord Keeper Egerton, whom -she designates her “wellbeloved sonne,” one of her executors, and -bequeaths to him “one ringe of Goulde having thereon a Dyamond.” She is -buried at Astbury, where her altar-tomb, with a recumbent effigy upon -the top, may still be seen. - -[Note 32: Lady Egerton, who remained a firm adherent of the ancient -faith, is frequently named in the prosecutions for recusancy under the -severe statutes of Elizabeth, but appeals for mitigation were often and -successfully made through, as would seem, the influence of the Lord -Keeper Egerton.] - -Thomas Legh, the first husband of Mary Grosvenor, did not long enjoy -possession of the ancestral domains, his death occurring at Eaton, May -17, 1548, the year in which he attained his majority. The only issue -by his marriage was a son, Thomas, aged one year at the time of his -death, so that the broad lands of Adlington were once more held in ward -through the infancy of the heir. - -On the 21st April, 1548, three weeks before his death, Thomas Legh -granted to his wife’s eldest brother, Thomas Grosvenor, of Eaton, all -the lands which his family had held in Belgrave from the time of the -marriage of Sir Robert Legh with the heiress of Sir Thomas Belgrave, -_circa_ 1385; and four days later he settled the remainder of his -estates, including “the Hall of Adlington,” in trust for the benefit of -himself and his wife and his heirs in tail male. - -Sir Urian Brereton, who married the widow of Sir John Stanley, the -quondam recluse, seems to have acquired, with the lady, Sir John’s -craving for the Prestbury tithes, for in 1538, during the minority of -Thomas Legh the elder, he obtained from the Abbot of St. Werburg’s, in -the names of himself and John Broughton, the reversion of the lease of -the manor and advowson, to commence on the expiry of the one for 40 -years renewed to George Legh in 1524; and this reversion was afterwards -purchased by Richard and John Grosvenor, the brothers of Mary, the -wife of Thomas Legh, in trust, and to prevent their alienation from -the other Adlington properties. But a great revolution in religious -thought and action was then gradually gaining strength and power, -and the day was near at hand when the monks and their system were to -be overthrown. On the dissolution of St. Werburg’s Abbey the manor -and advowson of the church of Prestbury were granted to the Dean and -Chapter of the newly-founded Cathedral of Chester. They did not, -however, long enjoy possession; William Clyve, the third dean, and two -of the prebendaries, were confined in the Fleet by procurement of Sir -Richard Cotton, of Werblington, comptroller of the King’s household, a -Hampshire knight, who appears to have shared the acquisitive properties -of his elder brother, Sir George Cotton, another courtier and favourite -of the King, who had had conferred upon himself the dissolved abbey and -the greater part of the demesne of Combermere, in Cheshire, and who, -in other ways, had increased his worldly possessions out of the spoils -of the religious houses. While in the Fleet, under intimidation, as -was alleged, the dean and canons granted to Sir Richard (20th March, -1553), for ever, most of their lands on the payment of a yearly rental; -he in turn, on the 28th July, 1555, re-conveyed the manor and advowson -of Prestbury to Richard and John Grosvenor, who, in 1559, are found -presenting to the vicarage. The validity of the grant to Cotton was -subsequently disputed, and on the Cheshire Recognisance Rolls, under -date January 13th, 5 and 6 Elizabeth (1563-4), there is the enrolment -of a complaint exhibited by Richard and John Grosvenor. Eventually the -feoffees surrendered to the Crown; on the 19th December, 1579, the -whole of the lands formerly held by the abbey were granted by Elizabeth -to Sir George Calveley, Knight, George Cotton, Hugh Cholmondeley, -Thomas Legh, Henry Mainwaring, John Nuthall, and Richard Hurleston, -Esquires, and their heirs for ever; and, by another indenture, dated -6th August, 1580, the counterpart of which is preserved among the -Adlington charters, these fee farmers, after reciting the grant of -Elizabeth, for divers good causes and considerations them specially -moving, demised and quit-claimed to Thomas Legh and his heirs the -rectory, church, and manor of Prestbury, with the appurtenances, -excepting the certain messuages, tenements, and hereditaments, with the -appurtenances and the tithes, oblations, and obventions, of Chelford -and Asthull (Astle). They have since continued in the possession of the -Leghs, and have descended with their other estates. - -Thomas Legh had a long minority, and it was a fortunate thing for him -that in those early years of his life he had a good mother, who, with -the aid of her powerful kinsmen, was able to guard his estates and -protect him from undue taxation. On the 16th March, 1567-8, he obtained -livery of his father’s lands, he being then of full age. He had, -five years previously (29th June, 1563), being then in his sixteenth -year, married, at Cheadle, Sybil, the youngest daughter of Sir Urian -Brereton, of Honford, by his first wife, Margaret, daughter and heir of -William Honford, and widow of Sir John Stanley, a marriage that it may -be fairly assumed happily terminated the long-standing disputes between -the two houses respecting the tithes of Prestbury. - -Following the example of his father-in-law, who rebuilt the hall of -Handforth, Thomas Legh, in 1581, rebuilt, or at all events, greatly -enlarged, the house at Adlington, as the following inscription, in -black-letter characters, over the entrance porch leading from the -court-yard testifies:— - - =Thomas Leyghe esquyer who maryed Sibbell doughter to Sir Urian - Brereton of hondforde knight, and by her had Issue four sonnes & - fyue doughters, made this buyldinge in the yeare of or lorde god - 1581 And in the raigne of our soveyraigne lady Queene Elizabeth - the xxiijth.= - -In 1587 Thomas Legh had the shrievalty of Cheshire conferred upon him. -The time was one of considerable excitement and no little anxiety, for -scarcely had he entered upon the duties of his office than news came -that the “Invincible Armada,” so long threatened and so long deferred, -had unfurled its sails, and was then actually advancing towards the -English coast. The spirit of patriotism was aroused; Roman Catholic and -Protestant united as one man to repel the haughty Spaniard, and the -Queen issued a proclamation to her sheriffs and others, urging them -by every consideration of social and domestic security to call forth -the united energies of their respective counties, in common with the -country in general, to resist the meditated attack. Thomas Legh, who -was then in the prime of manhood, was not likely to be idle on such -an occasion, and doubtless he acted with much the same spirit that -Macaulay’s sheriff did when the signal fires announcing the approach -of the enemy flashed along the southern coasts,— - - With his white hair unbonneted, the stout old sheriff comes, - Behind him come the halberdiers, before him sound the drums; - His yeomen round the market cross make clear an ample space, - For there behoves him to set up the standard of Her Grace. - And haughtily the trumpets peal, and gaily dance the bells, - As slow upon the labouring wind the royal blazon swells. - -In the later years of his life Thomas Legh added considerably to -the patrimonial lands. Towards the close of the century, when the -Butley estates, which had been held for so many generations by the -Pigots, were partitioned among three co-heiresses, he acquired by -purchase the manor and a moiety of the lands, which descended with -the Adlington property until the present century. On the 20th April, -1596, an enrolment was made, as appears by the Cheshire Records, at the -instance of Dame Mary Egerton, his mother, then a widow, of a covenant -by which he undertook to convey the mansion house of Adlington, with -other properties, to her use for life, and afterwards to himself with -successive remainders in fee tail to his sons Urian, Thomas, and -Edward, and his daughter, Maria Legh, and his right heirs for ever. In -the same year his eldest son, Urian Legh, brought distinction to the -family by his gallant bearing at Cadiz, where he earned for himself the -honour of knighthood, an event respecting which we shall have more to -say anon. Proud as the father must have felt at his son’s conspicuous -bravery, the pleasure must have had its alloy when, in the following -year, he had the misfortune to lose his younger son, Ralph, who was -slain by the insurgents in an attack upon Newry, in Ireland; and, to -add to his sorrow, in the next year, 1598, he lost another son, Thomas -Legh, who, with his commander, Sir Henry Bagnall, was killed in the -disastrous attempt to relieve the fortress of Blackwater,—the most -signal defeat ever experienced by an English force in Ireland,—when -Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who had been for some time in -insurrection against the English rule, was besieging it, and who had, -at the same time, burned down the castle of Kilcoleman, where - - Amongst the coolly shade - Of the green aldars, by the Mulla’s shore, - -the “Faery Queen” had been written, and its gifted author, Edmund -Spenser, was then residing. - -Thomas Legh died at Adlington on the 25th January, 1601-2, in the -fifty-fifth year of his age, and was buried at Prestbury, on the -following day, as the parish registers show. The same year his widow -caused a memorial window, a portion of which still remains, though in -a very mutilated condition, to be placed in the church, on which is a -shield of arms, with several quarterings, representing the alliances of -the two families. Beneath is this inscription:— - - ORATE PRO BONO STATV THOMÆ LEYGHE DE ADLINGTON ARMIGERI ET SIBILLA - VXORIS SVÆ VNI’ FILIORVM VRIANI BRERETON DE HANDFORD MILITIS - DEFVNCTI QVI HANC FENESTRAM FIERI FECERVNT IN ANNO DOMINI 1601. - -She survived her husband eight years, and was buried at Prestbury, -February 19th, 1609-10. - -Sir Urian Legh, who succeeded as heir on the death of his father, in -1602, was born at Handforth in 1566, and was, consequently, in his -thirty-sixth year when he entered upon his inheritance. As we have -seen, he had early embraced the profession of arms, and in the service -of his country had already won renown. It was the time when Elizabeth’s -sea captains, Howard and Essex, and Raleigh and Drake, were adding to -the national laurels by their achievements on the main, justifying -the witty and well-timed impromptu which one of the courtiers gave -when lament was made that England was then under the rule of a queen, -instead of that of a king,— - - O fortune! to old England still - Continue such mistakes, - And give us for our Kings such Queens, - And for our dux such Drakes. - -In 1596, when Philip of Spain was preparing for a second invasion of -England, Howard, the Lord Admiral, with his characteristic daring and -love of adventure, urged that, instead of waiting for the enemy’s -attack, a blow should be struck at Spain herself, by destroying the -fleet before it could leave her harbours. The more cautious Burleigh -counselled the less hazardous policy, but was overruled by the dashing -and impetuous Devereux, Earl of Essex, who, with Howard and Raleigh, -was eventually entrusted with the command of the expedition. Young -Urian Legh could not remain a laggard when such opportunities for -distinction offered; leaving the bower and the tilt yard for the -Spanish main, and the saddle of the war horse for the deck of the war -ship, he joined the expedition, and on the 1st of June, the fleet, -then lying at Plymouth, loosed its sails and bore away towards the -shores of Spain, arriving before Cadiz on the 12th. Essex, whose -impetuosity could brook no restraint, and who had, moreover, a bitter -aversion to the tyrant Philip, was so eager for action that he threw -his hat into the sea in the exuberance of his delight. The attack was -commenced on the following day, and with such fury that the Spanish -Admiral’s ship and several others were blown up with all their crews -on board, whilst the few vessels which were not either sunk or burned -were run on shore, the English admiral refusing to accept a price for -their release, declaring that “he came to burn and not to ransom.” -This daring and successful enterprise was followed up by an attack on -the strongly-fortified town of Cadiz. The impetuous Essex threw his -standard over the wall, “giving withal a most hot assault unto the -gate, where, to save the honour of their ensign, happy was he that -could first leap down from the wall, and with shot and sword make way -through the thickest press of the enemy.” The daring of the leader -called forth the courage of his followers. The town was captured on -the 26th June, and six hundred and twenty thousand ducats were paid as -a ransom for the lives of the inhabitants. The heir of Adlington took -the leading part in the attack, and displayed such conspicuous bravery -that the Earl knighted him upon the spot. The display of British valour -on the occasion has been justly described by Macaulay (“Essays,” -art. “Lord Bacon,”) as “the most brilliant military exploit that was -achieved on the continent by English arms during the long interval -which elapsed between the battle of Agincourt and that of Blenheim.” - -Sir Urian Legh stands out with marked individuality in any record of -the house of Adlington. The Leghs have ever looked with pardonable -pride upon the doughty deeds of their warlike ancestor, and the feeling -has been nothing lessened by the romantic incident which tradition has -linked with his name. He is commonly believed to have been the hero of -the old legendary ballad,—“The Spanish Lady’s Love,” written by Thomas -Deloney immediately after the return from Spain, and reprinted by the -Percy Society from “The Garland of Goodwill”— - - Will you hear a Spanish lady, - How she wooed an English man? - -The story is that, while with Essex in Spain, a captive maid, “by birth -and parentage of high degree,” was so overcome by Sir Urian’s kindness -that she conceived an ardent attachment towards him, and when he was -about to return, the amorous and high-born beauty, flinging aside -the trammels of country and kin, begged that she might be allowed to -accompany him and share his lot in life—a request the gallant Cheshire -man, after urging many other objections, was compelled to refuse, for -the best of all reasons—he had already a wife. - - Courteous ladye, leave this fancy, - Here comes all that breeds the strife; - I in England have already - A sweet woman to my wife; - I will not falsify my vow for gold nor gain, - Nor yet for all the fairest dames that live in Spain. - -To which the disappointed lady magnanimously replies— - - Ah! how happy is that woman - That enjoys so true a friend! - Many happy days God send her! - Of my suit I make an end. - On my knees I pardon crave for this offence, - Which did from love and true affection first commence. - - Commend me to thy loving lady, - Bear to her this chain of gold, - And these bracelets for a token; - Grieving that I was so bold. - All my jewels in like sort bear thou with thee, - For they are fitting for thy wife, but not for me. - -It has been stated by some writers that the ballad has reference -not to Sir Urian Legh, but to Sir John Bolle, of Thorpe Hall, in -Lincolnshire, the representative of a family remotely connected in -a later generation with the Leghs of Adlington; while Dr. Percy, in -his introductory remarks, inclines to the opinion that the original -was either a member of the Popham family or Sir Richard Leveson, of -Trentham, in Staffordshire, an ancestor of the Duke of Sutherland. -The legend has doubtless some foundation in fact, though the _actores -fabulæ_ may be phantoms; it should, however, be said that, until recent -years, when they were removed to Shaw Hill, in Lancashire, the Leghs, -in proof of the identity of their kinsman with the hero of Deloney’s -ballad, were able to show the veritable “chain of gold” and the casket -in which through long generations it had been carefully preserved as -an heirloom of the family. A half-length portrait of Sir Urian hangs -upon the staircase at Adlington. It has been taken when he was in the -fulness of manhood, and represents him as fresh complexioned, with a -regular and rather handsome cast of features, suggesting the idea that -comeliness of face and figure blended with courage and courtesy,—the -characteristics of an old English gentleman. He wears a black felt hat -with jewelled front, a black gown with vandyked and richly embroidered -points, and round his neck a gold chain of many links that hangs down -almost to the waist—whether the one given him by the “Spanish Lady” or -not we will not undertake to say. In one corner of the picture is a -shield of six quarters, and in the opposite corner this inscription:— - - SIR URIAN LEGH OF ADLINGTON IN THE COUNTY OF CHESTER KNIGHT WHO - WENT WITH ROBERT DEVEREUX EARL OF ESSEX TO THE SIEGE OF CADIZ AND - WAS BY HIM KNIGHTED IN THE FIELD FOR HIS GREAT SERVICES IN TAKING - THAT TOWN IN 1575 (SHOULD BE 1596). HE MARRIED MARGARET DAUGHTER - OF SIR EDMUND TRAFFORD IN THE COUNTY OF LANCASTER KNIGHT BY WHOM - HE HAD FOUR SONS AND THREE DAUGHTERS. - -On succeeding to his inheritance Sir Urian appears to have settled -down to the discharge of his duties as a country gentleman, and to -have applied himself to the further improvement of his patrimony, -which he managed with so much thrift and care that before the close -of the century he was able to make an addition to the family estates -by the purchase of the lands and hall of Foxwist, in Butley township, -from William Duncalf, whose ancestors had been resident there for more -than three centuries, and in 1603 he built the Milne House, which long -afterwards continued to be used as the dower house of the family. In -1613, the year following that in which Cecil died and the notorious -Carr, a raw Scotch lad, was made Prime Minister, he was entrusted -with the shrievalty of the county, and in local affairs he appears -to have taken an active part, his bold and clearly defined autograph -being of frequent occurrence in the parochial records. He was a man -of some culture, had had the advantage of a university education, -having matriculated at Oxford, and in his private life he would seem -to have had a sweet fancy, turning to literature in the absence of -action, for in the inventory of his effects, taken after his death, it -is mentioned that there were in his closet at Prestbury “his bookes -valued at xvjli.” He affected the society of men of letters: Dee, the -“Wizard Warden” of Manchester, in his “Diary,” under date April 22nd, -1597, records that he was visited at his residence in the College by -Sir Urian Legh and his brother (Edward Legh, probably, for the other -brothers, Thomas and Ralph, were at the time in Ireland engaged in the -suppression of O’Neill’s rebellion), a Mr. Brown, and Mr. George Booth, -of Dunham, then Sheriff of Cheshire. - -[Illustration] - -On the 6th of September, 1586, ten years before the affair at Cadiz, -Sir Urian Legh was united in marriage to Mary, one of the daughters -of Sir Edmund Trafford, of Trafford, Knight, that “hunter out and -unkeneler of those slie and subtil foxes Iesuites and semenarei -Priests.” The guests who graced the ceremony by their presence must -have formed a goodly company, for William Massie, the rector of -Wilmslow, who preached a sermon on the occasion, speaks of it as being -delivered “before the right honourable the most noble Earle of Derby, -and the right reuerend father in God the B(ishop) of Chester with -diuerse Knightes and Esquires of great worship at the solemne marriage -of your (Sir Edmund Trafford’s) daughter, a modest and vertuous -Gentlewoman, married to a young gentleman of great worship and good -education.” - -Sir Urian Legh died at Adlington on the 2nd June, 1627, and two days -afterwards, as the registers show, he was buried at Prestbury. - -It is somewhat singular that Thomas Newton,[33] the famous Cheshire -poet, who sang the glories of Essex and Drake in Latin verse, should -have remained silent upon the daring deeds of his quondam friend and -neighbour, Sir Urian Legh, leaving the “Water Poet,” John Taylor, to -record in rhyme the virtues of the hero of Cadiz. Taylor was a guest -at Adlington some time before the close of the century, and in his -“Pennilesse Pilgrimage” describes the reception he met in a manner that -recalls Ben Jonson’s lines in praise of the daily hospitalities at -Penshurst:— - - This weary day, when I had almost past, - I came vnto Sir Urian Legh’s at last. - At _Adlington_, neer _Macksfield_, he doth dwell, - Belou’d, respected, and reputed well. - Through his great loue, my stay with him was fixt, - From Thursday night till noone on Monday next. - At his own table I did daily eate, - Whereat may be suppos’d did want no meate. - He would have giu’n me gold or siluer either, - But I with many thankes receiued neither. - And thus much without flattery I dare sweare, - He is a knight beloued farre and neere. - First, he’s beloued of his God aboue, - (Which loue he loues to keep beyond all loue), - Next with a wife and children he is blest, - Each hauing God’s feare planted in their brest. - With faire Demaines, Reuennue of good Lands, - He’s fairely blest by the Almightie’s hands. - And as he’s happy in these outward things, - So from his inward mind continuall springs - Fruits of deuotion, deedes of Piety, - Good hospitable workes of Charity; - Iust in his Actions, constant in his word, - And one that wonne his honour with the sword. - He’s no Carranto, Cap’ring, Carpet Knight, - But he knowes when and how to speake and fight. - I cannot flatter him, say what I can, - He’s euery way a compleat Gentleman. - I write not this for what he did to me, - But what mine eares and eyes did heare and see, - Nor doe I pen this to enlarge his fame, - But to make others imitate the same. - For like a Trumpet were I pleased to blow, - I would his worthy worth more amply show, - But I already feare haue beene too bold, - And craue his pardon, me excusd to hold. - Thanks to his Sonnes and seruants euery one, - Both males and females all, excepting none. - -[Note 33: Thomas Newton, before his removal into Essex, resided at Park -House, in Butley, little more than a mile distant from Adlington. His -mother, Alice Newton, in her will, dated December 22, 1597, leaves “one -spurill ryall or XVs. in money to each of the right worshipful Thomas -Legh, of Adlington, and Sybell, his wife,” the testatrix’s “worshipful -good frendes;” and she also appoints “the right worshipful Thomas Legh, -of Adlington aforesaid, Esquire,” overseer, earnestly entreating him to -assist and direct her executors.] - -Sir Urian Legh, as we have said, died in 1627; and his eldest son, -Thomas, was approaching the meridian of life when he succeeded as heir -to the family estates. It was a memorable epoch in English history, -for in that year Buckingham, the King’s favourite, by his inglorious -expedition to France, had brought dishonour on his country’s arms, and -was impeached in Parliament; and in the following year the Commons, -before they would grant the supplies necessary to retrieve the -disaster, extorted from Charles the Petition of Rights, confirming -the liberties that were already the birthright of Englishmen—a -measure which, had it been accepted by its authors as final, would -have spared the country the calamities of civil war. Thomas Legh -had married in his father’s lifetime (1610) a rich heiress, one of -the daughters of Sir John Gobert, of Boresworth, in Leicestershire; -with whom he acquired considerable property, including the estate of -Clumber,[34] forming part of the royal manor and forest of Sherwood, -which subsequently passed into the possession of the Pelham-Clintons, -Dukes of Newcastle; so that by the time he came into his patrimony he -had added considerably to the territorial possessions as well as to the -social status of his house. On the death of Sir John Gobert, dame Lucy, -his widow, appears to have resided with her daughter and son-in-law at -Adlington, and to have remained with them up to the time of her death -in 1634. In 1628-9 Thomas Legh was chosen to fill the office of high -sheriff of the county, a distinction that was again conferred on him in -the year 1642-3. The year of the second appointment was a portentous -one, for the seeds of civil strife which had been sown in previous -years had ripened, and King and Commoner—sovereign and subject—were -then placing themselves in open array against each other. The Royalists -of Cheshire, though in a minority, were prompt in obeying the King’s -summons. Thomas Legh, in whom the blaze of youth was then sinking into -the deep burning fire of middle age, for fifty summers had passed over -his head, at once placed himself at the disposal of his sovereign, and -had a colonel’s commission in the Royalist army; Thomas, his eldest -son, had a lieutenant-colonel’s commission; whilst his four younger -sons—John, Charles, Peter, and Henry—and his brother Urian, who had -previously been in the wars in the Low Countries, had also commissions. - -[Note 34: A recent writer says (_Contributions towards a History of -Prestbury, p. 102_): “Clumber appears to have been sequestrated from -the Leghs during the Civil War, and never restored.” This is not -quite accurate, for Thomas Legh, who died in 1687, by his will, dated -20th August, 1686, bequeathed to his younger son, Richard Legh, and -his heirs for ever, “all that mannour or capitall messuage called -Clumber, in the county of Nottingham, and all buildings, tenements, and -hereditaments in Clumber aforesaid.”] - -The attempt to maintain the neutrality of the county by the Treaty -of Pacification, as it was called, having failed, the commission of -array was issued, requiring the receivers to see that the tenantry and -others in their respective districts were mustered and properly armed -and accoutred, and each of the hostile parties set to work to procure -military stores in anticipation of approaching conflict. The King’s -troops were at Chester under the command of Sir Thomas Aston, and the -Parliamentarians, led by Thomas Legh’s relative, Sir William Brereton, -of Honford, established themselves at Nantwich, which subsequently -became the scene of important military operations. In March, 1643, the -rival forces met at Middlewich, when an engagement took place in which -the Royalists were defeated, Sir Edward Mosley, of Manchester, and -several Cheshire men of mark being made prisoners; but Sir Thomas Aston -and Colonel Legh, who was present with him and at the time sheriff, -being more fortunate, succeeded in making good their escape. Before -the close of the year the Royalists suffered a series of reverses. At -Nantwich they sustained a defeat at the hands of General Fairfax; on -the 4th of February, 1643-4, Crewe Hall was attacked and taken; three -days later Doddington Hall shared the same fate; in the same month -Adlington was besieged by a force under Colonel Duckinfield, and a few -days after its surrender Mr. Tatton’s house at Wythenshawe, was also -stormed and taken. - -The probability of an attack on their home must have been foreseen by -the Leghs, and, consequently, the house was put in a state of defence -on the outbreak of hostilities, and stores of provisions and ammunition -for the use of the garrison collected in anticipation of any attack -that might be made upon it. Colonel Legh appears to have been absent -at the time of Duckinfield’s assault, being probably with the King’s -forces in some other part of the country, and the defence, therefore, -fell to the lot of his eldest son—a brave scion of a brave ancestry, -who must have conducted it with considerable energy and judgment, for -the garrison held out a whole fortnight, notwithstanding that the siege -was carried on with a good deal of vigour. The attacking party appear -to have encamped on the south side of the hall, and the assault must -have been made from that direction, for the door on the south front -is pierced in several places where the bullets and cannon shot passed -through. The garrison, by their obstinate bravery, must have won the -respect of their assailants, for, unlike the case of Biddulph, which -surrendered a week afterwards, when quarter for life only was granted, -the defenders of Adlington when they did capitulate (Feb. 14) had full -leave to depart. Burghall, the Puritan vicar of Acton, thus records the -circumstance in his “Diary”:— - - Friday, February 14th.—Adlington House was delivered up, which was - besieged about a fortnight, where was a younger son of Mr. Legh’s - and 140 souldiers, which had all fair quarter and leave to depart, - leaving behind them, as the report was, 700 arms and 15 barrels of - powder. - -By an order of the Parliament, dated March 18, 1643, Sir William -Brereton, of Honford, Thomas Legh’s second cousin, and then -major-general of the Cheshire forces, entered upon possession and -seized the family estates into his own hands, so that the owner of -Adlington could hardly say of Sir William what, according to the old -ballad, his kinsman Lord Brereton said when he espied him on the hill -overlooking Biddulph— - - Yonder my uncle stands, and he will not come near, - Because he’s a Roundhead and I am a Cavalier. - -The house was pillaged, though the fabric itself does not appear to -have sustained any very serious injury considering the quantity of -powder that was burned and the efforts that were expended upon it. -Shortly afterwards it was retaken and held for the King, but it must -have been stormed and taken a second time by the Parliamentarian -soldiers, for when Colonel Legh’s widow appealed to Sir William -Brereton to be allowed to occupy the hall, and to have a portion of her -late husband’s estates assigned to her for the maintenance of herself -and children, the request was denied, so far as the occupancy of -the house was concerned, on the plea that as Adlington Hall had been -garrisoned twice against the Parliament it was not judged fitting it -should be ventured a third time. - -Colonel Legh’s active zeal in the Royalist cause made him so obnoxious -to the Parliament party that in the preliminary propositions for the -abortive Treaty of Uxbridge he was specially named as one of those -to be excluded from the councils of his sovereign, and from holding -any office or command from the crown under pain of forfeiture of his -estates and the penalties attaching to high treason. The stipulation -was unnecessary, for before the commissioners had assembled he had -entered into his rest. It is not known with certainty when or where his -death occurred; the Prestbury registers for this period are imperfect, -and no entry of burial can be discovered; it is not unlikely, however, -that he found an unknown grave at some place distant from his home -where he may have lost his life in the service of the King. - -His widow took up her abode at the Miln House—the picturesque old black -and white gabled structure, now occupied as a farmhouse, standing near -the railway midway between Adlington and Prestbury, built in the time -of Sir Urian Legh—which she held in jointure. She could hardly have -been as uncompromising a Royalist as her husband, for in a petition -to the committee for compounding with “delinquents,” praying that she -might be allowed to compound for her deceased husband’s estates, she -sets forth that “she had long before the death of her husband misliked -the course of the enemy (_i.e._, the Royalists) in the parts where she -resided, and had departed thence into the Parliament’s quarters, where -she had ever since remained and conformed herself to all the orders of -Parliament.” The statement was no doubt made in good faith, for some -little time after Thomas Legh’s death she married an ardent Republican, -who had been as active in furthering the Parliament’s interest in -Lancashire as her first husband had been in defending that of the King -in Cheshire—Sir Alexander Rigby, of Middleton-in-Goosnargh, a lawyer, -statesman, magistrate, and colonel, and eventually one of the barons of -the Exchequer. Rigby, who represented Wigan in the Long Parliament, -was head and heart and hand and almost everything else of importance -in Lancashire; his activity was unwearied; his energy irrepressible, -and his influence unbounded. He was engaged in every important action; -he commanded at the siege of Lathom, the fight in Furness, the capture -of Thurland Castle, and the defence of Bolton-le-Moors; and he was -nominated one of the King’s judges, but declined to act, the only -occasion in his life, it is said, in which he hesitated to do his worst -against royalty. Dr. Halley, in his “Lancashire Puritanism,” describes -him as “rash, impetuous, rude, haughty, severe, implacable; admired -by many, esteemed by few, and loved by none,” and the same writer -adds, “he is said to have contrived a scheme and bargain by which the -Royalist masters of three Cambridge colleges—St. John’s, Queen’s, and -Jesus’—were to be sold for slaves to the Algerines.” - -[Illustration: SIR ALEXANDER RIGBY.] - -The “insolent rebell, Rigby,” as Charlotte Tremouille, the heroic -Countess of Derby, designated him when he was besieging Lathom House, -though possessed of only a small estate, was connected by birth and -marriage with many of the best families in Lancashire; he was also -closely allied with the Leghs, of Adlington, having married for his -first wife Lucy, the daughter of Sir Urian, and sister of Thomas Legh, -so that he stood in the relationship of brother-in-law to his second -wife. - -The marriage of their mother with the “insolent rebell” could hardly -have been viewed with much satisfaction by the sons, who were all -fighting on the side of the ill-fated Charles, and, therefore, -accounted “delinquents,” one of them being specially mentioned as “very -active against the Parliament” and continuing “extreamelie malitious,” -though, in other respects, it was fortunate, as Rigby’s influence as -a member of the House of Commons in the Parliament interest was no -doubt used in protecting the estates from the more ruinous exactions to -which they would otherwise have been subjected, as well as the illegal -challenges which might have wrested them absolutely from their rightful -owners. - -Sir Alexander Rigby died in 1650, having caught the gaol fever of -the prisoners while on circuit at Croydon, and some time after his -widow, who appears to have had a penchant for matrimony, again -entered the marriage state, her third husband being John Booth, of -Woodford, in Over, the uncle of Sir George Booth, of Dunham Massey, -the head of the Presbyterian interest in Cheshire. John Booth was -also a staunch Puritan; like the knight in “Hudibras,” he had ridden -out “a-colonelling” in the interest of the Parliament, and may have -been the identical Puritan whom “Drunken Barnaby,” when on his “Four -Journeys to the North of England,” saw and thus immortalised:— - - I came to Over—O, profane one— - And there I saw a Puritane one, - A-hanging of his cat on Monday - For killing of a mouse on Sunday. - -The marriage with John Booth could not have been a very felicitous -one, for, according to Sir Peter Leycester, husband and wife lived -apart from each other. She resided at the Miln House, and died there in -February, 1675-6, and was buried at Prestbury. By her first husband, -Thomas Legh, she had five sons, all of whom served in the Royalist -army, one of them, John, losing his life in the war; and seven -daughters, one of whom, Margaret, became the second wife of the eldest -surviving son of her mother’s second husband, Alexander Rigby the -younger, who, like his father, was an active soldier on the Parliament -side, and the representative for Lancaster in the House of Commons in -1658. - -At the time of Colonel Legh’s death, in 1644, his eldest son and -heir, Thomas Legh, was a prisoner of war at Coventry, having been -captured in the engagement at Stafford in May in the preceding year, -where he was detained until June, 1645, when he was exchanged for his -brother-in-law, Alexander Rigby,[35] who had been taken prisoner during -the siege of Lathom House. He had then been married some few years, -his wife being Mary, the daughter of Thomas Bolles, of Osberton, in -Nottinghamshire. - -[Note 35: According to Colonel Fishwick it was Urian Legh, the uncle of -Thomas, who was exchanged for Alexander Rigby the younger.—_History of -Goosnargh_, p. 148.] - -Civil war has ever a devouring and insatiable maw, and in those days of -political trouble and disturbance, when hostile armies were marching -and counter-marching through the country, neither persons nor property -were safe. It was the time— - - When nobles and knights so proud of late, - Must pine for freedom and estate, - -especially if they were suspected of having any political partialities, -whether on the “malignants” or the “roundheads” side. The Leghs were -all active partisans, and no family in Cheshire sustained heavier -losses or endured greater hardships in defending what they believed -to be the rights of their sovereign. While Thomas Legh was a prisoner -at Coventry his young wife petitioned the sequestrators that some -provision might be made for her, and eventually she had allotted to -her a small portion of her husband’s lands. In June of the following -year she again memorialised the sequestrators that her husband might be -allowed to compound for his estates, pleading that since his release -he had foreborne to repair to the enemy’s quarters, and setting forth -the miseries which she and her children were enduring, being destitute -of the means of livelihood until relieved. Mr. Legh also presented a -petition praying that he might be allowed to compound, when a statement -of his “delinquencies” and a report upon his estates was submitted, -which is preserved among the State papers in the Record Office. The -charges exhibited against him were— - -(1.) That he led a company of musquetiers into Adlington Hall when it -was first garrisoned against the Parliament, and brought some who were -well affected to the Parliament prisoners into the garrison, and kept -them there till they compounded with him. - -(2.) That he bore arms in that garrison; was governor of it; and gave -directions to the inferior commanders therein. - -(3.) That he refused to deliver up the said house to Colonel -Duckinfield for the use of Parliament. - -(4.) That he went from that garrison to Shrewsbury, thence to Chester, -and thence to other garrisons of the enemy, and that he associated -himself and held intercourse of intelligence against the Parliament -with them. - -On the 10th March, 1645-6, the Committee of Sequestrators agreed that -Thomas Legh should be permitted to compound on payment to them of the -sum of £2,000. This amount having been secured he, in July, obtained -his discharge, and in the succeeding year sued out a pardon under the -great seal for himself and his three surviving brothers, Charles, -Peter, and Henry (John having been killed in action), who had also been -admitted to compound. But his troubles were not yet ended. In November, -1648, he was required by the commissioners to settle the tithes of -Bosley in Prestbury parish, valued at £56 a year, in trust for the -minister of Bosley, the following being the minute of the Commissioners -of Augmentation:— - - _Thomas Leigh_, of Adlington, in ye said countie (Cheshire), by - deeds dated ye 16th of November, A.D. 1648, hath settled ye tithes - of _Prestbury_, of ye value of £56 per ann. upon George Booth, - Esq., in trust for ye minister of _Boseley_, and his successors - for ever. Consideration £560. - -Before the close of the year, in pursuance of an order of Parliament, -he was ordered to pay £220, being an assessment of one-twentieth part -of the estate. Subsequently he was required to furnish a particular -account of his real and personal estate, which being done, it was -submitted to Major-general Worsley and the Commissioners then assembled -at Middlewich, in February, 1655. - -In November, 1656, he had the misfortune to lose his wife, who had -borne him a family of six sons and four daughters. She was buried at -Prestbury, November 22, and at the very time she lay dead his estate -was again decimated and himself secured. Whereupon he presented a -petition to the Lord Protector, alleging that he had behaved peaceably -under the then government, and praying that he might no longer be -looked upon as an enemy, but might partake of the Protector’s grace and -favour. The petition was referred to Worsley and the Commissioners for -securing the peace of the county, who in January, 1656-7, reported that -since his composition he had behaved peaceably and respectably to the -Parliament party, soldiers and friends, and had not been concerned in -any plots against the Protector or Parliament to their knowledge; that -he had constantly paid all taxes for the use of the Commonwealth; had -sent forth such forces, both horse and foot, for the service of the -late Parliament as required; and had, moreover, offered his personal -assistance for them at the battle of Worcester; and, finally, that -they considered him a person capable of favour. From this time he -appears to have been left in undisturbed possession of his property. He -survived these troublous times, and lived to see the overthrow of the -Commonwealth and the restoration of monarchy in the person of Charles -the Second. In 1662 he was nominated sheriff of his native county—the -only recognition he ever received of the losses sustained and the great -services which he and his family had rendered to the cause of the -Stuarts. Fortunately for his house, those losses were in some measure -made up from another source. In the year in which he served the office -of sheriff his late wife’s mother, Dame Mary Bolles, who, in 1635, -had been created a baroness in her own right, the only instance of -such a creation, died, leaving property, to the value, it is said, of -£20,000 to be divided between her two sons-in-law, Sir William Dalston -and Thomas Legh—in the case of the latter a welcome addition to an -estate which during the usurpation had been so greatly impoverished. -The fortune thus acquired he seems to have employed in improving and -extending his territorial possessions, for about the year 1669 he -is found purchasing from Sir Thomas Brereton the old manor-house of -Handforth, which one of his progenitors, Urian Brereton, erected in -1557, and subsequently (1681) he became the owner, also by purchase, -of lands in Newton, adjoining Butley, that have since descended with -the other Adlington properties. Thomas Legh survived all his brothers, -and died in December, 1687, being then in his seventy-third year. -In accordance with his expressed desire, his remains were “decently -buried amongst his Ancestors in the Chancell of the parish church of -Prestbury.” - -[Illustration] - -Thomas Legh, the third of that name, was in his forty-fourth year when -he succeeded to the Adlington estates—those in Leicestershire and -Nottinghamshire passing under his father’s will to his two surviving -brothers, Edward and Richard. Shortly after the Restoration (1666) -he chose himself a wife from the historic house of Maynard—Johanna, -the daughter, and eventually heir, of the distinguished statesman -and lawyer, Sir John Maynard—a match that must have brought him -considerable wealth, and have added to his social influence. Sir -John had been an active member of the Long Parliament, in which he -distinguished himself as one of the prosecutors of Strafford and Laud, -but afterwards, for his opposition to the violent acts of the army and -the unconstitutional proceedings of Cromwell, he was twice committed -to the Tower. At the conference between the Lords and Commons at the -time of the Revolution he displayed considerable ability, and warmly -advocated the abdication of James II. He was appointed one of the -Commissioners of the Great Seal in 1689, being then eighty-seven years -of age. He had frequently to submit to the coarseness of Jeffries’ -ribald tongue. On one occasion, when addressing the court, that unjust -dispenser of justice interrupted him with the rude remark, “Mr. -Serjeant, you’ve lost your knowledge of law; your memory is failing -you through age.” “It may be so,” responded Maynard, “but I am sure I -have forgotten more law than your lordship ever knew.” And it is said -of him that when William III., alluding to his great age, remarked that -he must have outlived all the lawyers of his time, he happily replied, -“Yes, and if your highness had not come over to our assistance I should -have outlived the law itself.” - -Political prudence was not always a distinguishing characteristic of -the lords of Adlington, and Thomas Legh does not seem to have profited -greatly by his father’s and grandfather’s experiences of political -partisanship, for he contrived to get himself involved in the troubles -which fell upon Cheshire in 1683, the year of the notorious Rye House -Plot, when he was suspected of conspiring with others to place the Duke -of Monmouth upon the throne. - -Monmouth, who had been expatriated, had returned a year or two -previously to find himself hailed as the “Protestant Duke,” and exalted -into a popular hero. He made a partisan progress through Cheshire, -with the view of ingratiating himself with the men of the county; -while at Chester, courting popularity, a violent “No Popery” mob broke -into the Cathedral, and, amongst other outrages committed upon the -contents of the sacred building, wholly destroyed the painted glass of -the east window of the Lady Chapel, broke up the organ, and knocked -the ancient font to pieces. Enquiries were instituted as to those who -were believed to sympathise with the action of Monmouth, when Thomas -Legh’s name was included in the list of persons, who, being suspected, -it was deemed expedient should give security for their good behaviour. -He must, however, have regained the Royal favour, for he retained his -commission as colonel of militia, and the year following that in which -he entered upon possession of his patrimonial lands he was honoured -with the shrievalty of the county. He did not live long to enjoy the -estates, having met his death by an accident on the 6th April, 1691, as -thus recorded in a MS. diary, preserved at Tabley:— - - 1691, April 6th.—Col. Legh, of Adlington, layning on a raile in - Adlington, whch breaking he fell and broak his neck and dyed. - -His wife, who survived him several years, resided at the Miln House, -in Adlington, and died about November, 1700. The bulk of her personal -property was, in accordance with her directions, invested in the -purchase of lands for the benefit of her second surviving son, Robert, -who married Mary, daughter of Sir Richard Standish, of Duxbury, and -settled at Chorley, in Lancashire, on the lands purchased under his -mother’s will. Thomas Leigh, by his wife had, _inter alia_, Anne, -his co-heiress, who became the wife of Thomas Crosse, of Crosse Hall -and Shaw Hill, in Lancashire, by whom she had a son, Richard Crosse, -of Shaw Hill, who, through failure of direct male heirs, eventually -succeeded to the Adlington estates, and took the name and arms of Legh -by Royal license. - -Thomas Legh, who died in 1691, was succeeded in the estates by his -eldest son, John, who was then thirty-two years of age, having been -born in 1668. Two years after he entered upon his inheritance (July, -1693) he married Isabella, the daughter of Robert Robartes, Viscount -Bodmin, and granddaughter of the first Earl of Radnor. During his time -some important additions were made to the family estates. In the year -of his marriage he purchased from William Sherd, of Sherd and Disley, -the descendant of an old companion in arms of his grandfather, the -estate of Sherd-fold, on the confines of Adlington; three years later -he purchased Hope-green from Edward Downes, and in 1696 he acquired -the property known as “Day’s Tenement,” in Prestbury. In 1705 he was -nominated sheriff of the county, and he appears to have succeeded his -father as colonel of the militia, in which capacity he was called -upon to aid in suppressing the political disturbances that arose in -Lancashire on the occasion of the Hanoverian succession. - -At the dine of Queen Anne’s death, in 1714, the country was divided -into two powerful factions, a large number of the people, with that -old English feeling of which we see traces even yet, preferring as -their monarch the son of an English king to the son of a petty foreign -prince. The flames of rebellion were kindled, and a determined effort -was made to restore the direct succession to the throne, in the -person of the Chevalier de St. George, the eldest son of James II., -and a half-brother of the deceased queen. On the 10th June, 1715, the -birthday of the Chevalier, a Jacobite mob, headed by “Tom” Syddall, -a peruke maker, attacked the Nonconformist Chapel in Cross Street, -Manchester—the only dissenting place of worship at that time in the -town—smashed in the doors and windows, pulled down the pulpit and -pews, and carried away everything portable, leaving only the ruinous -walls; and, a few days later, sacked and destroyed the meeting-houses -at Blackley, Monton, and Greenacres. In October of the same year the -Earl of Derwentwater and General Foster, with the Earls of Wintoun, -Nithsdale, and Carnwath, and Lords Widdrington and Nairne, raised -the standard of the Pretender, and, with a small army, crossed the -border, passed through Kendal and Lancaster, and as far as Preston—that -“Capua” of Scotchmen, as it has been called—on their way south. In the -last-named town, if we are to believe the Jacobite journalist, Peter -Clarke, they were so fascinated by the good looks and the gay attire -of the Lancashire witches that “the gentleman soldiers from Wednesday -to Saturday minded nothing but courting and feasting.” While they were -thus “courting and feasting” the news of their advance reached General -Willes, who was then in command of the garrison at Chester, and he at -once set out to attack them, passing through Manchester on his way. -Finding a strong Jacobite feeling existing there, he caused several of -the more influential leaders of the faction to be secured, and disarmed -the others, leaving a troop behind him to overawe the disaffected. -Before leaving he wrote to the Earl of Cholmondeley, the lord -lieutenant of Cheshire, urging him to send on the militia while he with -his regular forces marched against the insurgents, and in the “Memoires -of the family of Finney, of Fulshaw,” written by Samuel Finney in -1787, it is recorded that in October a warrant from three of the -deputy lieutenants was directed to John Legh, of Adlington, or, in his -absence, to John Finney, his captain-lieutenant, requiring them to give -notice to the constables of Macclesfield Hundred to order all persons -charged with any foot soldiers to send on the same by the 17th of the -month, “every Soldier to appear compleatly armed with musket, bayonet -to fix in the muzel thereof, a Cartooch Box, and Sword, to bring pay -for two days, and the Salary for the Muster Master. Every Muskateer to -bring half a pound of powder, and as much (sic) Bullets, and the said -Constables to appear and make returns.” On the 27th October another -warrant was issued requiring them to assemble the forces at Knutsford -on the 7th November, when, as we are told in the “Memoires,” “having -exercised their appointed time, and the Rebells advancing, the Regiment -was ordered to advance northwards and secure the town of Manchester, -whilst Generals Willes and Carpenter advanced with the horse to attack -the Rebells at Preston. When,” it is added, “the Cheshire Regiment was -advanced to the Top of Deansgate, the Entrance of the Town, they made -a Halt to wait for Billets from the Constables, which were so long in -coming and the Weather extremely wet and cold, and the road Miry, that -both Officers and Men grew so impatient that a messenger was despatched -to the Constables to tell them that if they did not immediately send -them Billets they would fire the Town; this had an immediate good -Effect; they soon got into warm quarters. The King’s Head in Salford -fell to the share of Sir Samuel Daniel, Coll. Legh, and Captain Finney, -intimate Friends, and jolly brave Fellows, who, instead of saying their -prayers and going to bed like good Folks, expecting to be killed next -day, sat drinking, laughing, and taking Spanish Snuff till the morning, -when they expected to come soon into action; but Willes and Carpenter -soon eased them of that trouble, by forcing the Town of Preston.” - -Mr. Legh’s military experiences were not of a very sanguinary -character, and this appears to have been the last occasion in which -he was employed in any soldierly capacity. He died in 1739, and on -the 12th December was buried in the family vault at Prestbury, having -had in addition to a son Charles, who succeeded, two daughters, who -pre-deceased him; Elizabeth, who died unmarried, and was buried at -Westminster, August 20th, 1734, and Lucy Frances, second wife of -Peter Davenport (afterwards Sir Peter), of Macclesfield, who died in -November, 1728, leaving an only daughter her sole heiress, Elizabeth -Davenport, who became the wife of John Rowlls, of Kingston, in Surrey, -Receiver-General, who afterwards assumed the surname of Legh. - -Charles Legh, who succeeded as heir on the death of his father, John -Legh, in 1739, was born at Adlington, September 17, and baptised at -Prestbury, October, 1697, so that he must have been in his forty-fourth -year when he entered upon his inheritance. He had then been married -some years, his wife being Hester, daughter of Robert Lee, of Wincham, -in Bucklow Hundred, who by the death of her brothers, Robert and Clegg -Lee, and her sister, Elizabeth, without issue, became heir to the manor -of Wincham. - -In earlier years the Leghs had evinced their piety by important -additions made to their parish church, as well as by the erection of -a chapel on their estate for the convenience of their more immediate -dependents; and Charles Legh, on first coming into his patrimony, -applied himself to the work of enlarging the old church of Prestbury by -the rebuilding of the north aisle and the Legh chapel, to the cost of -which he was the chief contributor. He could not, however, have felt -much appreciation of the beauties of the original design, or he would -not have replaced a Gothic structure with the unsightly, barn-like -erection which has happily within the present year been superseded by -one of more ecclesiastical character. - -The following year was one of considerable excitement, for it was -that in which Prince Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, renewed the -attempt to recover the throne of his ancestors—the fatal ’45. On the -28th November the rebel army reached Manchester, which, as the story -goes, was taken by “a sergeant, a drum, and a woman;” three days later -the march towards London was resumed, Macclesfield being chosen as -the terminus of the first day’s journey. The Prince marshalled his -forces in two divisions, and, leading one of them, forded the Mersey -at Stockport, and then marched through the level country, by way of -Woodford, Adlington, and Prestbury, to Macclesfield. The story is -told that as they were passing through Adlington they came up with a -carter, named Broster, returning from Stockport, who was forthwith -“pressed” into the service and ordered by the soldiers to convey their -baggage to Macclesfield. Among the chattels put into Broster’s cart -was a heavy chest evidently containing treasure, the money possibly in -which the Manchestrians had been mulct, and which poor James Waller, -of Ridgefield, the borough-reeve, had been compelled to gather in. The -darkness of a December night had fallen upon the scene by the time they -approached Prestbury, and, the baggage guards not being over vigilant, -Richard Broster watched his opportunity and made the most of it when it -came. Suddenly turning up a bye-lane, he whipped his horses briskly, -and succeeded in reaching his home at Old Hollin Hall Farm, near -Bollington, before he was missed; arrived there, the box was quickly -tipped into the yard pit as a hiding-place from the troopers who might -be sent in search of the lost treasure, and there it lay until the -rebels had started upon their march to Derby, when it was fished up.[36] - -[Note 36: It is said that in the cellar at Old Hollin Hall there is a -stone bench with this inscription graven upon it:—“This must stand here -for ever—Richard Broster, 1757.”] - -Though the Leghs of Lyme, who were suspected of favouring the cause -of the Pretender, might not be able to wipe out altogether from their -hearts the old Stuart affection, their kinsman of Adlington could not -have had much sympathy either for the young Chevalier or the cause he -represented, or, if he had, his Jacobitism must have been under the -control of a very cautious possessor, and not so demonstrative as to -imperil his personal and family interests, for when Joseph Ward, the -Vicar of Prestbury, preached a sermon on the occasion of the “General -Thanksgiving” for the suppression of the “unnatural rebellion” it was -published, as by the title-page appears, “at the request of Charles -Legh, of Adlington, Esquire.” - -In 1746 Mr. Legh added to his territorial possessions by the purchase, -from Thomas Pigot, of the estate of Bonishall, which for several -generations had been the residence of a younger branch of the Pigots -of Butley, the representative of which had then migrated to Fairsnape, -near Preston, and from that time Bonishall has descended to the -successive owners of Adlington with the other estates of the family. In -the following year Mr. Legh had the shrievalty of Cheshire conferred -upon him, a dignity that, as we have seen, had been enjoyed by his -ancestors in six consecutive generations previously. He does not, -however, appear to have devoted much attention to public matters, -preferring to reside upon his own estate and there discharge the duties -devolving upon him as a country gentleman. In the later years of his -life he occupied his time in remodelling, and in part rebuilding, the -home of his fathers; in doing so, however, it is to be regretted that, -influenced by the then prevailing fancy for works of classic type, he -was led to adopt a style so much at variance with the character of the -original structure, and which, outwardly at least, robbed it of its -most picturesque and interesting features. In commemoration of his work -he inscribed his own name and that of his wife with the year of its -completion, 1757, upon the frieze of the portico, and on the pediment -above affixed a shield of arms—Legh quartering Corona, with Lee of -Wincham, on an escutcheon of pretence. - -While engaged in the re-edification of his house the barony of -Kinderton became extinct, when Mr. Legh set up a claim to be considered -heir male of the family, in right of his descent from Gilbert Venables, -the first baron, and, as such, entitled to bear the Venables coat -without any mark of decadence. The claim was never admitted, but -Mr. Legh assumed the arms notwithstanding, and, in assertion of his -supposed right, caused them to be placed conspicuously in the hall at -Adlington, and also on the chancel screen in the church at Prestbury, -where they may still be seen. - -Unlike his mother, who, if we may judge from the directions she gave -respecting her funeral, had as little respect for the blazonments of -chivalry and that ancient and respectable guild, the College of Arms, -as Macaulay’s old Puritan who wished to have his name recorded in the -Book of Life rather than in the Register of Heralds, Mr. Legh had a -great fondness for heraldry, and was much given to the study of the -“noble science.” - - The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, - -was with him no meaningless phrase, and before he began the rebuilding -of the south front of his mansion he had been at considerable pains to -adorn the interior of the great hall of Adlington with the armorial -ensigns of his progenitors and the families with which they had -severally become allied, like the lord of Gray’s “ancient pile” at -Stoke-Pogeis, upon - - The ceiling’s fretted height - Each panel in achievements clothing. - -The fine series of armorial shields which still appear were painted -under his directions, and are in place of a series, one hundred and -eighty-one in number, which were affixed shortly after the rebuilding -of the mansion by Thomas Legh, in 1581,[37] about which time that -assiduous worthy, William Flower, Chester Herald, and subsequently -Norroy King of Arms, was corresponding with and enjoying the friendship -and hospitality of the owner of Adlington, and his kinsman, Sir Peter -Legh, of Lyme. - -[Note 37: In the Chetham Library there is a curious MS. folio volume -purchased at the sale of the Adlington Library in 1846, and now known -as the “Adlington MS.” On the fifth page from the end is written, -“_Finis, Quod sum non curo quod ero spero Thomas Leyghe_.” Thomas Legh, -it would seem being the compiler. Among other interesting matters -relating to Cheshire which it contains are “The Armes of Gentlemen as -they be placed over the Chimney in Adlington Hall, 1611.”] - -In 1758, the year following the rebuilding of the south front of -Adlington, Charles Legh’s only son, Thomas Legh, was united in marriage -with Mary, daughter of Francis Reynolds, of Strangeways, Manchester, -who represented Lancaster in Parliament for the long period of -forty-five years, and the sister of Thomas and Francis Reynolds, who -inherited successively the barony of Ducie of Tortworth. The young -couple took up their abode at Wincham, which had come to Thomas Legh’s -mother by inheritance, and there he died, in his forty-first year, -on the 15th June, 1775, without surviving issue—thus terminating a -line which had maintained an unbroken succession for more than four -centuries. His widow survived him for the long period of forty-three -years, her death occurring March 26, 1818. - -Charles Legh is said to have been somewhat autocratic and austere in -his bearing, and to have ruled his little kingdom with a strong hand, -dispensing justice in a summary fashion, and not scrupling at times -to administer correction to the refractory with his own hand. Many -curious stories concerning him are related and still find credence in -the cottage homes around Adlington. There is a tradition that it was -his daily practice to perambulate the boundaries of his domain with -the object of discovering and expelling any marauder or sturdy rogue -who might be prowling about his lands. Notwithstanding these little -peculiarities, he kept up a style of true old English hospitality, and -was greatly esteemed and respected by his neighbours. With his fondness -for heraldry, he united a love of music; and he had, moreover, some -claim to rank as a poet, though his muse, it must be confessed, was -at times a little halting. When Handel[38] was in the zenith of his -popularity he was for some time a guest at Adlington, and there is a -common belief that while there he composed his charming piece, “The -Harmonious Blacksmith,” in response to a request made by his host for -an original composition, the melody being suggested by the natural -music of the smiths plying their vocation at Hollinworth smithy, -close by the park gates.[39] The original score is said to have been -preserved at Adlington until the sale of the library in 1846, but the -music is undoubtedly a variation of an old French air. There is also -preserved in the drawing-room at Adlington a hunting song written by -Charles Legh, and set to music by Handel, which may find a fitting -place in the anthology of the county:— - -[Note 38: A story is told respecting the great composer which, as it -associates his name with Cheshire, we may be excused for repeating. As -is well known, his masterpiece, the _Messiah_, was first performed in -Dublin, in 1741. While on his way there he was detained for a time at -Chester, the wind being unfavourable for his embarkation at Parkgate. -Wishing to employ the time in trying some pieces in his new oratorio, -he inquired for some one who could read music at sight, and a printer, -named Janson, who had a good bass voice, was recommended to him as one -of the best musicians attached to the cathedral. A time was fixed for a -private rehearsal at the Golden Falcon, where Handel was staying; but, -alas! on trial of the chorus in the _Messiah_, “And with His stripes we -are healed,” poor Janson after repeated attempts, failed so egregiously -that Handel let loose his great bear upon him; and, after swearing in -four or five different languages, cried out, in broken English, “You -schauntrel! Tit not you dell me dat you could sing at soite?” “Yes, -sir,” replies the printer, “and so I can; but not at _first sight_!” -Handel on this burst out laughing, and the rehearsal, it is said, -proceeded no further.] - -[Note 39: According to another version, it was at Edgeware, and not at -Adlington, that Handel heard the anvil sounds which suggested the -“Harmonious Blacksmith.” The great composer dwelt at Canons, the guest -of the Duke of Chandos, within three quarters of a mile of Edgeware, -and was for three years the organist of Little Stanmore Church. The -authority for the Edgeware or Little Stanmore version rests mainly on -local tradition and the following inscriptions:—On the organ of Little -Stanmore Church: “Handel was organist of this church from the year -1718 to 1721, and composed his oratorio of ‘Esther’ on this organ.” -On a tombstone in the churchyard: “In memory of William Powell, the -‘Harmonious Blacksmith,’ who was buried 27th February, 1780, aged 78 -years. He was parish clerk during the time the Immortal Handel was -organist of this church.” Powell was a blacksmith at Edgeware smithy. -[Information obligingly communicated by J. Oldfield Chadwick, Esq.]] - -HUNTING SONG. - - _The words by Charles Legh, Esq._ _Set by Mr. Handel._ - - The morning is charming, all Nature is gay! - Away, my brave boys, to your horses, away; - For the prime of our pleasure and questing the hare, - We have not so much as a moment to spare. - - _Chorus of the Hunters._ - - Hark! the merry loud horn, how melodious it sounds - To the musical song of the merry-mouth’d hounds! - - In yon stubble field we shall find her below, - So ho! cries the huntsman; hark to him, So ho! - See, see, where she goes, and the hounds have a view! - Such harmony Handel himself never knew. - Gates, hedges, and ditches to us are no bounds, - But the world is our own while we follow the hounds! - - Hold, hold! ’tis a double; hark! hey, _Tanner_, hey! - If a thousand gainsay it, a thousand shall lie; - His beauty surpassing, his truth has been try’d— - At the head of a pack an infallible guide. - To his cry the wild welkin with thunder resounds - The darling of hunters, the glory of hounds! - - O’er high lands and low lands and woodlands we fly, - Our horses full speed and the hounds in full cry; - So match are their mouths and so even they run, - As the tune of the spheres and their race with the sun. - Health, joy, and felicity dance in the rounds, - And bless the gay circle of hunters and hounds! - - The old hounds push forward, a very sure sign - That the hare, though a stout one, begins to decline. - A chase of two hours or more she has led; - She’s down, look about ye; they have her; ’ware dead. - How glorious a death, to be honoured with sounds - Of the horn, with a shout to the chorus of hounds! - - Here’s a health to all hunters, and long be their lives! - May they never be cross’t by their sweethearts or wives - May they rule their own passions, and ever at rest, - As the most happy men be they always the best! - And free from the care the many surrounds, - Have peace at the last when they see no more hounds! - -Hunting was a favourite pursuit of Mr. Legh’s. In Prestbury churchyard, -near the lych gate, is a flat stone, with an inscription recording the -death of one of his huntsmen, and a couplet, which he no doubt wrote.— - - Here lye the Remains of Thomas Bennison, - Head Huntsman many years to Charles Legh, - of Adlington, Esq. He died the 17th of February, - in the year of our Lord 1768. Aged 75. - - The Joys of his Heart were good Hounds and good Nappy, - Oh! wish him for ever still more and more Happy. - -On the 26th July, 1781, Mr. Legh, who had attained the ripe age of 84, -was removed by death, and on the 3rd August his remains were committed -to the family vault which he had himself erected at the east end of the -north aisle of Prestbury Church. His wife survived him some years. By -her will, which bears date September, 1787, the manor of Wincham passed -to her second cousin, Colonel Edward Townshend, of Chester, whose great -grandson, Edward Townshend, Esq., is the present possessor. - -By the death of Charles Legh without surviving issue the direct -succession ceased, and the manor and dependencies of Adlington reverted -to his niece Elizabeth, the only child of Lucy Frances Legh, by her -husband, Sir Peter Davenport, who was then married to John Rowlls, -of Kingston. She assumed, by royal licence, the surname of Legh, as -did also her eldest son John, who had married Harriet, daughter and -co-heir of Sir Peter Warburton, of Arley. He pre-deceased his mother, -and, his two sons dying in infancy, the estates, with the exception -of Butley Hall and some lands adjacent, which were alienated to his -daughter Elizabeth Hester, who married, in 1800, Thomas Delves, third -son of Sir Thomas Delves Broughton, Bart., and died in 1821, reverted -in 1806, on the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Rowlls Legh, to Richard -Crosse, of Shaw Hill, Lancashire, great grandson of Robert, the third -son of Thomas Legh, of Adlington, who took the name and arms of Legh -by royal licence. He served the office of sheriff of Lancashire in -the succeeding year, and died on the 11th August, 1822, at the age -of sixty-eight, leaving by his wife Anne, only surviving daughter of -Robert Parker, of Cuerden, who pre-deceased him, two sons and three -daughters. Thomas (Crosse) Legh, the eldest son, succeeded to the broad -lands of Adlington; the Lancashire estates of Shaw Hill, Chorley, and -Liverpool devolving upon his younger brother, Richard Townley Crosse, -who died, unmarried, February 27, 1825, when they reverted to his -sister Anne Mary, married to Thomas Bright Iken, of Leventhorpe House, -Yorkshire, who assumed the name of Crosse, the father of the present -possessor. - -Thomas Crosse Legh, of Adlington, was accidentally drowned in crossing -the river at Antwerp, April 25, 1829, being then only thirty-six years -of age. By his wife, Louisa, daughter of George Lewis Newnham, of New -Timber, Sussex, who survived him, and married, May 12, 1830, the Hon. -Thomas Americus, third Lord Erskine, the grandson of the distinguished -Lord Chancellor of that name, he had, with other issue, Charles Richard -Banastre Legh, the present representative of this ancient stock. _Esto -perpetua._ - -As previously stated, the hall of Adlington stands in the midst of an -undulating and well-timbered park, from the higher parts of which the -views are extensive and pleasingly diversified. It is a remarkably -fine example of the ancient manorial residence of the time when the -power of the feudal chief had waned and the great landowners were -no longer under the necessity of cooping themselves up in their -fortified strongholds—a type of building that is rapidly passing out of -existence, and, with the exception of the part rebuilt in the middle -of the last century, furnishes an excellent illustration of a style -of architecture which, if not altogether peculiar to, was certainly -nowhere else practised so commonly or on so extensive a scale as -in Cheshire and Lancashire. The timber-work is remarkable for its -strength and solidity, an evidence that our forefathers were by no -means economists in the use of their building materials; and, though -the lighter ornaments of architecture which give grace and beauty to -the more stately fabrics of brick and stone raised in other parts of -the country, may not be apparent, there is yet a rude magnificence and -ingenuity of construction, as well as excellence of decoration, that -make it well deserving of examination. - -The principal front has a southward aspect; it is the latest built -and most pretentious part of the mansion, but, withal, the least -interesting. It is of brick, with a portico of four columns in the -centre, surmounted by a frieze, bearing the inscription, “Charles and -Hester Legh, 1757,” with a pediment above, in which is a shield with -the Legh arms quartered with those of Corona, and an escutcheon of -pretence over all on which is the coat of Lee of Wincham. - -On entering, the first thing that meets the eye is the ponderous oaken -door, thickly studded with iron nails and black with age, which stirs -the fancy with images of the strife with Roundhead and Cavalier, for it -bears abundant evidence of the rude assaults of Colonel Duckinfield’s -troopers in the shot-holes with which it is pierced in several places. -Over the door within the vestibule is written, _Sic vos nunc vobis -mellificatis apes_, one of the four lines by which Virgil exposed the -imposture of Bathyllus. At the further end of the corridor we enter the -courtyard, on the opposite side of which is the great hall, one of the -finest in the county, if, indeed, it has its equal, with its projecting -porch, its long lofty windows, its high-pitched roof, and quaint -chequer work of black and white. Over the doorway as we enter we notice -the old black letter inscription which Thomas Legh placed when, as he -tells us, he “made this buyldinge in the year of or lorde god 1581.” - -The “hall” itself is an admirable and almost perfect specimen of the -period when that apartment constituted the chief feature of every -mansion, serving not only as an audience chamber on occasions of -state and ceremony, but as the place where the owner and his family, -with his guests and dependents, assembled daily at the dinner hour, -and where, in fact, the public life of the household was carried on. -Though perhaps not so large as in some of the baronial mansions of -the country, it is yet a noble apartment, and sufficiently spacious -for the hospitalities which in bygone days the lords of Adlington -maintained. It occupies the entire height of the building, the form -being that of a parallelogram, and, being the master feature of the -house, is superior in architectural adornment, as well as in the -amplitude of its dimensions, to any of the other rooms. The floors are -laid with polished oak, and the walls, which are elaborately carved -and ornamented, support a roof of dark oak acutely pointed and open -to the ridge piece. The framework of this roof is divided by massive -principals into bays, the collar braces being so arranged as to -form a series of fine Gothic arches, springing from bold projecting -hammer-beams that terminate in carved figures of angels holding -heraldic shields, each being in turn connected by a hammer-brace -with the main timbers of the walls. The daïs, or high place, which -undoubtedly had its position at the further end, and where the master -and mistress with their chief guests sat above the salt, as Chaucer -relates in his “Marriage of January and May”— - - And at the feste sitteth he and she - With other worthy folk upon the deis - -has disappeared, and the screen which separated the lower end from -the passage communicating with the buttery and the kitchener’s -department has been subjected to considerable alterations, though the -original form may be distinctly traced, and much of the exquisitely -ornamental panel work remains, though now well-nigh hidden from view. -These panels, though mutilated in places, are deserving of careful -examination; the design of the tracery is very beautiful, and the -carving, where not broken, remains almost as sharp and as fresh as -the day it left the workman’s hands, save that time has given that -sombre tint which so well harmonises with the ancient character of the -house. Above the screen a gallery, the front of which is ornamented in -arabesque work, extends the entire width of the apartment; in it is an -organ elaborately painted and decorated, which, from the two shields -of Corona and Robartes on the top, would appear to have been erected -during the occupancy of John Legh, who married Isabella Robartes, and -died in 1739, and no doubt it was at this time the original screen was -subjected to so much injury. In addition to the organ gallery there -are two small side galleries near the opposite end, each lighted by a -dormer window, to which, in time past, the ladies of the household and -the more honoured guests could retire to witness the revelries of the -assembled retainers below. - -Though it can no longer be said that— - - With heraldry’s rich hues imprest - On the dim window glows the pictured crest - -for every trace of the “storied pane” has disappeared, the want of -this species of decoration is in some measure compensated for by the -remarkable series of armorial shields with which the upper end of the -hall is adorned. At this end the roof is coved and divided into square -panels, each panel containing the arms of one of the Norman Earls of -Chester, the barons of their court, or of some Cheshire family with -whom the Leghs could claim kindred. There are eight rows of panels in -all. The upper ones contain the heraldic insignia of the seven Norman -Earls of Chester in their successive order; immediately beneath are the -arms of the eight Norman baronies—Halton, Montalt, Nantwich, Malpas, -Shipbrooke, Dunham, Kinderton, and Stockport; and below these again, -and separated by an elaborately carved oak cornice, the coats of the -chief Cheshire families, including those with which the Leghs are -allied—fifty-four in all. In the centre is placed an achievement of -arms—quarterly (1) Corona impaling Venables (for Legh, of Adlington), -(2) Honford, (3) Arderne, and (4) Belgrave; over all an escutcheon -of pretence bearing the coat of Legh of Wincham, with a crescent for -difference. Beneath is the motto _Da gloriam Deo_, and, to give effect -to his work, the artist, with scant regard for the laws of heraldry, -has added a couple of unicorns as supporters; honourable accessories -which it was not in the power of Garter King or even the Earl Marshal -himself to bestow. On the knots of the framework of the panels is an -inscription in single letters carved in relief— - -THOMAS LEGH & CATARINA SAVAGE UXOR EIUS - CC - AO DOI MO CCC VTO R.R.H. vij., xx. - -The walls on the west and north sides are adorned with paintings of -scenes from the “Æneid”—the one on the west end, which occupies the -entire width, representing Hector taking leave of Andromache, and -those on the north Venus presenting Æneas with armour, and Andromache -offering presents to Ascanius. The wall spaces on each side of the -organ at the west end are similarly decorated, one representing St. -Cecilia and the other a figure playing upon the harp. - -Nash, in his “Ancient Mansions,” has given a characteristic view of -this glorious old banquetting room, and it requires little stretch of -the imagination to picture it as it must have appeared in its pristine -state in the days of bluff King Hal and the maiden Queen—of Thomas Legh -who built it, and his son, the valorous Sir Urian, when banners gay -with many a proud device floated overhead; when the huge fire blazed -cheerfully upon the halpas, and the long windows shed a profusion of -light and dyed the pavement with the reflected hues of the heraldic -cognisances with which they were dight; when the walls were draped -with richest arras, and the screen, wrought with all the nicety of -art, was hung with arms and armour—halberds, bills, and partisans, -and the spreading antlers of deer captured in many a memorable chase; -to re-people it with the departed forms of sturdy warriors and sober -matrons, of gallant youths and lovely maidens; to see again the figures -and faces of those who have long ago returned to dust, and listen in -imagination to the lusty laugh and the jocund song of the nameless men -who, at the trumpet call of “boot and saddle,” were ready to mount and -ride away wherever their lord might lead, - - Alike for feast or fight prepared, - Battle and banquet both they shared, - -Giving the rein to fancy, we may see the stately owner with his -dependents seated at the well-spread table, and hear the thrice-told -tale, while - - flagons pass along the board, - Filled to the brim with foaming ale; - And goblets flash with ruby wine, - And merrily speeds the glad wassail. - -The hall was proverbially the place of festivity, and many a scene of -jocund mirth and roystering revelry, unrestrained by the laws which -modern civilisation imposes, has, doubtless, here been witnessed, as -the nut-brown ale, the mead and the sack, the Malmsey, and the Rhenish, -the mazer-bowl, and the highly-spiced claret cup passed from hand to -hand, and the “top beam of the hall” was enthusiastically toasted as -symbolising the health of the lordly owner, whose armorial ensigns -occupied that elevated position, for - - Merry swith it is in halle - When the berdes waveth alle. - -On the north side of the hall, near what was the “high-place,” a -doorway communicates with the dining-room and some of the principal -apartments, and also with the staircase leading to the drawing-room -and the corridor which extends the entire length of the south front; -but these parts of the mansion have been greatly modernised, and, with -the exception of the dining and drawing rooms, remodelled by Charles -Legh about the middle of last century, and in each of which are some -exquisite carvings, said to be by Grinling Gibbons,[40] but more -probably the work of Sephton, which well deserve examination, do not -call for any special description. - -[Note 40: Gibbons, of whom Horace Walpole said “there was no instance -of a man before who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of -flowers, and chained together the various productions of the elements -with a freer disorder natural to each species,” died in 1721, and, -while there is good reason for supposing that the reconstruction of -the dining and drawing rooms was affected at a later date, Sephton -was certainly employed by Charles Legh, and it is more than probable -that the carvings at Adlington were his work. Possibly, the close -resemblance which these productions of the chisel bear to the -well-known works of the great artist led to their being attributed to -Gibbons.] - -In 1846 a large portion of the contents of Adlington, including many -family portraits by Vandyke, Lely, and Kneller; books, manuscripts, and -curiosities, were sold by auction. Some of the books and manuscripts -are now in the Chetham Library, and others were purchased for the -Portico in Manchester. Fortunately many of the family portraits -have since been recovered and restored to their original positions, -among them being the one of Sir Urian Legh already referred to, and -a large-sized picture in the dining-room by Cornelius Janssens; a -full length of Thomas Legh, the Royalist soldier, and his wife Mary, -daughter of Thomas Bolles. - -Apart from its memories, its traditions, and its associations as the -home of an ancient Cheshire stock, Adlington possesses a deep interest -as an example of old English domestic architecture. Whilst retaining -many of the more striking and important of its ancient features -comparatively unimpaired, it marks the growth and development of human -society, and expresses the needs and ideas of changeful centuries, the -varied and somewhat rude magnificence of the Tudor and Stuart periods -and the classic forms of the earlier Georgian era mingling in curious -contrast, and carrying the mind rapidly through a long series of years. -Happily, within the present century the house has been subjected to -but little change or innovation, and has escaped, in a great degree, -the evil influences of “renovators” and “improvers.” It is one of the -comparatively few old places that have remained to the descendants of -the ancient worthies by whom they were erected, and we may venture to -indulge the hope that as it has endured for centuries past, so for -centuries to come it may be preserved a genuine relic of mediæval -England—a monument and a memorial of what men call “the good old times.” - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: KERSALL CELL.] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE BYROMS—KERSALL CELL—JOHN BYROM—THE LAUREATE OF THE -JACOBITES—THE FATAL ’45. - - -In the township of Lowton, within the limits of the ancient and -far-reaching parish of Winwick, and a short distance from the little -town of Leigh, is an old-fashioned building of no great architectural -pretensions, erected apparently in the reign of one of the Stuart -kings, and now in the occupancy of a farmer. Byrom Hall, for that is -the name, stands upon the site of an earlier structure, described in -ancient writings as a manor house, though there is no evidence that -the reputed manor ever enjoyed manorial privileges, and gave name in -times past to a family ranking with the smaller gentry, who could boast -a line of succession reaching as far back as the time of the second -Edward. The Byroms of Byrom, notwithstanding their ancient lineage, do -not appear to have ever attained to any very great distinction, or to -have held any very important offices in the county; they married and -were given in marriage among the best families of the shire, and they -maintained the outward evidences of gentility by the use of armorial -ensigns, but how or when those were acquired is not clear, and it is -somewhat singular that they did not attend at any of the Herald’s -visitations to justify their right to the use of them, or to register -their descent, at least not until September, 1664, when, in answer to -the summons of Sir William Dugdale, Norroy King of Arms, Edward Byrom -attended at Ormskirk, and on behalf of his elder brother, Samuel Byrom -of Byrom—the grandfather of a certain “Beau” Byrom who wasted his -substance in riotous living, and less than half a century afterwards -parted with his patrimonial lands—registered a pedigree of five -generations. - -In the reign of Henry VII., when the Wars of the Roses were ended, -and the people had settled down to more peaceful pursuits, a cadet of -the family, Ralph Byrom, repaired to Manchester, established himself -in trade, and throve apace by transactions which in those days were -accounted considerable. - -From the earliest period Manchester had exhibited an aptitude for -manufacture. Kuerden tells us that as far back as the reign of Edward -II. there was a mill for the manufacture of woollen cloths, and in -the succeeding reign the industry and wealth of the town were greatly -promoted by the encouragement given to a number of Flemish artisans who -were induced to leave their homes in Flanders and settle in Lancashire, -where they revealed the secrets of their craft to the peasantry of -the neighbourhood, and thus planted the sapling of that industry -which, taking root, flourished and gradually spread through the -Lancashire valleys, the fulling mills and dyeworks then established in -Salfordshire being the auspicious beginnings of that vast manufacturing -industry which has enriched the kingdom and made Manchester the -commercial capital of the Empire. - -The old chronicler, Hollinworth, quoting an ancient writer, says -that in 1520 “there were three famous clothiers living in the north -countrey, viz., Cuthbert of Kendal, Hodgkins of Halifax, and Martin -Brian, some say Byrom, of Manchester. Every one of these kept a greate -number of servants at worke, spinners, carders, weavers, fullers, -dyers, shearemen, &c., to the greate admiration of all that came into -their houses to beehould them.” Whether Hollinworth’s authority is -historically correct, or the persons he names only fictitious, certain -it is that at that time Manchester was “a greate cloathing towne;” the -Byroms had become noted as one of the great trading families, and took -their places with the Galleys, the Beckes, the Pendletons, and other of -the merchant princes of the day. - -Adam Byrom, of “Saulforde, merchaunt,” as he is styled, the son of -Ralph, who first settled in the neighbourhood and diverged into trade, -was, with one exception, the largest merchant in the Salford Hundred, -and in 1540 was assessed by the commissioners of Henry VIII. at a -larger amount even than Sir Alexander Radcliffe, of Ordsall, who was -accounted the great magnate of the district. Manchester was even then -a thriving and prosperous mercantile town. Mills had been placed on -the waters of the Irwell and its affluent streams, and “Manchester -Cottons,” as they were called, and which, be it known, were then and -for a hundred years to come Lancashire woollens, were carried on -pack-horses to London and Hull, and were frequently sent to the great -fairs at Amsterdam, Frankfort, and to other foreign marts. So important -had the trade become that it was found necessary, after a year’s -experience, to repeal the statute bestowing upon the town the privilege -of sanctuary, and to send the sanctuary men, who by their idleness -and other enormities were “prejudicial to the wealth, credit, great -occupyings, and good order” of the place, to Chester, which, being -poor, was less likely to suffer by the presence of such thriftless and -disorderly characters— - - Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator. - -The wealth which Adam Byrom acquired in his business was at different -times invested in the purchase of lands, &c., in Salford, Darcy Lever, -Ardwick, Bolton-le-Moors, and other places, including the chief -messuage or manor-house called Salford Hall, in which he resided. He -appears to have been a free-trader in principle, and opposed to the -feudal monopolies that were then in vogue, for it is recorded in the -Kalendar of Pleadings that he prosecuted William Arram, the mayor of -Preston, claiming exemption from the payment of tolls and other imposts -in the fairs and markets of Salford and Preston. This worthy died on -the 25th of July, 1558. His wife, a daughter of one Hunt, of Hunt’s -Hall—the Hunt’s Bank, probably, of later days—bore him six children, -three sons and three daughters; and it is a noteworthy fact that -the two elder sons, George and Henry, died within a month of their -father’s demise. George, the first-born, was succeeded by his eldest -son, Ralph, then a child of three years of age. One of his daughters -was Margaret Byrom, the ill-fated victim of the memorable case of -supposed witchcraft in 1597, of which mention has been made in our -notice of Dr. Dee, the Wizard Warden of Manchester, who was solicited -by her friends to cast out the devil with which it was believed John -Hartley, a conjuror, had possessed her, while staying on a visit at the -house of Nicholas Starkey, of Cleworth. - -It is, however, with the descendants of Henry, the second son of -Adam Byrom, the “merchaunt,” that we are at present more immediately -concerned. This Henry had in his father’s lifetime been united in -marriage with Mary, one of the daughters of Thomas Becke, a wealthy -trader in the town, an alliance that introduces us to quite a group of -Manchester worthies. The Beckes had been for years engaged in trade, -and numbered among them some of the earliest benefactors of Manchester, -and some of her most generous churchmen. Isabel, the widow of Robert -Becke, and the mother, probably, of Henry Byrom’s father-in-law, at -her own cost erected the conduit in the market-place, the first “water -works” in Manchester, conveying the water in pipes from a natural -spring at the upper end of the town, which gave name to the present -Spring Gardens and Fountain Street. Her father was Richard Bexwyke, -another opulent merchant, who founded the Jesus Chantry on the south -side of his parish church—the one which his descendant Henry Pendleton, -in 1653, gave to the parishioners of Manchester for the purpose of -a “free” public library, the first of the kind in the town, if not, -indeed, in the kingdom; he also restored the choir and nave of the -church, erected the beautifully carved stalls on the north side of -the choir, and founded a grammar school, which one of his chantry -priests was to teach. It is probable that he was the husband of Joan -Bexwyke, the sister of Bishop Oldham, who, with Hugh Bexwyke and Ralph -Hulme (ancestor of William Hulme, the “Founder,”) was named in the -first charter of feoffment of the Manchester Free Grammar School, the -three being, in fact, not only trustees, but special benefactors and -co-founders in the endowment, if not in the first erection, of the -Manchester school, which absorbed the original foundation of Richard -Bexwyke. Another of these Bexwykes, Roger, a son or nephew of the -Richard just named, married Margaret, the sister of John Bradford, the -“martyr,” a “worthy” whose name Lancashire men will always revere; -and it is recorded that this Roger attended Bradford at the stake at -Smithfield, but he was prevented by the brutal violence of one of the -officials from helping to soothe the martyrs last agonies. - -Henry Byrom left two sons—Robert, who succeeded as heir, but died -unmarried in May, 1586, when the property passed to his younger -brother, Lawrence. Of this representative of the family but little is -known. He was in infancy at the time of his father’s decease, and he -was yet only young when he became heir to his brother, and succeeded -to an inheritance that seems to have involved him in no small amount -of litigation—generally with his own kinsmen, and for the purpose of -adjusting differences respecting properties bequeathed by his father -and grandfather. Ultimately, an agreement was come to, as appears by -the following deed, dated 13th December, 1586:— - - Be yt knowne to all men by these p’sents that wee Raphe Byrom (a - cousin of Lawrence), of Salford, in the countye of Lancaster, - gent.; Richard Hunte of the same Town, gent.; Adam Byrom - (another cousin), of the same Town, gent.; and Raphe Houghton, - of Manchester, in the countie afforesaid, gent.; for dyvers - good causes and consideracons vs movinge Have Remysed, &c., and - quyteclaymed vnto Lawrence Byrom, of Salfforde afforesaid, gent.; - &c. All and all maner of accons, sutes, querells, trespasses, &c. - by reason of any Lease made unto us of confidence and truste by - Roberte Byrom (the elder brother of Lawrence and then deceased) to - us, &c. ffrom the beginning of the worlde till this p’sent daye - except onlie for the Release or discharge of one Obligacon of a - thousande poundes made &c. by Lawce. to Ralfe & Adam 3 Maye 28 - Eliz. that the sayde Lawrence B. shall not alter the state tayle - made by Henry Byrom, father of the said Robte B. & Lawrence B. - Witnessed by “William Radclyffe” and “Roberte Leighe.” Dated 13 - Dec., 29 Eliz. (1586).[41] - -[Note 41: Local Gleanings (Lancashire and Cheshire), V. ii. p. iii.] - -The late Canon Parkinson, in his notes on the “Private Journal of John -Byrom,” says that “after an unsettled life, and a too keen sense of his -own infelicity, at least towards the close of his earthly struggles, -he found at last a haven of rest in the Collegiate Church, being -buried there June 26, 1598. There was,” he adds, “more than ordinary -sorrow in his family on that day, and probably some ground for his -son not appearing at the Herald’s Visitation in 1613, as well as for -his own Christian name not being borne by any of his descendants.” -The appearance at the Visitation (Richard St. George’s) was scarcely -necessary, for on the same occasion Adam, the son of Ralph (Lawrence -Byrom’s cousin), entered a pedigree of six generations, claiming -descent from Ralph, “second sonne to Byrom of Byrom,” the first -occasion on which any pedigree of the family had been entered, and at -the same time he asserted his claim to and was allowed the arms borne -by the Byroms of Byrom—Argent, a chevron between three porcupines, -sable, a crescent for difference, with a porcupine, sable, charged with -a crescent for crest. - -Edward Byrom, the son who succeeded him, married, about the year -1615, Ellen, the daughter of Thomas Worsley, of Carr in Bowdon, an -alliance that brought him in relationship with the Worsleys, of Platt -in Rusholme, of which family was the distinguished Parliamentarian -soldier, Major-general Charles Worsley, returned as the first -representative for Manchester in Cromwell’s Parliament of 1654. Like -his progenitors, he was engaged in trade, and carried on an extensive -business as a “linen draper,” a phrase that meant a good deal more in -those days than it does now. In local affairs he took an active part, -and in 1638-9 his name occurs on the Court Leet Rolls as one of two -constables of the town. His lot was cast in troublous times. Unlike his -contemporary, Humphrey Chetham, he seems to have escaped the attentions -of the money-seeking functionaries of Charles the First. Greatness was -not thrust upon him, and he had not, as Chetham had, to pay smart for -refusing to take upon himself the “honour” of knighthood—a distinction -in those days of doubtful value. - -Manchester had oftentimes been the scene of conflict. Roman and -Saxon, Dane and Norman, had each in turn striven for supremacy; but -well nigh six hundred years had elapsed since the tranquillity of the -inhabitants had been disturbed by the presence of contending armies. -The day, however, was near at hand when the sounds of war were once -more to be heard, and that of war the most unnatural; when members -of the same family, and often the same blood, were to contend with -each other in deadly strife. When the storm burst, and the struggle -between Charles and the Parliament began, the Byroms of Salford and -the Byroms of Manchester, with whom the recollection of the vexatious -lawsuits of Lawrence Byrom had not yet died out, ranged themselves -on opposite sides. The Byroms of Salford, like those of the parent -house, took up arms on behalf of the King, John Byrom receiving a -commission as sergeant-major in the regiment of Lancashire militia -commanded by Colonel Roger Nowell, of Read, for which, and other -acts of delinquency, his estates were seized by the Commissioners of -Sequestration, when he was obliged to compound for them by the payment -of £201 16s. 6d.; his brother, Edward Byrom, being at the same time -required to pay £2 6s. 8d. - -Edward Byrom, the representative of the Manchester stock, though in -earlier life a contributor to the building of Trinity Church, in -Salford, and accounted a moderate Churchman, was strongly inclined to -Presbyterianism, and, with two of his sons, William and John, took an -active part in promoting the cause of the Parliament. Manchester was at -the time the great stronghold and rallying point of the Puritan party, -and it is worthy of note that it was here the first blood was shed in -that unhappy conflict. When the town was in peril of assault from Lord -Strange’s (afterwards Earl of Derby) forces, Heyricke, the Puritan -warden, engaged the services of a German engineer, John Rosworm, who -had served in the Low Countries, and happened at the time to be in the -town ready to be employed by either party, and bargained with him to -superintend the defences for six months for the modest sum of thirty -pounds. Edward Byrom, “Sergeant Mr. Beirom the elder,” as he is -called, served under Rosworm, and it is recorded that he was the means -of discovering a villainous plot of certain individuals to seize and -plunder the town, through which the chief conspirators were apprehended -and their designs frustrated.[42] At a later date, when Cromwell had -been appointed “Lord Protector of the Commonwealth,” and had summoned -a Parliament to meet on his “fortunate day,” September 3, 1654, the -anniversary of the battles of Dunbar and Worcester, we find “Sergeant” -Byrom among those of the witnesses to the return of “Charles Worsley, -of Platt,” his wife’s kinsman, as the first member for Manchester. This -appears to have been his last official act, and his death occurred -shortly after. His wife, Ellen Worsley, bore him three sons and eight -daughters. John, the second son, was a zealous Puritan, and held a -lieutenant’s commission in the Parliamentarian army; his military -experiences were, however, cut short by an accident which cost him his -life, almost immediately after the outbreak of the war, and which is -thus recorded in a chronicle of the time:— - - 1642, October.—The two and twentieth day store of powder came in - (to Manchester) and the foure and twentieth day some (more powder) - coming was stayed. The joy of this last supply was sadly tempered - with the accidentall, but mortall, wound of a skilful and active - souldier.[43] - -[Note 42: Ormerod’s Civil War Tracts, p. 238.] - -[Note 43: Lancashire’s Valley of Achor, p. 123.] - -The “skilful and active soldier”—John Byrom—who was in his -twenty-second year, was buried in the Collegiate Church, October 31, -1642. - -William Byrom, the eldest son, who succeeded as heir to his father, -was an active Presbyterian, and an elder in the Manchester Classis. -In 1656 he was one of the chief inhabitants who elected Richard -Radcliffe, of Pool Fold, as the representative of Manchester in the -Commonwealth Parliament in the place of Worsley, who was then dead. -Edward Byrom, the youngest of the three sons, was twenty-eight years -of age at the time of his father’s death, and had been then married -only a few months, his wife being Ellen, the daughter of John Crompton, -of Halliwell. He inherited the Puritan principles of his father -and grandfather, and was one of those who, on the death of Richard -Hollinworth, signed the invitation to Henry Newcome to supply the -vacancy, and, with his brother William, accompanied the deputation to -Newcome’s quiet little parsonage at Gawsworth to entreat the famous -preacher to comply with the wishes of the Church at Manchester. - -This Edward was the first of the family who resided at Kersall Cell, -a house occupying the site of a religious settlement that originally -formed part of the possessions of the Cluniac monks of Lenton, and -which had been confiscated to the Crown in the reign of Henry VIII. -After its suppression the place, with the manor, had been granted -to Baldwin Willoughby, who, in 1540, sold it to Ralph Kenyon, of -Gorton, and he in turn conveyed it, eight years afterwards, to Richard -Siddall, of Slade Hall, an old black and white house still standing in -Burnage-lane, Rusholme. The estate remained in the possession of the -Siddals until 1613, when it was alienated by Richard Siddal’s great -grandson, George Siddal, who seems to have been the spendthrift of his -family. - -Edward Byrom made his will on the 14th June, 1668, being then, as he -states, “sick and weak of body,” and he must have died within a day or -two, for on the 18th June in the same year he was laid to rest with his -fathers in the Collegiate Church. By his wife he had a family of six -children, four of whom died in infancy, two sons only surviving, Edward -and Joseph Byrom. - -Joseph Byrom, the younger son, was largely engaged in trade, and, in -1703, served the office of borough reeve. He acquired considerable -wealth in his business, and with the profits thus made he, on the 10th -July, 1710, purchased from Samuel Byrom, of Byrom, the “Beau Byrom” -before referred to, “the manor, demesne and hall of Byrom,” the ancient -house of his progenitors, and it has continued in the family ever -since. - -Edward Byrom, the eldest son, took up his abode at Kersall, and he had -also a house at Hyde’s Cross, which, with Withy Grove—Within Greave, -as it was called—was then a pleasant outskirt, and the fashionable -quarter of Manchester. In 1680 he married Dorothy, daughter of Captain -John Allen, of Redvales, near Bury, and granddaughter of the Rev. -Isaac Allen, rector of Prestwich, by whom he had, in addition to seven -daughters, two sons, Edward, who, on his death in 1611, succeeded as -heir, and John Byrom, the famous poet and stenographer. - -The men of seclusion were by no means insensible to the beauties of -Nature, but, on the contrary, in the selection of the sites for their -religious houses usually displayed considerable judgment— - - The cunning rooks, - Pitched, as by instinct, on the fattest fallows— - -and Hugo de Buron was no exception, for he must have been imbued with -the feeling so characteristic of the monkish fraternity when, in the -days of Ranulph Gernons, he withdrew himself from the world and settled -as a solitary recluse in the quiet secluded hermitage on the banks -of the Irwell, which afterwards became an appendage of the Cluniac -monastery of Lenton, in Nottinghamshire, and, in turn, the home of -the opulent Manchester merchant, Edward Byrom, and his descendants. -Fairer spot than that which Hugh de Buron chose it would be difficult -to conceive, or one better suited for a life of monastic seclusion. It -was then remote from the haunts of men, the atmosphere was not dimmed -by the smoke of innumerable chimneys, nor the broad stream polluted -with the abominations of countless manufactories. With its breezy -moor and low wooded hills, its ferny hollows and forest avenues, and -its wide shimmering river gliding swiftly yet silently along, and -heightened in beauty by the noble oaks and stately elms that feathered -down almost to the water’s edge, it was just the place where the soul -might commune with itself, and feed on thoughts and fancies ever new -and ever beautiful. A place where the purest and noblest impulses -might be awakened and the mind stirred to many a holy thought and -deed—where in leaf and blossom, in wood and water, might be discovered -the parallelism between the Great Artificer’s work and His precepts, -or, as Charles Kingsley puts it, “The work of God’s hand, the likeness -of God’s countenance, the shadow of God’s glory.” - - It stood embosomed in a happy valley, - Crowned by high woodlands, where the Druid oak - Stood like Caractacus, in act to rally - His host, with broad arms ’gainst the thunderstroke. - -After the Reformation, when this little sanctuary passed into lay -hands, a house was built upon the site—a picturesque black and white -structure with projecting oriels, quaint mullioned windows, and gabled -roofs, and here Edward Byrom took up his abode when he attained to -manhood, for he was a youth of but twelve summers when his father died; -to this house he took his youthful bride, Dorothy Allen, in 1680, -and here many of his children were born. He had another house, as -already stated, at Hyde’s Cross, and, besides this, his burgage shop -or place of business in the market stead opposite the Cross, to which -he afterwards added a stall, as appears by the following entry on the -court rolls of the manor of Manchester:— - - 1692, May 16th.—Stallinged and installed Edward Byrom, of - Manchester, milliner, in one stall, stallinge, or standing roome - at or neare the Crosse, in the Market Place, in Manchester - aforesaid, formerly in the possession of Francis Rydings, - deceased, being next to Robert Pelton’s, towards the Crosse, - conteyning in breadth two yards, and length three yards. - -The spot thus indicated was in close proximity, if not, indeed, -actually in front of the shop—the quaint black and white structure -in the Market Place, which has been for many years a licensed house, -and is now known as the “Wellington.” The building has ever since -continued in the possession of the family, the present owner being Mr. -Edward Byrom, who assumed that name in lieu of Fox on his succeeding at -her death to the property of his godmother, Miss Eleanora Atherton, -the great granddaughter of Edward Byrom’s distinguished son, John -Byrom. The “milliner’s” business was in reality that of a mercer or -haberdasher. It must have prospered, for subsequently the two adjoining -stalls were absorbed; and it would seem to have been carried on after -Edward Byrom’s death by his youngest daughter, Phœbe, for in Mrs. -Raffald’s “Directory” for 1773 the name occurs, “Miss Phœbe Byrom, -milliner, 1, Shambles,” and in that for 1781, “Miss Phœbe Byrom, -milliner, Market Place.” The lady, who was five years younger than her -brother John, died on the 20th February, 1785, at the ripe old age of -88. - -It seems strange in these days to read of a merchant or trader having -a stall in the Market Place, but the mode in which business was -conducted in the earlier years of the last century was very different -to that with which the present generation is familiar. Dr. Aikin, in -his “Description of the Country Round Manchester,” says that “When the -trade began to extend, the chapmen used to keep gangs of pack-horses, -and accompany them to the principal towns with goods in packs, which -they opened and sold to shopkeepers, lodging what was unsold in small -stores at the inn. The pack-horses brought back sheep’s wool, which -was bought on the journey and sold to the makers of worsted yarns at -Manchester or to the clothiers of Rochdale, Saddleworth, and the West -Riding of Yorkshire.” When at home the trader was invariably in his -warehouse or place of business at six o’clock in the morning; at seven -he and his children and apprentices had a “plain breakfast” together, -the “plain breakfast” being “one large dish of water pottage, made -of oatmeal, water, and a little salt, boiled thick and poured into a -dish.” “A pan or basin of milk” was placed by the side, and each, using -a wooden spoon, dipped first into one and then into the other. The -shops in the Market Place which were occupied by clothiers, mercers, -and the better class of tradesmen were for the most part open to the -street, and a loose stall or standing in front, where their wares could -be more advantageously displayed, was not thought at all derogatory. - -In the “Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom,” edited -for the Chetham Society by the late Canon Parkinson, we have pleasant -glimpses of the daily doings of the worthy linen-draper or milliner, as -he was indifferently styled, Edward Byrom, and an admirable picture of -the habits and modes of life in the household of a well-to-do trader -as well as of the literary and social characteristics of the better -class of people in Manchester a century and a half ago. Edward Byrom -had a numerous family—seven daughters, six of whom died unmarried, -and, in addition, two sons. Edward, the eldest son, who was brought up -to the business which had been carried on with so much success for so -many generations, was born March 4, 1686-7. John was baptised at the -Collegiate Church, 29th February, 1691-2, and was his junior therefore -by about five years. Having, as good old Bishop Oldham expressed -it, much “pregnant witte,” he was trained for one of the learned -professions, and in due course was sent to Chester and placed under -the tuition of his relative, the eminent schoolmaster, Mr. Francis -Harper, preparatory to his being entered at Merchant Taylors’—then -famous as a seminary of learning—in which it was expected that his -father’s influence with the city traders would secure him admission. -He proceeded from Chester to London in January, 1707-8, and in the -following month he writes to his father:— - -London, Feb. 1707/8, - - Hond. Sir [such was the form in which a young gentleman addressed - his “governor” in the days of Queen Anne] I received yours in - answer to mine of the 10th and 27th inst. Our feast was on - Tuesday last; the boys went to school, had wine and biscuit, then - walked to Bow Church, where one Mr. Dunstan preached on Prov. - xix. 8; from thence they walked to Leathersellers’ Hall, where - the gentlemen had a feast. The boys who were my schoolfellows at - Chester came up soon to London, which turned to their advantage. - I think it not prudence to go to University too soon, both for - Mr. Ashton’s opinion, and because I believe that when they come - there they are expected to know enough of school learning so as to - read authors, compose exercises, &c., with their own help and the - instruction of a tutor. I cannot have the opportunity of seeing - the Register Book till doctor’s day, which will be about Easter, - when I shall take particular notice how I stand as to election; in - the meantime strive to improve myself in virtue, knowledge, and - learning. We went to Bow Church on Sunday to hear the Archbishop - of York.—I am your dutiful son, - -J.B. - -In another letter he writes:— - - My master is very kind to me, and never yet spoke a cross - word to me, and I think I never gave him occasion, which is - an encouragement and satisfaction to me, and I will strive to - preserve it. - -Young Byrom’s progress in the classics was so satisfactory that in -1709 he was admitted a pensioner of Trinity College, Cambridge, and in -a letter, dated 14th May in that year, he gives his father a detailed -account of the examination and the circumstances attendant upon his -election. His career at the university was anxiously watched by his -father, whose letters, many of which have been preserved, contain many -admonitions and much excellent advice. Thus, apparently in response to -a request for a copy of Locke’s great work, he writes, - - I have not Mr. Locke’s book of “Human Understanding,” it is - above my capacity; nor was I ever fond of that author, he being - (though a very learned man) a Socinian or an atheist, as to which - controversy, I desire you not to trouble yourself with it in your - younger studies. I look upon it as a snare of the devil, thrown - among sharp wits and ingenious youths to oppose their reason to - revelation, and because they cannot apprehend reason, to make them - sceptics, and so entice them to read other books than the Bible - and the comments upon it. - -In another letter he says:— - - I lately brought home Mr. Melling and Mr. Worsley from evening - prayers to drink a dish of tea in your remembrance ... good son, - look now before you to consider how precious your time is, and - how to improve yourself, to consider the design and end proposed - in your education, to fit you for sacred orders, which ought most - considerately to be undertaken ... whatever books you read, be - sure to read Dr. Hammond upon the Psalms and Lessons, with Dr. - Whitby every day; it is not every young scholar hath them, but - you have, and shall want no necessary thing I can buy you. I was - reading, the other evening, the 2nd lesson; Hebrews vi., 7, 8, - made a deeper impression on my mind now, after receiving the holy - sacrament on Good Friday and Easter day, than I ever noted in - them before, which may be applicable to you. In your case, when - the good education bestowed upon youths designed for the ministry - bringeth forth herbs meet for them to whom it is dressed, it - receiveth God’s blessing; but if thorns and briars, &c. Reading - this, I applied it so on you, who I then thought of, but on myself - as in my own case. - -No wonder that with such counsel from such a father, the young -undergraduate should have become imbued with a spirit of piety that -influenced every action of his future life. But that father was soon to -be taken from him. In August, 1711, Edward Byrom, whose health had been -failing for some time, passed away at the comparatively early age of -fifty-five, and on the twenty-first of the same month was laid to rest -by the side of his fathers in the Jesus chantry, then called the Byrom -chapel, in the old church of Manchester—the church in which in life he -had so often delighted to worship. - -In December, 1711, young Byrom took his B.A., and in his exuberant -joy he thus writes from Cambridge to his confidential friend, John -Stansfield, the assistant manager of his late father’s place of -business in London, whom he frequently commissioned to purchase books -for him:— - - I would fain have nothing hinder the pleasure I take in - thinking how soon I shall change this tattered blue gown (the - undergraduate’s gown, which was then, as now, blue) for a black - one and a lambskin, and have the honourable title of Bachelor of - Arts. BACHELOR OF ARTS! John, how great it sounds! the Great Mogul - is nothing to it. Ay, ay, sir, don’t pride yourself upon your fine - titles before you have them. Are you sure of your degree? Can you - stand the test of a strict examination in all these arts you are - to be bachelor of? Has not one of your blue gowns been stopped - this week for insufficiency in that point already, and do you hope - to escape better? Why, sir, you say true, but I will hope on, - notwithstanding, till I see reason to the contrary.—Yours, J. B. - -The “black gown,” the “lambskin,” and the “honourable title” were -gained notwithstanding, and the vacation which followed was spent by -the young Bachelor of Arts with his widowed mother and sisters in his -Lancashire home at Kersall. His sister, Sarah (Mrs. Brearcliffe), in a -letter to John Stansfield, writes— - - Brother John is most at Kersall: he goes every night and morning - down to the water side and bawls out one of Tully’s orations in - Latin, so loud they can hear him a mile off; so that all the - neighbourhood think he is mad, and you would think so too if you - saw him. Sometimes he thrashes corn with John Rigby’s men, and - helps them to get potatoes, and works as hard as any of them. He - is very good company and we shall miss him when he is gone, which - will not be long to now; Christmas is very near. - -From orating on the banks of the Irwell, and “threshing corn with John -Rigby’s men,” Byrom returned to his studies at Cambridge. His lively -and cheerful disposition made him popular with his brother collegians, -and secured for him many friendships. He was, too, a welcome visitor -in the house of the master of Trinity, Dr. Richard Bentley—the great -Bentley; one of his most intimate associates was the doctor’s nephew, -“Tom,” and he was also on friendly terms with the doctor’s young and -fascinating daughter, Joanna—“Jug,” as she was familiarly called—if, -indeed, they did not entertain something more than friendly feelings -towards each other. In July, 1714, we find him writing to his old -friend Stansfield as to his prospects of a fellowship, and in the -following month he writes to his brother Edward, who was then in -London:— - - I have wrote to Mr. Banks to desire his interest at fellowships, - but must leave it to you to direct it and send it to him. - -It was about this time that his passion for poetry first manifested -itself. He had before (August 17, 1714), under the signature of “John -Shadow,” contributed a paper to the _Spectator_ on the subject of -dreams, which elicited a complimentary editorial note from Addison. -This was followed on the 6th October in the same year by his pretty -pastoral, “Colin and Phœbe,” prefaced by another complimentary note, -which at once brought him into general notice:— - - My time, O ye muses, was happily spent, - When Phœbe went with me wherever I went, - Ten thousand sweet pleasures I felt in my breast; - Sure never fond shepherd like Colin was blest! - But now she has gone, and has left me behind, - What a marvellous change on a sudden I find! - When things were as fine as could possibly be, - I thought ’twas the spring, but alas! it was she. - -The poem, which comprises ten stanzas, at once became generally -popular; it was his first production in verse, and gained the -admiration of Chalmers and the praise of Bishop Monk, the latter -pronouncing it “one of the most exquisite specimens in existence.” It -is commonly supposed that the Phœbe of the pastoral was Bentley’s witty -and accomplished daughter, “Jug,” who, Bishop Monk says, “from her -earliest youth captivated the hearts of the young collegians,” and for -whom Byrom is said, though without any evidence, to have conceived a -passion. It is more than likely that he wished to attract the attention -of Bentley, who was an ardent admirer of the _Spectator_, and who, -finding in its columns a poem of such merit from one of his own college -might be induced to use his influence in obtaining for the author the -fellowship which Byrom so much desired. Certain it is that he got the -fellowship he had previously despaired of, and did not gain the hand -of Bentley’s daughter, that young lady a few years afterwards becoming -the wife of Dr. Dennison Cumberland, afterwards Bishop of Clonfert -and Killaloe, the issue of the marriage being Richard Cumberland, the -well-known dramatic writer. - -The year following his election to a fellowship of his college (1714) -Byrom proceeded to his master’s degree. The ardent aspirations of -his father that he should enter the Church were not, however, to be -realised, for in 1716 he was obliged by the statutes of his college to -vacate his fellowship in consequence of his declining to be admitted to -holy orders. The reason of this is not very clear, but it is evident -from his correspondence that he had then become strongly imbued with -Jacobitism, and, in the unsettled state of society consequent upon -the Hanoverian succession and the determined efforts that were made -to restore the crown to the exiled Stuarts, he may have felt a desire -to be free from the obligations his ordination vows would impose. Be -that as it may, he visited the continent in 1717, and remained for -some time in seclusion. There was some mystery about his movements -at the time, and it has been surmised that his retirement was not -altogether unconnected with politics, if, indeed, it was not for the -actual purpose of fomenting another Jacobite insurrection. During his -stay he met with Malebranche’s “Search after Truth,” and some pieces -of Mademoiselle Bourignon, the consequence of which was that he became -strongly impressed with the visionary philosophy of the former, and -the enthusiastic extravagance of the latter. He resided for a while -at Montpelier, where he applied himself to the study of medicine. His -brother Edward, writing to him on the 17th August, 1717, says:— - - I hope you have improved yourself in physic since your being there - (Montpelier). I would gladly have you employ yourself that way, - and you need not doubt of encouragement here. Not one person but - ourselves knows where you are, but we think now to let our friends - know that you are studying physic at Montpelier.... You may save - yourself any trouble of inquiring after Mr. Roberts, for he is in - these parts, but thinks himself excepted out of the act of grace, - as are all persons who have gone beyond seas, or all who have been - with the Pretender. - -While away there was a probability of the librarianship of the Chetham -Library falling vacant, a post which Byrom was rather anxious to -obtain, though the emoluments were very small. In a letter to his -brother, written from Montpelier, January 3, 1718, he writes:— - - My wife (his youngest sister Phœbe, whom he playfully spoke of by - that name) writes me word that Mr. Lesley, your library keeper, - is going to die; that the feoffees ask if I will have the place. - I could like it very well, but I suppose it tied to certain - engagements which I do not like so well; I suppose the feoffees - (are) at liberty to give it to one _in_ or _out_ of orders, but - whether he must take the oaths or no depends not upon them. If I - may be as I am, I shall be glad to visit the skeleton. You all - invite me home very kindly, and in spring I think to come to you - by way of Paris, if you know of no other by any of the ports. I - have nothing should tempt me from your company at present but the - occasion of a little insight into physic in this place. - -The “insight” having apparently been obtained, he returned to England, -and on the 3rd May he writes a hurried note to his brother from -Cambridge. - - The post is this moment going out, so I run to the coffee-house - to return you an answer in haste to yours, and let you know that - I should be very willing to have the library, and am very much - obliged to you for your pains in engaging the feoffees; if you can - be sure of it, let me know further; it will be better worth while - than staying for a doubtful chance of a fellowship whose profit - will be slow in coming; besides, ’tis in Manchester, which place I - love entirely. - -Whether admission to orders was a condition, or the taking the oaths an -obstacle, is not clear, but, though Byrom returned to Manchester, he -did not succeed to the office. - -The prospect of the librarianship of Chetham’s Library was not the -only inducement for Byrom to settle in his native town. His uncle, -Joseph Byrom, had a pretty daughter, then blooming into womanhood, who -had made an impression on his susceptible heart, and, in short, the -ardent young Jacobite, who awhile before had penned verses in praise of -Bentley’s fascinating daughter— - - Moving all nature with his artless plaints, - -fell in love with his cousin; but the course of true love was ruffled -by the proverbial obstructions. The young lady’s favour was quickly -gained, but her father’s approval was not so easily secured, and that -is scarcely to be wondered at. Byrom at the time had not settled down -to any profession; his prospects were doubtful; he had been obliged -to seclude himself on account of his political proclivities; and -had, moreover, come to be accounted an eccentric and somewhat dreamy -philosopher, infected with the mysticism of the French school. The -practical, hard-headed Manchester merchant could, therefore, hardly -look upon him as an eligible suitor or a promising husband for a young -lady destined to inherit the ancestral home of the Byroms. Everything, -however, comes to him who can wait. Byrom did wait; and eventually -the obdurate parent yielded, and gave his consent to, if he did not -actually express approval of, the match; and on Valentine’s Day, -1720-1, at the old church, the young couple were united, the bride -having just completed her twenty-first year, and Byrom being then in -his twenty-ninth. - -Chalmers, in his biography of Byrom, represents the marriage as a -clandestine one. He says the lady’s father “was extremely averse to the -match, and when it took place without his consent, refused the young -couple any means of support; and, as a means of supporting himself and -his wife, Byrom had recourse to the teaching of shorthand writing.” -But this is an error, as evidenced by a passage in a letter addressed -by the bride’s elder sister, Anne Byrom, to Mr. Stansfield, under date -February 18, 1720-1, four days after the wedding:— - - I received yours last week, and designed answering it by first - post, but could not have an opportunity, we having been pretty - much engaged this week; for on Tuesday last sister Elizabeth was - married to Dr. Byrom, with consent of father and mother, and the - wedding kept here, and we having had a deal of company. - -His sister here designates him “Dr.” Byrom, and the prefix to his name -was through life commonly accorded by his friends and acquaintance. -He does not appear ever to have taken a degree entitling him to it, -though in one of his letters written from Montpelier he styles himself -“Dr. of Physic.” There is a common belief that he practised medicine in -Manchester; but this was only upon rare occasions, chiefly among the -poor and the members of his own family; and he threw physic to the dogs -when he applied himself to the perfecting of his system of shorthand. -Shortly after his marriage he became the occupant of a house belonging -to Mr. Hunter, standing at the corner of Hanging Ditch, and what is -now the lower end of Cannon Street, but then called Hunter’s-lane, and -here his family resided for many years. His journal affords pleasant -glimpses of his home life and surroundings at this time:— - - October 5, 1722.—This day we came to Mr. Hunter’s house. Saturday, - 6th.—Laurenson’s wife died. Sister Ellen ill. Sorted my papers - all morning. Mr. Hooper came about one to ask me to go to Holme - (Hulme Hall). I followed ’em thither; Mr. M. and R. and Mrs. H. - Malyn. Dr. Mainwaring there. We bowled, read Haddon’s verses on - the eclipses, &c. Mr. Leycester came, and Mr. Kate. - -[Illustration] - -The Mr. Hooper here referred to was the recently-appointed librarian to -Chetham’s Library, and the chaplain to Lady Anne Bland, of Hulme Hall, -lady of the manor of Manchester. Massey Malyn was a son of Dr. Malyn, -who had acquired by his marriage the Sale Hall Estate, in Cheshire, and -was himself the rector of Ashton-upon-Mersey; Robert Malyn, his younger -brother, was an undergraduate of Cambridge; Peter Mainwaring was a -well-known medical practitioner in the town, who subsequently married -one of the sisters and co-heiresses of Massey Malyn; and John Haddon -was the rector of Warrington. Hulme Hall was at that time the centre -in which gathered the wit and learning and intellectuality of the -neighbourhood. Lady Anne Bland, the widowed owner, and the foundress -of St. Ann’s, was accounted the leader of fashion among the Hanoverian -and Whig party, and the rival of Madam Drake, who carried the palm -among the Jacobite and Tory fashionables; the former deeming it not -inconsistent with her dignity to resent the exuberant display of Stuart -tartan at the newly-built Assembly-rooms, in King Street, by arraying -her party in orange-coloured ribbons, and dancing a minuet with them -by moonlight in the open street. Byrom was always a welcome guest at -Hulme, where his sprightliness and epigrammatic humour was highly -appreciated, and with the pious, if somewhat imperious, owner he was, -in spite of his Jacobite proclivities, an especial favourite. He was a -frequent worshipper at St. Ann’s, the “new church” as it was called, in -contradistinction to the “old” or parish church, oftentimes occupying -Lady Bland’s seat, and occasionally going back to tea with her in her -own coach:— - - 1725.—Wednesday, Twelfth-day (January 6th), went to the new church - in the morning with Beppy (his eldest daughter Elizabeth, then - a child of three years), and sat in Lady Bland’s seat; dined at - Father Byrom’s; called to see the Wild Irishman in Smithy-door. - - Tuesday, 12th,—Young Tarboc called on me, and we went to Hulme to - take the inscription off the stone (a Roman altar found in Castle - Field). I came home with Lady Bland in the coach, and went with - Mr. Cattel and Mr. Brettargh to dinner. I went to Hulme again with - young Tarboc. - - Wednesday.—Lady Bland sent to invite me to the dancing to-night. - I walked to Hulme in the evening, when I found them dancing. We - came home between twelve and one in Lady Bland’s coach and father - Byrom’s chariot, which sister Ann had ordered. - - Sunday.—New church; sat with Mr. Mynshull (of Chorlton Hall); took - leave with Dr. Malyn, Mr. Chetham, and Lady Bland. - -It is pleasant to think that at this time, when in Manchester -political and religious feeling was at fever heat, and the place had -become little else than a hot-bed of contending factions, there was a -disposition to observe the amenities of life, and people of the most -conflicting political opinions were able to meet in social intercourse -with every appearance of complaisant good humour. - -When Byrom married he obtained the consent of his bride’s father, -but he obtained little else; his own means were scanty, and with the -increasing demands of an increasing family he was compelled to follow -some occupation as a means of earning a livelihood. While pursuing -his studies at Cambridge he had invented a system of shorthand, the -leading principle of which was to denote the different sounds of -language by strokes of the shortest and simplest form. Reporting, as -a profession, was all but unknown, but in private life stenography was -much more generally practised than at the present time, especially -among students and the better educated members of society, who, before -the age of cheap literature, had recourse to it to reduce the labour -of frequent transcription. Cypher-writing had long been in vogue, the -“Diary” of Pepys being a notable illustration, but the system which -Byrom introduced was the first that was based upon any clearly defined -principle, and, though now out of date, may be said to be the parent of -all subsequent and “improved” systems. Unfortunately for him the men -of Manchester a century and a half ago thought more of looms than of -literature, and were more intent on manufactures than on metaphysics; -hence the place afforded little scope for the practice of the art -which he had invented. London was a more promising field, and during -several years he made lengthened visits to the metropolis, where he -met with very encouraging support, his patrons and pupils including -some of the most eminent statesmen and divines of the day—the Duke of -Devonshire, the Archbishop of York, Lord Chesterfield, Lord Hartington, -Hoadley, Bishop of Salisbury, Horace Walpole, Pope, and others of equal -celebrity. In his Journal he records:—“Proposals printed May 27, 1723, -for printing and publishing a new method of shorthand;” and on the 30th -January, 1724, he writes to his wife:— - - I told you I was to see the Archbishop of York. I did so on - Tuesday morning, and talked with him and his son about our art. - They entered into the notion of it very readily, and his grace - promised to recommend it wherever he had an opportunity. New - proposals are now printing off, dated February 1st, 1724, that is, - Saturday, on which day I intend to advertise in the _Daily Post_, - _Evening Post_, and _London Journal_. They are the same as the old - proposals, only Mr. Leycester’s (of Toft) approbation is added to - Mr. Smith’s. Now the thing receives a formal publication I shall - see what I am likely to expect from my friend Mr. Public, and - whether he will have a true relish for clever things or no. - -“Mr. Public” had the desired “relish,” and the “clever things” obtained -for their inventor the honour of admission into the Royal Society. - - “Thursday, March 19th (1724).—This day I was admitted Fellow of - the Royal Society by Sir Hans Sloane, and Mr. Robert Ord at the - same time. He and I went there together, gave Mr. Hawkshee two - guineas, and signed bond to pay fifty-two shillings a year.” - -Byrom found a competitor in the person of a Mr. James Weston, who -claimed to be the inventor of a superior method of stenography, and the -journalist thus writes of his “furious antagonist”:— - - Mr. Hooper and Jo. Clowes have been to pay Mr. Weston a visit, - and we have had good diversion with the account of it.... He - describes me seven foot high,[44] tolerably dressed in a tie-wig, - spent my fortune, and a little light-headed, and showed ’em all - his challenge, and how he had frightened me from dispersing my - proposals publicly, but seemed at the bottom to be plaguily - afraid. He says I come to Dick’s coffee house almost every night - when he intends to come and challenge me before the company; when - he does, I shall let you know in what manner he (de)molishes me. - -[Note 44: Byrom was of unusual stature; on one occasion he records -having met with a Mr. Jefferson, who was “taller than I by measuring,” -the only instance, it would seem, of his having met with such a person.] - -During his visits to London Byrom became associated with the leading -literary and political characters of the day—with Sir Hans Sloane, -Bentley, the great Newton, the Wesleys, and others—over whom his -great intellectual ability and ceaseless industry, blended as it -was with a high tone of religious and moral feeling, enabled him to -exercise considerable influence. His “Journal,” in which from day -to day he records the trifling occurrences of his life, contains -many references to his literary friends, and embraces a variety of -information interesting as illustrative of the manners and habits of -the age. In his long absences, however, he never forgot the ties of -home and family. His letters addressed “To Mrs. Eliz. Byrom, near the -Old Church, in Manchester,” relating his daily doings, are full of -entertaining gossip, and couched in terms of the fondest endearment. -Here is a passage taken at random:— - - Kent’s Coffee House, May 20, 1729.—I am sorry to hear of Nelly’s - being so ill and weakly; but I am not able to add anything to the - care which you take of her by any physic of mine. The diet of - children is the only thing to look after.... My dearest love, as - thou takest all possible care of thy infants, make not thyself - uneasy about them; but secure thine own health for the sake of - them, and thy most affectionate husband and friend. - -A week later he writes:— - - I promise myself that you are all pretty well at Kersall and - Nelly better, not having any letter last post.... Prithee let the - children have some sort of things that will keep the sun off ’em. - Why should one let their faces be spoiled when a little custom - might prevent it? Oh, dear! that I was with ye all. I long to jump - into Kersall river. - -If he could revisit his dearly-loved haunt at Kersall he would find the -river now not quite so inviting. - - * * * * * - -In one of his letters to Mrs. Byrom he speaks of meeting with -Whitefield, the great preacher and founder of the Calvinistic -Methodists, who had then just returned from a visit to the American -settlement of Georgia, when it was proposed to sing a hymn; and he -remarks, “If I was to sing with ’em, it must (be) nearer homeward than -Georgia. The tune that I should sing would be something like this, I -believe:— - - Partner of all my joys and cares, - Whether in poverty or wealth, - For thee I put up all my pray’rs; - Well heard if answer’d by thy health. - - Long absence, cruel as it is, - Content still longer to endure, - If ought conducive to thy bliss - The tedious torment could procure. - - Joyous or grievous my employ, - Absence itself would give relief, - Could I but give thee all the joy, - And bear myself alone the grief. - - Lost in this place of grand resort, - Though crowds succeeding crowds I see, - Quite from the city to the court— - ’Tis all a wilderness to me! - - Amidst a world of gaudy scenes - Around me, glittering, I move; - I wander, heedless what it means, - Bent on the thoughts of her I love. - - Still I usurp that sacred sound - Too often and too long profan’d; - When shall I tread the happy ground - Where love and truth may be obtained? - - Let me and my beloved spouse, - With mutual ardour, strive to quit - False, earthly, interested vows, - And Heaven into our hearts admit. - - There let th’ endearing hope take place, - Though parted here to meet above - In a perpetual chaste embrace, - United, Jesu! in thy love!” - -It was during the time of these visits to London that the wordy war -arose between the admirers of Handel and his great Italian rival -Bononcini, which Byrom ridiculed in a witty epigram that will remain -famous for all time:— - - Some say compared to Bononcini - That Mynheer Handel’s but a ninny. - Others aver that he to Handel - Is scarcely fit to hold a candle; - Strange all this difference should be - ’Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee. - -Its publication created quite a sensation in the literary world; the -wits of the day attributed it to Swift, and he has been often credited -with it in later times. Handel’s biographer, M. Victor Schoelcher, -thus refers to it—“Swift, who admired nothing, and who had no ear, -wrote an epigram upon the subject,” and adds, “the angry injustice of -the nobles” who were in league against the great composer was “far -preferable to the empty eclecticism of the Dean of St Patrick’s.” The -question of authorship is, however, easily disposed of by a reference -to Byrom’s journal, in which, writing under date, Saturday, June 5, -1725, he says:— - - “We went to see Mr. Hooper, who was at dinner at Mr. Whitworth’s; - he came over to us to Mill’s Coffee House, told us of my epigram - upon Handel and Bononcini being in the papers.... Bob came - to supper; said that Glover had showed him the verses in the - _Journal_, not knowing that they were mine.” - -And so the years went round. The summer months he usually spent with -his family and kindred in Lancashire; looking in now and then at the -“College;” discussing learnedly with Dr. Deacon, Clayton, Thyer, and -other of the local _literati_; paying court to Lady Bland; spending -the day with “Mother Byrom” at Kersall; dining with “brother Byrom -at the Cross” (Edward Byrom’s, in the Market Place); “drinking a -dish of tea with sister Brearcliffe” at her stately house in Spring -Gardens; or taking an evening walk “after sermon by the river side by -Strangeways with Mr. Leycester and Dr. Mainwaring;” for Strangeways -Walk, as it was called, was then a pleasant tree-shaded lane, with -the pleasaunce belonging to Hunt’s Bank Hall, the residence of Mr. -Clowes, and the stately woods of Strangeways Park on the one hand, and -verdant meadows and pastures reaching down to the banks of the pure -and sparkling Irwell on the other. In London his time was pretty well -occupied with his pupils, the brief intervals of leisure being spent in -social intercourse with his Lancashire and Cambridge friends, writing -epigrams, disputing on religious doctrines, attending meetings at the -(Royal) “Society,” “making merry at the Mitre,” and lamenting the -shortcomings of his laundress. - -The practice of reporting was not then universally popular, and Byrom -occasionally met with a humorous adventure. “Orator” Henley, whom Pope -has immortalised— - - The great restorer of the good old stage, - Preacher at once and zany of his age. - -objected to his sermons being reported on the ground that “he might -have his discourses printed against him.” He threatened to turn out -the “chiel amang them takin notes,” and when Byrom would not desist, -even when the “manager” offered to return the shilling he had paid -for admission, “went on so much faster than usual that he took the -only way to stop me,” thus effectually getting rid of the unwelcome -attentions of the inexorable shorthand writer. On another occasion -when Byrom exercised his talents in assisting the High Church party -to oppose the application to Parliament for an Act to establish a -workhouse in Manchester for the employment of the poor, a scene -occurred which is best related in his own words. A subscription had -been raised in the town to defray the cost of erection, and it was -proposed that the house should be managed by twenty-four guardians, -eight to be nominated by the Whigs, eight by the Tories, and the -remainder by the Presbyterians. Dr. Peploe, the Whig Bishop of Chester, -who was also warden of Manchester, undertook to present the Bill for -forming the guardians into a corporation; but the Tory and High Church -party offered a strong opposition to the scheme. Through some delay -the measure was defeated in the first session of Parliament, and -on being reintroduced in the succeeding year it was opposed by Sir -Oswald Mosley, of Ancoats, who, fearing that his interests as lord of -the manor might be prejudiced, had, in the meantime, caused a large -building to be erected for the purpose near Miller’s Lane—the present -Miller Street. Byrom, whom the Whigs denounced as an incendiary and -threatened to pull to pieces, was very active in supporting the Tory -opposition, and gave evidence before the Commissioners. He appears on -the same occasion to have occupied himself in taking shorthand notes, -when the scene occurred which he thus describes in a letter dated -February 20, 1731:— - - I must tell you to get another petition ready to offer to the - House that a body may write shorthand in the cause of one’s - country. I have ventured to stand the threats of a complaint - and the danger of a committee in defence of that natural right - of exercising the noble art which I have acquired. At the last - committee but one I was threatened by a Scotch knight (Sir James - Campbell) whom I provoked to execution of his said valiant - threatening yesterday, for in the midst of Serjt. Darnel’s reply - out he comes at the instigation of one Brereton, and suddenly and - loud pronounces these terrible words—_To oadur, oardur, I speak - to oadur; I desair to knaw if any mon shil wrait here that is - nut a clairk or solicitur?_ and an universal silence ensuing I - was going to speak for myself but a member of my acquaintance - winking that I had better not, I repressed my rising indignation. - Nobody said anything to the knight’s query, only Sir Ed. Stanley - (M.P. for the county of Lancaster, and afterwards eleventh Earl of - Derby) hinted that there was no great harm done; and my friend the - serjeant himself said that the gentleman was famous for writing - shorthand, and for his part he was under no apprehension by his - taking down anything he should say, and so returned to his matter; - and the apparition of danger vanished; but if these attacks upon - the liberty of shorthand men go on I must have a petition from all - countries where our disciples dwell, and Manchester must lead ’em - on. - -On the 12th May, 1740, Byrom’s elder brother, Edward, the “Brother -Byrom at the Cross,” died unmarried, when John, the poet and -stenographer, became the head of the family and owner of the estates at -Kersall. - -Mr. Espinasse, in the first of his admirable series of “Lancashire -Worthies,” says that Byrom’s biographers “do not give the precise date -of the death of his elder brother, Edward.” The information is supplied -in the stenographer’s “Shorthand Journal,” in which occurs this entry:— - - May 12th (1740).—Edward Byrom, of Kersall, elder son of Edward - Byrom, of Manchester, and Dorothy, daughter of John Allen, of - Redivales, near Bury. He was born March 4th, 1686, and died May - 12th, 1740. - -By his acquisition of the family estates at Kersall, Byrom was placed -in a position of comfortable independence, and able to relax from the -drudgery of teaching shorthand, though it was some time before he could -be induced to withdraw from London and its pleasant society to settle -down in quiet retirement in Manchester. Two years after this addition -to his fortune he received the welcome intelligence from Lord Morton -that the crowning act of all his anxieties—the Act securing to him for -a period of twenty-one years the exclusive right of publishing his “Art -and Method of Shorthand”—the nation’s testimony to the merits of the -system—had passed the House of Lords and received the royal assent; an -Act which, singular to say, appears to have been obtained without any -cost. - -From this time his journeyings to London became less and less frequent, -and his life seems to have been passed for the most part in his native -town in a calm round of social and domestic enjoyment, his playful -fancy finding vent in squib and pasquinade, and in sparkling epigrams, -an easy and unshackled style of versification for which he had a -special aptitude. Not the least popular of his effusions was the one -directed against the farmers or tenants of the Grammar School Mills, -Messrs. Yates and Dawson, who had involved the town in the costs of a -lawsuit because the inhabitants had refused to observe the old feudal -monopoly and grind all their corn, grain, and malt at the mills:— - - Here’s Bone and Skin, - Two millers thin, - Would starve the town, or near it, - But be it known - To Skin and Bone - That Flesh and Blood can’t bear it. - -The point of the epigram was in the allusion to the professions of -Yates and Dawson, _Skin_ being Joseph Yates, a barrister, the father of -Sir Joseph Yates, one of the Judges of the Common Pleas; and _Bone_, -Dr. Dawson (Byrom’s relative), a well-known medical practitioner in -the town, and the father of the ill-fated “Jemmy Dawson,” the hero -of Shenstone’s pathetic ballad. He also, on the occasion of the -Pretender’s visit to Manchester, wrote the lines which have since -become almost as famous as his epigram on Handel and Bononcini:— - - God bless the King! I mean the faith’s defender; - God bless (no harm in blessing) the Pretender; - But who Pretender is, or who is King, - God bless us all—that’s quite another thing. - -The period was one of great political excitement. The men of -Manchester, who a century previously had barricaded their town and -defied the soldiers of Charles the First, became jubilant on the -restoration of monarchy in the person of his son, and, to prove their -loyalty, caused the conduit in the market place to flow with claret -and the gutters to swell with strong beer; their sons were noted for -their Jacobite proclivities, and nowhere did the young Pretender -receive a heartier welcome than in the old Puritan town where, as has -been said by a popular writer (Dr. Halley), “the orange plumes seemed -to have grown pale and faded into white feathers before the bright -colours of the Stuart tartan.” The barbarous severities with which -the rebellion of 1715 was crushed had only served to perpetuate and -increase the feeling of bitterness against the Whig Government, and -this feeling was intensified by the religious feuds that sprang up in -the town. The Tories and High Churchmen, though they had taken the oath -to King George and desired to maintain the Protestant succession, were -for the most part Jacobites, while the Low Churchmen and Nonconformists -were staunch partisans of the house of Brunswick—the one proclaimed the -divine right of kings, and the other was equally zealous in upholding -the “Glorious Revolution.” - -Byrom’s intimate friend, Dr. Deacon, a nonjuring minister, who had -incurred the suspicions of the Government through his supposed -connection with the former rebellion, and on that account had removed -to Manchester, where he combined the profession of theology with the -practice of physic, assembled a congregation of nonjurors at his house -in Fennel Street, adjoining the present “Dog and Partridge”—the “Schism -Shop,” as it was irreverently called—while Joseph Owen, a fierce -Presbyterian polemic, declaimed with angry invective against the clergy -of the “Old Church” for their alleged sympathy with the nonjuring -divine. The quarrel became fiercer than ever, and the coarse sermons of -Owen were answered by the satire and clever epigrams of Byrom:— - - Leave to the low-bred Owens of the age - Sense to belye and loyalty to rage, - Wit to make treason of each cry and chat, - And eyes to see false worship in a hat. - -Meetings of the rival factions were regularly held at the different -taverns in the town, the “Angel” in Market Street Lane being the -head-quarters of the Whigs, and the “Bull’s Head,” opposite Phœbe -Byrom’s in the Market Place, the resort of those disaffected to the -reigning family; “John Shaw’s,” too, a “public” in the Old Shambles, -kept by a veteran trooper, who in his campaigns abroad had acquired -the art of brewing punch of unrivalled quality, and who was as famed -for the discipline and the autocratic rule he maintained as for the -excellence of the beverage he brewed, received under its hospitable -roof the more thorough-going Church and King men and supporters of -the Stuart cause.[45] Byrom was a frequent attender at the convivial -gatherings at “John Shaw’s,” and the only portrait of him in the -later years of his life that has been preserved, was one taken by -stealth by his friend Dorning Rasbotham, “after spending an evening at -Shawe’s Coffee House,” prefixed to the Leeds edition of his poems, and -reproduced in Gregson’s “Fragments.” - -[Note 45: “John Shaw’s” eventually assumed the character of an organised -club, and after an uninterrupted career of a century and a half it -still remains in a flourishing state, and is as convivial in its “green -old age” as in the days when John Shaw cracked his whip, and with loud -voice and imperative tone exclaimed, “Eight o’clock, gentlemen, eight -o’clock,” and his serving maid, Molly, followed with her mop and bucket -ready to expedite the movements of the loiterer, should the cracking -of the whip have failed to “speed the parting guest.” The club has an -official staff elected annually and with much mock formality, and what -Dr. Johnson calls “obstreperous merriment,” and the members, who are -true “Church and Queen” men, assemble once a month under the shadow -of the “Mitre” to discuss punch and politics, and drink old wine, and -the traditional old toasts, omitting, however, the very suggestive one -of the King “over the water.” Among the most treasured relics in the -possession of the club, and which now adorn the room where the members -assemble, are the original portraits in oil of the autocratic and -inflexible John and Molly Owen, his prime minister, and factotum—the -Hebe of the house, and the veritable china bowl in which John brewed -his seductive compound.] - -Byrom’s pen was ever at the service of his political friends, and -the “Laureate of the Jacobites,” the “Master Tool of the Faction,” -as he was indifferently styled, was more than a match for his Whig -antagonists. Imbued, however, with strong religious feelings, there -was little of bitterness in his compositions; the shaft of ridicule -was never envenomed, his playful wit and genial good-humoured satire -telling with far greater effect than the coarse and angry invectives -with which he was at times assailed. If he was ready to lampoon a foe, -he never lacked the courage to rebuke a friend. This is evidenced by -his well-timed admonition against swearing, “addressed to an officer -in the army,” Colonel Townley, the commander of the regiment raised in -Manchester in the service of the Pretender:— - - O that the muse might call, without offence, - The gallant soldier back to his good sense, - His temp’ral field so cautious not to lose; - So careless quite of his eternal foes. - Soldier! so tender of thy prince’s fame, - Why so profuse of a superior name? - For the King’s sake the brunt of battles bear; - But, for the King of King’s sake do not swear. - -In his early youth Byrom had manifested strong Jacobite tendencies, -but in the interval between the two rebellions—the Sacheverel riots -of ’15 and the rising of ’45—his political opinions, if in no degree -modified, had become much less demonstrative, and his Jacobitism was -under the control of a possessor sufficiently cautious to prevent its -imperilling his family interests or endangering his personal safety. -His daughter “Beppy” was then a young lady of three-and-twenty; -following her father’s example she had set up a diary, and some of -the entries in her journal, with a letter written by Byrom to his -kinsman and friend, Mr. Vigor, furnishes the most circumstantial and -entertaining accounts of the Pretenders visit to Manchester extant. -The doctor’s gossiping daughter was an ardent Jacobite, though a very -prudent one, her sentimental devotion to the Stuart cause being most -pronounced when personal danger was remote, the fair young diarist -having little scruple in designating the wearers of the white cockade -“rebels” when peril was at hand. For all that, her “Diary” is very -entertaining. Apart from the vivid portraiture of the excitement and -consternation into which the Manchestrians were thrown by the presence -of the rebel army, it is impossible to read it without feeling that you -are listening to the sprightly chat of the lively and unsophisticated -writer. - -On Tuesday, the 25th of November, news came that Prince Charles -Edward had marched his forces into Lancashire. The town was in a -state of great excitement. The Presbyterians and Whigs deemed it -prudent to get out of the way; the militia, which had been very -valiant before the approach of the rebels, followed the example; the -wealthier householders removed their families into the country; and -even furniture and provisions were conveyed to places of more assured -safety. On the afternoon of Friday, the 28th, Sergeant Dickson, a -dashing young Scotchman, with his sweetheart and a drummer, entered -the town and proclaimed the Chevalier King; and on the following -morning the Prince with the main body of his army joined them, and -encamped in St. Ann’s Square. “Manchester,” says Ray, in his “History -of the Rebellion,” “was taken by a sergeant, a drum, and a woman, who -rode to the market cross on horses with hempen halters on, where they -proclaimed their King.” Here is “Beppy” Byrom’s version: - - Tuesday (November) 28.—About three o’clock to-day came into - town two men in Highland dress, and a woman behind one of them - with a drum on her knee, and for all the loyal work that our - Presbyterians have made they took possession of the town, as one - may say, for immediately after they were ’light they beat up for - volunteers for P(rince) C(harles).... They were directly joined by - Mr. J. Bradshaw, Mr. Tom Sydall, Mr. Tom Deacon, Mr. Fletcher, Tom - Chaddock; and several others have listed, about 80 men by eight - o’clock, when my papa came down to tell us there was a party of - horse come in. He took care of me to the Cross, when I saw them - all. It is a very fine moonlight night.... My papa and uncle are - gone to consult with Mr. Croxton, Mr. Fielden, and others how to - keep themselves out of any scrape, and yet behave civilly (a very - prudent procedure in such a crisis). All the justices fled, and - lawyers too, but coz. Clowes. - - Friday, 29th.—They are beating up for the P.; eleven o’clock we - went up to the Cross to see the rest come in; then came small - parties of them till about three o’clock, when the P. and the - main body of them came; I cannot guess how many.... Then came - an officer up to us at the Cross, and gave us the manifesto - and declarations. The bells they rung, and P. Cotterel made a - bonfire, and all the town was illuminated, every house except Mr. - Dickinson’s (the house in Market-street-lane, where the Prince - took up his quarters, and thenceforward known as the Palace). My - papa, mama, and sister, and my uncle and I walked up and down - to see it. About four o’clock the King was proclaimed, the - mob shouted very cleverly, and then we went up to see my aunt - Brearcliffe, and stayed eleven o’clock making St Andrew’s crosses - for them; we sat up making till two o’clock. - -Colonel Townley, a member of the great Catholic family of that name, -who had arranged for the Prince’s reception in Manchester, and had -engaged several of the principal residents for officers, speedily -mustered and enrolled a regiment in the service of the Prince. Each -recruit received a white St Andrew’s cross, which cost little, and -a _promise_ of five guineas, which, as they were never paid, cost -less. In the next entry the enthusiastic young Jacobite describes her -impressions of the “yellow-hair’d laddie,” and the way in which her -father made homage to him:— - - Saturday, 30th (St. Andrew’s Day).—More crosses making till twelve - o’clock; then I dressed up in my white gown and went up to my aunt - Brearcliffe’s, and an officer called on us to go see the prince. - We went to Mr. Fletcher’s and saw him get a horseback, and a noble - sight it is [no wonder that amid such excitement the young lady - got a little “mixed” in her moods and tenses]. I would not have - missed it for a great deal of money. His horse had stood an hour - in the court without stirring, and as soon as he got on he [_i.e._ - the horse, not the prince] began a dancing and capering as if he - was proud of the burden, and when he rid out of the court he was - received with as much joy and shouting almost as if he had been - King, indeed I think scarce anybody that saw him could dispute it. - As soon as he was gone the officer and us went to prayers at the - old church at two o’clock by their orders, or else there has been - none since they came. Mr. Shrigley read prayers; he prayed for the - King and Prince of Wales, and named no names. Then we called at - our house and eat a queen cake, and a glass of wine, for we got - no dinner; then the officer went with us all to the Camp Field - to see the artillery; called at my uncle’s and then went up to - Mr. Fletcher’s, stayed there till the prince was at supper, then - the officer introduced us into the room, stayed awhile and then - went into the great parlour where the officers were dining, sat - by Mrs. Stark(ey); they were all exceeding civil and almost made - us fuddled with drinking the P. health, for we had had no dinner; - we sat there till Secretary Murray came to let us know that the - P. was at leisure and had done supper, so we were all introduced - and had the honour to kiss his hand; my papa was fetched prisoner - to do the same [another testimony to the doctor’s discretion], as - was Dr. Deacon; Mr. Cattell and Mr. Clayton [two of the Old Church - clergy who were less cautious] did it without; the latter said - grace for him; then we went out and drank his health in the other - room, and so to Mr. Fletcher’s, where my mamma waited for us (my - uncle was gone to pay his land tax) and then went home. - - December 1st.—About six o’clock the P. and the foot set out, - went up Market-street Lane and over Cheadle ford; the horse was - gathering together all forenoon; we went up to the Cross to see - them, and then to Mr. Starkey’s, they were all drawn up in the - Square and went off in companies, Lord Elcho’s horse went past - Baguley. - -What follows is matter of history. - - The Stuart, leaning on the Scot, - Pierced to the very centre of the realm, - In hopes to seize his abdicated helm. - -The Pretender’s cause was soon lost, the progress of his army being -as brief as it was disastrous. Hearing, on their arrival at Derby, -that the Duke of Cumberland with an army of veterans was in the -neighbourhood, and distrusting the skill of their own officers, they -returned northwards, their vanguard reaching Manchester on the 9th of -December, where the regiment which Colonel Townley had raised only -a few days before was disbanded, though some of the more resolute -supporters of the Prince pushed on to Carlisle, where, after a feeble -effort to hold the city, they were compelled to surrender. Chaplain -Coppock was executed in the border city, wearing his canonicals; ten of -the others, including a son of Dr. Deacon, and the adjutant, Syddal, -whose father had given up his life in the same cause thirty years -previously, and Beppy Byrom’s cousin, Jemmy Dawson, were executed -on Kennington Common. The heads of Deacon and Syddal were sent to -Manchester and fixed upon spikes on the top of the Exchange,[46] to be -reverenced by friends and execrated by foes, an exhibition that called -forth the following lines:— - - The Deel has set their heads to view, - And stickt them upon poles; - Poor Deel! ’twas all that he could do - Since God has ta’en their souls. - -[Note 46: In the accounts of the Constables of Manchester occurs this -entry—1745. Sept. 18: Expenses tending the sheriff this morn, Syddal’s -and Deacon’s heads put up, £00, 01, 06.] - -In Manchester the suppression of the rebellion of ’45 was hailed with -delight by the partisans of the house of Brunswick; the church bells -rang throughout the day, bonfires blazed at night, and orange-coloured -ribbons were flaunted in the streets as gaily as the Stuart tartan had -been only a few months before. That day must have been a sorrowful one -for Byrom and his enthusiastic daughter, for they could hardly have -escaped the insults of the Hanoverian mob when Dr. Deacon’s house was -attacked and that of poor widow Syddal demolished. - -The ill-feeling engendered by these events was of long duration, -and the toast of “The King” was not unfrequently a cause of angry -disputation. The adherents of the exiled dynasty continued their -meetings, though they usually assembled in secret, and their movements -were carefully watched by the local authorities, suspected persons -being required to take the oath of allegiance to the reigning monarch -and abjure Popery and the Pretender. Some of the more prominent -sympathisers took alarm and fled, among them being Clayton, the -chaplain of the Collegiate Church, who was said to have offered public -prayers for Prince Charles in one of the streets of Salford. Byrom, in -describing this period, says— - - We ourselves were many of us fugitives; and had we not met with - some kind asylum towns, might have wandered among the inhospitable - hills, like the present mountaineer rebels. - -His Journal shows that at this time he was frequently away from -Manchester, and not unfrequently endeavouring through the influence of -his former patrons to obtain a mitigation of the punishment of such of -the Manchester rebels as had survived the thirst of Whiggish vengeance, -but were yet undergoing imprisonment. Thus he wrote to his wife (June -18, 1748):— - - On Friday the 10th of June I had been asked to meet Mr. Folkes at - Mr. Ch. Stanhope’s, where I found likewise Lord Linsdale, D(uk)e - of Mountague, and Mr. Stanhope’s brother, Lord Harrington, with - whom we passed the dinner and an hour or two after very agreeably. - They asked me a great many questions about the Pretender, and - circumstances when he was at Manchester, &c., and I told them what - I knew and thought without any reserve, and took the opportunity - of setting some matters in a truer light than I suppose they had - heard them placed in, and put in now and then a word in favour - of the prisoners, especially Charles D, (Charles, youngest son - of Dr. Deacon, who had acted as secretary, and superintended the - recruiting of the Manchester regiment). They were all very free - and good natured, and did not seem offended with anything that - I took the liberty to enlarge upon. When Mr. Folkes came away, - about seven o’clock, I came with him, and he said that what had - passed might possibly occasion young D.’s liberty, that they were - not violent in their tempers, and that he took notice that they - listened very much to what I had been telling them of Manchester - affairs. I was much pleased with the openness of conversation - which we had upon several subjects; and as Mr. St(anhope) had - made me promise him some verses that I had lately writ, I added - a Latin copy to his brother the Viceroy of Ireland, which I - brought him yesterday, for he had sent a servant for me to dine - with again, and then we had Lord Harrington, Lord Baltimore, D. - of Richmond and a lady—Lady Townshend—and somebody else—oh, Sir - John Cope. The Duchess of R. should have been there, but the - Duke made an excuse for her. As we had a lady, however, and one - (as Mr. St. had hinted to me) of great wit and politeness, who - stayed the afternoon, complaisance to her turned the conversation - upon suitable subjects, so that I could not well introduce the - fate of Ch. D. &c. before the D. of R. who is one of our present - kings,[47] as I wanted to do. Mr. St. had read the Latin verses - and given them before dinner, and the Duke might have seen them if - he would, but the lady and the Latin did not suit politely enough, - and there was no urging anything untimely, or else I could have - been glad to have heard what he would have said about the lot of - the imprisoned.... One can only try as occasion offers, what mercy - can be got from trying. - -[Note 47: The Duke of Richmond was at the time one of the Lords -Justices for the administration of the Government during the absence of -George II.] - -He did try, and on the 23rd July he again writes:— - - I have heard nothing new about Ch. Deacon. I sent him (Mr. - Stanhope) a copy of the petition representing his case, and some - further urging of my own. By a report not being made, I understand - that the judges have made no report, which I am surprised at if - that be the real meaning. - -In a subsequent letter (August 4, 1748) to his “Dear Dolly” (his -younger daughter, Dorothy, then a maiden of 18) he sends a translation -of the verses, that young lady, as he says, not being “so book-learned -as to understand them in the original.” They are as creditable to the -heart as to the head of the writer for the evidence they afford of his -unswerving fidelity to a friend in adversity. The following lines are a -fair specimen:— - - Three brothers—I shall only speak the truth— - Three brothers, hurried by mere dint of youth, - Precautious youth, were found in arms of late, - And rushing on to their approaching fate. - - One, in a fever, sent up to be tried, - From jail to jail, delivered over, died; - Sick and distressed, he did not long sustain - The mortal shocks of motion and of pain. - - * * * * * - - The third was then a little boy at school. - That played the truant from the rod and rule; - The child, to join his brothers, left his book, - And arms, alas! instead of apples took. - - Now lies confined the poor unhappy lad— - For death mere pity and mere shame forebad— - Long time confined, and waiting mercy’s bail. - Two years amidst the horrors of a jail. - - I spare to mention what, from fact appears. - The boy has suffered in these fatal years; - Pity, at least, becomes his iron lot; - What ruin is there that a jail has not? - - He is my countryman, my noble lords, - And room for hope your genius affords; - Be truly noble; hear my well-meant prayer. - And deign my fellow citizen to spare. - -In the letter accompanying the English verses, he says:— - - I have not such good hopes as I had of the young boy being set at - liberty upon whose account they were made; he has some enemies - or other that have represented him in so ill a light that I much - question at present if he will meet with the favour which has been - so long expected except affairs shall take a turn with relation to - him (other) than I was told they had done. But I am not sorry I - have spoken my thoughts about him as opportunity offered. - -On “Prince Charles’s Birthday” (November 30th), he writes to his -daughter Beppy:— - - Mr. Nanny, a Welsh gentleman, told me he had heard that Ch. Deacon - was set at liberty; but such a world of false reports have gone - about him that I can only wish this may prove true. - -And on the 3rd of January following, writing to his wife, he remarks:— - - I was taken ill so that I could not go into Southwark to - enquire after Charles Deacon as I thought of, nor have I had - any opportunity since, nor can I learn anything of the truth or - falsehood of the report of his going abroad. - -The report was unfortunately but too true, for the _Gentleman’s -Magazine_ (v. xix., p. 41) records that on the 11th January Charles -Deacon, with William Brettargh, also of the Manchester regiment, were -conveyed from the new gaol, Southwark, to Gravesend, for transportation -during life. - -With the expatriation of this hapless youth may be said to have closed -the darkest and most sorrowful page in Manchester’s annals. In that -sanguinary chronicle of ruthless savagery there was perhaps no more -melancholy episode than the misfortunes of the nonjuring divine of -Fennel Street, who lost three of his sons in the Pretender’s cause. -Thomas Theodorus, the eldest, as already stated, was executed, and his -head fixed on the Manchester Exchange; Robert Renatus died in prison -while awaiting trial, and Charles Clement, as we have seen, was sent -beyond seas. The father passed into his rest on the 16th February, -1753. He lies in the north-east corner of St. Ann’s Churchyard, where -his raised altar-tomb may still be seen with an inscription setting -forth that he was “the greatest of sinners and most unworthy of -primitive bishops.” - -There is a tradition current that the heads of Thomas Deacon and -Tom Syddal, after being exposed for some time on the Exchange, -were one night surreptitiously removed by Mr. Hall, a son of Dr. -Richard Edward Hall, who resided in a large house at the top of King -Street, and that they were secretly buried in the garden behind his -residence. This garden with the rookery in it, which reached down to -the present Chancery Lane, existed within the recollection of the -present generation, and it is said that on the death of Mr. Hall’s -last surviving sister, Miss Frances Hall, in 1828, the grim relics of -mortality were by her expressed desire exhumed and buried in St. Ann’s -Churchyard. It was to Dr. Hall, the father, whilst paying his addresses -to the lady whom he afterwards married, that Byrom sent the following -epigram:— - - A lady’s love is like a candle snuff, - That’s quite extinguished by a gentle puff; - But, with a hearty blast or two, the dame, - Just like a candle, bursts into a flame. - -It was very shortly after the event just related that Byrom received -the first intimation of his son’s having formed an attachment for the -lady who became his wife, Eleanor, daughter of William and sister -of Domville Halsted, of Lymm, the representatives of an ancient and -honourable family in Cheshire, who had been owners of the Domville -moiety of Lymm from the time of Edward III., when it was inherited from -Agnes de Legh, the common ancestress of the Domvilles, Halsteds, and -the Leghs of Adlington and Lyme. The letter written on the occasion to -Mrs. Byrom is so thoroughly characteristic of the man that we make no -apology for reproducing it:— - -Tuesday night, Feb. 28, 1748-9. - - My dearest love: I received this afternoon the potted hare from - Mr. Wilkinson, which Tedy mentioned in his last letter, together - with thy letter concerning Miss Halsted. &c., which has thrown me - into a great but really very loving concern, for the consequence - of an affair in which the family happiness so much depends. As I - am quite a stranger to the young lady, and have no remembrance of - having ever seen her, I cannot judge how I should like her person - and behaviour; but for my beloved son’s sake, I should wish her - possessed of every qualification that might justly be agreeable - to thee, his sisters, uncle, aunts, and friends, as well as to - himself. I guess by the contents of thy letter that he has made - his addresses to her, and his Aunt A. (Mrs. Byrom’s sister Anne) - has given her a good character, which does not seem to amount to - any absolute approbation; his uncle, too, seems neither for it nor - against it; what his aunts say of it, thou dost not hint at, by - which I presume that they suppose that he is determined himself, - and they would not disoblige him by making any objection to his - choice. For my part, if my son be inclined to marry, I can only - wish that he may make a proper choice; but whether he has or not, - it is not in my power to determine, nor in my will to oppose his - inclination, without cause, for I love him too well not to consent - with great readiness to anything that others of his friends who - heartily interest themselves in his happiness should approve - of; but at present their approbation seems only to be negative, - and his uncle’s “What will his father say to it?” does not seem - to impart any great encouragement. His father would gladly hope - that his son, in a thing of this consequence, might so behave as - to please all his relations, and thereby acquire a title to his - father’s approbation, who, considering him as the only youth of - the name at present, would wish them all to assist, encourage or - prevent him as their love and judgment shall find occasion to show - itself in his favour. As to fortune, report but seldom lessens it, - though it has hardly much increased it, I suppose, in Miss H.’s - case; but as to that, though it is undoubtedly a very prudential - consideration, yet the qualities which the lady herself may or - may not have, may make her a good wife with less than she has, - or a bad one with a great deal more. I am full of wishes, hopes, - and fears, and can think of nothing else at present than to refer - myself to thy sentiments, which I wish thee to give me, and my son - to be so much master of himself as to act on this occasion with - all necessary discretion. I wish that whenever he marries he may - meet with one that he may have as just reason to love, honour, and - cherish as his father has his Valentine, whom he begs to take all - possible (care) of a life and health so dear to him, who is, with - hearty prayers to God for her and hers—hers and theirs. - -J. BYROM. - - To Mrs. Eliz. Byrom, near the Old Church in Manchester, Lancashire. - -With the exception of an occasional journey to London, and a visit -now and then to his _alma mater_, Cambridge, the remaining portion -of Byrom’s life was passed in comparative quietude, sometimes at the -pleasant rural retreat at Kersall, “that quiet place of yours,” as -his loving sister Phœbe, in one of her letters, styles it, and where, -as she says, she “was very glad to be a bit from the hurry of the -market place;” but oftener enjoying the society and pleasant gossip -of his friends in the snug parlour of his comfortable dwelling at -the corner of Hunter’s Lane—that quaint black and white house with a -curious raised walk in front, the outlines of which the pencil of that -industrious antiquary, Thomas Barrit, has happily preserved to us. The -struggles of his earlier years gave a zest to the comforts of domestic -life, and in his _otium cum dignitate_ he whiled away the hours, -poetising on subjects grave and gay; now and then ridiculing with good -humoured banter some Presbyterian zealot or recalcitrant Whig, though -always in a spirit calculated to soften asperity; and occasionally -retaliating upon his Hanoverian opponents in some _jeu d’esprit_ -or sparkling epigram, to the great delight of the _beaux-esprits_ -who met in social intercourse at the Bull’s Head—a house that still -remains, and the gruff countenance of whose ancient sign may yet be -seen over the archway leading to the inn-yard and the old-fashioned -and much-frequented parlour. The great truths of Christianity had from -his earliest years made a deep impression on his mind, and many of his -writings are characterised by strong religious feeling; indeed, it -was the spirit of piety breathed into his poems that led to his being -accounted a mystic by the mere lukewarm professors, a reproach that -was, however, undeserved. His religion was without gloom, and by no -means inconsistent with the maintenance of habitual cheerfulness. His -utterances are marked by a manly, nervous style; his imagination was -fertile, and his imagery happily conceived, though there is sometimes -a lack of smoothness that suggests the idea that his effusions were -hastily penned—the impromptu utterances of the man of genius with the -happy facility of versification. Some of his pieces—the once popular -“Three Black Crows[48]” for example—were written for the annual -speech days at the Free Grammar School; he was, too, the first writer -who employed as a literary vehicle the broad, racy vernacular of -Lancashire, which in later times has been used with such signal success -by Bamford, and Waugh, and Brierley. One of the happiest specimens of -the playfulness of his muse was the poetical epistle “On the Patron -Saint of England,” addressed to Lord Willoughby, the President of the -Society of Antiquaries, and which Samuel Pegge, the antiquary, was at -such pains to refute; but perhaps the one by which he will be best -remembered is the ever popular Christmas hymn, “Christians, Awake,” -which John Wainwright, the organist of the “Old Church,” at Manchester, -set to music, the tune being called after his native town, “Stockport.” - -[Note 48: It has been frequently stated that the story of the “Three -Black Crows” was inspired by the London edition, but in a recent -communication to the Manchester Literary Club, Mr. John Evans has -proved conclusively, from a letter in Byrom’s own handwriting, that it -was founded on a story related to him by Dr. John Taylor.] - -Byrom outlived most of the friends of his youth, and maintained the -natural cheerfulness of his disposition throughout his last lingering -illness until, in the words of his obituary notice, “the scholar, the -critic, the gentleman, became absorbed in the resigned Christian.” -He died at the old house at Hanging Ditch, on the 26th September, -1763, having attained the ripe old age of 72, and three days later -his remains were interred in the Byrom Chapel, on the south side of -the “Old Church.” Strangely enough, there is no monument or other -sepulchral memorial to mark his resting place or perpetuate his name; -the register of burials is the only record, and that is brief indeed:— - - 1763.—September 29. Mr. John Byrom. - -A tribute to his memory in Latin verse from the pen of his friend -and correspondent, William Cowper, of Chester, M.P., appeared in the -newspapers of the time, of which the following is a translation:— - - No, much-loved friend! this breast can never lose - The dear remembrance of thy pleasing form, - Thy gentle manners, and thy placid mien; - The smile of innocence, th’ unstudied grace - Of honest countenance, th’ high-season’d wit, - The copious stores of conversation sweet, - Which to my ravish’d ears so oft supplied - Luxurious banquet, whilst th’ indulgent flow - Of thy rich genius filled my thirsty mind. - But who can tell the gifts of innate worth, - The bosom beating to the cries of woe, - The heart of soft benignity, wherein - True honour, piety, and faith have fix’d - Their everlasting mansion? Who can trace, - Alas! the portrait of such excellence - In any other mortal mind but thine? - -In violation of the “Woollen Act,” a statute made famous by the -allusions of Pope and Dryden, he was buried “in a shirt, shift, sheet, -or shroud not made of sheep’s wool,” and, consequently, a direction was -issued by “John Gore Booth, Esquire, one of his Majesty’s Justices of -the Peace,” to the constables of Manchester to levy the sum of £6 by -distress and sale of his goods and chattels. - -Mrs. Byrom survived him several years, and died on the 21st December, -1778, at the age of 78; of his children three died in infancy, and -three survived him—two daughters and a son. Elizabeth—Beppy, as she was -familiarly called—the first-born, and the gossiping chronicler of the -fatal ’45, died in 1801, her sister Dorothy having died three years -previously, both unmarried. Edward Byrom, the eldest and only surviving -son, succeeded as heir. Of this worthy son of a worthy sire we need say -little; his biography has been undertaken by an able writer, and with -such a congenial theme as the projected “Memorials of St. John’s” we -may rest assured that the accomplished editor of the “Old Church Clock” -will do ample justice to his memory. He was born on the 13th June, -1724, and baptised at the old church on the 24th of the same month. On -the death of his uncle, Edward Byrom, in 1740, he became devisee in -fee of his estates, and in the spring of 1750 he added to his worldly -wealth the fortune he acquired by his marriage with Miss Halsted, -already referred to, a marriage that, in accordance with the fashion of -the times, is thus chronicled in the _Chester Courant_ of the 6th March -in that year:— - - A few days ago, Mr. Edward Byrom, son of Dr. Byrom, was married - to Miss Halsted of Limm, co. Cest., a lady of great merit and a - handsome fortune. - -He took up his abode in the large detached house in Quay Street, now -occupied by Dr. Blackmore, and which continued to be the residence -of his grand-daughter, Miss Atherton, up to the time of her death, -in 1870. Mr. Grindon, in his pleasant volume, “Manchester Banks and -Bankers,” says: “There is a legend that he removed thither on account -of the delicate health of his little Nelly, the atmosphere of Quay -Street being purer than that of the town,” and he adds, “the house -was obviously intended to be the first of a row. Mr. Byrom preferred -that it should stand alone, arranging also for the preservation in -perpetuity of the meadow in front, which served as a playground for -the children.” The house was Mr. Byrom’s own, and in all probability -its erection was begun by his uncle, Edward Byrom, shortly before his -death, for in the “Shorthand Journal” there occurs the entry:— - - 1741.—Thursday, August 11th or 12th. Dined at new house in Quay - Street; ... We came from Macclesfield yesterday—Mrs. Byrom, Beppy, - Dolly, David and I. - -The neighbourhood was then unbuilt, and formed a pleasant suburb of -Manchester, but with the increase of trade the tide of population -spread in that direction; new streets were laid out, houses were built, -and the locality became what might be called the “Court-end.” The house -has survived the mighty changes that time has wrought; it stands alone, -as it did in Byrom’s days; the remnant of the old garden and orchard -are there, and the “meadow” in front still struggles to look green, but -its sylvan beauties are only a memory of the past. - -With the increase of the population came the necessity for a new -church, and on the 28th April, 1768, Edward Byrom laid the foundation -stone of St. John’s—so named in compliment to his father—which was -consecrated on the 7th June in the following year. Little more than -two years later he joined Messrs. Sedgwick, Allen, and Place, in -establishing the first bank in Manchester, the doors of which were -opened on the 2nd December, 1771, under the style of Byrom, Sedgwick, -Allen, and Place. It occupied the site of Messrs. Hunt and Roskell’s -shop in St. Ann’s Square, and the name is perpetuated in Bank Street, -leading from it. Less than seventeen months after, Edward Byrom was -laid to rest, his death occurring on the 24th April, 1773, at the early -age of forty-nine. Under his will the Quay Street property passed to -his daughter Ann, who became the wife of Henry Atherton, of the Middle -Temple, the issue of the marriage being an only daughter, the estimable -and much-honoured Miss Eleanor Atherton, the foundress of Holy Trinity -Church, in Hulme, and the last representative in a direct line of the -Byrom family, who died at the old home in Quay Street, on the 12th -September, 1870, at the age of eighty-eight. In accordance with the -provisions of her will, the greater portion of her property, including -the Kersall estates, passed to her godson, Mr. Edward Fox, who, in -accordance with her expressed desire, assumed the name and arms of -Byrom—the arms John Byrom was so proud of, and of which he made such -frequent mention in his Journal:— - - Some sire of ours, beloved kinsfolk, chose, - The hedge-hog for his arms; I would suppose - With aim to hint instruction wise, and good, - To us descendants of his Byrom blood. - I would infer, if you be of this mind, - The very lesson that our sire design’d. - - * * * * * - - At last the hedge-hog came into his thought, - And gave the perfect emblem that he sought. - This little creature, all offence aside, - Rolls up itself in its own prickly hide, - When danger comes; and they that will abuse, - Do it themselves, when their own hurt ensues. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD—THE STORY OF SAMUEL CROMPTON, THE INVENTOR OF THE -SPINNING MULE. - - -There is much truth in the remark that it is more in the lives of -England’s worthies than in the lives of England’s warriors that we -may discover the true secret of England’s greatness. Yet, of those -master-spirits who by their inventive genius, their patient industry, -and indomitable perseverance have been the greatest benefactors to -their country, and who, on that account, deserve ever to be held in -honoured remembrance, how many have had to battle with untoward fate, to - - Wage with fortune an eternal war, - Checked by the scoff of Pride, by Envy’s frown, - And Poverty’s unconquered bar. - -Of such men was Samuel Crompton, the inventor of the spinning mule, -whose mechanical achievement may be said to have laid open the prospect -of unbounded wealth to the industrious of his native shire, and to have -wrought in Lancashire changes well-nigh as wondrous as any recorded in -the fictions of Eastern romance. - -[Illustration: HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD.] - -Hall-in-the-Wood, or Hall-i’-th’-Wood, according to the vernacular, -the ancient dwelling-place in which Crompton spent his toilsome days -and thoughtful nights—the shrine to which our present pilgrimage is -directed, and which deserves to be hallowed as one of our sacred -temples—is situated in the midst of scenery strangely at variance with -the associations the name calls forth; for though, with Firwood, -the Lower Wood, the Oaks, and other places of similar designation -immediately adjacent, it recalls the sylvan beauty of former days, -so complete has been the disafforesting that, with the exception of -the blighted and blackened relics of a sturdy oak or stately elm here -and there dotting the landscape, scarce a remnant remains of the -old forest that once formed its pleasant environment. Yet withal, -if the surroundings have lost much of their picturesqueness and are -not altogether lovely, they are under their present aspect far more -suggestive of the manufacturing enterprise, the permanent utility, -and the universal good which is the natural outcome of Crompton’s -invention, than they would have been had they retained their pristine -beauty. Nature has been effectually displaced by industry. From -the steep cliff on which stands his ancient home a thousand tall -chimneys may now be seen, filling the atmosphere with volumes of thick -dun-coloured smoke that hang like a pall and drop down soot instead of -fatness. The once fair and fertile country is absolutely covered with -mighty factories and hives of busy industry, in which tens of thousands -of the population find employment. On every hand the ear is assailed -with the din and rattle of machinery, and wherever the eye can reach it -encounters nothing but steam and smoke and the outward indications of -active labour. - -[Illustration] - -The Hall, which is located in the township of Tonge, and distant about -a couple of miles from Bolton, is an interesting specimen of the old -English mansion of the earlier Tudor period; and, though time has made -sad havoc among its beauties and peculiarities, it has happily escaped -the assaults of “improvers,” and even in its dilapidated and forlorn -condition may, in an antiquarian sense, be said to retain its original -features comparatively unimpaired. It stands near the edge of a bold -rocky steep that rises abruptly from the Eagley Brook—a tributary of -the Irwell, that separates the townships of Sharples and Tonge—and -commands an extensive view of the surrounding country. It is an -irregular pile—a house with many gables—and has evidently been erected -at two distinct periods—the older part being in the black and white -half-timbered style so frequently met with in the old manor houses of -Lancashire and Cheshire; while the more modern portion, though also -boasting considerable antiquity, is of stone, with a two-storeyed -projecting porch of the same material, erected in 1648, as the date -with the initials - - N - A A - -over the doorway clearly indicates. The mansion does not, however, -appear ever to have made any great pretensions to stateliness, -though its possessors were a family boasting considerable ancestral -dignity, and one of them, in his pride of lineage, placed his heraldic -achievements in an elaborately ornamented panel in one of the rooms, in -order that his friends might note his honourable descent. The earliest -portion is said, with some show of authority, to date as far back as -the year 1483. For some time it was owned by the Brownlows; and over -the fireplace in one of the rooms may still be seen the initials of -Lawrence Brownlow, with the date 1591, and it is said that an ancient -oak bedstead which was removed many years ago from Hall-i’-th’-Wood -to Huntroyde has the same initials carved upon it. This part of the -house, as we have said, is of timber and plaster, or “post and petrel,” -as it is locally designated; the walls being composed of a framework of -massive timber, with the interstices filled with plaster, and worked -in divers quatrefoil and diaper-like patterns. The main structure -comprises a long and lofty oblong block, with a short bay projecting -at right angles from the further end. The upper chambers overhang the -lower, and these again have an overhanging roof springing from a coved -cornice; another instance that the mediæval architects who planned -and carried out these erections were by no means insensible to the -advantage of a varied outline producing that picturesque irregularity -which, without any unnecessary sacrifice of domestic comfort, is so -favourable to external beauty, as well as to the effect produced by a -judicious combination of light and shade—a style infinitely preferable -to the dull, dreary uniformities of brick put up in the present day, -and which, were it only revived in its original beauty, would enable -us to dispense with those Italian forms that were only introduced to -satisfy the craving for foreign importations. - -Time wrought changes; with the increase of refinement came the -necessity for increased accommodation, when, to give additional -elbow-room and keep pace with the requirements of the age, the old -house, instead of being demolished, as would be the case now-a-days, -was added to, a more pretentious structure of stone, with mullioned -windows and parapets with ball ornaments, being joined up to it, -and from this portion the square porch, which exhibits the same -architectural features, projects. The date and the initials show that -it was erected by Alexander Norris, son and heir of Christopher Norris, -of Tonge-with-Haulgh, whose daughter and heiress, Alice, in 1654, -conveyed the place in marriage to John Starkie, of Huntroyde; their -descendant in the sixth generation, Le Gendre Nicholas Starkie, of -Huntroyde, Esq., being the present possessor. John Starkie must have -been an old man when he married, for his death occurred eleven years -later at the age of 77, when Alice Starkie, his widow, returned to -Hall-i’-th’-Wood and spent the remainder of her days there, amid the -scenes of her childhood. - -After the death of Mrs. Starkie the mansion seems to have remained -unoccupied, and subsequently to have been divided into small tenements -and let to humble occupants, who attached small import either to its -antiquity or the associations connected with it, content if only they -could keep the roof over their heads; and, as may be anticipated, -during those vicissitudes, it was suffered to fall into a state of -decay, until the inroads of dilapidation became only too painfully -visible both within and without. - -[Illustration: STAIRCASE: HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD.] - -The greater portion of the mansion is and has been for many years -in the occupancy of a farmer, Mr. James Bromiley, but a part of the -old black and white structure has been divided and subdivided into -numerous tenements that are now let to small cottagers. The occasion -of our visit was a pleasant autumn afternoon, and proceeding, as we -had been previously advised, from the Oaks Station, a pleasant walk of -a few minutes over the high ground brought us to the picturesque and -interesting old relic. The request to view the interior was readily -complied with, the good woman of the house cheerfully accompanying -us through the wainscoted parlours and contracted passages, and -thence, by a quaintly-carved black oak staircase, with massive and -highly-decorated balusters and pendants, that leads to the upper -chambers and the vacant lofts above, giving us every facility we -could desire in examining the antiquated dwelling. The dining-hall, a -well-proportioned room, is on the ground floor, but that which most -attracts attention is the chamber above—the only one which seems to -have been treated with any degree of respect—Crompton’s room, the -one in which he worked, in which he had his rude bench and still -ruder tools, where he matured his plans and constructed his primitive -models, where for years he laboured on with anxious hope and enduring -perseverance, and where at length—just one hundred years ago—he -triumphed, giving to his country the invention which has so largely -contributed to its wealth and prosperity. The room is now occupied as a -sleeping apartment, but in other respects it is little changed since -the great inventor’s day. It has been subjected to many whitewashings, -but the old ornamental plaster cornice still remains; the old heraldic -escutcheon of the Starkies may still be seen; and there too is the -spacious window with its double row of leaded lights extending the -entire width, out of which Crompton must so often have wistfully gazed. -The attic storey possesses but comparatively little interest, and -exhibits only a labyrinth of dark and intricate passages, with small -chambers and secret hiding places leading off in every direction. It -was here that Crompton, in 1779, on the very eve of the completion -of his machine, concealed the various parts after he had taken it to -pieces for safety against the dreaded attack of the machine-breaking -rioters of Blackburn, who had driven poor Hargreaves, the inventor -of the Jenny, from his home, destroyed nearly every machine within -miles of Blackburn, and who, it was feared, would extend their riotous -proceedings to Crompton’s invention before it had been even put in -actual work. The principal entrance to the hall is on the south side, -by an arched doorway, over which is a square panel with the initials -and date already mentioned. Above this, and separated by a bold -moulding, is a porch-chamber, lighted on three sides by square windows, -mullioned and transomed, over one of which is a lozenge-shaped -sun-dial. Evil days have unhappily fallen upon the building. Where -repairs have been attempted they have been made by slovenly hands, and -unseemly patches mar the effect of its general appearance; but even -in its present condition of neglect and approaching ruin it exhibits -much that is architecturally interesting. Apart, however, from such -considerations, surely the associations that gather round make it -a public duty to protect it from further injury, so that it may be -preserved to future generations as a memorial of one of Lancashire’s -worthiest sons and one of England’s greatest benefactors. - -[Illustration] - -Crompton, though himself of humble parentage, could claim a long and -respectable lineage, his progenitors, who derived their patronymic from -the hamlet of Crompton in Prestwich parish, ranking among the better -class of yeomen, and the parent line asserting its gentility by the -use of armorial ensigns. His parents resided at Firwood, a farm in the -same township, and distant about half a mile from Hall-i’-th’-Wood, -that had been owned by their family for several generations, but -which Crompton’s grandfather had mortgaged to the Starkies, and the -father, unable to redeem, had finally alienated to them, continuing the -occupancy, however, for some time as tenant, and combining with the -business of farming that of carding, spinning, and weaving on a small -scale whenever the intervals of farming and daily labour permitted. -The couple were honest, hardworking, and religious, but fortune was -unpropitious, and during the later years of the elder Crompton’s life -they appear to have been going down in the world. It was at the farm -at Firwood, on the 3rd of December, 1753, that Samuel Crompton first -saw the light. Shortly after his birth his parents forsook the old home -and took up their abode at a cottage near Lower Wood, in the immediate -vicinity. Their stay there was but short, for three or four years -after, they removed to the neighbouring mansion of Hall-in-the Wood, a -part of which had been assigned to them by Mr. Starkie, who had become -the possessor of Firwood, for the old mansion had, even at that date, -been divided into separate holdings, and confided by its owner to the -care of somewhat needy occupants. - -George Crompton, the father, died shortly after, at the comparatively -early age of thirty-seven, from, as is said, a cold taken while -helping gratuitously in his over hours to build the organ-gallery -in All Saints’ Church, Bolton, where he worshipped; and his widow, -Betty Crompton, as she was familiarly called, was left to struggle -for a livelihood for herself and three children—Samuel, who was then -a child of five years, and two girls. She was a woman of superior -attainments, industrious, managing, and, withal, strong-minded; -energetic in her action, but possessing, with a good deal of outward -austerity of manner, much innate goodness of heart. Her good management -and business-like habits gained her the confidence and respect of her -neighbours, who manifested their appreciation of her abilities by -electing her to the office of overseer of the township, an appointment -which, though perfectly legal, was of unusual occurrence in days -when “Women’s Rights” were unthought of; one of the reasons which -induced her to accept the office being the desire to compel her son -to discharge the duties, which he disliked excessively. Mrs. Crompton -abode at the hall after her husband’s death, and continued his business -with energy and thrift, the produce of her dairy being held in high -repute in the neighbourhood, whilst the bees in her old-fashioned -garden supplied her with another marketable commodity, added to which -she had acquired local fame for her excellent make of elderberry wine, -a beverage she hospitably dispensed among her friends and visitors. -As may be supposed, she ruled her household with a firm hand, and -believing in the wisdom of the proverb that to “spare the rod” is -to “spoil the child,” she manifested her fondness for her boy by a -frequent application of the birch to the unappreciative youngster’s -breech—as he was wont to say in after years, her practice was to -chastise him, not for any particular fault, but because she loved him -so well, a mode of training certainly not the best calculated to enable -a lad of a naturally diffident and sensitive disposition to engage -in the rough battle of life or to make his way successfully in the -world. The widow Crompton, notwithstanding, had many good qualities. -She did, as she believed, her duty to her fatherless child, and gave -him the best education in her power. School boards and board schools -were then only in the womb of time, but Lancashire had many excellent -schoolmasters, and of the number was William Barlow,[49] who kept a -school at the top of Little Bolton, a pedagogue who worthily upheld the -value and dignity of the mathematical sciences, and, on that account, -was reputed among his neighbours to be “a witch in figures.” Under -his tuition young Crompton was placed, and, being of a meditative and -retiring disposition, he took kindly to his studies, made satisfactory -progress, and was accounted well educated for his station in life. - -[Note 49: The author is informed by Dr. Crompton, the grandson of the -Inventor of the Mule, that Barlow engraved the plate for Arkwright’s -bill-heads. The plate itself was found a few years ago amongst a heap -of old brass at Messrs. Peel’s foundry in Ancoats, and some impressions -were then taken from it.] - -Of his two sisters little or nothing is known, but residing under -the same roof was a lame old uncle, his father’s brother, Alexander -Crompton; a character in his way, whose peculiarities could hardly fail -to have an influence on the mind of the nephew. Like the rest of the -family, Uncle Alexander was strict in his religious observances, but -being afflicted with lameness was unable to leave his room, in which, -in fact, he lived and worked and slept, to attend the services of the -sanctuary, and so he compensated himself for the deprivation in a -manner that was as original as it was humble and respectful:— - - On each succeeding Sunday [says Crompton’s faithful biographer, - Mr. French], when all the rest of the family had gone to service - at All Saints’ Chapel, Uncle Alexander sat in his solitary room - listening for the first sound of the bells of Bolton Parish - Church. Before they ceased ringing, he took off his ordinary - working-day coat and put on that which was reserved for Sundays. - This done, he slowly read to himself the whole of the Morning - Service and a sermon, concluding about the same time that the - dismissal bell commenced ringing, when his Sunday coat was - carefully put aside,—to be resumed again, however, when the bells - took up their burthen for the evening service, which he read - through with the same solitary solemnity. - -Such was the household then occupying one of the wings of the rambling -old mansion. Mrs. Crompton found no happiness in repose; ever doing -and ever having much to do was her manner, and that was assuredly the -fate of her son. From his earliest childhood the hours that should -have been spent in harmless pastime were occupied in rendering such -assistance as he could on the farm, or in the humble manufacturing -operations carried on in the house, whilst his mother was bargaining -and fighting with the outer world. He was put to the loom almost as -soon as his legs were “long enough to touch the treddles,” and when his -day’s task was done he was sent to a night school in Bolton to improve -his knowledge of algebra, mathematics, and trigonometry. The poor -weaver-lad had no playmates or associations with the outer world; he -lived a life of seclusion, and his only companion in his brief moments -of leisure was his fiddle. His father had been enthusiastically fond of -music, and at the time of his death had begun the construction of an -organ, leaving behind him a few oak pipes and the few simple tools with -which he had made them. The amateur organ-builder’s son inherited the -father’s taste, and made himself a fiddle—the first achievement of his -mechanical genius. This was the companion of his solitude, and in after -life his solace in many a bitter disappointment. - - With this musical friend [says French] he on winter nights - practised the homely tunes of the time by the dim light of his - mother’s kitchen fire or thrifty lamp; and in many a summer - twilight he wandered contemplatively among the green lanes or by - the margin of the pleasant brook that swept round her romantic old - residence. - -And so passed the years of his adolescence—a virtuous, reserved, and -industrious youth. The help and stay of a widowed mother—who, if a -strict disciplinarian, yet devoted her best energies to the well-being -of her family—shunning society, having no companions, and working -diligently at his solitary loom, Crompton, if he found little leisure -for amusement had at least abundance of time to think, and a thinker he -became to his country’s advantage. - -While young Crompton was assiduously assisting his widowed mother, -labouring at his loom by day and amusing himself with his fiddle by -night, some of the artisans of his own county were exercising their -inventive faculties on the rude appliances of their handicraft, for -up to that time there had been little or no improvement on the art -of Penelope in spinning and weaving—the distaff was still in common -use, every thread being spun singly by the fingers of the spinner, and -the machinery in vogue, if by such a name it could be called, was as -primitive as that used by the Hindoo. Practical observation enabled -them to elaborate their mechanical contrivances step by step, and so a -series of progressive inventions followed each other. The invention of -the fly-shuttle by Kay, of Bury, and the spinning jenny by Hargreaves, -of Blackburn, gave a great impetus to the cotton manufacture, for by -the former the productive power of the loom was greatly increased, -whilst by the latter the supply of weft kept pace with the requirements -of the weaver, but the mule was the real pivot on which its subsequent -prosperity turned. - -The spinning jenny of Hargreaves is believed to have been invented -in the year 1764. It was kept a secret for some time, but before the -close of the decade it had got into pretty general use in Lancashire, -and was at that time so far perfected that a child could work with it -eight spindles at one time. In 1769, Crompton, who was then a lad of -sixteen years, spun on one of Hargreaves’s machines the yarn which -he afterwards wove into quilting, but the machine had many palpable -imperfections; the yarn which it turned off had less tenacity than -that produced by the old-fashioned single-thread wheel, and much time -was lost in piecing the ever-breaking thread; but in Crompton’s case -the appointed task had to be got through, whatever difficulties might -arise, for Mrs. Crompton was inexorable, and to avoid the maternal -reproaches much time had to be given to the loom that might otherwise -have been spent in pleasant companionship with the fiddle. For five -long years the poor weaver lad led this lonesome, uneventful, all work -and no play sort of life; no wonder, then, that he became reserved, shy -and uncompanionable. For five long years he struggled on, following the -dull, unremitting round of labour on his wearisome treadmill, without -one single ray of cheering hope to brighten the gloom of his monotonous -existence, when his ingenuity was driven to make such improvements in -the spinning machine as would ultimately relieve him of the annoyances -he was subjected to. - -The time was not propitious for inventors. Hargreaves had been -persecuted and ruined by the populace, and Arkwright had to remove to -Nottingham to escape the popular animosity. Manufacturers were jealous -lest their craft should be endangered, and workmen, in their ignorant -prejudice against the introduction of new machines, resolved upon -their destruction, while, by the common people, those who effected -improvements were accounted “conjurors,” a name of reproach given -to those who were supposed to possess unnatural skill, and to hold -commerce with the powers of darkness. - -It was in 1774, when he was in his twenty-first year, that the first -faint conception of the mule floated through Crompton’s brain. The yarn -spun by Hargreaves’s jenny could only be used for “weft,” by reason of -its lacking the firmness and tenacity required in the long threads or -“warp,” while that produced from Arkwright’s water frame was too coarse -for the manufacture of muslins and other delicate fabrics in imitation -of those imported from India. Crompton proceeded silently with the task -he had set himself, even the members of the household having little -idea of the way in which he occupied his time in the hours stolen from -sleep when his day’s work was done. Indeed, it was the system of night -work that first drew the attention of his family and neighbours to his -proceedings. “Strange and unaccountable sounds,” says the authority we -have previously quoted, “were heard in the Old Hall at most untimely -hours, lights were seen in unusual places, and a rumour became current -that the place was haunted.” On investigation the young mechanical -genius was found to be the ghost that had caused so much trouble and -alarm to the good people of the locality. - -Crompton’s difficulty was increased by the fewness of his tools—those -he possessed being such as his father had used in his rude attempts at -organ building, supplemented by a clasp knife, which is said to have -done excellent service; some others he purchased with such cash as he -could spare from his slender earnings, and the money he received for -his services at the Bolton Theatre, where, during the season, he was -content to fiddle for the scanty pittance of eighteenpence a night. -Five years of silent, secret, unremitting labour were spent in the -realisation of his idea. Wanting in mechanical knowledge, destitute -of proper tools, and having to learn the use of the imperfect ones -he could procure, it is matter for surprise that in five years he -succeeded in making his machine practically useful. His experiences at -this time he thus relates in a MS. document he circulated about seventy -years ago: - - The next five years had this addition added to my labour as a - weaver, occasioned by the imperfect state of cotton spinning, - viz., a continual endeavour to realise a more perfect principle - of spinning; and though often baffled, I as often renewed the - attempt, and at length succeeded to my utmost desire at the - expense of every shilling I had in the world. - -Neither poverty nor want of mechanical skill was permitted to hinder -him. After much trembling and fretting from impecuniousness on the -one hand, and the inquisitiveness of interlopers on the other; after -matchless patience and unflinching perseverance; after many failures -and disappointments, success at length crowned his efforts; his dream -had become a reality, the mule[50] was an accomplished fact. In that -same year, 1779, just as he was about to test its merits by putting it -into actual work, an outbreak occurred among the Lancashire spinners -and weavers; the riotous proceedings which had driven Hargreaves from -his home were renewed, and while the storm was raging Crompton, fearing -the mob might wreak their vengeance upon his wheel, prudently took it -to pieces and hid the parts away in the cocklofts of the old hall. The -incident is thus described by a recent writer:— - - Crompton was well aware that his infant invention would be still - more obnoxious to the rioters than Hargreaves’s jenny, and appears - to have taken careful measures for its protection or concealment - should they have paid a domiciliary visit to the Hall-in-the-Wood. - The ceiling of the room in which he worked is cut through, as - well as a corresponding part of the clay floor of the room above, - the aperture being covered by replacing the part cut away. - This opening was recently detected by two visitors, who were - investigating the mysteries of the old mansion; but they could - not imagine any use for a secret trap-door until, on pointing - it out to Mr. Bromiley, the present tenant, he recalled to his - memory a conversation he had had with Samuel Crompton during one - of his latest visits to the Hall many years ago. Mr. Crompton - informed Mr. Bromiley that once, when he was at work on the mule, - he heard the rioters shouting at the destruction of a building at - “Folds” (an adjoining hamlet), where there was a carding engine. - Fearing that they would come to the Hall-in-the-Wood and destroy - his mule, he took it to pieces and put it into a skip which he - hoisted through the ceiling into the attic by the trap-door, - which had, doubtless, been prepared in anticipation of such a - visit, and which now offers a curious evidence of the insecurity - of manufacturing inventions in their early infancy. The various - parts were concealed in a loft or garret near the clock, and there - they remained hid for many weeks ere he dared to put them together - again. But in the course of the same year the Hall-in-the-Wood - wheel was completed and the yarn spun upon it used for the - manufacture of muslins of an extremely fine and delicate texture. - -[Note 50: The machine was at first, from the place of its birth, called -the “Hall-i’-th’-Wood Wheel,” and sometimes, from the fineness of the -yarn it produced, the “Muslin Wheel,” but subsequently it became more -generally known as the “Mule,” from the circumstance of its combining -the principles of the two inventions of Hargreaves and Arkwright to -produce a third much more efficient than either.] - -Having succeeded to his utmost desire in solving the problem on which -during five eventful years of his life his mind had been absorbed, -Crompton had leisure to turn his thoughts in another direction, and -the first thing he did was to take to himself a wife. He had made the -acquaintance of an amiable and excellent woman, Mary Pimlott, the -daughter of a quondam West India merchant, who had come down in the -world and, as was said, had died of a broken heart; and on the 16th -of February, 1780, the young couple were married in the old church at -Bolton. Mary Pimlott is described as being a handsome dark-haired woman -of middle age and erect carriage, and possessed of remarkable power in -the perception of individual character. She was, moreover, a “spinster” -in the true sense of the word. On her father’s death she had gone to -reside with friends at Turton, near Bolton, where ample and profitable -employment could be obtained in spinning, and it is said that her -expertness in the art first attracted young Crompton’s attention. - -The newly-married pair began housekeeping in a small cottage attached -to the old hall, Crompton at the same time retaining one or more -workrooms in the mansion where he and his young wife pursued their -humble occupation, producing from the new wheel a yarn which both -for fineness and firmness astonished the manufacturing community. It -does not seem ever to have entered the mind of the young inventor to -patent his machine. Accustomed to a quiet, secluded life, without -any expensive habits or enjoyments, his highest ambition appears to -have been to keep his invention to himself and to work on in his -own simple way in his own home after the fashion of the time, for -it was then the idyllic period of cotton manufacturing, organised -labour in huge factories being virtually unknown. But the fame of -Crompton’s yarn spread; the new wheel was an unmistakable success, -and gave promise of realising for its inventor an ample fortune. It -was at once seen that the much-admired muslins that had been imported -from India, and for which extravagant prices were paid, could now be -produced by the English manufacturer, and at a greatly diminished -cost. Crompton had his own price, and orders for the wonderful yarn -poured in upon him; the demand was urgent and pressing, and his house -was literally besieged with manufacturers anxious to obtain supplies -of the much-coveted material, and still more anxious to penetrate the -secret of its production, for it soon became noised abroad that he -had discovered some novel mode of spinning. People from miles round -gathered about his house, anxious to solve the mystery; all kinds -of stratagems were practised to obtain admission to his workroom; -and when denied, some actually obtained ladders, clambered up to the -window of his chamber, and peeped in to satisfy their curiosity. To -protect himself from this kind of observation Crompton set up a screen, -and then an inquisitive individual, more adventurous than the rest, -secreted himself in one of the cocklofts of the hall, and remained -there for days watching the operations going on through a gimlet hole -he had bored in the ceiling. - -There is a well-authenticated tradition that at this time Arkwright, -who a few years before had erected a cotton mill at Cromford, -in Derbyshire, the nursing place, as it has been called, of the -factory opulence and power of Great Britain, made his way to the -Hall-in-the-Wood, and contrived to gain access to the house with the -object of inspecting the machine of which such wonderful tales were -told while the inventor was away collecting rates for his mother, -who, as we have said, filled the office of overseer for the township. -Arkwright was then in the full tide of his success, and it was an -unfortunate circumstance for Crompton that they did not meet. If they -had it would probably have led to an arrangement whereby the simple, -guileless inventor might have reaped the reward of many years of -patient toil and personal sacrifice. - -Had Crompton possessed a tithe of the energy and resources of the -average Lancashire man he would have triumphed, but, unhappily for -himself, these were just the qualities he lacked, and his diffidence -and childlike simplicity made him an easy victim in the hands of -unscrupulous and crafty traders. Had he bestirred himself there is -no reason to doubt but that some capitalist would have been ready to -advance the means to patent his invention, but his shyness and morbid -sense of independence forbade him to ask for help or co-operation. What -Arkwright and Peel did he might have accomplished; but, instead of his -succeeding to opulence, he allowed others to reap where he had sown. -His very success was the cause of his misfortunes. He was unable to -carry on his work in undisturbed privacy, and his moody and sensitive -nature could not bear the annoyance to which he was perpetually -subjected by prying intruders. It was the crisis in his life. -Tormented, worried, driven almost to distraction, he, in a weak moment, -yielded to the advice of a well-intentioned but unwise counsellor, and -surrendered his invention to an ungrateful community. When relating -the story to Mr. G. A. Lee, and Mr. John Kennedy, of Manchester, some -years afterwards, Mr. Lee having remarked that “it was a pity he had -not kept the secret to himself,” he replied “that a man had a very -insecure tenure of property which another could carry away with his -eyes.” He says in the MS. before referred to:— - - During this time I married, and commenced spinning altogether. - But a few months reduced me to the cruel necessity either of - destroying my machine altogether or giving it up to the public. - To destroy it I could not think of; to give up that for which I - had laboured so long was cruel. I had no patent nor the means of - purchasing one. In preference to destroying it I gave it to the - public. - -He says he “gave it to the public,” and virtually he did; for, though -it was professedly for a consideration, he derived little or no -benefit, and only found that he had been made the victim of the greed, -and meanness, and sordid treachery of those whom, in his simplicity, -he had trusted. Yielding to the deceitful promises of his townsmen and -others, he was induced to surrender his much coveted secret on the -faith of an agreement that, as it turned out, had no validity in law, -and which some of the signatories were base enough to repudiate. The -following are the terms in which it was drawn up:— - -Bolton, November 20th, 1780. - - We whose names are hereunto subscribed have agreed to give - and do hereby promise to pay unto Samuel Crompton, at the - Hall-in-the-Wood, near Bolton, the several sums opposite to our - names as a reward for his improvement in Spinning. Several of the - principal Tradesmen in Manchester, Bolton, &c., having seen his - Machine approve of it, and are of opinion that it would be of - the greatest utility to make it generally known, to which end a - contribution is desired from every wellwisher of trade. - -The total sum subscribed was £67 6s. 6d., but even of this miserable -amount only about £50 was actually paid, “as much by subscription,” -says Crompton, “as built me a new machine with only four spindles more -than the one I had given up [for he had not only surrendered his secret -but the original machine with it]—the old one having forty-eight, the -new one fifty-two spindles.” Never, certainly, was so much got for so -little, and a touch of infamy was added to the merciless transaction by -a fact which Crompton thus records:— - - Many subscribers would not pay the sums they had set opposite - their names. When I applied for them I got nothing but abusive - language to drive me from them, which was easily done; for I never - till then could think it possible that any man could pretend one - thing and act the direct opposite. I then found it was possible, - having had proof positive. - -These men, as has been truly said, saved their miserable guineas -at the expense of their honesty and honour. The treatment to which -he was subjected made a lasting impression on his mind. His very -integrity increased his mortification at the dishonesty of those he -had so generously trusted; his disposition—never a buoyant or cheerful -one—was soured, and during the remainder of his life he was moody and -mistrustful. While hundreds of manufacturers were accumulating colossal -fortunes out of the results of Crompton’s skill and ingenuity, the man -himself, while so abundantly enriching them, was not able to gather -even the smallest grains of the golden harvest, and, but for his energy -and frugality, might have lapsed into absolute poverty, a martyr -of mechanical invention and another illustration of the scriptural -paradox, “Poor, yet making many rich.” - -[Illustration: OLDHAMS.] - -It was a bitter disappointment to Crompton to find that the promises so -pleasant to the ear were broken to the hope, that he had, in fact, been -tricked into giving up the invention that had cost him so many years of -anxious thought and toil to a host of selfish manufacturers who were -making fortunes out of his simple trust. He became moody, suspicious, -and distrustful of everything and everybody; but if he doubted the -world he never lost heart in himself. Deprived of his just reward, -he removed from the Hall-in-the-Wood to Oldhams, a small cottage -across the valley near Astley Bridge, in Sharples, and distant about -a mile and a half from Bolton. Here he farmed a few acres, kept three -or four cows, and, still adhering to the common Lancashire custom, -combined the business of a farmer with that of a manufacturer, and in -one of the upper chambers of his house erected his newly-constructed -machine. Familiar with the principles of his mule, he was naturally -more skilful in the working of it than others; his wife, too, was an -expert in spinning, and the yarn they spun was the best and finest in -the market, and brought the highest prices; it was supposed, therefore, -that he must have made some improvements in his machine, and, as a -consequence, he was again pestered with inquisitive visitors anxious to -discover the secret of his success, when, to protect himself from the -unwelcome intrusion, he is said to have contrived a secret fastening to -the door in the upper storey where he worked at the mule. - -About this time Crompton invented a new carding-engine, and, anxious -to extend his operations, he set up as an employer of labour, but -the result was not satisfactory, for the people he engaged to spin -under him were continually being bribed to enter the service of other -masters, who hoped in this way to gain a knowledge of his secrets, so -that eventually he was obliged to fall back upon the labours of his own -household, and broke up the carding-engine, remarking that “the devils -should not have that.” He says:— - - I pushed on, intending to have a good share in the spinning line, - yet I found there was an evil which I had not foreseen and of much - greater magnitude than giving up the machine, viz., that I must be - always teaching green hands, employ none, or quit the country; it - being believed that if I taught them they knew the business well, - so that for years I had no choice but to give up spinning or quit - my native land. I cut up my spinning machines for other purposes. - -Whilst residing at Oldhams, Crompton received a visit from Sir (then -Mr.) Robert Peel, the first baronet, his object being to offer the -inventor a lucrative appointment in his own manufactory, with the -prospect of a future partnership, but Crompton’s natural infirmity -of temper and his quickness to take offence opposed a barrier to his -own advancement. He had a prejudice against Peel on account of some -imaginary affront,[51] and so the offer that might have led to his -lasting comfort and prosperity was declined. - -[Note 51: Peel had bought one of the machines with the intention of -causing drawings of it to be made. The affront was that on the occasion -of his (Peel’s) visit to Crompton’s house, he had tendered the Inventor -sixpence in consideration of his trouble in showing him the machine.] - -By this time the mule had become the machine chiefly employed for fine -spinning, not only round Bolton but in the manufacturing districts of -England, Scotland, and Ireland, and its general appropriation soon -changed the neighbourhood of which Manchester was the centre from a -country of small farmers to one of small manufacturers. Houses on the -banks of streams whose currents would drive a wheel and shaft were -eagerly seized upon; sheds were run up in similar situations; the clank -of wheels and the buzz of spindles were heard in once solitary places -in the valleys running off from the Irwell and upon the small streams -that flowed down from the barren hills. Crompton’s mules, worked by -hand, “were erected in garrets or lofts, and many a dilapidated barn or -cowshed was patched up in the walls, repaired in the roof, and provided -with windows to serve as lodging room for the new muslin wheels,” as -they were called. - -So great was the impetus given to manufacture by the invention of the -mule that, within less than six years of its introduction, the number -of inhabitants in Bolton had doubled; whilst in the neighbouring town -of Bury, which had “its cotton manufacture originally brought from -Bolton,” the increase was even more rapid. In order to provide for his -increasing family, and, as is said, to escape the annoyance of his -being re-elected overseer, Crompton, in 1791, removed from his pleasant -little farm at Oldhams to a house in King Street, Bolton, where he -enlarged his spinning operations, filling the attics over his own -dwelling and those of the two adjoining houses with additional mules -and machinery for manufacturing purposes—his elder boys being now able -to assist him in his handicraft. - -Five years later he had the misfortune to lose the loving and faithful -partner of his joys and sorrows. She had been long ailing, and on the -29th of May, 1796, he followed her remains to their last resting place -in the old churchyard at Bolton. It is stated that when he returned -from the funeral he sat down broken-hearted and in utter despair; it -must have been a sorrowful day for him, for she left him with a family -of eight young children. Two of them were lying sick at the time in -their cradles, and one died a short time after. The death of his wife -made a deep impression on his mind and character. From his childhood -he had been imbued with strong religious sentiments, and being of a -naturally thoughtful and dreamy disposition, his religion was of a -somewhat mystical kind; hence it is not surprising that he should have -been led to withdraw from the communion of the Church of England and -embrace the tenets of that amiable and philosophic teacher, Emanuel -Swedenborg, who at that time had many followers in the town of Bolton. -Crompton became a zealous member of the New Jerusalem Church, “taking -entire charge of the psalmody,” and occupying his leisure hours in -composing hymn-tunes for the choir, which was wont to assemble on -Sunday evenings at his house to practise. - -He struggled manfully to maintain his young family in comfort and -respectability, but he was comparatively helpless in the conduct of -business, and altogether unfitted to deal with the practical affairs of -life. He wrote on one occasion:— - - “I found to my sorrow I was not calculated to contend with men - of the world; neither did I know there was such a thing as - protection for me on earth! I found I was as unfit for the task - that was before me as a child of two years old to contend with a - disciplined army.” - -When he did attempt to transact business, to such an extent was this -weakness of character manifested that, as is said by his biographer— - - “When he attended the Manchester Exchange to sell his yarns and - muslins, and any rough-and-ready manufacturer ventured to offer - him a less price than he had asked, he would invariably wrap up - his samples, put them into his pocket, and quietly walk away.” - -His countenance was not sufficiently bronzed to enable him to contend -successfully with the chafferers on ’Change. Like Watt, who declared -he would rather face a loaded cannon than settle an account or make -a bargain, he hated that jostling with the world inseparable from -the conduct of extensive industrial or commercial operations; but, -unlike Watt, he was not fortunate enough in the great crisis of his -life to have met with a Boulton who had the quickness of perception -to determine when to act and the energy of purpose to carry out the -measures which his judgment approved. - -It was not until 1800, twenty years after the invention of the mule, -that any real attempt was made to recompense him for the sacrifices -he had made, and for the inestimable benefits he had conferred upon -the community in general and the district in which he laboured in -particular. To Manchester belongs the credit of originating the -movement. Two manufacturers there, Mr. John Kennedy, one of the -founders of the great cotton-spinning firm of M’Connel and Kennedy, -and Mr. George Lee, of the firm of Philips and Lee, appreciating -the talents of the struggling inventor, started a subscription for -the purpose of providing a comfortable competence for him in his -declining years. The time was not opportune, and their efforts were -in consequence only partially successful. It was the year in which -Napoleon’s overtures for peace were haughtily and offensively rejected -by Lord Grenville; the war with France had imposed additional burdens -upon the people, who were already suffering from a prolonged depression -of trade; the scarcity caused by a deficiency in the harvest was -commonly regarded as a consequence of the war; the country was on the -brink of famine; mobs paraded the streets, and the Habeas Corpus Act -had to be suspended to avoid the social danger to which a continuance -of the rioting must of necessity lead. Comparatively few subscriptions -were received; the kindly effort stuck fast, and eventually it had to -be abandoned.[52] Between four and five hundred pounds was all that -could be realised, and that was handed to Crompton, who sunk it in -his little manufacturing establishment for spinning and weaving. His -biographer says— - - As a consequence of this additional capital, he soon after rented - the top storey of a neighbouring factory, one of the oldest in - Bolton, in which he had two mules—one of 360 spindles, the other - of 220—with the necessary preparatory machinery. The power to - turn the machinery was rented with the premises. Here also he was - assisted by the elder branches of his family, and it is our duty, - though a melancholy one, to record that the system of seducing - his servants from his employment was still persisted in, and - that one at least of his own sons was not able to withstand the - specious and flattering inducements held out by wealthy opponents - to leave his father’s service and accept extravagant payment for - a few weeks, during which he was expected to divulge his father’s - supposed secrets and his system of manipulating upon the machine. - -[Note 52: It is pleasant to note that while so many of those in his own -locality who had so largely profited by Crompton’s labour either -refused to help or gave only very grudgingly, the one who had suffered -most by the success of the mule, Richard Arkwright, of Cromford -(the second of the name), whose water frame had in a great measure -been superseded by it, contributed £30, at the same time generously -acknowledging the merits of the invention.] - -Aided by the mule the cotton manufacture prodigiously developed itself. -The tiny rill which issued from the Hall-i’-th’-Wood had become swollen -into a mighty river, carrying wealth and prosperity along its course; -and he who had started the stream looked not unreasonably to obtain -some small share of the riches that were borne upon its bosom. With -this hope, he was induced in 1807 to address a letter to Sir Joseph -Banks, the then president of the Royal Society, in which he modestly -set forth his grievances, and, describing himself as “a retired man -in the country, and unacquainted with public matters,” requested the -society’s advice “to enable him to procure from Government or elsewhere -a proper recompense for his invention.” There had been some mistake -in the address of the letter. It, however, eventually found its way -to the Society of Arts, where the application was discussed; but, to -Crompton’s great disappointment, nothing more came of it. - -Four years later he made a survey of all the cotton districts in -England, Scotland, and Ireland, and obtained an estimate of the number -of spindles then at work on his principle. On his return he laid the -results of his inquiries before his friends, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Lee, -with the suggestion that Parliament might “grant him something.” It -was proved that 4,600,000 spindles were at work upon his mules, using -upwards of 40,000,000 pounds of cotton annually; that 70,000 persons -were engaged in the spinning, and 150,000 more in weaving the yarn -so spun, and that a population of full half a million derived their -daily bread from the machinery his skill had devised. This statement, -as was afterwards found, fell far short of the actual facts, for it -did not include any of the numerous mules used in the manufacture of -woollen yarn. The claim was indisputable. With the data before him Mr. -Lee entered fully into the case. A Manchester solicitor, Mr. George -Duckworth, of Duckworth and Chippindall, Princess Street, offered his -gratuitous help, and drew up a memorial to Parliament on his behalf -which was signed by most of the principal manufacturers in the kingdom -who were acquainted with his merits. In February, 1812, Crompton -proceeded to London with this memorial, and obtained an interview -with one of the Lancashire members; and, through the influence of -powerful friends who appreciated his merits and sympathised with his -misfortunes, he was enabled to place his memorial before Mr. Spencer -Perceval, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who appears to have taken -a favourable view of his claim. The matter was referred to a select -committee, of which Lord Stanley, the great-grandfather of the present -Earl of Derby, was chairman. Evidence was given in favour of the -inventor, and, among other information given, it was stated by Mr. Lee -that at that time the duty paid upon cotton imported to be spun by the -mule amounted to not less than £350,000 a year. The committee reported -favourably, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was ready to propose -a vote of £20,000, when Crompton’s usual ill-luck intervened in a -very shocking manner. It was the afternoon of the 11th May, 1812, and -Crompton was standing in the lobby of the House of Commons, conversing -with Sir Robert Peel and Mr. John Blackburne, one of the members for -Lancashire, when one of them observed, “Here comes Mr. Perceval.” The -group was instantly joined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who -addressed them with the remark, “You will be glad to know I mean to -propose £20,000 for Crompton. Do you think it will be satisfactory?” -Hearing this, Crompton moved off from motives of delicacy, and did not -hear the reply. He was scarcely out of sight when there was a great -rush of people—Perceval had been shot dead by the madman Bellingham. -The frightful catastrophe had in an instant deprived the country of -a valuable minister, and lost to Crompton a patron and £15,000. When -the new Government had been formed the matter was again brought before -the House, and on the 26th of June, on the motion of Lord Stanley, it -awarded him £5,000, a sum altogether inadequate for the services he -had rendered, as well as out of all proportion to the rewards which -Parliament had previously given to other inventors. In an article which -appeared some years afterwards in the _Edinburgh Review_[53], the -paltriness of the award was severely commented upon. The reviewer said:— - - To make a lengthened commentary on such a proceeding would be - superfluous. Had the House of Commons refused to recognise Mr. - Crompton’s claim for remuneration they would, whatever might - have been thought of their proceedings, have at least acted - consistently. But to admit the principle of the claim, to enter - into an elaborate investigation with respect to the merit and - extensive application of the invention, and then to vote so - contemptible a pittance to the inventor, are proceedings which - evince the most extraordinary niggardliness on the part of those - who have never been particularly celebrated for their parsimonious - disposition towards individuals whose genius and inventions have - alone enabled Parliament to meet the immense expenses the country - has had to sustain. - -[Note 53: Vol. xlvi., p. 16, 1827.] - -With the £5,000, or rather with such portion of it as he received—for -there were considerable deductions for fees and other charges—Crompton -entered into various commercial speculations; but the fickle goddess -did not smile on any of them. Anxious to place his sons in some -business, he fixed on that of bleaching, and rented a works at Over -Darwen; his eldest and youngest sons, George and James, being admitted -as partners. But the unfavourable state of the times, the inexperience -and mismanagement of his eldest son, a bad situation, and a tedious -and expensive lawsuit with the landlord conspired in a very short time -to put an end to this establishment. He was also engaged in cotton -spinning and manufacturing, in connection with his sons Samuel and -John; but they disagreed, Samuel withdrawing from the concern and -going to Ireland, leaving his father to carry it on with such help as -John could give him. The only business in which he may be said to have -been at all successful was that of a cotton merchant, which he carried -on in conjunction with his favourite son, William, and a Mr. Wylde. The -firm eventually extended its operations to cotton spinning; but young -Crompton disliking this branch of the business, the partnership was -dissolved, the father and son retiring. The latter afterwards began -business on his own account in Oldham, but the fate of the family -followed him. He was unsuccessful; a fire consumed his stock, a lawsuit -grew out of the fire; and finally, in 1832, he was carried off by an -attack of cholera. - -Left almost alone in the world, with old age creeping upon him, his -sons dead or dispersed, and his only daughter—then a widow—for his -housekeeper, Crompton carried on his small original business without -assistance, “spending much of his time in devising the mechanism -proper for weaving new patterns in fancy muslins.” But his lack of -business capacity and inability to cope with the common-place incidents -of ordinary life destroyed his chances of success, and that unhappy -fatality which had accompanied him through life still dogged his -steps. To use his own words, he was “hunted and watched with as much -never-ceasing care as if he was the most notorious villain that ever -disgraced the human form; and if he were to go to a smithy to get -a common nail made, if opportunity offered to the bystanders, they -would examine it most minutely to see if it was anything but a nail.” -His patterns were pirated by his neighbours, who reproduced them in -fabrics of inferior quality, and thus they were enabled to undersell -and beat him out of the market. As he advanced in years his means -became more and more straitened, and he was beginning gradually to -drift into a state of poverty when, in 1824, Messrs. Hicks & Rothwell, -of Bolton, his old friend, Mr. Kennedy, of Manchester, and some other -sympathisers, unasked and unknown to Crompton, who had then reached -his 72nd year, made a second subscription to purchase a life annuity, -and the sum raised yielded a payment of £63 a year. He did not, -however, live long to enjoy it. Wearied and worn out with cares and -disappointments, but to the last retaining the esteem of his friends -and the respect of all who knew him, he died by the gradual decay of -nature at his house in King-street, Great Bolton, on the 26th June, -1827, at the age of seventy-three, and a few days later his body, -followed by many voluntary mourners, was committed to the dust in the -churchyard of Bolton, where a modest flagstone thus perpetuates his -name:— - - Beneath this stone are interred the mortal remains of Samuel - Crompton, of Bolton, late of Hall-i’-th’-Wood, in the township - of Tonge, inventor of the spinning machine called the Mule; who - departed this life the 26th day of June, 1827, aged 72 years.[54] - -[Note 54: The age recorded on his gravestone is clearly an error, -Crompton having been born on the 3rd December, 1753, so that he must -have been in his 74th year.] - -Such is the sad and simple story of the inventor of the spinning mule. -Though his life was passed in comparative obscurity and neglect, -and he was allowed to end his days in poverty, the name of Samuel -Crompton will be held in honoured remembrance so long as the cotton -trade endures, for it is to Crompton’s mule more than to any other -invention we owe that vast Lancashire industrialism which has been -the source of untold benefits to his native shire, and has so greatly -increased the power and wealth of the nation at large. Looking at the -splendid results which his genius accomplished, it must ever be a -cause of regret that Lancashire men did so little for him who did so -much for them. In the various relations of life Crompton was in all -things upright and honourable; he had his failings like other men, but -they were those which arose from his simple and unsuspecting nature, -and such as should excite commiseration rather than condemnation. -The weak point in his character, and that from which nearly all his -troubles and misfortunes arose, was the absence of those faculties -which enable a man to hold equal intercourse with his fellows. His -morbid sense of independence made him averse to the very appearance of -favour or patronage, and to ask for even that which was his due was -always at the cost of acute pain. His manners and actions were at all -times guided by a natural politeness and grace, as far from servility -as rudeness. By those who knew him in the strength and fulness of -his manhood he is described as having been handsome and singularly -prepossessing in appearance, and this description is borne out by his -portrait, which displays the lineaments of a well-formed head and face -that strongly suggests the idea of the thoughtful philosopher and the -true gentleman. - -Though Crompton’s memory remained long neglected, a succeeding -generation has happily done something to remove the stain of -ingratitude, and to atone in some measure for the shortcomings of -his contemporaries. The late Mr. Gilbert James French, a man of -energy, intelligence, and culture, first aroused his fellow townsmen -to a better appreciation of the value of Crompton’s achievements. In -two lectures he delivered to the members of the Bolton Mechanics’ -Institute, and in the handsome volume subsequently issued—“The Life and -Times of Samuel Crompton”—a work to which we are indebted for some of -the facts here recorded, Mr. French gave a very circumstantial account -of the great inventor’s career; not content with this tribute to his -memory, he set about obtaining subscriptions for the purpose of doing -honour to Crompton’s name. A sum of £2,000 was raised, and on the 24th -Sept., 1862, a bronze statue of the inventor of the mule by Calder -Marshall, with bas reliefs of Hall-i’-th’-Wood, and Crompton at work -upon his machine, was presented with much pomp and circumstance and -many outward manifestations of rejoicing to the Corporation of Bolton. -In this tardy recognition of his services Bolton has done something -to efface the reproach which the ingratitude of a former generation -had stamped upon the town. But Crompton has a more fitting as well -as a more enduring monument in those outward indications of active -industry which now surround his humble dwelling-place, and borrowing -the oft-repeated line from Wren’s monument in St. Paul’s, it may be -said—_Si monumentum requiris—circumspice_. - -The old dilapidated mansion in which his earlier years were passed -still remains. His name has given it an historic importance it never -before possessed. To Lancashire men it should be as a very Mecca, and -it can never be looked upon with feelings other than those of the -deepest interest, for it may be truly said that here the prosperity -of the nation hung in suspense as the thoughts and expedients of -Crompton’s mind came and went, trembled, grew firm, and finally -triumphed; and assuredly in no corner of England is the memorable -couplet more strongly emphasised than in this now forlorn and -weather-beaten abode:— - - Peace hath her victories - Not less renowned than war. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -INDEX. - - - _Abbott Hall_, 83-4 - - Adderley, Charles, 128, 145-6 - - _Adlington_, 283-360 - - Agarde, Francis, 123 - - _Agecroft Hall_, 2 - - Agincourt, Battle of, 90, 305 - - _Alderley_, 218 - - _Alderley Edge_, 287 - - Aldford, Lucy, 112 - - " Richard, 112 - - Allen, Dorothy, 370-1 - - " Isaac, 270 - - " John, 370, 389 - - _Allithwaite_, 83-4, 88, 91 - - Anjou, Margaret of, 92, 235 - - Arderne, John, 297 - - " Matilda, 297 - - " Ralph, 31 - - Arkwright, Richard, 424, 427, 435 - - _Arnside Knot_, 85 - - Armstrong, Thomas, 64 - - Arragon, Katharine of, 312 - - Arram, William, 363 - - Arthur, Prince, 220 - - Arundell and Wardour, Lady, 275 - - " " Lord, 275 - - Ashley, Hamo, 310 - - Ashmole, Elias, 144 - - Ashton, Mr., 373 - - " Major-General, 264 - - Aspinall, John, 252 - - " Ralph John, 252 - - _Astley Bridge_, 431 - - Aston Thomas, 330 - - Atheling, Edgar, 293 - - Atherton, Eleanor, 372, 405-6 - - " Henry, 406 - - Attercroft, Elizabeth, 71 - - " Thomas, 71 - - Audley, James, 227 - - " Lord, 119 - - - Baggaley, William, 290, 291 - - Bagnall, Henry, 321 - - Bailey, J. Eglington, 170, 176-7, 187 - - Baliol, John, 224 - - Baltimore, Lord, 398 - - Bamville, Amabella, 290 - - " Hugh, 290 - - " Thomas, 290 - - Bancroft, Elizabeth, 7, 70-1, 75 - - " Thomas, 70-71 - - Banks, Mr., 376 - - " Joseph, 436 - - Barber, Dr., 96 - - " Robert, 204 - - Bardolf, Lord, 204 - - Barlow, William, 420 - - Barratt, James, 125 - - Barrit, Thomas, 402 - - _Barrow_, 87 - - Barrow, Sir John, 87 - - Baxter, Richard, 147 - - Bayley, Dr., 173 - - Baynton, Master, 189 - - _Beaumaris Castle_, 234 - - Bechton, Elizabeth, 295 - - " Ellen, 295 - - " Margaret, 295 - - " Philip, 295 - - Becke, Isabel, 364 - - " Mary, 364 - - " Robert, 364 - - " Thomas, 364 - - Bedingfield, Thomas, 43 - - _Beeston Brook_, 216 - - " _Castle_, 107, 213-241 - - Beeston, George, 236 - - " Thomas, 233 - - Beever, John F., 35 - - Belgrave, Elizabeth, 302 - - " Isabel, 298 - - " Thomas, 298, 303, 318 - - Bellairs, Henry, 71 - - " Mary Ellen, 71 - - Bellingham, Edward, 437 - - Bennett, Mr., 37 - - Bennett, Robert, 187 - - Bennison, Thomas, 350 - - Bentley, Joanna, 376-7 - - " Richard, 376-7, 384 - - _Berkeley Castle_, 230 - - Bexwyke, Hugh, 364 - - " Joan, 364 - - " Richard, 364-5 - - " Roger, 365 - - _Billinge Hill_, 251 - - Birch, George, 193 - - " Robert, 193 - - " William, 193 - - Birches, Robert, 303 - - _Blackburn_, 4, 242 - - Blackburn, John, 437 - - _Black Comb_, 87 - - Blackmore, Dr., 405 - - Black Prince, The, 231, 233, 286, 296-7 - - Bland, Lady, 381-2, 387 - - _Bleasdale Moor_, 251 - - Blois, Earl of, 293 - - Bloreheath, Battle of, 119 - - Blount, John, 290-1 - - Blundell, Henry Robert, 40 - - Blundeville, Randle, 150, 213, 220, 223, 228 - - Bohemia, King of, 181, 183 - - Bohun, Humphrey, 227 - - Bold, Richard, 254-5 - - Bolingbroke, Henry, 115, 116, 234, 299, 300 - - Bolingbroke, Lord, 133 - - Bolle, John, 325 - - Bolles, Mary, 335, 337 - - " Thomas, 335 - - _Bollin River_, 285 - - _Bolton_, 164, 433, 440 - - Bond, Mr., 33 - - _Bonishall_, 287 - - Bonner, Bishop, 170, 187, 192 - - Bononcini, 386-7 - - Bonville, Lord, 92 - - Booth, Ellen, 307 - - " George, 60, 205, 334, 336 - - " James, 300 - - " John, 334 - - " John Gore, 404 - - " Robert, 307 - - Bostock, Adam, 233 - - " William, 297 - - Bosworth, Battle of, 236, 309-10 - - Bowdon, George, 31 - - " Anne, 31 - - _Bowfell_, 87 - - _Bowland Forest_, 244, 251, 280 - - Brabazon, Lady, 123 - - Brabin, Elizabeth, 71 - - " Henry, 71 - - Bradford, John, 164, 365 - - " Margaret, 365 - - Bradshaw, Barbour, 35 - - " Catherine, 35 - - " Elizabeth, 70 - - " Frances, 35 - - " George, 25 - - " Godfrey, 35 - - " Henry, 21, 27, 30-6, 77 - - " J., 394 - - " John, 21, 26-7, 37, 67, 69, 70 - - " Joseph, 35 - - " Mr., 147 - - " Mary, 64, 70 - - " Rachel, 35 - - " Richard, 69 - - " Sarah, 67 - - " Thomas, 70 - - " William, 25, 27 - - Bradshawe-Isherwood, Arthur Salusbury, 72 - - Bradshawe-Isherwood, Henry, 71 - - " " John, 71 - - " " John Henry, 72 - - " " Thomas, 71 - - Brandon, Lord, 128-129 - - Brearcliffe, Sarah, 375, 395 - - Brereton, Andrew, 120 - - " Ellen, 120 - - " Lord, 126 - - " Mrs., - - " John, 128 - - " Peter, 64 - - " Sybil, 320, 322 - - " Thomas, 338 - - " Urian, 315, 318, 320, 322, 338 - - " William, 33, 43, 237, 240, 330-1 - - Brett, Ann, 131 - - " Colonel, 131 - - Brettargh, Mr., 382 - - " William, 400 - - Bridge, Major-General, 57 - - Bridgeman, Bishop, 41-2 - - " Orlando, 33 - - Brofield, Mr., 191 - - Brogden, Alexander, 78 - - Bromiley, James, 414, 425 - - Brooke, Charles, 267 - - Brooks, William, 187 - - Broster, Richard, 344 - - Brownlow, Lawrence, 412 - - Brownswerd, John, 39 - - _Broxton Hills_, 220 - - Bruce, Robert, 224 - - Bruerton, Mrs., 123 - - _Brungerley Hipping Stones_, 244 - - Brunlees, 78 - - Buckingham, Duke of, 103 - - Buckler, C. A., 277 - - _Bunbury_, 236 - - Burghall, Edward, 39, 238, 240 - - Buron, Hugh, 370 - - _Butley Hall_, 350 - - Byrom, Adam, 363-6 - - " Ann, 401, 406 - - " Dorothy, 398 - - " Edward, 361, 366-378, 387, 389, 401, 405-6 - - " Eleanor, 405 - - " Elizabeth, 380, 382, 384-5, 393-4, 396, 399, 401-2, 405 - - " Ellen, 381, 385 - - " George, 364 - - " Henry, 364-5 - - " Lawrence, 365-7 - - " Margaret, 202, 364 - - " Martin, 362 - - " John, 151-2, 368, 370, 372-401 - - " Joseph, 369 - - " Phœbe, 372, 378, 392, 402 - - " Ralph, 193, 362, 364-6 - - " Robert, 365 - - " Samuel, 361, 369 - - " Thomas, 193 - - " William, 368 - - _Byrom Hall_, 361 - - Byrom, Sedgewick, Allen and Place, 406 - - Byron, John, 200-1 - - " Lord, 238 - - - Cadiz, Siege of, 323 - - _Caernarvon Castle_, 234 - - _Calder River_, 250-2 - - " _Valley_, 280 - - Calveley, George, 319 - - Camden, William, 205, 208 - - Campbell, James, 388 - - Canterbury, Archbishop of, 187-8 - - _Cark_, 86 - - Carlisle, Bishop of, 78 - - Carmichael, Captain, 71 - - _Carnforth_, 78 - - Carnwath, Earl, 341 - - Caroline, Queen, 132 - - Carpenter, General, 342-3 - - Carter, Dorothy, 94 - - " John, 94, 311 - - " Oliver, 189, 194, 202-3 - - Cartleche, John, 231 - - _Cartmel_, 76-8, 83 - - _Cartmel Fells_, 82 - - " _Priory_, 91, 101 - - Caryl, 45 - - Castlemaine, Lady, 129 - - _Cat and Fiddle_, 104 - - Cattel, Mr., 382, 395 - - Catterall, Thos., 252 - - Cavendish, Henry, 67 - - " Mr., 186 - - " William, 67, 258 - - Caxton, John, 113-14, 117 - - Cecil, Secretary, 169 - - Chadderton, Dr., 188, 192, 203 - - Chaddock, Tom, 394 - - Chadwick, J. Oldfield, 348 - - Challener, John, 123 - - " Mrs., 123 - - _Chapel Island_, 87 - - _Chapeltown_, 3 - - Charles I., 44-45, 48, 218, 240 - - Charles Edward, Prince, 344, 394, 396-7, 399 - - Charleton, Edward, 258 - - _Chartley Castle_, 222 - - Cheanie, Alan, 231 - - _Chester_, 237, 239-40 - - Chester, Bishop of, 255, 388 - - _Chester Cathedral_, 218 - - Chester, Earl of, 150, 213 - - Chesterfield, Lord, 383 - - Chetham, Edmund, 206 - - " Humphrey, 160, 194, 366 - - " Mr., 382 - - Chisnall, Colonel, 133 - - _Chipping_, 242 - - Cholmondeley, Earl, 342 - - " Hugh, 319 - - " Thomas, 233 - - Cibber, Colley, 131 - - Clarke, Peter, 341 - - Clayton, Mr., 387, 395, 397 - - Clifford, George Lambert, 267 - - " Lady Ann, 190 - - " Margaret, 167 - - " Matilda, 92 - - " Roger, 229 - - " Rosamond, 231 - - " The Black-faced, 92, 236 - - _Clitheroe Castle_, 5, 244, 251 - - _Cloud End_, 104 - - Clowes, Mr., 384, 387 - - Clyderhow, Thomas, 263 - - " Richard, 303 - - Clyve, Mr., 65 - - " William, 318 - - Cobham, Lord, 187 - - _Cockersand Abbey_, 253 - - Cogan, Dr., 205 - - Cole, Lettice, 126 - - Colydon, Mrs., 132 - - Compton, Captain, 68 - - _Conishead_, 87 - - _Coniston Old Man_, 87, 100 - - Constable, Mr., 145 - - _Conway Castle_, 234 - - Conway, Lady, 152 - - _Conway, River_, 222 - - Cook, Mr., 60 - - _Cooper’s Hill_, 221 - - Cope, John, 398 - - _Cophurst_, 104 - - Coppock, James, 396 - - Corona, Agnes, 292 - - " Ellen, 291, 295 - - " Hugh, 290-1 - - " Isabel, 291 - - " John, 291 - - " Lucy, 290-1 - - " Margaret, 291 - - " Sarah, 290 - - " Thomas, 291, 295 - - Cottington, Lord, 52, 66 - - Cotterel, P., 394 - - Cotton, George, 319 - - " Richard, 319 - - Coventry, Bishop of, 306 - - _Coventry, Grey Friars Abbey_, 222 - - Cowper, Edward, 182 - - " Lady Mary, 152 - - " William, 404 - - _Crewe_, 218 - - " _Hall_, 238, 330 - - Crocker, John, 205 - - _Cromford_, 427 - - Crompton, Alexander, 420 - - " Betty, 419 - - " Dr., 420 - - " Ellen, 369 - - " George, 419, 438 - - " James, 438 - - " John, 369, 438-9 - - " Samuel, 408-442 - - Cromwell, Oliver, 44, 53-58, 60, 63, 218, 264-5 - - " Richard, 58 - - " Thomas, 316 - - Crosse, Richard, 351 - - " Richard Townley, 351 - - Croxton, Mr., 394 - - Cumberland, Countess of, 190 - - " Denison, 377 - - " Duke of, 396 - - " Richard, 377 - - Cyveliock, Hugh, 220 - - - Daa, Alina, 297 - - " Reginald, 298 - - " Robert, 298 - - Dalston, Sir William, 338 - - Daniel, Samuel, 343 - - Danyers, Thomas, 286, 296 - - Darnel, Sargeant, 388 - - _Darwen_, 4 - - _Darwen, Over_, 438 - - " _River_, 265 - - Davenport, Amabella, 293 - - " Christopher, 119 - - " Elizabeth, 343 - - " Hugh, 119 - - " John, 119, 295 - - " Nicholas, 310-11 - - " Peter, 343, 350 - - " Ralph, 333 - - " Richard, 293 - - " Thomas, 297 - - Dawson, Dr., 390-1 - - " James, 396 - - Deacon, Christopher, 398-400 - - " Christopher Clemens, 400 - - " Dr., 387, 395-8 - - " Robert Renatus, 400 - - " Thomas, 394, 400 - - " Thomas Theodorus, 400 - - Dee, Arthur, 204, 208 - - " Jane, 176, 184, 187 - - " John, 157-210, 326, 364 - - " Katharine, 176 - - " Michael, 208 - - _Dee, River_, 218 - - Dee, Rowland, 167, 208 - - _Deganwy Castle_, 222 - - _Delamere Forest_, 217 - - Delves, Lady, 152 - - " Thomas, 350 - - Denbigh, Lord of, 229 - - _Dent Fells_, 80 - - Derby, Countess of, 333 - - " Earl of, 32, 33, 35, 51, 158, 167, 255, 256, 260, 437 - - Derwentwater, Earl of, 260, 341 - - Desborough, 56 - - Despenser, Hugh, 300 - - Devereux, Robert, 191, 325 - - Devonshire, Duke of, 383 - - Dicconson, Richard, 94 - - Dickinson, Mr., 394 - - Dickson, Sergeant, 394 - - _Dieu-la-cresse Abbey_, 224 - - Digby, Kenelm, 179 - - Disraeli, Isaac, 175 - - Dodd, Dr., 141 - - _Doddington Hall_, 238, 330 - - Dokenfield, Robert, 117 - - Done, John, 219, 323 - - " Lady, 219 - - _Dorfold Hall_, 238 - - Dounes, Reginald, 297 - - " William, 297 - - Downes, Edward, 341 - - " Roger, 33, 311 - - Downham, Bishop, 194 - - Drake, Madam, 381 - - Drayton, Michael, 93, 226 - - Dublin, Archbishop of, 123 - - Duckworth, George, 437 - - Duckworth and Chippindall, 437 - - Dudley, Robert, 171 - - Dugdale, Elizabeth, 144 - - " William, 144 - - Dukinfield, Colonel, 31-2, 330, 336, 352 - - Duncalf, William, 326 - - Dunsany, Lord, 70 - - Dunstan, Mr., 373 - - Dutton, Hugh, 223, 295 - - " Margaret, 295 - - " Thomas, 295 - - Dytton, Mr., 123 - - " Mrs., 123 - - - _Eagley Brook_, 411 - - Earwaker, John P., 42, 170, 308 - - _Eddisbury_, 218 - - Edge, Oliver, 32 - - Edward III., 228-231, 286 - - Edward IV., 307, 309 - - Edward VI., 170 - - Edwards, Mr., 47, 65 - - " Messrs., 65 - - Egerton, Lady, 317 - - " Mary, 321 - - " Ralph, 123 - - " Richard, 317 - - " Thomas, 190, 317 - - Elcho, Lord, 396 - - Eleanor, Queen, 230 - - Elizabeth, Princess, 170 - - " Queen, 172-5, 177, 183-8, 190, 256 - - Ellenborough, 78 - - Ellis, Mr., 23 - - Ely, Bishop of, 93, 314-5 - - Erskine, Lord, 287, 351 - - Espinasse, Mr., 389 - - Essex, Earl of, 191, 323, 325 - - Evans, John, 403 - - Evelyn, Lindon, 70 - - " Mr., 54 - - Evesham, Battle of, 227 - - Exton, Piers, 116, 235 - - - Fairfax, General, 239, 330 - - " Lady, 48 - - _Fairies’ Cave_, 95, 100 - - Fair Rosamond, 231 - - Fauconberg, Mr., 68 - - Fauconbridge, Mr., 68 - - Fell, Thomas, 58, 77 - - Ferrers, Earl, 220 - - Fiennes, Nathaniel, 127 - - Finney, John, 342-3 - - " Samuel, 342 - - _Firwood_, 411, 418 - - Fishwick, Colonel, 335 - - Fitton, Alexander, 128-30 - - " Ann, 125, 126, 128 - - " Colonel, 127 - - " Edmund, 112 - - " Edward, 110-11, 119-30, 142, 145, 150, 255 - - " Felicia, 142, 145 - - " Frances, 128 - - " Francis, 123, 125 - - " Jane, 128 - - " John, 120 - - " Lady, 123, 125 - - " Laurence, 114, 116-119 - - " Margaret, 126 - - " Mary, 110-11, 121 - - " Penelope, 128 - - " Richard, 119, 123 - - " Thomas, 112-13, 117-19, 150, 295 - - " William, 128 - - Fitzherbert, Mrs., 261 - - " Thomas, 261 - - Fitz Ivon, Maud, 293 - - " Wlofaith, 293 - - Flame, Lord, 191, 151, 153 - - Fletcher, Mr., 394-5 - - _Flint Castle_, 229, 231, 234 - - _Flookborough_, 83, 86 - - Flower, William, 347 - - Folkes, Mr., 397-8 - - _Fonthill_, 60 - - _Forest Chapel_, 104 - - Foster, General, 260, 341 - - Fountain, Serjeant, 59 - - Fox, Edward, 407 - - " George, 77, 245-6 - - Frank, Ann, 186 - - French, Gilbert J., 420, 441 - - _Frodsham_, 218 - - Fromonds, Bartholomew, 176 - - " Nicholas, 184 - - Fulden, Mr., 394 - - _Furness_, 76-7, 83 - - " _Abbey_, 77, 83 - - - Gaunt, John o’, 115, 298 - - _Gawsworth_, 102-154 - - Gawsworth, Lord, 130 - - Gerard, Charles, 126, 130-1 - - " Christopher, 128 - - " Elizabeth, 133, 201 - - " Fitton, 122 - - " Lord, 129-131, 133 - - " Mr., 203 - - Gibbons, Grinling, 357 - - Glendower, Owen, 116, 301 - - Gloucester, Duke of, 232 - - Gobert, John, 329 - - " Lucy, 329 - - Godiva, Lady, 288 - - Goodgroom, 58 - - Goodier, Mr., 189 - - _Goyt, Valley of_, 22 - - _Grange_, 82-3, 85 - - Granger, Abraham, 129 - - Gray, Thomas, 78 - - Grenville, Lord, 435 - - Griffith, Ann, 135 - - " Elizabeth, 135 - - Grindon, Leo H., 405 - - " John, 112 - - Grosvenor, Gilbert, 293 - - " John, 318-9 - - " Mary, 316-8 - - " Richard, 316, 319 - - " Robert, 298, 316 - - " Thomas, 303-4, 318 - - Gwinne, Peter, 183 - - - Haddon, John, 381 - - Hall, Francis, 400 - - " Mr., 400 - - " Richard Edward, 400-1 - - _Hall-i’-th’-Wood_, 408-442 - - Halley, Dr., 146, 333, 391 - - Halliwell, J. Orchard, 175 - - _Halton_, 218 - - Halton, Baron of, 233, 293 - - Halstead, Dumville, 401 - - " Eleanor, 401-2, 405 - - " William, 401 - - Hamilton, Charles, 133 - - " Colonel, 134 - - " Duke of, 109, 132-5, 264 - - Hammond, Colonel, 265 - - " Dr., 374 - - Hancock, Joseph, 182 - - Handel, Geo. F., 284, 348-9, 386-7 - - Harbottle, Guiscard, 111, 120, 150 - - " Mary, 111, 150 - - Hardwicke, Bess of, 67 - - Hardy, Henry, 195 - - _Harfleur_, 304-5 - - Hargreaves, 417, 422-5 - - Harland, John, 185 - - Harper, Francis, 373 - - Harrington, Ann, 94 - - " Elizabeth, 94 - - " James, 93 - - " John, 91-2 - - " Lord, 135-6, 397-8 - - " Matilda, 94 - - " Michael, 91 - - " Robert, 91, 94 - - " Thomas, 91-2 - - " William, 90-2 - - Harrison, John, 94 - - " Major-General, 33, 35 - - Hartington, Lord, 383 - - Hartley, John, 202, 364 - - Hastings, Henry, 227 - - Hatton, Christopher, 190, 236 - - _Hawarden Castle_, 229 - - Hawghton, Master, 201 - - Hawkshee, Mr., 384 - - Hazlewood, Katharine, 189 - - Hemans, Mr., 81 - - Henedge, Thomas, 188 - - Henry III., 221, 224-5, 290 - - " V., 117, 304-5 - - " VI., 117, 244, 305 - - " VII., 310, 312 - - " VIII., 95, 250, 309, 312 - - Hereford, Countess of, 205 - - " Duke of, 115 - - Hesketh, Agnes, 114, 117 - - Heton, Isold de, 250 - - Hexham, Battle of, 244 - - Heyricke, Richard, 367 - - _Heysham_, 86 - - Hibbert, Dr., 193 - - " Elizabeth, 26 - - " Henry, 25 - - " John, 2 - - " Thomas, 25-6 - - Hick, John, 252 - - Hickman, Bartholomew, 204, 207 - - Hicks & Rothwell, 439 - - Hill, Edward, 43 - - _Hood, The_, 87 - - _Hodder Place_, 265, 279 - - " _River_, 244, 251, 263, 265 - - Hodgson, Captain, 264 - - Hoghton, Richard, 18 - - Holcroft, Alice, 125 - - " John, 125 - - _Holker_, 86, 100 - - " _Hall_, 77 - - Holland, Mr., 47 - - " Ralph, 31 - - " Richard, 203 - - " Robert, 231, 235 - - _Hollin Old Hall_, 344 - - Hollinshed, Raphael, 104, 122 - - Hollinworth, Richard, 146-7, 159, 169 - - _Hollinworth, Smithy_, 348 - - _Holme Island_, 85 - - Holt, Alice, 252 - - " James, 303 - - _Holy Well_, 96 - - Honford, Henry, 295, 297 - - " Isabella, 295 - - " John, 305 - - " Katharine, 297 - - " Margaret, 315, 320 - - " William, 305, 307, 311, 315, 320 - - Hooper, Francis - - " Mr., 381, 384, 387 - - Hotspur, 116, 301 - - Houghton, Thomas, 256, 276 - - " Ralph, 193, 365 - - Howard, Lady, 186 - - Howitt, William, 260 - - _Hulme Hall_, 381 - - Hulme, Ralph, 364 - - " William, 196 - - _Humphrey Head_, 82, 86, 96-101 - - Hunte, Richard, 365 - - Hunter, Mr., 381 - - Hurleston, Richard, 319 - - _Hurst Green_, 257, 267 - - Hurst, James, 316 - - _Hyde Park_, 109 - - Hyde, Edward, 31 - - " Robert, 117, 305 - - - Iken, Anne Mary, 351 - - " Thomas Bright, 351 - - Ingleby, Isabel, 257 - - " John, 257 - - Ireton, Colonel, 63 - - _Irwell Valley_, 433 - - Isherwood, Nathaniel, 71 - - " Thomas, 71 - - - James I., 206, 219 - - Jefferson, Mr., 384 - - Jeffries, Judge, 339 - - Jermyn, Serjeant, 44 - - John, King, 220-1 - - Johnson, Samuel, 108, 151, 153-4 - - Jones, Thomas, 164 - - - Kay, 423 - - Kelly, Edward, 117-182 - - " Mistress, 182 - - _Kemple End_, 251 - - Kennedy, John, 427, 435-6, 439 - - _Kent Estuary_, 78 - - Kent, Fair Maid of, 232, 297 - - _Kent’s Bank_, 84-5 - - Kenyon, Ralph, 369 - - _Kerridge_, 107, 287 - - _Kersall Cell_, 369, 376, 385 - - Kighley, Ann, 256 - - Kinderton, Baron of, 291, 293 - - _Kirkhead_, 84, 87, 100 - - - Lacy, Roger, 223 - - Lambert, Colonel, 55, 60 - - " General, 264 - - _Lancaster_, 86 - - Lancaster, Earl of, 231, 235 - - Langdale, Marmaduke, 264 - - _Langdale Pikes_, 87 - - Langley, Mr., 203, 204 - - Larke, Joan, 313 - - " Peter, 313 - - " Thomas, 313 - - Lasque, Albert, 179-81, 184 - - Latimer, Lord, 125 - - Lauderdale, Lord, 32 - - Launcelyn, William, 299 - - Laurenson, Mrs., 380 - - Law, Edmund, 78 - - La Warre, Thomas, 158 - - Laurence, Elizabeth, 135 - - " Thomas, 135 - - Lee, Clegg, 343 - - " G. A., 427-8, 435-7 - - " Hester, 343, 352 - - " Robert, 343 - - Legh, Agnes, 291, 295, 401 - - " Anne, 340 - - " Charles, 203, 205, 284, 313, 330, 336, 343, 345-50 - - " Charles Richard Banastre, 351 - - " Dulcia, 308 - - " Edward, 321, 326, 338 - - " Elizabeth, 70, 343, 350 - - " Elizabeth Hester, 352 - - " Elizabeth Rowlls, 351 - - " Ellen, 119, 291 - - " George, 313-15, 318 - - " Henry, 336 - - " Hester, 352 - - " Isabel, 303 - - " John, 117, 233, 291-2, 296-300, 308, 311, 330, 335-6, 340, - 342-3, 350, 354 - - " Katharine, 297, 313 - - " Lucy, 334 - - " Lucy Frances, 343, 350 - - " Margaret, 113, 335 - - " Margery, 297 - - " Maria, 321 - - " Mary, 357 - - " Matilda, 297 - - " Maud, 296 - - " Mr., 201 - - " Peter, 113, 117, 119, 295-300, 336, 347 - - " Piers, 233, 286, 296, 309 - - " Ralph, 326 - - " Reginald, 302 - - " Richard, 70, 295, 338 - - " Richard Crosse, 340 - - " Robert, 203, 295-308, 318, 351 - - " Sybil, 327 - - " Thomas, 309-13, 316, 318-22, 326-7, 329-32, 334-6, 338-40, - 346-7, 351-2, 355, 357 - - " Thomas Crosse, 351 - - " Urian, 205, 321-3, 325-8, 332, 334, 357 - - " William, 295 - - Leicester, Earl of, 171, 173, 179-80, 225 - - Leigh, Katharine, 65 - - " John, 35 - - " Robert, 365 - - Leland, John, 194, 199 - - Lenthall, William, 60 - - Leofric, Earl, 288 - - _Leven Estuary_, 78 - - " _Sands_, 87 - - Lever, Mr., 196 - - Leveson, Richard, 325 - - Ley, Mr., 141 - - Leycester, Peter, 334 - - " Mr., 381, 383, 387 - - Lichfield, Earl of, 239 - - Lilburn, Colonel, 62 - - Lilly, 177, 181-2 - - Lincoln, Bishop of, 311 - - _Lindale_, 78 - - Lichfield and Coventry, Bishop of, 311 - - Llewellyn, Prince, 223, 225, 228-9 - - _London, Tower of_, 234 - - _Longridge Fell_, 5, 6, 250-1 - - _Lower Wood_, 411, 418 - - Luce, Elizabeth, 72 - - " Thomas, 72 - - _Ludgate_, 68 - - Ludlow, 61 - - Lupus, Hugh, 289, 292-3 - - _Lyme Hall_, 286 - - " _Chapel_, 233 - - Lymme, Richard, 295 - - Lynch, Mr., 139 - - - Macartney, General, 133-5 - - _Macclesfield_, 105-287 - - Macclesfield, Countess of, 131, 132 - - _Macclesfield Church_, 233 - - Macclesfield, Earl of, 132-133 - - _Macclesfield Forest_, 107, 286 - - Macclesfield, Roger, 112 - - Macguire, Lord, 41 - - Machin, John, 146 - - Mackenzie, Peter, 71 - - Macmahon, Lord, 41 - - Macworth, Humphrey, 52 - - Madan, Mrs., 152 - - Mainwaring, Charlotte, 132 - - " Colonel, 237 - - " Dr., 387 - - " Elizabeth, 141 - - " Ellen, 118 - - " Henry, 128, 319 - - " Lady, 144 - - " Peter, 141, 144, 381 - - " Randle, 118 - - " Roger, 143 - - " Thomas, 144 - - Malpas, Lady, 152 - - Malyn, Dr., 381-2 - - " Massey, 381 - - " Mrs., 381 - - " Robert, 381 - - Manners, John, 25 - - Marbury, Mary, 61 - - " Thomas, 61 - - March, Earl of, 301 - - Maresha, William, 91 - - Marlborough, Duke of, 133 - - _Marple Hall_, 21-75 - - Marsh, George, 255 - - Marshall, 45 - - " Calder, 441 - - " Henry, 299 - - Martindale, Adam, 60, 159 - - Martyn, Thomas, 171 - - Massey, Hamnet, 311 - - " John, 299 - - " Richard, 193 - - " Robert, 305 - - Massie, William, 327 - - Maurice, Prince, 239 - - Maximilian, Emperor, 172 - - Mayer, Mr., 111, 136 - - Maynard, Johanna, 338 - - " John, 338-9 - - McConnell and Kennedy, 435 - - Methe, Bishop of, 123 - - Meeke, Mr., 147 - - Melling, Mr., 374 - - Merbury, Lawrence, 303 - - Mercia, Earl of, 288-9, 292 - - Mere, Matthew, 115 - - _Mersey, River_, 218, 285 - - de Meschines, Randle, 112 - - _Middlewich_, 239, 330 - - Milbey, Mr., 68 - - Mildmay, Henry, 47 - - _Milne House_, 326, 332, 334, 340 - - _Milnthorpe Sands_, 81, 85, 96 - - Milton, John, 26, 50, 62, 66 - - Minshull, Thomas, 128, 382 - - _Mitton_, 242, 250-2, 267 - - " _Church_, 252-263 - - " _Little_, 244, 252 - - Modburly, John, 230 - - _Moel Fammau_, 108, 218 - - Mohun, Lady, 135 - - " Lord, 109, 132-5 - - Molyneux, Richard, 201 - - Monk, Bishop, 377 - - " Colonel, 239 - - Monmouth, Duke of, 129, 339-40 - - Montford, Guy, 227 - - " Henry, 227 - - " Simon, 225-7 - - _Moorfields_, 68 - - _Morecambe Bay_, 76, 83, 85 - - Moreland, Mr., 68 - - Mortimer, 114 - - " Edward, 229 - - _Mortlake_, 207 - - Morton, Lord, 389 - - " Edward, 144 - - Mosley, Edward, 330 - - " Nicholas, 211 - - " Oswald, 388 - - Mostyn, Thomas, 237 - - Mountague, Duke of, 397 - - Mounteagle, Lord, 94, 96, 178, 315 - - Mountford, William, 134 - - - Nairne, Lord, 441 - - Nanny, Mr., 399 - - _Nantwich_, 234, 237, 239, 330 - - Nelson, Mrs., 48 - - Neville, Margaret, 91 - - " Robert, 91 - - Newby, 100 - - Newby-Wilson, Thomas, 96 - - Newcastle, Duke of, 258 - - Newcome, Henry, 140-151, 369 - - " Robert, 140 - - " Stephen, 140 - - Newdegate, Mr., 41 - - _Newgate_, 69 - - Newnham, George Lewis, 351 - - " Louisa, 351 - - Newton, Alice, 327 - - " Dorothy, 64 - - " Isaac, 384 - - " Peter, 64 - - " Thomas, 39, 327 - - Nichols, Serjeant, 46 - - Nithsdale, Lord, 341 - - Norfolk, Duchess Dowager of, 258-9, 261, 266 - - " Duke of, 258, 261, 300 - - Norley, Adam, 296 - - Norris, Alexander, 413 - - " Alice, 413 - - " Christopher, 413 - - Northumberland, Countess Dowager of, 125 - - " Duke of, 234 - - " Earl of, 288, 301 - - Northumbria, King of, 243 - - Nottingham, Earl of, 299, 301 - - Nowell, Dean, 164 - - " Roger, 367 - - Nugent, Richard, 193 - - Nuthall, John, 319 - - - _Oaks, The_, 411 - - _Offerton Hall_, 27 - - Okey, 58 - - _Oldham_, 439 - - Oldham, Hugh, 200, 364 - - _Oldhams_, 431-2 - - O’Neill, Hugh, 321 - - " Shane, 121 - - Ord, Robert, 384 - - Orreby, Fulco, 225 - - " Isabel, 112 - - " Thomas, 112 - - Orrell, Mary, 71 - - " Thomas, 71 - - _Oswestry Castle_, 300 - - _Over Darwen_, 438 - - Owen, Joseph, 391 - - Oxford, Lord, 152 - - - Paris, Matthew, 225 - - Parker, Dorothy, 71 - - " Robert, 351 - - Parkinson, Canon, 366 - - Parnell, Thomas, 64 - - Parr, Mr., 65 - - Paslew, John, 262 - - Paulet, George, 316 - - Paulinus, 243 - - _Peak of Derbyshire_, 218, 285 - - _Peckforton_, 108 - - " _Castle_, 220 - - Pedder, William, 97 - - Peel, Messrs., 420 - - " Robert, 427, 432, 437 - - Pelton, Robert, 371 - - Pembroke, Earl, 92 - - Pembroke and Montgomery, Countess of, 190 - - _Pendle Hill_, 5, 244-6, 251, 280 - - _Pendleton_, 2 - - Pendleton, Henry, 364 - - Pennant, Thomas, 219 - - Pepys, Roger, 130 - - Perceval, Spencer, 437 - - Percy, Henry, 116 - - Peters, Hugh, 45 - - Petersham, Lord, 112, 136 - - Phillips, Richard, 311 - - Phillips and Lee, 435 - - _Phœnix Tower_, 239-40 - - Pilgrimage of Grace, 246 - - Pimlott, Mary, 70-1, 425 - - " William, 70-1 - - Plantagenet, Constance, 220 - - " Geoffrey, 220 - - " Richard, 93 - - Plunkett, John, 123 - - " Randal, 70 - - _Pontefract Castle_, 235 - - Pope, Alexander, 383 - - Potts, Master, 245 - - _Poulton Abbey_, 222 - - Powell, William, 348 - - _Prestwich Church_, 2 - - Prestwich, Edmund, 193, 208 - - " Isabella, 208 - - " Mr., 158 - - Prince, John C., 76 - - Prydyn, William, 299 - - Prynne, 41 - - Pygot, John, 305 - - - Radcliffe, Alexander, 158, 363 - - " John, 255 - - " Richard, 368 - - " William, 365 - - Raines, Canon, 256 - - Raleigh, Walter, 180, 191 - - Ratcliffe, John, 59 - - _Ravenspurg_, 232-3 - - Renaud, Dr., 303 - - Reynolds, Frances, 347 - - " Mary, 347 - - " Thomas, 347 - - _Rhuddlan Castle_, 223, 229, 231 - - _Ribblesdale_, 5, 280 - - _Ribchester_, 4, 9-18, 242-3 - - " _Bridge_, 6-9 - - _Ribble River_, 244, 251-2, 265 - - Rich, Robert, 135 - - Richard I., 220-1 - - " II., 115-6, 231-2, 286, 299-300 - - " III., 309 - - Rivers, Earl, 131 - - Richmond, Duchess of, 398 - - " Duke of, 398 - - " Earl of, 236, 244 - - _Ridley Hall_, 239 - - Rigby, Alexander, 33, 332-5 - - " John, 376 - - Robartes, Isabella, 340, 354 - - " Robert, 340 - - Roberts, Mr., 378 - - _Rochdale_, 242 - - Rochford, Countess of, 132 - - Roe, Samuel, 65 - - Rokeley, Robert, 311 - - Rosenberg, Count, 181 - - Rosworm, John, 51, 367-8 - - Row, Mr., 61 - - Rowlls, John, 343, 350 - - _Rowton Moor_, 218, 239 - - _Runnymede_, 221 - - Rupert, Prince, 127, 239 - - Russell, Lady, 190 - - Rutland, Earl of, 93, 236 - - Rydings, Francis, 371 - - - _Salesbury Hall_, 5 - - Salghall, Roger, 304 - - Salisbury, Bishop of, 383 - - " Earl of, 207 - - Sanford, Captain, 238-9, 241 - - Savage, Catharine, 313, 355 - - " Edmund, 315 - - " Isabella, 307 - - " John, 117, 305, 307, 309-10 - - " Richard, 131 - - " Thomas, 309 - - Savill, Harry, 201 - - _Sawrey Pass_, 100 - - Saxton, Christopher, 201 - - Schoelcher, Victor, 386 - - Scoles, Mr., 271 - - Scot, John, 224, 290 - - " Margaret, 224 - - Scotland, James III. of, 307 - - Scott, Sir Gilbert, 149 - - Sedgewick, Allen and Place, 406 - - Serleby, John de, 230 - - Shallcross, Edmund, 42-3 - - Shaw, John, 392 - - Sherburn, Dorothy, 252 - - " Elizabeth, 260 - - " Hugh, 273 - - " Katharine, 256-7 - - " Lady, 259, 266 - - " Maud, 254 - - " Nicholas, 258-61, 266, 268, 272 - - " Richard, 252, 254-8 - - " Richard Francis, 260 - - " Robert, 252 - - " Thomas, 255 - - Sherd, William, 340 - - Shore, William, 298-9 - - Shrewsbury, Battle of, 301 - - " Mayor of, 147 - - Shrigley, Mr., 395 - - _Shutling’s Low_, 104 - - Siddal, George, 369 - - " Richard, 369 - - Siddington, Emmota, 119 - - " Robert, 119 - - Sidney, Henry, 122 - - " Philip, 191 - - Simnel, Lambert, 309 - - Sinclair, James, 132 - - _Skiddaw_, 87 - - Slaidburn, 242 - - Sloane, Hans, 384 - - Smith, John, 132 - - " Mary, 132 - - " Madam, 131 - - " Mr., 383 - - " Richard, 132 - - Smyth, Mary Ann, 261 - - " Thomas, 297 - - " William, 261 - - Sneyd, Felicia, 126 - - " Ralph, 126 - - Sorrocold, John, 189 - - " Katharine, 189, 190 - - " Ralph, 189 - - Southwell, Thomas, 182 - - Spanish Armada, 236 - - Spenser, Edmund, 192, 322 - - St. Albans, Earl of, 52 - - St. George, Chevalier de, 341, 360 - - St. John, Mr. Solicitor, 44 - - St. Pierre, Urian, 227 - - St. Werburg’s, Abbot of, 237 - - Stamford, William, 253 - - Stanhope, Charles Augustus, 136 - - " Christopher, 397-8 - - " William, 135 - - Stanley, 437-8 - - " Edward, 25, 93-4, 314, 389 - - " Margaret, 25 - - " John, 93, 300, 314-16 - - " Thomas, 93, 125, 314 - - " William, 307 - - _Stanmore Church_, 348 - - _Stanner Nab_, 220 - - Stansfield, John, 375, 380 - - Starke, Alice, 317 - - Starkey, Mr., 396 - - " Nicholas, 202, 364 - - Starkie, Alice, 413, 414 - - " Le Gendre Nicholas, 413 - - " John, 413, 418 - - Steel, Mr., 46 - - " Captain, 238, 241 - - Stern, Bishop, 123 - - Stockdale, Mr., 83 - - Stockport, Margaret, 25 - - " Robert, 25 - - Stokefield, Battle of, 309 - - _Stormy Point_, 287 - - _Stonyhurst_, 5, 251, 256, 261, 264-80 - - Stourton, Lord, 256 - - Strafford, Earl of, 71 - - Strange, Lord, 367 - - Stringer, Hugh, 292 - - Strong, Mr., 65 - - _Sunderland Point_, 86 - - Sutton, 104 - - " Richard, 104 - - _Swarthmoor_, 77 - - " _Hall_, 77 - - Swedenborg, Emanuel, 434 - - Syddal, Tom, 341, 394, 396, 400 - - Sydenham, Colonel, 61 - - Sydney, Lady, 172 - - - Tabley, William de, 291 - - Talbot, Lord, 32 - - " Thomas, 244, 299 - - Tanai, Lucas de, 227 - - Tankerville, Count de, 296 - - Tatton, Mr., 330 - - " William, 121 - - Taylor, John, 190, 327, 403 - - _Teg’s Nose_, 104 - - _Thorncliffe_, 22 - - Thurloe, Secretary, 68 - - Thyer, Robert, 387 - - Tilsey, Mr., 204 - - Timbs, John, 59 - - _Tiverton_, 237 - - Tollemache, Lord, 220 - - Tounley, Robert de, 115 - - Townley, Colonel, 393, 395-6 - - Townshend, Edward, 350 - - " Lady, 398 - - Trafford, Edmund, 327 - - " Mary, 327 - - Treasurer, Lord, 174-5, 187 - - Trevor, Jane, 126 - - " John, 126 - - Tryket, John, 115 - - _Turton_, 426 - - " _Tower_, 3 - - Tyldesley, Thomas, 260 - - Tyrconnell, Lord, 132 - - Tyrrel, Serjeant, 59 - - - Ulster King of Arms, 123-4 - - _Ulverston_, 78, 87 - - " _Sands_, 81, 96 - - _Utkinton_, 219 - - - Valet, Captain, 240 - - Varley, John, 178 - - Venables, Gilbert, 293, 346 - - " Hugh, 118 - - " John, 291, 295 - - " Margery, 118 - - " Thomas, 293-4 - - " William, 291, 295 - - Vernon, Dorothy, 25 - - " George, 25 - - " William, 25 - - Vigor, Mr., 393 - - Voil, Thomas, 299 - - " William, 299 - - - _Waddington Fell_, 251 - - " _Hall_, 244 - - Wainwright, John, 403 - - Wakefield, Battle of, 235 - - " Edward Gibbon, 286 - - Wales, Prince of, 152, 225-7, 235, 261, 309, 312 - - Waller, James, 344 - - Walls, Robert, 311 - - _Walney_, 87 - - Walpole, Horace, 357, 383 - - " Lord, 152 - - Walsingham, Francis, 173, 191 - - Wandesford, Rowland, 33 - - Warbeck, Perkin, 311 - - Warburton, Anne, 121, 124 - - " Eleanor, 61 - - " Harriet, 350 - - " Peter, 61, 121, 124, 350 - - Ward, Joseph, 345 - - Wareing, Paul, 178 - - Warren, Edward, 35 - - " John, 311 - - " Mr., 189 - - Warwick, Countess of, 185, 190 - - " Earl of, 308 - - Waterpark, Lord, 67 - - Watt, James, 434 - - Waugh, Edwin, 81 - - Weever, 177 - - Weld, Edmund, 261, 266 - - " John, 261 - - " Thomas, 262, 266-7 - - " William, 261 - - Wells, Bernard, 30 - - " Mary, 30 - - Welshman, Robert, 205 - - Werden, Joseph, 160 - - Weston, James, 384 - - _Whalley_, 243 - - " _Abbey_, 247-250, 254 - - " _Church_, 246 - - " _Nab_, 251 - - Whitaker, Dr., 90-92, 157, 252, 257, 266 - - " John, 164 - - Whitby, Dr., 374 - - _White Nancy_, 287 - - _Whiteley Green_, 306 - - " _Hay_, 306, 309 - - Whitelock, 44-5, 47, 51, 61 - - _Whitewell_, 251 - - Whitfield, George, 385 - - Whitgift, Archbishop, 187 - - Whitmore, William, 236 - - Whitworth, Mr., 133, 387 - - Widderington, Edward, 258 - - " Peregrine, 259-61 - - " Lord, 260, 341 - - Widdrington, 46 - - Wigan, Mr., 159-60 - - Wilbraham, Thomas, 219 - - _Wildboarclough_, 104 - - Wilkinson, T. T., 188, 401 - - Willemots, Master, 189 - - Willes, General, 260, 342-3 - - William III., 339 - - Williamson, Mr., 203 - - " Thomas, 194 - - Willoughby, Baldwin, 369 - - " Lord, 403 - - _Wilpshire_, 4 - - Wilson, “Alick,” 162 - - Wilson, N., 65 - - Winchester, Marquis of, 316 - - Winnington, Catherine, 26 - - " _Bridge_, 60 - - Wintoun, Lord, 341 - - _Wiswall_, 251 - - " _Hall_, 246 - - Wolsey, Cardinal, 314 - - _Wolfscote_, 104 - - Wood, Anthony à, 238 - - Woodstock, Thomas of, 231 - - Worcester, Dean of, 170 - - Worsley, Ellen, 368 - - " Major-General, 55, 337, 366, 368 - - " Mr., 374 - - " Thomas, 366 - - Wordsworth, William, 81 - - Wortley, Mr., 205 - - _Wraysholme Tower_, 82, 86, 88 - - Wright, Mrs., 131 - - _Wyberslegh_, 25, 30 - - _Wyke, The_, 86 - - Wylde, Mr., 439 - - _Wythenshawe_, 31, 330 - - - Yates & Dawson, 390 - - Yates, Joseph, 390 - - _Yewbarrow_, 81 - - York, Archbishop of, 301, 309, 383 - - " Duke of, 93, 236 - -[Illustration] - - -JOHN HEYWOOD, Excelsior Steam Printing and Bookbinding Works, - Hulme Hall Road, Manchester. - - -Transcriber's notes: - -In the text version, italics are represented by _underscores_, and -bold and black letter text by =equals= symbols. - -Missing or incorrect punctuation has been repaired. Inconsistant -spelling and hyphenation have been left. - -The following mistakes have been noted: - - p. xi to p. xxiii. The Lists of Booksellers and Subscribers have - some entries which are not in alphabetical order. The number of - copies ordered is not always in italics. - - p. xvii. Marsden, The Kev changed to Rev. - - p. xviii. CHORLTON, THOMAS has 2 entries, one for 32 Brasenose - Street and one for 32 Brazenose Street. - - p. xx. Warnirgton changed to Warrington. - - p. 26. text reads "dated 7th July, 4", the 4 seems incorrect but - has been left. - - p. 40. "13 Car. I., June 7. "Appointment of John Bradshawe, the - extra opening quote has been removed. - - p. 42. bran new pulpit changed to brand new pulpit. - - p. 51. salutory changed to salutary. - - p. 65. thanfull acknowledgement, has been left as it appears to be - a quote. - - p. 104. Wildboa. Clough changed to Wildboar Clough. - - p. 108. Enjoy the sunny world, so fresh and fair, added closing - quote. - - p. 123. "The order, added the opening quote. - - p. 141. Batchelor in Arts, left. - - p. 169. £2 000 changed to £2,000. - - p. 222. pa sed, corrected to passed. - - p. 238. He confessed all his sins, opening quote added. - - p. 240. suurrender changed to surrender. - - p. 258. Maria Winifred Francesca is spelt Maria Winnifred - Francesca on p. 261. - - p. 259. alloted changed to allotted. - - p. 274. tranferred changed to transferred. - - p. 301. Thursday then next, then changed to the. - - p. 325. a n heirloom changed to an heirloom. - - Index - - p. 444. Bradshawe-Isherwood, Arthur Salusbury, 71 changed to 72 - and Bradshawe-Isherwood, John, 72 changed to 71. - - Brereton, Mrs. is missing a page number. Several Brereton wifes - are mentioned in the text and it is not clear which one referenced. - - p. 445. Chetham, Mr., 582 changed to p. 382. - - p. 447. Dieulacresse Abbey changed to Dieu-la-cresse to match text. - - p. 449. Hooper, Francis is missing a page number. Several Hoopers - are mentioned but no Francis Hooper, though there is a Francis - Harper on p. 373. - - p. 449. Jeffreys, Judge, changed to Jeffries. - - p. 450. Lenthal, William, changed to Lenthall. - - p. 450. Mareschall, William, changed Mareshal. - - p. 451. Meath, Bishop of, changed to Methe. - - p. 451. Meschines, Rundle, changed to Randle de Meschines - - p. 451. Molyneux, Richard, is spelt Molynox in the text, but this - is in a quote from an older document and has been left. - - p. 452. Rosenburg, Count, changed to Rosenberg. - - p. 453. Schoelscher, Victor, changed to Schoelcher. - - p. 453. Shutlings Low, 107, is on p. 104 and the index entry has - been changed. - - p. 454. Tyrconnel, Lord, changed to Tyrconnell. - - p. 478. Tilsley, Mr., changed to Tilsey. - - p. 478. Townshead, Edward,changed to Townsend. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Nooks and Corners of Lancashire and -Cheshire., by James Croston - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOOKS, CORNERS OF LANCASHIRE *** - -***** This file should be named 51191-0.txt or 51191-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/1/9/51191/ - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: - none; -} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nooks and Corners of Lancashire and -Cheshire., by James Croston - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Nooks and Corners of Lancashire and Cheshire. - A Wayfarer's Notes in the Palatine Counties, Historical, - Legendary, Genealogical, and Descriptive. - -Author: James Croston - -Release Date: February 12, 2016 [EBook #51191] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOOKS, CORNERS OF LANCASHIRE *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h1> NOOKS AND CORNERS<br /> - OF<br /> - LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. -</h1> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="p6"><img src="images/i_002.jpg" width="50" height="33" alt="Pointer" />Of this work 600 copies have been printed, the whole of which -were subscribed for before publication.</p> -<hr class="chap p6" /> - - - -<p class="ph1"> <span class="smcap">Nooks and Corners</span></p> - -<p class="center f75 p2"> OF</p> - -<p class="ph1 p2"> Lancashire and Cheshire.</p> - -<p class="ph3 p4"> A WAYFARER’S NOTES IN THE PALATINE COUNTIES,<br /> - HISTORICAL, LEGENDARY, GENEALOGICAL,<br /> - AND DESCRIPTIVE.</p> - -<p class="center p4"> <span class="f75"> BY</span><br /> - -<span class="f150"> JAMES CROSTON, F.S.A.</span><br /> -<span class="f75"> <i>Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain;<br /> - Member of the Architectural,<br /> - Archæological and Historic Society of Chester; Member of the<br /> - Council of the Record Society.</i><br /> - - Author of “On Foot through the Peak,” “A History of Samlesbury,”<br /> - “Historical Memorials of the Church in Prestbury,”<br /> - “Old Manchester and its Worthies,”<br /> - etc., etc.</span></p> - -<p class="center p4"><span class="f120"> JOHN HEYWOOD,</span><br /> - <span class="smcap">Deansgate and Ridgefield, Manchester;<br /> - and 11, Paternoster Buildings</span>,<br /> - LONDON.<br /> - 1882. -</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="center p4"> JOHN HEYWOOD, PRINTER, HULME HALL ROAD,<br /> - MANCHESTER. -</p> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_005.jpg" width="600" height="110" alt="Start of Chapter graphic" /> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> - -<p class="cap"><span class="smcap">This</span> volume is not put forth as professedly a history of the -places described, the Author’s aim having been rather to -seize upon and group from such accredited sources of information -as were available, the leading facts and incidents relating to special -localities, and to present the scenes of human life and action in a -readable and attractive form by divesting, in some degree, the tame -and uninviting facts of archæology of their deadly dulness; to -bring into prominent relief the remarkable occurrences and -romantic incidents of former days, and, by combining with the -graver and more substantial matters of history an animated -description of the physical features and scenic attractions of the -localities in which those incidents occurred, to render them more -interesting to the general reader.</p> - -<p>A popular writer—the Authoress of “Our Village”—has said -that she cared less for any reputation she might have gained as a -writer of romance, than she did for the credit to be derived from -the less ambitious but more useful office of faithfully uniting and -preserving those fragments of tradition, experience, and biography, -which give to history its living interest. In the same spirit the -following pages have been written. There are within the Palatine -Counties of Lancaster and Chester many objects and places, many -halls and manor-houses that possess an abiding interest from the -position they occupy in “our rough island story,” and from their -being associated, if not with events of the highest historic import, -yet at least with many of those subordinate scenes and occurrences—those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> -romantic incidents and half-forgotten facts that illustrate the -inner life and character of bygone generations. These lingering -memorials of a period the most chivalrous and the most romantic -in our country’s annals may occasionally have received the notice -of the precise topographer and the matter-of-fact antiquary, but, -though possessing in themselves much that is picturesque and -attractive, they have rarely been placed before the reader in any -other guise than that in which the soberest narrative could invest -them. In them the romance of centuries seems to be epitomised, -and to the “seeing eye” they are the types and emblems of the -changing life of our great nation; legend and tradition gather -round, and weird stories and scraps of family history are associated -with them that bring vividly before the mind’s eye the domestic -life and manners of those who have gone before, and show in how -large a degree the Past may be made a guide for the Present and -the Future.</p> - -<p>It only remains for the Author to acknowledge his obligations -to those friends who, by information communicated, and in other -ways, have aided him in his design. His thanks are due to <span class="smcap">John -Eglington Bailey</span>, Esq., F.S.A., of Stretford; <span class="smcap">John Oldfield -Chadwick</span>, Esq., F.S.S., F.G.S., of London; Dr. <span class="smcap">Samuel -Crompton</span>, of Cranleigh, Surrey; Lieutenant-Colonel <span class="smcap">Fishwick</span>, -F.S.A., of Rochdale; and <span class="smcap">Thomas Helsby</span>, Esq., of the Inner -Temple. He is also indebted to the kindness of <span class="smcap">Gilbert J. -French</span>, Esq., of Bolton, for the loan of the several engravings -which add interest to the story of Samuel Crompton.</p> - -<p> -<span class="smcap in2left">Upton Hall, Prestbury, Cheshire,<br /> -<span class="in6left">December, 1881.</span></span> -</p> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_007.jpg" width="600" height="136" alt="Start of Chapter Graphic" /> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak p2"><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC"> -<tr><td class="tdc">CHAPTER I.</td> -<td class="f75 tocpg">PAGE</td></tr> - -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc">A Railway Ramble—The Roman City on the Ribble—A - Day Dream at Ribchester </td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_1"> 1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc"> CHAPTER II.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> Marple Hall—The Bradshaws—Colonel Henry Bradshaw—The - Story of the Regicide</td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_21"> 21</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc">CHAPTER III.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> Over Sands by the Cartmel Shore—Wraysholme Tower—The - Legend of the Last Wolf </td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_76"> 76</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc"> CHAPTER IV.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> An Afternoon at Gawsworth—The Fighting Fittons—The - Cheshire Will Case and its Tragic Sequel—Henry - Newcome—“Lord Flame” </td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_102"> 102</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc"> CHAPTER V.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> The College and the “Wizard Warden” of Manchester -</td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_157"> 157</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc"> CHAPTER VI.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> Beeston Castle </td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_213"> 213</a> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc"> CHAPTER VII.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> Whalley and its Abbey—Mitton Church and its Monuments—The - Sherburnes—The Jesuits’ College, Stonyhurst </td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_242"> 242</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc"> CHAPTER VIII.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> Adlington and its Earlier Lords—The Leghs—The Legend of - the Spanish Lady’s Love—The Hall </td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_283"> 283</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc"> CHAPTER IX.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> The Byroms—Kersall Cell—John Byrom—The Laureate of - the Jacobites—The Fatal ’45 </td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_361"> 361</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc">CHAPTER X.</td><td> </td></tr> -<tr class="spaceunder"><td class="tocdesc"> Hall-i’-th’-Wood—The Story of Samuel Crompton, the Inventor - of the Spinning Mule</td><td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_408"> 408</a></td></tr> -</table> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/i_010.jpg" width="350" height="162" alt="Graphic" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_009.jpg" width="600" height="95" alt="Start of Chapter Graphic" /> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak p2"><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC"> -<tr><td class="tdc"> </td><td class="f75 tocpg">PAGE</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Prospect Tower, Turton</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#PTT"> 3</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Ribchester Bridge</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_7"> 7</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Marple Hall</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#MH"> 20</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Autograph and Seal of Colonel Bradshaw</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#SCB"> 34</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">President Bradshaw</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#PB"> 47</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Autograph of John Bradshaw</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#AJB"> 49</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">George Fox’s Chapel, Swarthmoor</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#GFC"> 77</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Grange-over-Sands</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_79"> 79</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Wraysholme Tower</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_89"> 89</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Heraldic Glass at Wraysholme</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#HGH"> 91</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Gawsworth Old Hall</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_105"> 105</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Gawsworth Cross</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_109"> 109</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">The Rev. Henry Newcome</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#RHN"> 143</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">“Lord Flame’s” Tomb, Gawsworth</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#LFT"> 153</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">John Dee, the “Wizard Warden”</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_156"> 156</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">The Manchester College</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#MC"> 196</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Mortlake Church</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#MTC"> 207</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Beeston Castle</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_212"> 212</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">The Phœnix Tower, Chester</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#PTC"> 240</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Abbot Paslew’s Grave Stone, Whalley Church</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#APGS"> 246</a> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Ancient Cross, Mitton Churchyard</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#ACMC"> 263</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">The Hodder Bridge</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#HB"> 265</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Stonyhurst</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_269"> 269</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Adlington Hall</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_282"> 282</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Autograph of Sir Urian Legh</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#UL">326</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Sir Alexander Rigby</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#SAR"> 333</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Autograph of Thomas Legh</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#TL"> 338</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Kersall Cell</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_360"> 360</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">John Byrom’s House, Manchester</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#JBH"> 381</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Hall-i’-th’-Wood</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_409"> 409</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Hall-i’-th’-Wood: South Front</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#HIWSF"> 412</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Staircase, Hall-i’-th’-Wood</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_415"> 415</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Heraldic Shield, Hall-i’-th’-Wood</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#HSHIW"> 417</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tocdesc"><span class="smcap">Oldhams</span></td> -<td class="tocpg"><a href="#Page_429"> 429</a></td></tr> -</table></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/i_010.jpg" width="350" height="162" alt="Graphic" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_011.jpg" width="600" height="118" alt="Start of Chapter Graphic" /> -</div> - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="SUBSCRIBERS" id="SUBSCRIBERS"></a>SUBSCRIBERS.</h2> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> -<img src="images/i_011a.jpg" width="150" height="21" alt="fancy horizontal rule" /> -</div> - -<ul class="index"><li><span class="smcap">Adshead, G. H.</span>, Esq., Fern Villas, Bolton Road, Pendleton, nr. M’chester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Andrew, Frank</span>, Esq., Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ardern, L.</span>, Jun., Esq., Hazel Grove, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Armitage, Elkanah</span>, Esq., The Rookery, Pendleton, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Armstrong, Thomas</span>, Esq., F.R.M.S., Highfield Bank, Urmston.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Arnold, Henry</span>, Esq., Blackley, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ashton, J. T.</span>, Esq., Wellington Road South, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ashworth, Charles E.</span>, Esq., Fairfield, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ashworth, George</span>, Esq., 3. Charlotte Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ascroft, W. T.</span>, Esq., 3, Stamford Street, Altrincham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Aspland, L. M.</span>, Esq., 47, Linden Gardens, South Kensington, London, S. W.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Asquith, D.</span>, Esq., Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Offices, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Atkinson, George</span>, Esq., Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Atherton, W. H.</span>, Esq., Southbank Road, Southport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Athenæum</span>, The, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Attock, F.</span>, Esq., Somerset House, Newton Heath.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bailey, J. Eglinton</span>, F.S.A., Egerton Villa, Stretford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Barlow, J. R.</span>, Esq., Edgeworth, near Bolton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Barnes, Alfred</span>, Esq., Farnworth.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Barnes, Thomas</span>, Esq., Farnworth.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Barton, Richard</span>, Esq., West Leigh Lodge, West Leigh, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bayley, William</span>, Esq., Craybrow, Lymm, Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bazley</span>, Sir <span class="smcap">Thos.</span>, Bart., Eyford Park, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Beaman</span>, Mrs., Haydock Lodge, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Beales, Robert</span>, Esq., M.D., J.P. (Mayor), Congleton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bellis, Thomas</span>, Esq., Northenden, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Berry, James</span>, Esq., Jun., Palatine Square, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Beswick, John</span>, Esq., Victoria Hotel, Strangeways, Manchester (2 copies).</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bibby, W. H.</span>, Esq., Levenshulme.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Birch, Herbert</span>, Esq., The Vicarage, Blackburn. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Birley, Hugh</span>, Esq., M.P., Moorland, Withington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Birley, J. Shepherd</span>, Esq., Moss Lee, Bolton-le-Moors.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bleasdell</span>, The Rev. <span class="smcap">J.</span>, Henry Square, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Boddington, Henry</span>, Jun., Esq., Strangeways Brewery, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bolger</span>, Miss <span class="smcap">Sarah</span>, Atherton, Bournemouth, Hants.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bolton, John</span>, Esq., Southfield, Blackburn.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bone, John W.</span>, Esq., F.S.A., 26, Bedford Place, Russell Square, London.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Booth, Aaron</span>, Jun., Esq., 4, South Street, Albert Square, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Booth, James</span>, Esq., 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Boote, Daniel</span>, Esq., Oakfield, Ashton-on-Mersey.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bourne</span>, Sir <span class="smcap">James</span>, Heathfield, Liverpool.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bowdler, William Henry</span>, Esq., J.P., Kirkham, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bowes</span>, Dr. <span class="smcap">John</span>, The Blue Coat School, Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bowker, S. J.</span>, Esq., 42, Great Ancoats Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Boulton, Isaac Watt</span>, Esq., J.P., Stamford House, Ashton-under-Lyne (2 copies).</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bradshaw, Christopher</span>, Esq., Kenwood, Ellesmere Park, Eccles.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bradshawe, George Paris</span>, Esq., 30, Gloucester Street, Warwick Square, London.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bradshawe-Isherwood</span>, Mrs., Marple Hall, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bradshaw, S.</span>, Esq., 241, Broad Street, Pendleton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bradwell, Dennis</span>, Esq., J.P. Higher Daisy Bank, Congleton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bramwell, Robert</span>, Esq., 5, Green Street, Ardwick Green.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bragg, Harry</span>, Esq., The Mount, Blackburn.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bransby, William</span>, Esq., 46, Deansgate, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Brown</span>, Rev. Canon, M.A., Staley Vicarage, Stalybridge.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Brownhill, John</span>, Esq., Alderley, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bridgeman</span>, Rev. The Honble. <span class="smcap">G. T. O.</span>, Wigan Hall, Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Broadbent, Geo. Harry</span>, Esq., L.K.Q.C.P.I. and L.M., Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Broadbent, Edwin</span>, Esq., Reddish, near Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Brockbank, W.</span>, Esq., Pall Mall, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Buckley</span>, Mr., Strangeways Brewery.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Budd</span>, Mrs. <span class="smcap">M.</span>, Cedar Villa, Wilbraham Road, Fallowfield, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bulteel, S. W.</span>, Esq., Victoria Park, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Burgess, Samuel</span>, Esq., Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Offices, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Burton, Alfred</span>, Esq., 37, Cross Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Burghope, William</span>, Esq., Albert Villa, near Malvern.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Burton, Joseph</span>, Esq., Lyme View, Bramhall, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Burton, J. H.</span>, Esq., F.R.H.S., 5, Trafalgar Square, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Burton</span>, Mrs. <span class="smcap">Lingen</span>, Abbey House, Shrewsbury.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Bustard, J.</span>, Esq., Summer Lane, Barnsley. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span></li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Calderbank</span>, Captain, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cameron, John D.</span>, Esq., The Grove, Sale, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Carrington, H. H., Smith</span>, Esq., Whaley Bridge, near Stockport</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Carver</span>, Mrs. <span class="smcap">J.</span>, Sunnyside, Whalley Range, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Carr, John</span>, Esq., 2, McDonald’s Lane, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Casson, E.</span>, Esq., Raper Lodge. Bramhall Park, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Chadwick, T.</span>, Esq., The Grove, Urmston, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Chetham’s Library</span>, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Chorlton, Thomas</span>, Esq., 32, Brasenose Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Chorlton, William</span>, Esq., Fairfield, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Chorlton, Thomas</span>, Esq., 32, Brazenose Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Christy, Richard</span>, Esq., Poynton Towers, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Clare, Charles Leigh</span>, Esq., Park Lane, Higher Broughton, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Coates</span>, The Misses, Sunnyside, Crawshawbooth, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Collins, James</span>, Esq., Ada Villa, Old Trafford, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Coombes</span>, The Rev. <span class="smcap">G. F.</span>, B.A., Portwood, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cooper, Edward</span>, Esq., 10, Downing Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cooper, Thomas</span>, Esq., Mossley House, Congleton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Coultate, William Miller</span>, Esq., F.R.C.S., J.P., 1, Yorke Street, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cowie</span>, Very Rev. <span class="smcap">B. Morgan</span>, D.D., Dean of Manchester, The Deanery, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Craig, Andrew L.</span>, Esq., 148, Cheapside, London.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Craven, James</span>, Esq., Woodland House, Whalley Range, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Creeke</span>, Major <span class="smcap">A. B.</span>, Monkholm, near Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cronkeshaw, John</span>, Esq., White Bull Hotel, Blackburn.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cross, John</span>, Esq., Cambridge Villa, Heaton Norris.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cross</span>, The Right Hon. Sir <span class="smcap">R. A.</span>, M.P., Eccle Riggs, Broughton-in-Furness.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Crompton, Samuel</span>, Esq., M.D., Cranleigh, Surrey.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cunliff, John</span>, Esq., Lomber Hey, near Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Curzon, N. C.</span>, Esq., Lockington Hall, Derby.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cuff, James Henry</span>, Esq., Millington, near Altrincham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cunliffe, Edward Thomas</span>, Esq., Handforth.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Dale, Thomas</span>, Esq., J.P., Bank House, Park Road, Southport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Davenport, E. H.</span>, Esq., Davenport, Bridgnorth, Shropshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Day</span>, Mr. <span class="smcap">T. J.</span>, Heaton Moor, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Devonshire</span>, His Grace the Duke of, Chatsworth, Chesterfield.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Dillon</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">Godfrey</span>, Radcliffe (2 copies).</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Dobson, Matthew</span>, Esq., Cheadle.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Dorrington, James T.</span>, Esq., Bonishall, near Macclesfield.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Downing, William</span>, Esq., Springfield Olton, Acock Green, Birmingham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Dyer, A. C.</span>, Esq., National Provincial Bank of England, Manchester. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span></li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Earwaker, J. P.</span>, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., Pensarn, Abergele.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Eastwood, J. A.</span>, Esq., 49, Princess Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Eaton, C.</span>, Esq., 3, St. Edward Street, Leek.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Eckersley, C.</span>, Esq., Tyldesley, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Edgar, Robert A.</span>, Esq., Seymour Lodge, Heaton Chapel.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Edge, J. Broughton</span>, Esq., Broad Oak Park, Worsley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Eilbeck, H.</span>, Esq., Ashton-upon-Mersey, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ellison, John</span>, Esq., Stockport Road, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Elwen, George</span>, Esq., 11, Knott Street, Higher Broughton, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Enion, J. C.</span>, Esq., Piccadilly, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Equitable Co-operative Society</span>, Greenacres Hill, Oldham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Evans</span>, Miss <span class="smcap">Lydia</span>, The Heys, near St. Helens, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Evans, John</span>, Esq., 1, Mitton Street, Greenheys.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Eyre</span>, The Rev. <span class="smcap">W. H.</span>, Stonyhurst College, near Blackburn (<i>5 copies</i>).</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Fairbrother, Henry</span>, Esq., 106, Albert Square, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Feather</span>, The Rev. <span class="smcap">George</span>, The Vicarage, Glazebury, Leigh, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Fielden, John</span>, Esq., Dobroyd Castle, Todmorden (<i>2 copies</i>).</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Fletcher, J. Shepherd</span>, Esq., M.D., 75, Lever Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Fletcher, Thomas</span>, Esq., Lever House, near Bolton-le-Moors.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Folly, Thomas</span>, Esq., Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Foyster, J. Asher</span>, Esq., 5, Norfolk Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Frankland, Geo.</span>, Esq., <em>Express</em> Office, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Freston, T. W.</span>, Esq., 8, Watling Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Fry, Joseph</span>, Esq., Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gamble</span>, Colonel, Windlehurst, St. Helens.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gartside, R. A.</span>, Esq., Dacres, Greenfield, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gaskell, A. E.</span>, Esq., 255, Moss Lane, East, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gaskell, Josiah</span>, Esq., Burgrave Lodge, Ashton-in-Makerfield.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gee, Charles</span>, Esq., Gorton, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gerard</span>, Major, Aspull House, Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gibbons, Benjamin</span>, Esq., London Road, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gill, Richard</span>, Esq., 7, Pall Mall, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gilbody, A. H.</span>, Esq., Edge Lane, Chorlton-on-Medlock.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Goodman, Davenport</span>, Esq., Eccles House, Chapel-en-le-Frith.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Graham, Joseph</span>, Esq., Carlton Road, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Graham</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">Philip</span>, Turncroft, Darwen.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Grantham, John</span>, Esq., 2, Rothsay Place, Old Trafford, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gray, Robert</span>, Esq., Greenfield House, Hyde.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gradwell, Samuel</span>, Esq., Holmes Chapel, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gratrix, Samuel</span>, Esq., J.P., West Point, Whalley Range, Manchester. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Greaves, George</span>, Esq., Hayfield.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Greenall</span>, Sir <span class="smcap">Gilbert</span>, Bart., Walton Hall, Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Greenall</span>, Colonel, Lingholme, Keswick.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Greenall</span>, Major, The Old Rectory, Grappenhall.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Greene</span>, Mrs. <span class="smcap">Turner</span>, Southworth House, Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Greenhalgh, Joseph Dodson</span>, Esq., Gladstone Cottage, Bolton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Greenway, C.</span>, Esq., J.P., Darwen Bank, Darwen.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Greenwood, Charles</span>, Esq., 26, Aked’s Road, Halifax.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Groves, G. H.</span>, Esq., Kent Villa, Urmston, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Grundy, Alfred</span>, Esq., Whitefield, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Guest, W. H.</span>, Esq., 78, Cross Street, Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hadfield, George</span>, Esq., 110, King Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hague, John Scholes</span>, Esq., White Hall, Chinley, Derbyshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hall, Joshua</span>, Esq., Kingston House, Hyde.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hall, John</span>, Esq., The Grange, Hale, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hall, Robert</span>, Esq., Anes House, Hyde.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Halstead, Louis</span>, Esq., Redwaterfoot, Corneholme.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hampson, William</span>, Esq., Rose Hill, Marple, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hampson, J. R.</span>, Esq., Old Trafford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hampson, J. T.</span>, Esq., Solicitor, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Harlow</span>, Miss, Heaton Norris, Stockport</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hartley, William</span>, Esq., Greek Street, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hartley</span>, Mrs., Brierfield House, near Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hartley, Job W.</span>, Esq., Westgate, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hardwick, C.</span>, Esq., 72, Talbot Street, Moss Side, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Harwood</span>, Alderman <span class="smcap">John J.</span>, Northumberland Street, Higher Broughton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Haworth</span>, The Rev. <span class="smcap">J. G.</span>, Tunsteads Vicarage, Stacksteads.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Haworth, S. E.</span>, Esq., Holyrood, restwich.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Haworth, Richard</span>, Esq., J.P., 28, High Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Heginbottom, Thomas</span>, Esq., J.P., (Mayor), Stamford House, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Helsby, Thomas</span>, Esq., Lincoln’s Inn, London.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hibbert, Henry</span>, Esq., Broughton Grove, Grange-over-Sands.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hicks, John</span>, Esq., Mytton Hall, Whalley, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Higgins, Arthur</span>, Esq., King Street, Salford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Higgins, James</span>, Esq., Woodhey, Kersal, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Higson, Thomas</span>, Esq., Red Cliffe, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hill, T. D.</span>, Esq., Fairfield.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hindley, Thomas</span>, Esq., Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hirst, John</span>, Esq., Ladcastle, Dobcross.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hodgson, T.</span>, Esq., Cravenholme, Didsbury. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hooley, Samuel J.</span>, Esq., Manchester and Liverpool District Bank Limited, Tunstall.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Howe, James</span>, Esq., Bellfield House, Ashton-under-Lyne, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hodgkinson, James B.</span>, Esq., Green Bank, Sale, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hodgkinson, S.</span>, Esq., Marple, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Holden, Thomas</span>, Esq., Bolton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Holmes, James</span>, Esq., Egerton Road, Fallowfield, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hornby, James</span>, Esq., Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Hyde, Walter</span>, Esq., Cromwell House, Heaton Chapel.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ingham, B.</span>, Esq., York Chambers, Brasenose Street, Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Jackson, Alfred</span>, Esq., Burnley Lane, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Jackson, B.</span>, Esq., Heathfield, Ashton-upon-Mersey.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Jackson, Hartley</span>, Esq., Pickup Terrace, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Jackson, H. J.</span>, Esq., Ashton-under-Lyne (<i>2 copies</i>).</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Johnson, J. A.</span>, Esq., 73, Albert Road, Southport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Johnson, J. H.</span>, Esq., F.S.A., 73, Albert Road, Southport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Jones, John Joseph</span>, Esq., Abberley Hall, Stourport.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Kay, Jacob</span>, Esq., 5, Booth Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Keene, R.</span> Esq., Irongate, Derby.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Kettle, A. J.</span>, Esq., Addiscombe, Prestwich Park, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Kettle, W. C.</span>, Esq., Addiscombe, Prestwich Park.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Kenderdine, Frederick</span>, Esq., Morningside, Old Trafford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Knott, James</span>, Esq., 55, Higher Ardwick, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Knott, John</span>, Esq., Dartmouth House, Hurst, Cheshire.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lancaster, Alf</span>, Esq., Manchester Road, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lawton, James Kinder</span>, Esq., Hazel Grove, near Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Leedham, F. H.</span>, Esq., Burnage Lane, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Leece, Joseph</span>, Esq., Mansfield Villa, Urmston, near Manchester..</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lees, Edward B.</span>, Esq., Kelbarrow, Grasmere.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Leigh, James</span>, Esq., 66, Deansgate, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lever, Ellis</span>, Esq., Culcheth Hall, Bowdon.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lees, Samuel</span>, Esq., Park Bridge, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Leigh, John</span>, Esq., The Manor House, Hale, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Leigh, Charles</span>, Esq., Bank Terrace, Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Leyland, John</span>, Esq., The Grange, Hindley, near Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Libraries, Free Public</span>, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Library, Free Public</span>, Town Hall, Rochdale.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Library, Free</span>, Peel Park, Salford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Library, Free</span>, The Stockport. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</a></span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Library, Free</span>, The Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Library, Free</span>, The Heywood, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Library, Free</span>, The Bolton-le-Moors.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Linfoot, Joseph</span>, Esq., Cannon Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lingard-Monk, Richard</span>, B. M., Esq., Fulshaw Hall, Wilmslow.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lloyd, Thomas</span>, Esq., Brooklands House, Brooklands, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Long, John F.</span>, Esq., 135, Great Ancoats Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Longden. A. W.</span>, Esq., Marple, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Longworth, Solomon</span>, Esq., Whalley, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Longshaw</span>, Mrs., Beech Priory, Southport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Longton, Edward John</span>, Esq., M.D., The Priory, Southport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lord, Henry</span>, Esq., 42, John Dalton Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lupton, Arthur</span>, Esq., 136, Manchester Road, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lupton, Benjamin</span>, Esq., Cumberland Place, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lupton, Joseph Townend</span>, Esq., 28, Manchester Road, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lowe, J. W.</span>, Esq., St James’s Square, Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Marsden</span>, Rev. Canon, Great Oakley, Harwich, Essex.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Marsden</span>, The Rev. <span class="smcap">W.</span>, Fullarton House, Upper Brook Street, M’chester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Marshall, E. W.</span>, Esq., 38, Barton Arcade, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Marson, Gervase</span>, Esq., Thorncliffe House, Higher Broughton, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Marson, James</span>, Esq., High Cliffe, Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Massey, John</span>, Esq., J.P., Hawk’s House, near Burnley (<i>2 copies</i>).</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Mayor’s Library</span>, The, Manchester, per Alderman Patteson.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">McQuhae, William</span>, Esq., 5, Stamford Street, Brooks’s Bar, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">McKenna, Bernard</span>, Esq., Lea Grange, White Moss, Blackley, nr. M’chester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">McKerrow</span>, Alderman <span class="smcap">John B.</span>, J.P., Norcliffe, Broughton Park.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Metcalf, William</span>, Esq., 2, Vernon Avenue, Eccles.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Middleton, Thomas</span>, Esq., Springfield, Adlington, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Midwood, G. H.</span>, 55, Faulkner Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Mills, William</span>, Esq., 12, New Brown Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Milner, George</span>, Esq., 57a, Mosley Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Mitchell, William</span>, Esq., Brook Villa, Golbourne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Moore, D.</span>, Esq., Woodville, Bramhall, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Moorhouse, Christopher</span>, Esq., 4, St Paul’s Road, Kersal, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Morton, William</span>, Esq., 12, Brown Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Mothersill, Edward</span>, Esq., Dane House, Sale, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Moulton, George</span>, Esq., Hall’s Crescent, Collyhurst.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Muirhead, Thomas S.</span>, Esq., Ash Lodge, Halliwell Lane, Cheetham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Murray</span>, Alderman (the late), Apsley House, Hyde Road, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Myers, Henry</span>, Esq., 140, Newcastle Street, Stretford Road, Manchester. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</a></span></li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Napier, George W.</span>, Esq., Merchistoun, Alderley Edge.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Neal, William</span>, Esq., Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Newton, Walter</span>, Esq., 69, Bridge Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">New, Philip N.</span>, Esq., 15, Baillie Street, Rochdale.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Norreys</span>, Miss, Davyhulme Hall, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Northcott, James B.</span>, Esq., King Street, Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Owen, William</span>, Esq., Palmyra Square, Warrington.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Park</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">R.</span>, M.A., 3, The Crescent, Salford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Parker, Edward</span>, Esq., Browsholme Hall, Yorkshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Patteson</span>, Alderman, J.P., Victoria Park, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Peacock, Richard</span>, Esq., Gorton Hall, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Perkins, Stanhope</span>, Esq., 6, Healey Terrace, Fairfield, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Phillips, John William</span>, Esq., Brown Hill, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Phillips</span>, Miss, Welcombe, Stratford-on-Avon.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Piccles, Thomas L.</span>, Esq., Rock Cottage, New Mills, Derbyshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Pilkington, James</span>, Esq., Swinithwaite Hall, Bedale, Yorkshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Pink, Wm. Duncombe</span>, Esq., Leigh.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Pooley, C. J.</span>, Esq., Knutsford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Pollitt, James</span>, Esq., Guide House, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Pooley, W. Ormsby</span>, Esq., J.P., Knutsford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Portico Library</span>, The, Mosley Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Potter, Rupert</span>, Esq., 2, Bolton Gardens, South Kensington, London, S.W.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Potts, Arthur</span>, Esq., Hoole Hall, Chester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Preston, Thomas</span>, Esq., 92, Manchester Road, Burnley.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Raby, William</span>, Esq., 78, Cross Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ralphs, Samuel</span>, Esq., 56, Sandy Lane, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ramsbottom, G. H.</span>, Esq., Altham Hall, near Accrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ramsbotham, John</span>, Esq., 22, Arbour Street, Southport (2 copies).</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rawsthorne, H.</span>, Esq., East Street, Preston.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Redhead, R. Milne</span>, Esq., Springfield, Seedley, Manchester (2 copies).</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Richmond, T. G.</span>, Esq., Ford House, Prestbury.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Richmond, Fred</span>, Esq., 163, Radnor Street, Hulme, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Richmond, James</span>, Esq., Mosely House, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rickards, Charles H.</span>, Esq., J.P., Seymour Grove. Old Trafford, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rigby, S.</span>, Esq.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Robinson, William</span>, Esq., The Hollies, Talbot Road, Old Trafford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Robson, Thomas W.</span>, Esq., 18, Aytoun Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rooke, George</span>, Esq., Moorside, Sale.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Roundell, C. J.</span>, Esq., M.P., Osborne, Fernhurst, Hazlemere. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[xix]</a></span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Royle, John</span>, Esq., 53, Port Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Roylance, E. W.</span>, Esq., Brookfield, Bury Old Rd., Cheetham Hill, M’chester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rumney, Thomas</span>, Esq., Hallcroft Cottage, Carnforth.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rushton, Thomas Lever</span>, Esq., Moor Platt, Horwich, near Bolton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Ryder, T. D.</span>, Esq., St James’s Square, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rylands, J. Paul</span>, Esq., F.S.A., Highfields, Thelwall.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rylands, W. Harry</span>, Esq., F.S.A., Biblical Archæological Society, 11, Hart Street, Bloomsbury, London.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Schunck, J. Edgar</span>, Esq., Wicken Hall, near Rochdale.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Severs, Fred</span>, Esq., 1, Dalton Terrace, Clayton St., Chorlton Rd., M’chester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Scott, John Oldred</span>, Esq., 31, Spring Gardens, London, S.W.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Schofield, Thomas</span>, Esq., J.P, Thornfield, Old Trafford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Shaw, Giles</span>, Esq., 72, Manchester Road, Oldham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Shiers, George Alfred</span>, Esq., Tyntesfield, Ashton-upon-Mersey.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Shiers, Richard</span>, Jun., Esq., Earlscliffe, Bowdon, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Sidebotham, Joseph</span>, Esq., F.R.A.S., F.L.S., F.S.A., Erlesden, Bowdon, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Sitwell, R.</span>, Esq., Morley, Derby.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Slark, J.</span> and <span class="smcap">A.</span>, Esqrs., 41, Fishergate, Preston.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smeal, A.</span>, Esq., Ravensla, Whalley Road, Whalley Range, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, Aston W.</span>, Esq., The Old Hall, Bootle.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, Bryce</span>, Esq., 16, Nicholas Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, George J. W.</span>, Esq., Savings Bank, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, James</span>, Esq., Highfield, Edge Lane, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">J. Finch</span>, M.A., F.S.A., Aldridge Rectory, Walsall.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, J.</span>, Jun., Esq., Legh Street, Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, Robert Mcdowell</span>, Esq., Crumpsall, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, William</span>, Esq., Adswood Grove, Stockport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, J. J.</span>, Esq., King Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Sowler</span>, Lieut.-Colonel, Oak Bank, Victoria Park, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Stanley, C. J.</span>, Esq., Halscote, Grange-over-Sands.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Stanton, Henry</span>, Esq., Greenfield, Thelwall.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Stevens, James</span>, Esq., F.R.I.B.A., Lime Tree House, Macclesfield.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Steinthal, H. M.</span>, Esq., The Hollies, Fallowfield, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Stubs, Peter</span>, Esq., Statham Lodge, Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Stanyer</span>, The Rev. <span class="smcap">W.</span>, 41. Corporation Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Starkey</span>, Miss, Northwich, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Stevens, Edward</span>, Esq., Alderley Edge, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Strangeway, William N.</span>, Esq., 59, Westmoreland Rd., Newcastle-on-Tyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Stanning</span>, Rev. <span class="smcap">J. H.</span>, The Vicarage, Leigh.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Sutcliffe, Fred</span>, Esq., Ash Street, Bacup. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">[xx]</a></span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Syddall, James</span>, Esq., Chadkirk, Romily, Cheshire.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Taylor, Thomas</span>, Esq., 33, St. James Street, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Thompson</span>, Alderman <span class="smcap">Jos.</span>, J.P., Riversdale, Wilmslow.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Thorley, William</span>, Esq., Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Offices, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Tolley, Thomas</span>, Esq., Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Topp, Alfred</span>, Esq., J.P., Farnworth.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Toulmin, George</span>, Esq, <em>Guardian</em> Office, Preston.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Turner, W.</span>, Esq., Rusholme.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Turner, John</span>, Esq., Woodville, Lytham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Tweedale, Charles Lakeman</span>, Esq., Holmefield House, Crawshawbooth.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Underdown, R. G.</span>, Esq., M. S. & L. Railway Company, Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Waddington, William</span>, Esq., Market Superintendent, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Waddington, Wm. Angelo</span>, Esq., 5, Carlton Road, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Walkden</span>,—Esq., 16, Nicholas Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Walker, Thomas</span>, Esq., Oldfield, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Walmesley, Oswald</span>, Esq., Shevington Hall, near Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Walsh</span>, Dr. <span class="smcap">John</span>, Stonyhurst, near Whalley, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Walters, Charles</span>, Esq., Clegg Street, Oldham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Warrington</span>, the Museum and Library.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Watterson, Wm. Craven</span>, Esq., Hill Carr, Bowdon, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wainwright, John</span>, Esq., Carlton Lodge, Stretford.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Warburton, John</span>, Esq., Fairlie Villas, Raspberry Road, Fallowfield.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Warburton, Samuel</span>, Esq., Sunnyhill, Crumpsall, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Warburton, Henry</span>, Esq., The Elms, Hendham Vale, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Waters</span>,—Esq., Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Watts, James</span>, Esq., Portland Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Watts, John</span>, Esq., 23, Cross Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Webb, F. W.</span>, Esq., Chester Place, Crewe.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Webster, William</span>, Esq., Abbotsfield, St. Helens.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">White, Charles</span>, Esq., Holly Villa, Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Whittaker, W. Wilkinson</span>, Esq., Cornbrook Park, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Whitehead, Edwin</span>, Esq., The Hurst, Taunton Road, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Whittaker, Robert</span>, Esq., Birch House, Lees, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wild, Robert</span>, Esq., 134, St. James’s Street, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wilkinson, A.</span>, Esq., Westbourne Grove, Harpurhey, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wilkinson, T. R.</span>, Esq., The Polygon, Ardwick, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wilkinson, John</span>, Esq., 25, Manor Street, Ardwick, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wilkinson, William</span>, Esq., M.A., Middlewood, Clitheroe.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wilson, William</span>, Esq., Savings Bank, Stockport. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxi" id="Page_xxi">[xxi]</a></span></li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wilson, C. M.</span>, Esq., Lancaster Villa, Broughton Park, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Winterbotham, Henry</span>, Esq., F.R.C.S., Bury New Road, Manchester</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wolstenholme, Charles</span>, Esq., Richmond Hill, Bowdon, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wood, John</span>, Esq., J.P., Arden, near Stockport,</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wood, Richard</span>, Esq., J.P., Plimpton Hall, Heywood, near Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wood, William</span>, Esq., Woodville, Bramhall, Cheshire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wood, W. C.</span>, Esq., Brimscall Hall, Chorley, Lancashire.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Worthington, Ed.</span>, Esq., Appley Bridge, near Wigan.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Woodhouse, George</span>, Esq., Heath Bank, Chorley New Road, Bolton.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wood, Robert</span>, Esq., Drywood Hall, Worsley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Worthington</span>, Alderman <span class="smcap">T.</span>, 33, Church Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Wright, E., Abbott</span>, Esq., Castle Park, Frodsham, Cheshire.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Yates, J. W.</span>, Esq., Ashton-upon-Mersey.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Yeoman, John</span>, Esq., 30, Union Street, Ardwick, Manchester.</li> -</ul> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> -<img src="images/i_021.jpg" width="150" height="102" alt="graphic" /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxii" id="Page_xxii">[xxii]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_022.jpg" width="600" height="105" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="BOOKSELLERS" id="BOOKSELLERS"></a>BOOKSELLERS.</h2> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> -<img src="images/i_022a.jpg" width="150" height="21" alt="ornamented line" /> -</div> - -<ul class="index"><li><span class="smcap">Bemrose & Sons</span>, Derby.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Brown & Sons</span>, Macclesfield.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Butler, S.</span>, Altrincham.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Burghope & Strange</span>, Burnley.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Burgess, Henry</span>, Northwich.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cooke</span>, Stretford Road, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Cornish, J. E.</span>, Piccadilly and St. Ann’s Square, Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Dodgson, J.</span>, Leeds.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Day, T. J.</span>, Market Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Dooley, Henry</span>, Stockport.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Galt, J. & Co.</span>, Corporation Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Gray, Henry</span>, Topographical Bookseller, 25, Cathedral Yard, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Grundy</span>, 68, Woodhouse Lane, Wigan.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Howell, E.</span>, Liverpool.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Holden, Adam</span>, 48, Church Street, Liverpool.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Heywood, Abel & Son</span>, Oldham Street, Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Kenyon, W.</span>, Newton Heath, Manchester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Littlewood, James</span>, Ashton-under-Lyne.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Lupton, J. & A.</span>, Burnley.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Minshull & Hughes</span>, Chester.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Pearse, J. C.</span>, Southport.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Pearse, Percival</span>, Warrington.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Phillipson & Golder</span>, Chester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Platt, Richard</span>, Wigan. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxiii" id="Page_xxiii">[xxiii]</a></span></li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Rider</span>, Leek.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Roworth</span>, St Ann’s Square, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Robinson</span>, Preston.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, W. H. & Son</span>, 1, New Brown Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Smith, W. H. & Son</span>, L. & N.W. Railway and M.S. & L. Railway Bookstalls, London Road Station, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Stock, Elliot</span>, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Tubbs & Brook</span>, Market Street, Manchester.</li> -<li><span class="smcap">Trübner & Co.</span>, London.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Walmsley, G. G.</span>, 50, Lord Street, Liverpool.</li> -<li> </li> -<li><span class="smcap">Yabsley & Co.</span>, Sale, Cheshire.</li> -</ul> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/i_023.jpg" width="400" height="211" alt="graphic" /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_025.jpg" width="600" height="129" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - -<p class="ph2">NOOKS AND CORNERS<br /> - -<span class="f75">OF</span><br /> - -LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> -<img src="images/i_025a.jpg" width="150" height="27" alt="Ornamented Line" /> -</div> - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> - -<span class="f75">A RAILWAY RAMBLE—THE ROMAN CITY ON THE RIBBLE—A -DAY-DREAM AT RIBCHESTER.</span></h2> - - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_025b.jpg" width="75" height="179" alt="O" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">On</span> a bright morning in the exuberant summer time, -ere the country had lost the freshness of its earlier -beauty, or the forest trees had begun to bend -beneath the weight of their blushing burdens, we -found ourselves on the platform of the Victoria -Station with a friend, the companion of many a -pleasant wandering, equipped for a journey to the fair country -which skirts the base of Pendle Hill. We were both in high -spirits, and the beauty of the opening day added to our -enjoyment The morning was cool and clear, and radiant with -the early sunshine—one of those genial days when, as Washington -Irving says, we seem to draw in pleasure with the very air we -breathe, and to feel happy we know not why—the invigorating -freshness of the atmosphere giving a pleasant impulse to the -spirits. There had been a slight fall of rain during the night,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -but the breeze which followed had dried up the roadways, and -now all was bright and clear, and the unclouded sun poured -down a flood of brilliance that added to the charms of the -early morn, imparting a gladdening influence which even the -sparrows seemed to share as they flitted to and fro about the -eaves with unceasing twitter.</p> - -<p>For some distance the railway is carried over the house-tops, -and as the train speeds along we can look down upon the dreary -web of streets, the labyrinth of dwellings, the groves of chimneys, -the mills, workshops, and brick-kilns, and the strange admixture -of squalor, wretchedness, and impurity that go to make up the -royal borough of Salford. Soon we reach the outskirts, where -the country still struggles to maintain its greenness; then, after a -short stoppage at Pendleton, we enter upon the pleasant vale of -Clifton, where we are enabled to breathe the balmy atmosphere -and drink in the fresh fragrance of the flower-bespangled meads. -Pleasant is it to escape from the gloomy hives of brick, with their -busy human throng, and to look abroad upon the expanse of -country reposing in the summer sunshine. The gentle showers of -the night seem to have refreshed the thirsty soil, and to have -given an invigorating aspect to the landscape, imparting to the -turf a brighter hue, and to the trees which clothe the folding -bluffs a brighter tinge of colouring, whilst the sunlight gleams -upon the fields and on the already ripening grain, and sparkles -upon the lingering rain-drops that hang like strings of pearls from -every bush and twig. On the left the quaint old hall of Agecroft, -with its picturesque black and white gables, twinkles through the -wind-shaken leaves; the Irwell meanders pleasantly through the -fertile meadows on the right; and beyond, the grey embattled -tower of Prestwich Church may be seen rising prominently above -the umbraged slopes that bound the opposite side of the valley.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<a name="PTT" id="PTT"></a><img src="images/i_027.jpg" width="600" height="417" alt="Prospect Tower, Turton" /> -</div> - -<p>On, on we go with a screech and a roar, rattling over viaducts, -rumbling through rocky cuttings, rushing along steep embankments; -then rolling rapidly again over the level country, from -whence we can look back upon the dingy town of Bolton,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -memorable in the annals of the great civil war as the place where -the martyr Earl of Derby sealed his loyalty with his life. The -changing aspect of the country now becomes manifest. Every -mile brings a fresh picture, and the variety itself adds to the -interest of the journey. The land is prettily featured—green and -undulating, with well-wooded cloughs and shady dingles, backed -by lofty gritstone ridges, which here and there soften into slopes -of fertile beauty that form an admirable relief to the pale blue hills -which stretch away to the furthest point of distance. Just before -reaching the station at Chapeltown we get sight of Turton -Tower, a fine old relic of bygone days, once the home of -Manchester’s most noted “worthy”—Humphrey Chetham—and -for a time, as tradition tells us, the abode of Oliver Cromwell; -and close by is a picturesque gabled summer-house, surmounting a -gentle eminence, that forms a conspicuous object for miles around. -Still onward, past scattered hamlets, past mills, bleachworks, and -collieries; past farms, cottages, and old-fashioned timber-built -dwellings that more or less merit the appellation of “hall” applied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -to them; past meadows, fields, and pastures, where the hedgerows -and trees seem to revolve in a never-ending reel, while the -telegraph wires that stretch from post to post rise and fall in a -succession of graceful genuflexions. On, on! Small streams are -crossed, bridges are shot through, and then the “express” -thunders past with a deafening roar, almost terrifying the life out -of a nervous old lady who sits opposite to us, and who, on -recovering her breath, feels instinctively inside her left-hand glove -to make sure that her ticket has not been spirited away by the -fiery iron monster. Darwen—cold, stony-looking Darwen—is -passed, and presently Blackburn is reached, where a few minutes -is considerately allowed to stretch our legs and look about us. -The prospect, however, is not altogether lovely, and the people -are as little prepossessing in appearance as the place itself, so that -we are not sorry when our brief respite is brought to an abrupt -termination by the sharp “Now then, gentlemen,” of the guard, -when, resuming our seats, the carriage door is slammed to by that -energetic official.</p> - -<p>A few puffs, a whistle, and a screech, and we are moving swiftly -over the green landscape again. The meadows widen, and the -trees and hedges fly past as if driven by the whirlwind. Onwards, -on and on, until we reach the little roadside station that forms the -terminus of our railway journey.</p> - -<p>Ribchester, for that is the name of the station, is Ribchester -station only by courtesy<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>—the old Roman town whose name -has been somewhat unceremoniously appropriated being a good -three miles away; so that we shall have to lengthen our walk -considerably before we reach the Roman <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Rigodunum</i>. On leaving -the station we turn to the left, and then, crossing the railway -bridge, follow an ascending path that leads past a few squalid-looking -cottages which stand irregularly along the edge of a tract -of common land—the grazing ground of an impassive donkey and -of a flock of geese that begin to sibilate and crane their necks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -spitefully as we go by. A little brick chapel with a bell-cot at one -end stands on the further side of the green, and close by is the -village school. Leaving this uninviting spot, we continue our -walk past a few waste-looking fields and across the level summit -of an eminence the verdant slopes of which stretch away on either -side. Presently the road descends, winding hither and thither -between pleasant hedgerows and embossed banks, garlanded with -the gaily-coloured flowers of the exuberant summer time, “the -jewels of earth’s diadem,” speaking of Him</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Whose hand hath shed wild flowers</div> -<div class="verse">In clefts o’ the rock, and clothed green knolls with grass,</div> -<div class="verse">And clover, and sweet herbs and honey dews,</div> -<div class="verse">Shed in the starlight bells, where the brown bees</div> -<div class="verse">Draw sweets.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>At every turn we get pretty snatches of scenery, with glimpses -of cattle-dappled pastures and green fields, where the black, glossy -rooks are hovering about and cawing loudly to each other as if -discussing the result of their recent entomological researches. -Looking across the country the high downs are seen with their -broad green cloud-mottled shoulders, half-hiding the undulating -hills that stretch away along the dim blue line of the horizon. -By-and-by Ribblesdale, one of the prettiest vales in the kingdom, -opens upon us. Below, the river winds its snake-like course -through the meadows, its ample bosom gleaming in the sun like -molten silver. On the right, lying low among the tall ash-trees, -is Salesbury Hall, a quaint half-timbered mansion, once the abode -of a branch of the great family of the Talbots, one of whom aided -in the capture of the unfortunate Henry VI., and previously the -home successively of the Salesburys, the Cliderhows, and the -Mauleverers. Conspicuous on the further side of the valley are -seen the stately towers of Stonyhurst crowning a wooded slope, -that swells gradually up from the margin of the Hodder, forming -one of the spurs of Longridge Fell. Looking up the valley, the -eye takes in the long-backed slopes of Pendle Hill, the abrupt -elevation on which stands the ruined keep of Clitheroe Castle, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -wooded heights of Wiswell and Whalley, the dark-hued moorlands -that extend to the ancient forests of Bowland, with Bleasdale -Moor, Waddington Fell, and the screen of hills that sweep round -in an irregular circle to meet the huge form of Longridge Fell -lying upon the landscape like a monster couchant.</p> - -<p>A quaint relic of the olden time stands by the wayside on the -left. A gabled mansion of the time of the Second Charles, now -occupied by a farmer, but still bearing the name of New Hall, -though, as the date (1665) testifies, the storms of more than -two hundred winters have broken upon it since George Talbot, -a younger son of Sir John of that name, placed his initials -and the crest of his family above the doorway. At this point -the road diverges to the right, and a few paces bring us to the -margin of the Ribble, when a charming prospect meets the eye, -a prospect that would have delighted the heart of Cuyp had he -had the opportunity of sketching it. There was no stir or fret—no -excitement. All was calm, placid, and serene. The swift and -shallow Ribble lay before us, sparkling and glistening all over, -save on the further side, where a row of trees that fringed the -roadway flung the broad shadows of their spreading branches -upon its placid bosom. There was a Sabbath-like peace in the air, -and the stillness of a summer day lay profoundly as a trance -upon the scene. An old-fashioned punt, moored to the side, lazily -dragged its creaking chain, and now and then chafed itself against -the bank as the motion of the water gently swayed it to and fro. -Before us Ribchester Bridge lay bestriding the stream—its broad -circular arches reflected in the water with a distinct vividness that -was interrupted only at intervals when their image was broken into -a quivering indistinctness as a passing gust rippled the mirrored -bosom of the water. As we stood gazing upon the scene, a boat -borne by the current slowly glided down the river, looking like a -bird suspended in the blue of heaven. The oars were poised in -the rowlocks, and the water, dripping from their flashing blades, -fell upon the glassy surface, and spread out in widening silver -rings that floated slowly onwards.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_031.jpg" width="600" height="313" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">RIBCHESTER BRIDGE.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a></span></p> - - -<p>Crossing the bridge, at the foot of which stands a comfortable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -inn—the De Tabley Arms—we wound away to the left, following -the bold sweep of the Ribble, and a few moments later entered -the “Aunciente Towne” of Ribchester. Ribchester! What -visions of antiquity float before the imagination as the stranger -enters this little unpretending village, for town it can now hardly -be called. What memories of the past are awakened at the mere -mention of the name. The old distich, which the inhabitants still -take pride in repeating, tells us that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">It is written upon a wall in Rome</div> -<div class="verse">Ribchester was as rich as any toune in Christendome. -<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The first glimpse, even were we unsupported by tradition, would -lead us to believe that this part of the valley of the Ribble was -even in earliest times a place of some importance, for, admirably -protected by Nature, and adapted as it must then have been to the -requirements of an untamed and uncivilised race, it was hardly -likely to have escaped the searching eye of our Celtic forefathers, -being then protected by naked marshes, and flanked on each side -by lofty eminences, with a wide river between on which their slim -coracles might float; whilst adjacent was the great forest of -Bowland, the haunt of the wolf, the boar, and other wild animals, -whose skins would supply clothing, and their flesh sustenance, to -the hardy hunter. Whether the primeval Britons established a -colony here or not, certain it is that when the more refined -subjects of the Cæsars had established themselves as conquerors -of the country, Ribchester attained to a high degree of eminence, -and became one of the richest and most important stations in the -newly-acquired territory. For the greater protection and security -of the conquered lands in the North, Agricola constructed a chain -of forts from one extremity of Lancashire to the other, and -occupying the sites now held by Lancaster, Ribchester, Walton, -Blackrod, Manchester, Overborough, and Colne. The most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -important of these stations, as evidenced by the richness and -variety of the remains that have at different times been discovered, -was the one at Ribchester. The place lost its pre-eminence after -the fall of the Roman government in Britain, but the foundation -of its buildings long defied the ravages of time, though now the -searching eye can scarce discover the faintest relic of their former -existence. Leland, the old topographer, who visited the place in -the early part of the 16th century, says: “Ribchester is now a -poore thing; it hath beene an Auncient Towne. Great squared -stones, voultes, and antique coynes be found ther: and ther is -a place wher that the people fable wher that the Jues had a -temple.”<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> No doubt the temple existed, for the remains of it -have been traced in later times, but it was Pagan and not Jewish, -and was dedicated, as Dr. Whitaker supposed from an inscription -found upon the site, by an empress or princess of the Imperial -Roman family to the goddess Minerva. Ribchester has been -prolific in remains of Roman art, and many of the altars, -statues, bronzes, and “antique coynes” that have been dug up -have been carried away to enrich the archæological museums -of other parts of the country, or have found their way into -those of private collectors, where they are practically lost to the -student of antiquity, for, unfortunately, there is hardly a town -in Lancashire which possesses a museum worthy of the name -where such exhumed treasures might find a fitting resting-place. -Pennant mentions having seen a sculpture, discovered on digging -a grave in the churchyard, representing a Roman soldier carrying -a <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">labarum</i>, or standard of cavalry; but perhaps the most -remarkable relic is the elaborately ornamented bronze helmet -found in 1796, familiar to antiquaries by the engravings which -have appeared in the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Vetusta Monumenta</i>, and in the histories -of Whitaker and Baines. So lately as the beginning of the -present century a Roman house and hypocaust were brought to -light whilst excavating the foundations for a building on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -banks of the river; altars dedicated to various divinities have -on different occasions been unearthed, with other memorial -stones, coins, pottery, glass, articles of personal adornment, -ampullæ, fibulæ, &c; and even in recent times, though less -frequently than of yore, when the earth is removed to any -considerable depth relics are turned up which help to illustrate -the habits and customs of the Roman settlers, and prove the -wide diffusion of the elegant and luxurious modes of life it was -their aim to introduce.</p> - -<p>It requires no great stretch of the imagination to picture the -Ribchester of those far-off days. The picture, it is true, may be -only shadowy and indistinct seen through the long distance which -intervenes; but, carrying the mind back to those remote times, let -us contemplate the scene presented to our fancied gaze. It is -Britain—Britain in the darkest period of its history, the Britain of -Caractacus and Boadicea—but how great the contrast from the -Britain of to-day! A broad flowing river separates us from the -opposite land, the tide flows up, and the wavelets break monotonously -upon the shore. Before us and on each side rise gently -swelling hills clothed with dense forests of oak—primeval monarchs -that have budded and flourished and shed their leaves through -long centuries of silent solitude. There are no towns or villages, -no fertile meadows and rich pasture fields; not a sign of a -habitation can we discern save here and there where the dark -woods have been thinned, and a solitary hut, rudely constructed -of wood and wattles, bears evidence of man’s existence. Looking -more closely into the picture, we can discover the naked and -painted forms of human beings—men eager, impetuous, brave, -armed with javelin and spear, and ready to engage with any chance -foe that may cross their path whilst seeking for their prey among -the wild beasts of their native woods.</p> - -<p>Gradually the view dissolves. Softly, slowly, it fades away, and -darkness overspreads the scene. Hark! The sound of distant -strife breaks faintly upon the ear; there is a rumble of war chariots -and the hollow tramp of legionaries; then a fire blazes on the top<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -of Longridge Fell, lighting up the heavens with a ruddy glare; the -signal is answered by successive flashes from Pendle Hill and from -beacons more remote. In a moment the scene is alive with the -forms of men armed with spear and shield, hurrying to and fro, -brandishing their javelins with impatient haste, eager to meet the -coming foe. Meanwhile the conquering eagles of imperial Rome -are seen advancing. Cohort follows cohort, and legion succeeds to -legion. With measured pace and steady tread they come. There -is the shock of mortal combat; the valley echoes with the clang of -arms and the fell shout of war; and Briton and Roman are -struggling together for conquest and for life.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The hardy Briton struggled with his foe,</div> -<div class="vi4">Dared him to battle on the neighb’ring height;</div> -<div class="verse">And dusky streamlets reddened with the flow</div> -<div class="vi4">From heroes dying for their country’s right.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Their simple weapons ’gainst the serried ranks,</div> -<div class="vi4">Full disciplined in war, were hurled in vain;</div> -<div class="verse">Well greaved and helmeted, the firm phalanx</div> -<div class="vi4">Received their fierce attack in proud disdain.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>It is over. Undisciplined valour yields to superior military -skill, and the heroic Britons, defeated but not subdued, are driven -for refuge within the fastnesses of their native woods, leaving those -green slopes crimsoned with the life-blood of a people who, if they -knew not how to fight, knew at least how valiant men should die.</p> - -<p>Another tableau of history succeeds. Order arises out of disorder. -After many struggles, in which her greatest generals have -taken part, Rome, by her obstinate bravery, has succeeded in -carrying her eagles northward as far as the banks of the Tay. The -line of conquest is marked by a chain of forts erected with -masterly judgment to keep in check the more disaffected of the -northern tribes, and these strongholds are connected by a network -of military ways, the course of which, after a lapse of eighteen -centuries, may still be discerned—a proof that the Roman road -makers were no despicable engineers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p>One of these military ways—the one from <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Mancunium</i> (Manchester)—led -through Ribchester, and, passing Stoneygate, climbed -the rugged slopes of Longridge Fell and along the tops of the hills, -whence, taking an easterly direction, it traversed the Forest of -Bowland, and thence continued to <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Eboracum</i> (York). Though -their levels were chosen on different principles, the lines they -followed were indicated by the great features of nature, and were -pretty much the same as those adopted by the makers of our -modern iron roads. Long centuries after the Roman had taken -his departure these military roads formed the great highways of -traffic. The tracks traversed by Agricola and his victorious legionaries -have since been trodden in succession by Pict and Scot, by -Plantagenet and Tudor, by Cavalier and Roundhead, by the hapless -followers of the ill-fated Stuart, and by the ruthless soldiery of -the Hanoverian King, and in later and more peaceful times by long -lines of pack-horses, laden with the products of the Lancashire -looms.</p> - -<p>Agricola, having now satisfied his thirst for military glory, has -become a pacificator and law-giver in the newly-acquired provinces. -The subjugated natives, attracted by the fame of the illustrious -Roman, steal from their hiding places in the woods, and learn the -manners and customs of civilisation, and with them, it is to be -feared, vices which before they knew not of.</p> - -<p>Turn we again. Another picture dawns upon us, dimly and -obscurely enough at first, but becoming more distinctly visible as -the darkness fades away. The appearance of the people is -changed, and the aspect of the country has changed with them. -Time has passed on—the river that we before gazed upon still -flows on as of yore, though somewhat narrowed in its proportions. -The woods now ring with the war clarion of the invincible -auxiliaries; the wattled huts have disappeared; and in the assart -space they occupied a flourishing city is seen, with halls and porticoes -and statues, in humble imitation of the then magnificence of -the city that crowns the seven hills. Where the oaks grew thick, -and the wild bull, the wolf, and the boar reigned in undisputed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -possession, a military fortification has been built, with ramparts and -towers and turrets, and close by, to celebrate the subjugation of the -brave Brigantes, a pagan temple has been reared in honour of -Minerva, for the sound of glad tidings has not yet come across the -sea. The scene is one of bustle and organisation. Here, on the -quay, merchants are congregated with traders from Gaul and -Phœnicia, and adventurers from more distant lands, bartering -earthenware, implements of agriculture, and other commodities -which those colonists of the old world have brought with them, for -the treasures of the soil. There a gang of labouring captives, -sullen and unwilling, are toiling under the eye of their relentless -taskmasters. Strange-looking vessels are borne upon the bosom of -the stream, unwieldy in form, with long lines of oars shooting out -from each side, and prows resplendent with paint and gilding, -standing high up out of the water. Now and then a gaily-decorated -galley floats past, freighted with fair Olympias, or bearing, perchance, -some tender Sistuntian maid, whose loving heart, flinging -aside the trammels of religion and race, has cast her lot with the -conquerors of the land. Under the shadow of that wall a sentinel, -in classic garb, with helmet and sandal, paces his measured round, -and, pausing now and then, leans upon his spear, and muses upon -the scenery of his own German home. Within the garrison all is -gaiety and enthusiasm; there are marchings and countermarchings, -and transmissions of signals, and relievings of guard. How the -lances glitter in the light, and the brazen helmets reflect the glory -of the midday sun. Here are gathered fighting men from all parts -of Europe—Dalmatians, Thracians, and Batavians—who are talking -over the victories of the past, and thinking, perhaps, of those -timorous eyes that beamed tenderly upon them, and wept their -departure from their distant homes—Moors of swarthy hue from -the shores of Africa, whose dark skins have flashed terror into the -souls of the pale Northern tribes; stern-visaged Frisians from the -marshes of Holland; and stalwart Asturians, with veteran warriors -who have fought through many a campaign and earned for themselves -the proud title of conquerors of the world.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<p>The conquerors of the world! Time has passed rapidly on, -and Rome, the vaunted mistress of the world, with difficulty grasps -her own. Pierced by barbarian hordes, torn by intestine wars, -weakened at heart and tottering to her ruin, her last legions have -been recalled for her own defence, and the fair provinces of the -West are abandoned to the Northern savages, who come, as Gildas -relates, “like hungry and ravening wolves rushing with greedy -jaws upon the fold.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Yet once again, a change—and lo!</div> -<div class="verse">The Roman even himself must go;</div> -<div class="verse">While Dane and Saxon scatter wide</div> -<div class="verse">Each remnant of his power and pride.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Enfeebled by long submission to the Roman yoke, deprived of -the protection of the forces of the empire, the flower of her youth -drafted away to swell the armies of the Emperors Maximus and -Constantine, Britain is left in a state of utter defencelessness, and -speedily becomes a prey to those warlike hordes that come pouring -in from the maritime provinces of Germany, Norway, and Sweden. -The period that follows is one of anarchy and confusion, of Saxon -conquest and Danish spoliation.</p> - -<p>But we pass on. Another picture is shadowed forth, and what -is this that meets the gaze? The scene of fierce war and angry -passions, of conquest and oppression, of barbaric rudeness and -pagan splendour, is now a desolate and deserted waste, where the -frail creations of man are blended with the ever-enduring works of -God. The relentless foot of Time has pressed heavily upon these -wrecks of human greatness—a few straggling walls, a ruined -temple, pavements worn down by the tread of many a Roman foot, -broken columns, with fragments of masonry, are all the vestiges -that remain to denote the ancient importance of the Roman -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Rigodunum</i>—all the signs that are left to point out where -merchants gathered and where warriors prepared for conquest -and for fame.</p> - -<p>The departure of the Roman legionaries inflicted a heavy blow -on the fortunes of the city. The period of Saxon conquest was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -followed by the descent of the wild Scandinavian marauders—the -Jarls and sea-kings of the North, who, with their piratical hordes, -swept the country, leaving the red mark of death and desolation in -their wake.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">What time the Raven flapped his gory wing,</div> -<div class="vi4">And scoured the White Horse o’er this harried realm;</div> -<div class="verse">His crowded galley brought the dread Viking,</div> -<div class="vi4">Lust at his prow, and rapine at the helm.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The splendour of Ribchester must have waned rapidly, for after -the overthrow of Harold on the red field of Hastings, when the -victorious Norman made his great survey of the conquered -country, it had become so insignificant as to be accounted a mere -village dependent upon Preston, then rising into note. Yet it did -not escape the fury of the invading Scot, whose footsteps were -everywhere marked with blood and destruction, for in one of those -frequent incursions after the defeat at Bannockburn—when, as old -Hollinshead tells us, the victorious Bruce marched his army -through Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancaster to Preston—the -miserable inhabitants were driven from their homes, and the -place burned to the ground. Subsequently its fortunes revived, -and for a time it could boast of having no less than three fairs, an -evidence of its increased importance. In the unhappy struggle -between Charles the First and his Parliament it was the scene of -an encounter (April, 1643) between the Royalist forces, led by the -Earl of Derby, and the Parliamentarian levies, commanded by -Colonel Shuttleworth, resulting in a victory for the latter; and -tradition says that five years later (August, 1648) Cromwell slept -at the old white house, opposite the Strand, on the night before -the memorable battle of Ribblesdale, and there, with Major-General -Ashton, matured the plan of those operations which ere -the next setting of the sun had proved fatal to the Duke of -Hamilton, and tinged the flowing river with the blood of his -Scottish followers as deeply as their ancestors had dyed it with -English blood three centuries before. In more peaceful times,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -when the cotton trade was yet in its infancy, hand-loom weaving -flourished, and formed the staple industry; but the day of -prosperity has passed, and the place has now dwindled down -to the condition of a mean and insignificant country village, old-fashioned -in aspect and quiet enough for the grass to grow in the -narrow and painfully-ill-paved streets that struggle on towards the -river. So lifeless looking is it that were it not for a few loiterers -standing about the doorway of the “Bull,” and that we now and -then hear the clack of the shuttle, it would seem</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Like one vast city of the dead,</div> -<div class="verse">Or place where all are dumb.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>After long centuries of vicissitude and change, except the shadowy -memories of the past, the ancient parish church is almost the only -object that remains to arrest the steps of the inquiring wayfarer, -and this well deserves examination. Tradition hovers about the -place, and tells us that after the conversion of King Edwin, the -great missionary Paulinus here proclaimed the glad tidings of -salvation, in commemoration of which event the symbol of the -Christian’s faith—the cross—was planted, contemporaneously with -those in the neighbouring churchyard of Whalley; and that the -first “modest house of prayer” was erected on the spot once occupied -by the temple of Minerva. The late Canon Raines believed -the church at Ribchester was coeval in antiquity with that at -Whalley. It is the work of many hands and many separate eras, -and, as may be supposed, exhibits many different styles of architecture. -The oldest part is undoubtedly the chancel, the windows of -which are, for the most part, of the narrow lancet style, showing -that it must have been built about the year 1220. Portions of the -nave and the north aisle exhibit the rich detail of the Decorated -period, and the tower bears evidence that it is of later date, the -main features being of Perpendicular character. In the south wall -of the chancel is an ancient arched sedilia, with a piscina and -credence table attached, and on the north side is a solid block of -stone, whereon are carved three heraldic shields bearing the arms<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -of the Hoghtons and some of their alliances. This stone is -commonly supposed to be a tomb, but it is more probable that it -was intended as a seat in times when only the patron and some of -his more influential neighbours were so accommodated, the general -body of worshippers standing or kneeling during the services of the -Church. The Hoghtons, whose arms it bears, were for generations -lords of Ribchester, and one of them, Sir Richard Hoghton, in -1405, founded and endowed the chantry on the north side known -as the “Lady Chapel,” in which are still preserved the remains of -the ancient altar and piscina.</p> - -<p>Our story is told, and we now draw the veil over these grass-grown -by-ways of the past. Eighteen centuries have rolled by -since Agricola planted his eagles on the northern shores of the -Ribble; for 400 years the Roman wrought and ruled; Saxon and -Dane and Norman have followed in his wake, and each successive -race has left its distinctive peculiarities stamped upon the institutions -of the country. In that time kingdoms and empires have -risen and passed away, generation after generation has come and -gone. The old hills still lift their heads to the breezes of heaven, -the stream flows on as of yore, and the sun shines with the same -splendour as it shone in those ancient days—but where are they -who peopled the busy scene?</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">They are vanished</div> -<div class="verse">Into the air, and what seemed corporal melted.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>With Cassius we might exclaim,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi8">They are fled away and gone,</div> -<div class="verse">And in their stead the ravens, crows, and kites</div> -<div class="verse">Fly o’er our heads.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The splendid civilisation which the Roman colonists brought -with them did not long outlive their departure. The strongholds -they built, the palaces they reared, have disappeared. Where once -gleamed the spears of the Imperial soldiery the plough now passes -and the harvest smiles. The Roman has passed away, and the -glory of Ribchester has passed away with him, scarcely a stone now -remaining to tell the story of its former greatness.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<a name="MH" id ="MH"></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_044.jpg" width="600" height="375" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">MARPLE HALL.</div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_045.jpg" width="600" height="107" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> - -<span class="f75">MARPLE HALL—THE BRADSHAWS—COLONEL HENRY BRADSHAW -THE STORY OF THE REGICIDE.</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_045a.jpg" width="75" height="175" alt="C" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Cheshire</span> abounds with ancient houses, but few, if any, -of them are more interesting from their historical or -traditional associations than Marple Hall, the home -of Colonel Henry Bradshaw, the noted Cromwellian -soldier, and the place where his younger brother, -“Judge” Bradshaw, passed the earlier years of his -eventful life. It is one of the few old mansions of the county that -have remained to the descendants of the earlier possessors, and -though located in close proximity to a district singularly at variance -with associations awakened by the time-honoured memorials of -bygone days, is yet surrounded by much that is picturesque and -attractive.</p> - -<p>The house, which stands a mile or more away from the -straggling village from which it takes its name, is within the -compass of a pleasant walk from Stockport or Hazel Grove, but -it is more readily approached from the Rose Hill Station of the -Macclesfield and Bollington Railway. It cannot be seen from -the highway, but an antiquated and somewhat stately looking -gateway, a few yards from the station, gives admission to a tree-shaded -drive that leads across the park, at the further end of -which the quaint old pile comes in view, standing upon a natural -platform or terrace, with a lichened and moss-grown wall on the -further side, all grey and weather-worn, that extends along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -edge of the precipice on which it is built. The shelving slopes -below are clothed with shrubs and trees that furnish a pleasant -shade in the summer time; wild flowers in abundance peep out -from the clefts and crevices; and were our visit made in the earlier -months of the year, while the white fringe of nature’s weaving yet -lingers upon the skirts of winter’s mantle, we should find the -acclivities plentifully besprinkled with the pale and delicate -blossoms of the snowdrop—the firstling of the year awakening -from its lengthened sleep to proclaim the reanimation of the -vegetable world. At the foot of the cliff is a sequestered dingle -with a still pool, the remains, possibly, of a former moat or mere,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> -that gleams in the green depths, and a tiny rivulet that looks up -through the overhanging verdure as it wanders on in pastoral and -picturesque seclusion. The well-wooded heights of Thorncliffe -shut in this bosky dell from the valley of the Goyt, across which, -from the terraced heights, there is a delightful view in the direction -of Werneth Low, the Arnfield and Woodhead Moors, and the -range of green uplands and dusky eminences which stretch away -in long succession to the pale blue hills that in the remote distance -bound the landscape. There this interesting memorial of the -stormiest period of England’s history stands in peaceful serenity, -lifting its dark stone front above the surrounding offices and outbuildings, -with its high-peaked gables draped with a luxurious -mantle of ivy that softens the sterner outlines into beauty, its -long, low, mullioned windows, and its entrance tower and balcony -above, now protected by a latticed railing, so as to form a kind of -observatory, and which once had the addition of a cupola.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">High on a craggy steep it stands,</div> -<div class="vi4">Near Marple’s fertile vale,</div> -<div class="verse">An ancient ivy-covered house</div> -<div class="vi4">That overlooks the dale.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And lofty woods of elm and oak</div> -<div class="vi4">That ancient house enclose,</div> -<div class="verse">And on the walls a neighb’ring yew</div> -<div class="vi4">It sombre shadow throws.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A many-gabled house it is,</div> -<div class="vi4">With antique turret crowned,</div> -<div class="verse">And many a quaint device, designed</div> -<div class="vi4">In carvings rude, is found.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>So says Mr. Leigh, in one of his “Legendary Ballads of Cheshire.” -The first glimpse gives evidence of the fact that it has been -erected at different periods, additions having been made from -time to time as the convenience or requirements of successive -occupants have dictated; but none of these are of modern date, -or in any way detract from its venerable aspect. On the south a -lofty wall encloses the garden and a court that occupies the entire -front of the house. Tall pillars of the Carolinian period, -supporting a pair of gates of metal-work, forming the principal -entrance, give admission to this court; and if the wayfarer is -fortunate enough to be provided with an introduction, or if with a -taste for antiquarian investigation he unites the manners of a -gentleman, he may rely upon a courteous reception.</p> - -<p>The time of our visit is a pleasant autumn afternoon. The -trees and hedges are in the fulness of their summer verdure; -but the waning of the year is evidenced by the lengthened -shadows, the warm golden hue that is deepening upon the landscape, -and the russet, purple, and yellow with which the woods, -though green in the main, are touched. Turning suddenly to the -right, we quit the highway, and saunter leisurely along the broad -gravelled path. As we approach the gates we become conscious -that something unusual is astir. Pedestrians are wending their way -towards the hall; occasionally a carriage rattles past; and then, -as we draw near, the sounds of mirth and minstrelsy break upon -the ear. Passing through the old gateway leading to the court, -we find groups of people on the lawn, and the lady of the house -is flitting to and fro with a pleasant word and a kindly greeting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -for every one. A <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">fête champêtre</i> is being held in the grounds, and -a fancy fair is going on in one of the outbuildings, which has been -smartened up and decorated for the occasion, the proceeds of -the sale, we are told, going towards the rebuilding of</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The decent church that tops the neighbouring hill,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>or rather the building of a new one by its side, which, when -finished, is to supersede it. A “steeple-house,” forsooth! At the -very mention of the name a host of memories are conjured up. -For a moment the mind wanders back along the dim avenues of -the past to the stormy days of Cavalier and Roundhead, and we -think of the mighty change the whirligig of time has brought -about since Bradshaw’s fanatical soldiery bivouacked here, ready -to plunder and profane the sanctuary, and to destroy, root and -branch, hip and thigh, the “sons of Belial” who sought solace -within its walls, or, as Hudibras has <span class="nowrap">it:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Reduce the Church to Gospel order,</div> -<div class="verse">By rapine, sacrilege, and murder.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Happily, fate has not ordained that we should sleep here this -night; for Marple, be it remembered, has its ghost chamber—what -ancient house with any pretensions to importance has -not?—and if the shades of the departed can at the “silent, -solemn hour, when night and morning meet,” revisit this lower -world, those of the stern old Puritan colonel and the grim-visaged -“Lord President” would assuredly disturb our slumber.</p> - -<p>But let us quit the shadowy realms of legend and romance, -and betake ourselves to that of sober, historic fact. After the -overthrow of Harold on the fatal field of Hastings, Marple -passed into the hands of Norman grantees, and in the days of -the earlier Plantagenet Kings formed part of the possessions of -the barons of Stockport, being held by them under the Earl of -Chester on the condition of finding one forester for the Earl’s -forest of Macclesfield. The lands, with those of Wyberslegh, in -the same township, were, some time between the years 1209<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -and 1229, given by Robert de Stockport as a marriage portion -to his sister Margaret on her marriage with William de Vernon, -afterwards Chief Justice of Chester, a younger son of the Baron -of Shipbrooke, who through his mother had acquired the lands -of Haddon, in Derbyshire; and from that time Marple formed -part of the patrimony of the lords of Haddon until the death -of Sir George Vernon, the renowned “King of the Peak,” in -1567, a period of three centuries and a half, the estates being -then divided between his two daughters, Haddon with other -property in Derbyshire devolving upon Dorothy Vernon, the -heroine of the romantic elopement with Sir John Manners, the -ancestor of the Dukes of Rutland, whilst Marple and Wyberslegh -fell to the lot of Margaret, the wife of Sir Thomas Stanley of -Winwick, the second son of Edward Earl of Derby—that Earl of -whom Camden says that “with his death the glory of hospitality -seemed to fall asleep.” Their son, Sir Edward Stanley, of Tonge -Castle, in Shropshire, having no issue, sold the manor and lands of -Marple in small lots to Thomas Hibbert,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> chaplain to Lord -Keeper Bridgman, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry -Bradshaw, of Marple, and who was the grandfather of the -celebrated divine, Henry Hibbert.</p> - -<p>Some time about the year 1560 the Henry Bradshaw here -named, who was a younger son of William Bradshaw, of Bradshaw -Hall, near Chapel-en-le-Frith, the representative of an old Lancashire -family of Saxon origin, seated at Bradshaw, near Bolton, -from a time anterior to the Conquest, and which had been -dispossessed and repossessed of its estates by the Norman -invaders, married Dorothy, one of the daughters and co-heirs of -George Bagshawe, of the Ridge, in the parish of Chapel-en-le-Frith, -a family that in a later generation numbered amongst its members -the eminent Nonconformist divine, William Bagshawe, better -known as the “Apostle of the Peak,” and became tenant of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -house in Marple called The Place, still existing, and forming -part of the Marple estate. By this marriage he had a son -bearing his own baptismal name, and, in addition, two daughters, -Elizabeth, who became the wife of Thomas Hibbert as already -stated, and Sarah, who is said by some genealogists—though on -what authority is not clear—to have been the wife of John Milton, -the wealthy scrivener, of Bread Street, London, and the mother of -England’s great epic poet, whom John Bradshaw in his will spoke -of as his “kinsman John Milton.”</p> - -<p>In 1606, as appears by a deed among the Marple muniments, -dated 7th July, 4 James, Henry Bradshaw the elder, therein styled -a “yoman,” purchased from Sir Edward Stanley, for the sum of -£270, certain premises in Marple and Wyberslegh, comprising a -messuage and tenement, with its appurtenances, another tenement -situate in Marple or Wibersley, and a close commonly called -The Place, the said premises being at the time, as is stated, -partly occupied by Henry Bradshaw the elder and partly by -Henry Bradshaw the younger, his son and heir-apparent. The -estate at that time must have been comparatively small. Two -years later (30th June, 1608), as appears by the Calendar of -Recognizance Rolls of the Palatinate of Chester, now deposited -in the Record Office, London, Henry Bradshaw, to further secure -his title, obtained an enrolment of the charter of Randal Earl of -Chester, granting in free-forestry Merple and Wibreslega, as they -are there called, with lands in Upton and Macclesfield, to Robert, -son of Robert de Stockport; and another enrolment of the charter -of Robert de Stockport, granting to William Vernon, and Margery -his wife, the lands of Marple and Wybersley, from which William -and Margery the property passed, as we have said, by successive -descents to Sir Edward Stanley, from whom Bradshaw acquired it.</p> - -<p>Henry Bradshaw the younger, following the example of his -father, also married an heiress, thus further adding to the territorial -possessions, as well as to the social status, of his house, his -wife being Catherine, the younger of the two daughters and co-heirs -of Ralph Winnington, the last male representative of a family<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -seated for seven generations at Offerton Hall, a building still -standing near the highroad midway between Stockport and Marple, -though now shorn of much of its former dignity. The registers of -Stockport show that they were married there on the 4th February, -1593. To them were born four sons and two daughters. William, -the eldest, died in infancy. With Henry, born in 1600, and John, -born in 1602, we are more immediately concerned, for it is round -them that the interest and the associations of Marple chiefly -gather.</p> - -<p>The elder Bradshaw, the founder of the Marple line, died in -1619–20, when Henry, his son, who had then been a widower -sixteen years, succeeded to the family estates. No records of his -private life have been preserved, but it may not be unreasonably -assumed that, after the death of his wife, and as he did not remarry, -he lived in comparative retirement, leading the life of an -unostentatious country gentleman, improving his estate, and supervising -the education of his children. Two years after he had -entered upon the possession of his inheritance, that important -functionary the Herald made his official visitation of Cheshire, -when the gentlemen and esquires of the county were called upon -to register their descents and show their claim to the arms they -severally bore; and it is worthy of note, as indicating his indifference -to, or disdain of, the “noble science,” that though, as we -have seen, of ancient and honourable lineage and entitled to bear -arms, Henry Bradshaw did not obey the Herald’s summons,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> -probably “feeling assured,” as Macaulay said of the old Puritan,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -“that if his name was not found in the Registers of Heralds, it was -recorded in the Book of Life; and hence originated his contempt -for territorial distinctions, accomplishments, and dignities.”</p> - -<p>Surrounded by home affections, Bradshaw appears to have taken -little interest in public affairs; though, as a strict Calvinist and -stern moralist, he could not but have looked with disfavour on the -republication of the “Book of Sports,” and the revival of the -Sunday wakes and festivals, in which religion and pleasure were so -strangely blended; nor, as an Englishman, could he have been an -indifferent spectator of the breach which was gradually widening -between the King and his people.</p> - -<p>A cloud was then gathering which presaged a great religious and -political tempest. The year in which Bradshaw lost his wife was -that which closed the long and brilliant reign of the last of the -Tudor sovereigns. James of Scotland succeeded—a King who -reigned like a woman after a woman who had reigned like a man. -The Puritans in Elizabeth’s time were comparatively insignificant -in numbers, but the strictness of the Queen’s ecclesiastical rule -acted upon their stubborn nature, and those who were averse to -Episcopacy, and impatient of uniformity in rites and ceremonies -and the decorous adjuncts of a National Church, grew formidable -under James, and turbulent and aggressive after the accession of -Charles. The policy of Elizabeth gave a political standing ground -to Puritanism, and Puritanism gave to the political war in which -the nation became involved a relentless character that was all its -own. In 1634 was issued the writ for the levying of Ship-money—“that -word of lasting sound in the memory of this kingdom,” as -Clarendon calls it—a word which lit the torch of revolution, and -for a period of eleven years kept the country in almost uninterrupted -strife. The occasion was eagerly availed of by the -discontented; pulpits were perverted by religious fanatics, and -violent appeals made to the passions of the populace, who were -preached into rebellion; while more thoughtful, yet brave and -strong-minded men, impressed with a stern, unflinching love of -justice, and a determination to maintain those liberties they held -to be their birthright, contended to the death against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> “imposts” -and “levies” and “compositions,” and against the worse mockery -of “loans” which no man was free to refuse, as well as the -despotism that more than threatened their common country. It -was a fatal time for England. Dignified by some high virtues, -possessing many excellent endowments both of head and heart, -Charles yet lacked sincerity, forethought, and decision, and the -capacity required for the wise conduct of affairs. The blame for the -strifes and contentions which arose does not, however, attach wholly -to the sovereign, nor yet to his subjects. The absolutism of the -Tudors was, in a measure, the cause of the sins of the Stuarts, and -the sins of the Stuarts brought about the miseries of the Rebellion, -just as in turn the despotic rule and grinding social tyranny of the -Commonwealth period led to the excesses of the Restoration. -Charles was born out of season, and lived too much in a world of -his own ideas to comprehend the significance of events that were -passing around him. The twining of the Red and White Roses -upon the ensanguined field of Bosworth was followed by the -break-up of the feudal system, and the effacement of many of the -old landmarks of English society; a new class of landowners had -sprung into existence, eager for the acquirement of political -freedom, and the king was unable or unwilling to recognise the -changed condition of things. He inherited from his father -inordinate notions of kingly power, and he resolutely shut his eyes -to the fact that he had to deal with an entirely different state of -public opinion. The power of the sovereign had waned, but -that of the people had increased; Parliament, while bent upon -abridging the ancient constitutional prerogative of the Crown, was -equally resolute in the extension of its own. The King persisted -in his determination to reign and govern by “divine right”—he -refused to yield anything—and in the fierce struggle which he -provoked he fell. Moderation was no longer thought of; the time -for compromise was past; the seeds of strife were sown and -nurtured both by King and Parliament, who, distrusting and -wearied of each other, no longer cared for peace. At length the -storm burst. At Manchester, on the 15th July, 1642—a month<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -before the unfurling of the Royal standard at Nottingham—very -nearly upon the spot where now stands the statue of Cromwell, -the first shot was fired and the first blood shed in that great -conflict which drenched the country in civil slaughter.</p> - -<p>When the first shot was fired which proclaimed to anxious -England that the differences between the King and the Parliament -were only to be settled by an appeal to arms, the two sons of -Henry Bradshaw had attained to the fulness of manhood, Henry, -the eldest, having then lately completed his forty-second year, while -John was his junior only by two years.</p> - -<p>Henry Bradshaw, the third of the name, who resided at Marple, -was born, as previously stated, in 1600, and baptised at the old -church at Stockport on the 23rd June in the same year. Following -with admirable consistency the practice of his progenitors, he -further added to the territorial possessions of his house by marrying -a rich heiress—Mary, the eldest of the two daughters and co-heirs -of Bernard Wells,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> of Holme, in the parish of Bakewell. The -marriage settlement bears date 30 Sep., 6 Charles I. (1631), and -Mr. Ormerod, the historian of Cheshire, says that he had bestowed -upon him by his father-in-law the hall of Wyberslegh, but this -is evidently an error, for, as we have previously seen, his father -and grandfather between them purchased Wyberslegh, along with -Marple, from Sir Edward Stanley, a quarter of a century previously, -and the hall continued, as it had been from time immemorial, -appendant to that of Marple. It is more than probable, however, -that he took his young bride to Wyberslegh, and resided there -during his father’s lifetime, so that it would appear that the first of -the Bradshaws settled at Marple lived at The Place, where he -died in 1611, after which it ceased to be occupied as the family -residence. Henry, his son, resided at the hall, and the youngest -of the three occupied Wyberslegh until he succeeded to the family -estate. Mary Wells, by whom he had a son who succeeded as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -heir, and two daughters, predeceased him, and he again entered -the marriage state, his second wife being Anne, daughter of George -Bowdon, of Bowdon, in Cheshire, by whom he had five sons and -one or more daughters, Though by no means insensible to the -advantages accruing from the possession of worldly wealth, it -does not appear that he added materially to his temporal estate by -his second marriage. The Bowdons were a family of ancient rank, -who at one time owned one-fourth part of Bowdon, but their -estates had gradually dwindled away, and were finally alienated by -sale to the Booths of Dunham, in the early part of Elizabeth’s -reign.</p> - -<p>Inheriting from his father the Puritan sentiments of the age, -Henry Bradshaw carried those feelings with him into a more active -arena. Living in close neighbourship with Colonel Dukenfield, -Edward Hyde, of Norbury, Ralph Arderne, of Harden, Ralph -Holland, of Denton, and holding intimate relations with the Booths -of Dunham, the Breretons of Handforth, the Stanleys of Alderley, -and other influential Presbyterian families, their friendship doubtless -helped to shape the part he took in public affairs. When the -storm which had been long gathering burst, he took his stand with -the Parliament against the King, and became one of the most -active officers on the side of the Commonwealth. He served as -sergeant-major in the regiment commanded by his neighbour, -Robert Dukenfield, and would, therefore, in all probability, take -part in the lengthened siege of “Mr. Tatton’s house of Whittenshaw -(Wythenshawe),” in the winter of 1643–4, as well as in the -fruitless attempt, a few months later, to defend Stockport Bridge -against Rupert and his Cavaliers, who were hastening to the relief -of Lathom House, in Lancashire, where the heroic Countess of -Derby was bravely defending her husband’s home against greatly -superior forces. Though a Cheshire man, he held a lieutenant-colonel’s -commission in Assheton’s Lancashire regiment, and subsequently -was appointed to the command of the entire militia within -the Macclesfield hundred, in his own county. He was present also -with the Cheshire men at the final overthrow of the Royalist army—the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -“crowning mercy,” as Cromwell phrased it—at Worcester, -Sept 3, 1651, where it was said he was wounded, but if so the -injury must have been only slight, for before the end of the month -he was acting as one of the members of the court-martial appointed -under a commission from Cromwell for the trial of the Earl of -Derby. After the disaster at Worcester, the Earl had accompanied -the King in his flight, until he was safe in the care of the Pendrells, -when, with Lord Lauderdale, Lord Talbot, and about 40 troopers, -he started northwards, in the hope of overtaking the remnant of -the Scotch army, but when near Nantwich the fugitives fell into -the hands of Oliver Edge,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> a captain in the Manchester regiment, -also returning from Worcester. Quarter having been given by his -captor, the Earl naturally believed that he would be entitled to the -immunities of a prisoner of war, but he soon found himself under -close confinement in Chester Castle, of which Colonel Dukenfield -was at the time governor. Cromwell, having got his most formidable -foe in his power, resolved to get for ever rid of him by the -shortest process that time and circumstances admitted. The Earl -was therefore at once brought for trial before Bradshaw and the -other members appointed on the court-martial, on the charge of -high treason in contravening an Act of Parliament passed only a -few weeks before, and of which, as his accusers were well aware, he -could have no knowledge, and, in defiance of the recognised laws -of war and the conditions on which he had surrendered, was pronounced -guilty and sentenced to be beheaded at Bolton. Dr. -Halley, in his history of “Lancashire Puritanism and Nonconformity,” -says that Colonel Bradshaw, notwithstanding that he had -voted for the rejection of the Earl’s plea;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> “earnestly entreated his -brother, the Lord President, to obtain a commutation of the -punishment,” but, if he did, his efforts were unsuccessful. Seacombe -attributed the execution of the Earl to the “inveterate -malice” of (President) Bradshaw, Rigby, and Birch, which originated, -he says, as to Bradshaw, because of the Earl’s refusing him -the Vice-Chamberlainship of Chester;<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Rigby, because of his -ill-success at Lathom; and Birch, in his lordship having trailed him -under a hay cart at Manchester on the occasion of the outbreak in -July, 1642, by which he got, even among his own party, the -epithet of “Lord Derby’s Carter.” He adds that, “Cromwell and -Bradshaw had so ordered the matter that when they saw the major -part of the House inclined to allow the Earl’s plea, as the Speaker -was putting the question, eight or nine of them quitted the House, -and those left in it being under the number of forty, no question -could be put.” The latter statement, however, is hardly borne -out by the <cite>Commons Journal</cite>,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> which, under date “14 October, -1651,” makes this brief mention of the reception of the Earl’s -<span class="nowrap">petition:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Speaker, by way of report, acquaints the House with a letter which -he had received from the Earl of Derby; and the question being put—That -the said letter be now read, the House was divided. The yeas went -forth, Sir William Brereton and Mr. Ellis tellers for the yeas, with the -yeas, 22; Mr. Bond and Major-General Harrison, tellers for the noes, with -the noes, 16, so it passed in the affirmative. A letter from the Earl of -Derby, of the 11th of October, 1651, with a petition therein enclosed, -entitled, “The Humble Petition of the Earl of Derby,” was this day -read.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In the administration of affairs in his own county, Colonel -Bradshaw took an active part. He was one of the commissioners -for the Macclesfield hundred for the sequestration of the estates of -those who retained Royalist opinions, or who refused to take the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -national covenant, and his name appears first among the signataries -to the famous Lancashire and Cheshire petition to the Parliament, -praying for the establishment of the Presbyterian religion, and -urging that “the frequenters of separate conventicles might be -discountenanced and punished.” The petitioners who had previously -pleaded conscience having gained the ascendancy were -now anxious to stifle freedom of thought, and to exercise a tyranny -over their fellow-men, justifying the remark of Fuller, that “those -who desired most ease and liberty for their sides when bound with -Episcopacy, now girt their own garments closest about the consciences -of others.” In those troublous times marriage as a -religious ceremony was forbidden, and became merely a civil -contract entered into before a justice of the peace, after three -“publications” at the “meeting place,” or in the “market -place,” the statute declaring that “no other marriage whatsoever -shall be held or accounted a marriage according to the laws of -England.” Bradshaw, as a county justice, officiated at many of -these civil marriages, and his neat and carefully-written autograph -frequently appears in the church books of the period, with his -heraldic seal affixed (for, however he might affect to contemn such -vanities, he was yet careful to display the armorial ensigns of his -house when acting officially with his more aristocratic neighbours), -sometimes as appointing parish registrars, and at others ordering -the levying of church rates and sanctioning the parish accounts, -which at the time could not be passed without magisterial confirmation.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<a name="SCB" id ="SCB"></a><img src="images/i_058.jpg" width="350" height="141" alt="Autograph and seal of Colonel Bradshaw" /> -</div> - -<p>Colonel Bradshaw lived to see the fall of the Commonwealth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -and the overthrow of that form of government he had done so -much to establish, but he did not long survive the restoration of -monarchy. After that event had taken place, he was brought -before the Lords Committee to answer for the part he had taken -in the court-martial on Lord Derby, and committed to the custody -of the Messenger of Black Rod. He appears, however, to have -been leniently dealt with, for, after submitting to what reads very -like an apology for his conduct, he was set at liberty, and permitted -to pass the remainder of his days in peace. Those days were -but few: the anxiety consequent upon the changed aspect of -affairs was too much for him—his spirit was broken, and he died -at Marple a few months after (11th March, 1661–2). On the 15th -March, 1661–2, in accordance with his previously-expressed desire, -his remains were laid beside those of his father and grandfather in -the little chapel belonging to his family, then standing on the south -side of the chancel of Stockport Church.</p> - -<p>It does not appear that a copy of his will, which was proved at -Chester, by the executor, 27th February, 1662, has at any time -been published, but the following abstract, made by Mr. J. Fred. -Beever, and contributed by him to “Local Gleanings,” appeared in -the <cite>Manchester Courier</cite> of October 15, <span class="nowrap">1875:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>2 July 12 Car. II (1660) I Henry Bradshaw of Marple co. Chester doe -... buried in my father’s grave in Marple Quire in the par. Churche -of Stockport if I depart this life in Cheshire ... my sonne John -Bradshawe ... all my lands in Bowden Medlarie (Bowdon Edge?) -and Mellor in the county of Darbie ... my sonne William Bradshawe -... my lands in Chapel-le-Frith and Briggeworth (Bugsworth?) co. -Derby ... Godfrey Bradshawe, Francis Bradshawe and Joseph -Bradshawe, my three youngest sonnes ... all my lands in Torkington -co. Chester ... Anne my lovinge wife ... she having a jointure -out of my lands in Cheshire and Wibersley ... my sonne and heire -Henery Bradshawe ... all my bookes ... my twoe daughters -Barbara and Catharine, they being by their grandfather Wells and his wife -well provided for. To my daughter Dorothy ... £400, to my daughter -Rachel ... £500, to my youngest daughter Anne ... £400 ... -my said sonne Henery Bradshawe ... (the residuary legatee and -executor) ... my good friend Edward Warren, of Poynton esq.... -(overseer).</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> - -<p>Bradshaw was wont to lament that he had “a small estate and -eleven children.” The whole eleven, as well as his second wife -survived him. Among the family portraits at Marple was (and -may be still) one of a young maiden, said to be a daughter of the -colonel. Round this lady the glamour of romance has been cast, -and a tradition tells the story of her unhappy fate. In those times, -when not unfrequently members of the same family took opposite -sides, when father contended with son, and brother met brother in -mortal conflict, Miss Bradshaw, with scant regard for the religious -and political principles of her house, had formed an attachment for -a young officer in the Royalist army, whose family had in happier -days been on terms of intimacy with her own. Though he had -espoused the cause of his sovereign, the Puritan colonel, in consideration -of former friendships, treated him with personal kindness -and welcomed him to his house. On one occasion, when entrusted -with the conveyance of despatches to the King, who was then with -his army at Chester, having occasion to pass near Marple, the -young cavalier halted and stayed the night with the family of his -betrothed. Mistress Bradshaw, with a woman’s intuitiveness, -suspecting the nature of his mission, and fearing the letters he was -commissioned to deliver might bode no good to her husband’s -house, resolved, with the help of a trusty waiting-maid, to secretly -ascertain their contents. Having done this, and found that her -worst fears were realised, her next thought was how to prevent -their reaching the King’s hands without awakening the suspicions -of their bearer. Summoning to her councils an old servitor of the -family, it was decided to partially sever the straps by which the -saddle-bags containing the dreaded missives were attached, so that -the attendant, when guiding their bearer across the ford, might -detach and sink them in the Goyt, when they would be lost for -ever. On the early morrow the gay young soldier, having taken -leave of his lady-love, hastened upon his mission; the old retainer, -who was nothing loth to speed the parting guest, accompanying -him towards the river, but, giving a somewhat free interpretation -to his instructions, concluded that if it was desirable to get rid of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -the letters it might be equally desirable to get rid of their bearer, -and so, instead of conducting him to the ford, he led him to the -deepest part of the river, which had become swollen with the storm -of the previous night. The young cavalier plunged into the -stream, and in an instant both horse and rider were swept away by -the surging flood. Miss Bradshaw witnessed the act of treachery -from the window of her chamber, but was powerless to prevent the -catastrophe. She saw the fatal plunge, gave one long piercing -shriek, and fell senseless to the ground. Reason had for ever left -her.</p> - -<p>Such is the legend that has floated down through successive -generations, and still obtains credence with many of the neighbouring -villagers, who, with a fondness for the supernatural, delight -to tell how the shade of the hapless maid of Marple is sometimes -seen lingering at nightfall about the broad staircases and corridors -of what was once her home, or, as the pale cold moon sheds her -silvery radiance on wood and sward, wandering along the grassy -margin of the river and by the deep dark pool where her lover lost -his life. Mr. Leigh has made the incidents of this tradition the -basis of one of the most pathetic of his recently-published Cheshire -ballads. Another writer on Marple has, however, given a different -version. He says the lady was Miss Esther Bradshaw, and that -her lover was “Colonel Sydenham, the Royalist commander,” -whom she ultimately married. It is a pity to spoil so pretty a -story, but strict regard for prosaic fact compels us to avow our -disbelief in it, and that for a twofold reason—(1) that Colonel -Sydenham was not a “Royalist,” but had been an active officer -during the war on the Parliament side; and (2) that Colonel -Bradshaw never had a daughter Esther. The story so circumstantially -related rests, we believe, on no better foundation than the -once popular though now almost forgotten romance of “The -Cavalier,” written under the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">nom de plume</i> of Lee Gibbons, by Mr. -Bennett, of Chapel-en-le-Frith, some sixty years ago.</p> - -<p>Henry Bradshaw, the Parliamentarian soldier, as the eldest surviving -son, inherited the family estates, while John, his younger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -brother, was left to push his fortunes as best he could. Possessing -much natural shrewdness and ability, with no lack of energy and -self-confidence, he was content with the position, strong in the -belief that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The world’s mine oyster,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and in the bitter struggle between monarchy and democracy he was -quick to avail himself of the opportunities which tended to his own -wealth and aggrandisement.</p> - -<p>He first saw the light in 1602, but the exact place of his birth -has not been ascertained. In an article in Britton and Brayley’s -“Beauties of England and Wales,” believed to have been written -by Watson, the historian of the Earls of Warren, it is stated that he -was born at Wyberslegh; but Mr. Ormerod, in his “History of -Cheshire,” doubts the probability of this, “inasmuch,” he says, “as -the family only became possessed of that seat by the marriage of -his elder brother Henry with the daughter of Mr. Wells,” but this, -if we may venture to differ from so deservedly high an authority, -must be an error, for Wyberslegh, which had for many generations -been appendant to the hall of Marple, was in the occupation of his -father or grandfather when the Marple property was purchased by -them in 1606; it is not unlikely, therefore, that the younger -Bradshaw was residing at Wyberslegh at the time of his son John’s -birth. His baptism is thus recorded in the Stockport <span class="nowrap">register:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1602. Dec. 10. John, the sonne of Henrye Bradshawe, of Marple, -baptized.</p></blockquote> - -<p>At a later date some zealous Royalist has written in the margin the -word “traitor.” It has been said that his mother died in giving -him birth. This, however, is not strictly correct, though her death -occurred a few weeks after that event, the register of Stockport -showing that she was buried there January 24, 1603–4, and her son -Francis, who would seem to have been a twin with John, was -baptised at the same place three days later.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> - -<p>Of the early life and habits of the future Lord President -nothing positively is known. From his will we learn that he -received his early classical education at Bunbury, of which school -that staunch Puritan, Edward Burghall, afterwards Vicar of Acton, -was at the time master; subsequently he was sent to Queen -Elizabeth’s Free School at Middleton, in Lancashire, then lately -remodelled and endowed by Nowell, Dean of St Paul’s, and, “as -part of his thankful acknowledgment,” he at his death bequeathed -to each of these institutions £500 for “amending the wages of -the master and usher.” There is a very general opinion that he -was at King Edward’s Grammar School in Macclesfield also for a -time; though there is no evidence of the fact, this is by no means -improbable. Macclesfield was conveniently near to his home, and -the school had at that time obtained a high reputation from the -ability and scholarly attainments of at least two of its masters, -John Brownswerd, “a schoolmaster of great fame for learning,” as -Webb says, “who living many years brought up most of the gentry -of this shire,” and Thomas Newton, one of the most distinguished -Latin poets of the Elizabethan era; and some countenance is -given to this supposition by the phrase in his will, “I had <em>part</em> of -my educa’con” at Middleton and Bunbury. The Macclesfield -school at that time abutted upon the churchyard, and there is a -tradition that young Bradshaw, while with some of his playmates, -and in a boyish freak, wrote the following prophetic lines upon a -gravestone <span class="nowrap">there:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">My brother Henry must heir the land,</div> -<div class="verse">My brother Frank must be at his command,</div> -<div class="verse">Whilst I, poor Jack, will do that</div> -<div class="verse">That all the world shall wonder at.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The authenticity of this production may very well be questioned, -for, however ambitious his mind, we can hardly suppose that this -young son of a quiet, unostentatious country gentleman could -have had the faintest glimmering of his future destiny any more -than that his muse was moved by prophetic inspiration.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> - -<p>He served his clerkship with an attorney at Congleton, whence -he proceeded to London, and studied for some time at Gray’s Inn, -of which learned society he entered as a student for the bar in -1622, and with such assiduity did he apply himself to his studies -that in later years Whitelock, in his “Memorials,” bore willing -testimony that he was “a man learned in his profession.” Having -completed his studies, he returned to Congleton, where he practised -for some years, and, taking an active part in the town’s affairs, was -elected an alderman of the borough—the house in which he -resided, a quaint black and white structure, having been in -existence until recent years. In 1637 he was named Attorney-General -for Cheshire and Flintshire, as appears by the following -entry on the Calendar of Recognizances Rolls for the Palatinate of -Chester: “13 Car. I., June 7. Appointment of John Bradshawe -as one of the Earl’s attorneys-at-law in the counties of Chester and -Flint, during pleasure, with the same fees as Robert Blundell, late -attorney there, received.” In the same year he was chosen Mayor -of Congleton, an office he is said to have discharged with ability -and satisfaction, being, as a local chronicler records, “a vigilant -and intelligent magistrate, and well qualified to administer justice.” -He certainly cannot be charged with indifference or lack of zeal -while filling this position, for the corporation books show that he -left his mark in the shape of “certain orders, laws, and ordinances,” -he set down “for the better regiment and government of the -inhabitants, and the preservation of peace and order.” These -regulations, which were of a somewhat stringent character, imposed -fines upon the aldermen and other dignitaries who neglected to -provide themselves with halberds, and to don their civic gowns -and other official bravery, when attending upon their chief, while -the “freemen” of the borough were left with little freedom to boast -of. It is evident that, Calvinist and Republican though he was, -and a Puritan of the most “advanced” school, Bradshaw, even at -that early period of his public career, had little liking for the severe -simplicity affected by his political and religious associates, the -regulations he laid down indicating a fondness for histrionic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -display and a love for the trappings and pageantry of office. -As might be supposed, a small country town, the merry-hearted -inhabitants of which were proverbial for their love of bear-baiting -and their fondness for cakes and sack, was not a likely place to -afford scope for the exercise of the talents of so resplendent a -genius, so, seeking a more active sphere, he betook himself to the -metropolis, where he continued to follow his profession. The year -in which Cromwell gained his great victory at Marston Moor was -that in which we find him for the first time employed in the service -of the Parliament, being joined (Oct., 1644) with Mr. Newdegate -and the notorious Prynne in the prosecution of the Irish rebels, -Lords Macguire and Macmahon, before the Commissioners of Oyer -and Terminer, which resulted in the rebel lords being condemned -and executed.</p> - -<p>It is not unlikely that Bradshaw had made the acquaintance of -Prynne before he left Congleton, for the year of his mayoralty -there was one in which that “pestilent breeder of sedition,” as he -was called, after standing in the pillory with Bastwick and Burton, -and having his ears clipped, passed through Cheshire on his way to -the prison at Carnarvon, making what reads very like a triumphal -progress, and creating no small stir among the disaffected Puritans -in the county, who regarded the victim of a harsh and unwise -persecution as a sufferer for the cause of the true Gospel. His -conductors treated him with much leniency—indeed, on the whole, -they seem to have had rather a pleasant outing, stopping for two or -three days at a time at the principal halting-places, and enjoying -themselves when and where they could. At Tarporley, Tarvin, and -Chester the offender was admitted to the houses of his friends, and -received visits from some of the more notable of the anti-Royalist -faction in the city and county, a procedure which drew down -upon him the episcopal wrath—Bridgeman, the Bishop, being -greatly scandalised at the idea of the “twice-censured lawyer and -stigmatised monster,” as he called him, being entertained in his -own cathedral city “by a set of sour factious citizens.” The complaint, -it must be admitted, was not without cause, for it seems the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -mayor and corporation began to waver in their orthodoxy, and -became slack in going to hear sermons at the cathedral, so that the -energetic prelate “could not have his eye upon their behaviour” as -he desired. Whether this was due to the pleasant and moving discourses -of Prynne, or that the sermons at the cathedral were too -dry and lifeless to suit the tastes of the Cestrians, is not clear, but -to remedy the evil Bridgeman had a brand new pulpit erected in the -choir, capacious enough for all the canons to preach in at one -time, had they been so minded; and, further, ordered all other -preachers in the city to end their discourses before those at the -cathedral began, in order that the civic authorities might have no -excuse for negligence in their attendance on sound doctrine, as -delivered within its walls.</p> - -<p>The manner in which Bradshaw conducted the prosecution of -the Irish rebels evidently gave satisfaction to his employers, and -paved the way to his future advancement; certain it is that, after -this time, he is frequently found engaged upon the business of the -Parliament. When so employed he was not a pleasant person to -encounter, as poor old Edmund Shallcross, the rector of Stockport—the -parish in which his boyhood was spent—had good reason to -know. For the particulars of this little incident in the life of the -future judge, affording, as it does, an interesting side glance of the -state of religious feeling in Marple when the Bradshaws were all-powerful, -we are indebted to the researches of that indefatigable -antiquary, Mr. J. P. Earwaker. It seems there had been a dispute -of long standing between the Bradshaws and Shallcross on the -vexed question of the tithes of Marple, a circumstance that in itself -would no doubt be sufficient to satisfy the rector’s Presbyterian -neighbours when in authority that he was “scandalous” and -“delinquent.” Be that as it may, on the breaking out of the war -Shallcross was turned out of his living, and his property, which -included an extensive library, was confiscated. He appealed to -the Commissioners of Sequestrations, and among the State papers -which Mr. Earwaker has lately unearthed is an interesting series -of interrogatories relating to persons in Cheshire suspected of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -delinquency, the following being the answer to those concerning -the parson of <span class="nowrap">Stockport:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Edward Hill, of Stopforth (Stockport), glazier, knew Mr. Shallcrosse, -formerly minister at Stopforth, who about the yeare 1641 refused to lett to -farme the tythes of Marple to the townsmen of Marple att their own rates, -but offered them the same at such rates as was conceived they might well -gaine att. And that aboute two yeares after Articles were exhibited against -the said Mr. Shallcrosse for delinquency, who thereupon appealed to the -Committee of Lords and Commons for sequestracons, and went severall -times to London about the same busines, and was once goeing to have the -same heard, and had a convoy of horse of the Parliament’s partye, and -some of the King’s partye came forth of Dudley Castle, and (he) then was -by them slayne. And this deponent further saith that he was servaunt to -the said Mr. Shallcrosse for seaven yeares before his death, whoe did -acquaint this examinante that hee had found much opposition by Sergeant -Bradshawe, whoe then was solicitor for the Commonwealth.</p> - -<p>He also saith that the tythes of Stopforth are reputed to be worth 400li. -by the yeare or thereabouts, and saith that hee hath heard generally -reported that Sir William Brereton had a power invested in him to place -or displace such ministers as were scandalous or delinquents. And he -further saith that hee believed if the said Mr. Shallcrosse had complied with -the desires of the said Mr. Bradshawe and his father and brother, that the -said Mr. Shallcrosse would not have been sequestrated.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Bradshaw’s next step in advancement was in 1646, when, on the -6th October, the House of Commons appointed him, in conjunction -with Sir Rowland Wandesford and Sir Thomas Bedingfield, -Commissioners of the Great Seal for six months, an appointment -that was, however, overruled by the House of Lords. From this -time his rise was rapid, honours and emoluments seeming to crowd -upon him. On the 22nd February following both Houses voted -him to the office of Chief Justice of Chester, an appointment that -would amply compensate for the disappointment he had experienced -in Lord Derby’s previous refusal to bestow on him the vice-chamberlainship -of the city. On being relieved of his office as one -of the Commissioners of the Great Seal, he was named (March 18, -1647) as one of the judges for Wales, an office he appears to have -held conjointly with his post at Chester. Three months later we -find him again associated with Prynne, the two, with Serjeant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -Jermyn and Mr. Solicitor St. John, being appointed by the Parliament -to conduct the proceedings against the intrepid Judge -Jenkins, who, when impeached of treason before the Commons, -not only refused to kneel at the bar of the House, but had the -temerity to call the place “a den of thieves.”</p> - -<p>On the 12th October, 1648, as we learn from Whitelocke, -Parliament, in accordance with a recommendation of the Commissioners -of the Seal, ordered a new call of serjeants-at-law, and -Bradshaw’s name is found among those then voted to receive the -coif.</p> - -<p>It has been suggested by a local writer that, in this, Parliament -had an ulterior object in view, the purpose of Bradshaw’s promotion -being to secure an efficient instrument for conducting the proceedings -against the Sovereign, which were then contemplated. -This, however, is extremely improbable, for Parliament, it should be -remembered, was averse to any extreme measure, and was, in fact, -anxious to come to terms with the beaten King, its agents being -at the very time engaged in negotiating with him the abortive treaty -of Newport. But Cromwell had determined that Charles’s life -should be sacrificed, and the will of the army and its guiding genius -had become paramount, for a military despotism was already -usurping the powers of the State. The breach between the army -and Parliament was widening daily, and the great struggle which -was to decide the future destinies of England was at hand. The -army, flushed with victory, had returned from the destruction of its -enemies; conscious of its own power, it demanded vengeance on -the “chief delinquent,” as the King was called, and sent an -expedition to the Isle of Wight to seize his person, and convey him -to Hurst Castle. Meanwhile, the Commons had discussed the -concessions made by Charles, and by a majority of 140 to 104 had -decided that they “were sufficient grounds for settling the peace -of the kingdom.” Scarcely had the vote been recorded when a -decisive blow was struck by the army at the independence of -Parliament, for on the following morning, Colonel Pride, at the -head of his regiment of foot, and accompanied with a regiment of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -horse, blockaded the doors leading to the House of Commons, and -seized in the passage all those members who had been previously -marked on a list as hostile or doubtful, and placed them in confinement, -none being allowed to enter the House but the most furious -and determined of the known friends to “the cause.”<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The -obnoxious element having been thus effectually got rid of, the -sword waved openly over the legislative benches, and the army in -effect constituted the government. The next day this remnant of -the House—the “Rump,” as it was thereafter designated—rescinded -the obnoxious vote, and appointed a day of humiliation, -selecting Hugh Peters, Caryl, and Marshall to perform the service. -The “purge” of the Commons had secured the certainty of concurrence -in the wishes of the army, and accordingly, on the 23rd -December, a committee was appointed to prepare charges for the -impeachment of the King, and on the 28th an ordinance for his -trial was read. In order to give their designs some resemblance to -the form and principle of law, the House on the 1st January voted -“that by the fundamental law of the land, it is treason for the -King of England to levy war against the Parliament and kingdom.” -This vote, when sent up to the Lords for their concurrence, was -rejected without a single dissentient voice, a procedure that led the -remnant of the Commons a few weeks later to declare that “the -House of Peers was useless and dangerous, and ought to be -abolished.” On the 4th January an ordinance was presented for -erecting a new High Court of Justice for the trial of the King, -which was read the first, second, and third time, assented to, and -passed the same day. The Commissioners named in it included -all the great officers of the army, four peers, the Speaker, and principal -members of the expurgated House of Commons. The twelve -judges unanimously refused to be of the commission, declaring its -purpose and constitution to be contrary to the principles of English -law; Whitelocke, who had received the coif at the same time as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -Bradshaw and his colleague Widdrington, two of the most eminent -lawyers of the time, also refused to sit on the tribunal. The Commissioners -met on the 10th, and appointed Bradshaw, who was -absent, their president. It would seem to have been originally -intended that he should only take a subordinate part in the -business, for on the 3rd January the committee had decreed that -Serjeants Bradshaw and Nichols, with Mr. Steel, should be -“assistants.” Steel acted as Attorney-General, but Nichols could -not be prevailed upon to give attendance.</p> - -<p>It is not known with certainty whether Bradshaw was aware -of the intention to elect him president of the commission for -the trial of the King, but it is more than probable he had been -informed of what was contemplated, and he certainly cannot be -said to have been averse to the office, for undoubtedly he had -resolution and courage enough to decline it had he felt so disposed. -He attended the court in obedience to the summons on the 12th, -and, when called to take the place of president, after asking to be -excused, submitted to the order and took his place, whereupon -it was ordered, “that John Bradshaw, serjeant-at-law, who is -appointed president of this court, should be called by the name -and have the title of Lord President, and that as well without as -within the said court, during the commission and sitting of the said -court.” Clarendon says that “when he was first nominated he -seemed much surprised, and very resolute to refuse it; which he -did in such a manner, and so much enlarging upon his own want -of abilities to undergo so important a charge, that it was very -evident he expected to be put to that apology. And when he was -pressed with more importunity than could have been used by -chance, he required time to consider of it, and said ‘he would -then give his final answer,’ which he did the next day, and with -great humility accepted the office, which he administered with all -the pride, impudence, and superciliousness imaginable.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<a name="PB" id="PB"></a><img src="images/i_071.jpg" width="350" height="424" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">PRESIDENT BRADSHAW.</div> -</div> - -<p>Clarendon was evidently of opinion that he had been previously -informed of the position he would be asked to fill, and the “pride” -spoken of in the administration of the office was only in accord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -with that fondness for display to which allusion has already been -made. Suddenly raised to a position of pre-eminence as the head -of a tribunal wholly unprecedented in the extent and nature of its -assumed authority, he was not the man to dispense with any of -those outward manifestations which might give dignity and impressiveness -to his dread office. He had 20 officers or other gentlemen -appointed to attend him as a guard going and returning from -Westminster Hall; lodgings were provided for him in New Palace -Yard during the sittings of the court; and Sir Henry Mildmay, Mr. -Holland, and Mr. Edwards were deputed to see that everything -necessary was provided for him. A sword and mace were carried -before him by two gentlemen, 21 gentlemen that were near carried -each a partizan, and he had in the court 200 soldiers as an -additional guard. A chair of crimson velvet was placed for him in -the middle of the court, and a desk on which was laid a velvet -cushion; many of the commissioners, as Whitelocke says, donned -“their best habits,” and the President himself appeared in a scarlet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -robe, and wearing his celebrated peaked hat, remaining covered -when the King was brought before him, though he expressed -himself as greatly offended that his Sovereign did not remove his -hat while in his presence.</p> - -<p>Into the particulars of the trial we do not desire to enter—they -are matters which history has made known; nor do we wish to -dwell upon the incidents attendant upon it—the calm and dignified -demeanour of the ill-starred King; his denial of the authority of -the court, and consistent refusal to recognise a power founded on -usurpation; the ill-concealed vanity of the judge; the imposing -pomp and glitter of the regicidal court; the intrepid loyalty of -Lady Fairfax, who startled the commission by her vehement protest -when the charge was made, and the scarcely less courageous conduct -of her companion, Mrs. Nelson; the rancorous hatred -displayed by the King’s accusers; the mockery of proof; the -refusal to hear the fallen monarch’s appeal; the revilings of the -excited soldiery; the expressions of sympathy of the people; or -the brutal blow bestowed upon the poor soldier who ventured to -implore a blessing on his Sovereign’s head—all these are recorded -and are embalmed in the hearts of the English people. The -bloody episode which will for ever darken our national annals was -an event without precedent in the world’s history. For the constitution -of the court no authority could be found in English law, -it was illegal, unconstitutional, and, in its immediate results, -dangerous to liberty. Whatever might be the faults of Charles—and -they were many—his death was not a political necessity, nor -can it be justly said to have been the act of the nation, for the -voice of public opinion had never been heard, and therefore the -country must be exonerated of any participation by approval or -otherwise in the criminality of that unfortunate deed—it was the -act of a faction in the House of Commons, acting under the -influence of a faction in the army. In this momentous business -Bradshaw may have persuaded himself that he was performing a -solemn act of duty to his country, but, looked at in the light of -after history, that act can only be pronounced a criminal blunder.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> - -<p>Tradition says that the warrant for the King’s execution was -signed in Bradshaw’s house<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> at Walton-on-Thames, a building still -standing near Church Street in that pleasant little town, though -now subdivided into several small tenements, and shorn of much -of its ancient splendour—his own signature, of course, appearing -first on that well-known document.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<a name="AJB" id="AJB"></a><img src="images/i_073.jpg" width="350" height="100" alt="Jo: Bradshawe. (signature)" /> -</div> - -<p>Now, after a lapse of more than two centuries, and when the -welfare of the throne and the people are identical, we can afford -to look back upon the great tragedy in which Bradshaw played so -profound a part calmly and without bitterness of spirit. From the -anarchy, the foulness of the tyranny of those times, the nation, the -Church, and the people have emerged with a firm hold on better -things. Prelacy, which had been trampled under foot, and -Presbyterianism, which became to Independency much what -Prelacy had been to Presbyterianism, have reappeared, but the -severe asceticism and religious fervour of the Puritan, and the -catholicity and breadth of view of the Churchman have commingled -and become elements of the national life, fruitful for good -by reason that they no longer come into violent collision with each -other.</p> - -<p>When Bradshaw had brought his Sovereign to the block, he may -be said to have fulfilled the prediction of his early youth, for -assuredly he had</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Done that</div> -<div class="verse">Which all the world did wonder at.</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> -<p>He had accepted an office which sounder lawyers shrank from -undertaking, and had entitled himself to the gratitude of those -who, by compassing the death of the King, sought to accomplish -their own ambitious ends; and it must be admitted that those who -benefited by his daring were neither slow nor niggardly in -rewarding him for his services to the “cause,” for never was a -royal favourite so suddenly raised to a position of power, and -wealth, and consequence, and never was monarch more lavish in -the favours bestowed upon a courtier than was the newly-appointed -Government in doing honour to and enriching its legal chief. The -Deanery House at Westminster was given as a residence to him -and his heirs, and a sum of £5,000 allowed to procure an equipage -suitable to his new sphere of life, and such as the dignity of his -office demanded. “The Lord President of the High Court of -Justice,” writes Clarendon, “seemed to be the greatest magistrate -in England. And, though it was not thought seasonable to make -any such declaration, yet some of those whose opinion grew quickly -into ordinances, upon several occasions declared that they believed -that office was not to be looked upon as necessary <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">pro hac vice</i> -only, but for continuance, and that he who executed it deserved -to have an ample and liberal estate conferred upon him for -ever.”</p> - -<p>As his office did not expire with the King’s trial, Parliament on -the 6th February allowed him to appoint a deputy to supply his -place at Guildhall, where he had sat as judge, and on the 14th of -the same month, when Parliament made provision for the exercise -of the executive authority by the appointment of a Council of -State, he was selected by the House as one of the thirty-eight -members. Of this body Bradshaw was chosen president, and his -kinsman, John Milton, Latin secretary. At the first meeting -(March 10), if we are to believe our old friend Whitelocke, he -seemed “but little versed in such business,” and spent much of the -time in making long speeches. Two days afterwards he was -appointed Chief Justice of Wales, but he did not go there immediately, -for on the 20th of the same month he sat again as Lord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -President of the Council, at whose discussions it would seem he -was not disposed to remain a mere passive instrument, for, as -Whitelocke remarks, he “spent much of their time in urging his -own long arguments, which are inconvenient in State matters.” -“His part,” as he adds, “was only to have gathered the sense of -the council, and to state the question, not to deliver his own -opinion.”</p> - -<p>Whatever may have been his demeanour in the council, outside, -at least, the duties of his office were discharged with firmness and -energy, as the townsmen of Manchester had cause to know. -When, in 1642, the town was threatened with an attack by Lord -Derby, the Presbyterians had entrusted its defence to Colonel -Rosworm, a German engineer, who had been trained in the wars of -the Low Countries, and who had agreed to give his services for six -months for the modest sum of £30. A faithful and valuable -servant he proved, though a provokingly ill-tempered one, for he -never ceased to bewail the beggarly remuneration he had agreed -to accept, or to rail at the “despicable earthworms,” as he termed -those who had offered it. As he refused to sign the national -covenant, that not being included in the contract, and being, as he -thought, no part of a soldier’s duty, his employers took an irreconcileable -hatred against him, and, when the danger was past, -repudiated their share of the bargain. Unable to obtain the -pittance for which he had risked his life, he left the town in disgust, -and repaired to London to lay his grievances before the Government, -and implore their interference. As a consequence, the -following peremptory letter was addressed to the town by Bradshaw, -which no doubt had a salutary effect on the “despicable earthworms,” -whom the angry old soldier had charged with being -“matchless in their treachery, and setting the devil himself an -example of <span class="nowrap">villainy”:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>For the town of Manchester, and particularly for those who contracted -with Lieut.-Colonell Roseworme, these are.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen,—The condition of the bearer being fully made known, and -his former merit attested to us by honourable testimony, and very well -known to yourselves, himself also being by birth a stranger, and unable to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -present his complaints in the ordinary legall forme, give us just occasion -to recommend him to you for a thorough performance of what, by your -contract and promise, is become due unto him for his speciall service done -to your town and country, whereto we conceive there is good cause for you -to make an addition, and that there can be no cause at all for your backwardness -to pay him what is his due.</p> - -<p>As touching that which is otherwise, due to him from the State, after -some other greater businesses are over, he may expect to be put in a way -to receive all just satisfaction. In the meane time we committ him and -the premises to your consideration for his speedy relief, and we doe require -you to give us notice of your resolutions and doings herein, within one -month after the receipt thereof.</p> - -<p>Signed in the name and by order of the Council of State appointed -by authority of Parliament.</p> - -<p><span class="bright"><span class="smcap">Jo. Bradshawe</span>, Pr. Sedt.</span> -<span class="in2left">Whitehall, 7th July, 1649.</span> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>It must be confessed that the President, with all his “rare -modesty” and patriotism, was not so self-denying but that he -looked sharply after the main chance. On the 19th June, 1649, -Parliament voted him a sum of £1,000, and on the same day -ordered that it should be referred to a committee to consider -how he was to be put into possession of the value of £2,000 a -year, to be settled as an inheritance upon him and his heirs for -ever.</p> - -<p>Wealth and honours were literally showered upon him, and for a -time the history of the Government was little else than a history of -Bradshaw. On the 30th June he was re-appointed to the office of -Chief Justice of Chester, Humphrey Macworth, of Shrewsbury, -who afterwards acted as President of the court-martial which tried -Lord Derby, being named as his deputy. On the 15th July a Bill -passed through Parliament settling £2,000 a year on him and his -heirs, and nine days later (July 24th) another £2,000 per annum -was granted to him and them out of the sequestrated estates of -the Earl of St Albans at Somerhill, in Kent, and those of Lord -Cottington in Wiltshire, the latter including the famous Fonthill. -This last-named grant was in all probability the one referred to in -the order of June 19, when a committee was ordered to consider -how an annual payment of that amount could be settled.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> - -<p>Four days after these grants were made, an Act was passed constituting -him Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, an office that -subsequently, when others were abolished, was on his account -specially retained, and on the 2nd April, 1652, secured to him. -His name appears on the list of Justices of the Peace for his -native county in 1650; in the same year he was again named -of the Council of State, and retained his office of President. The -following letter, extracted from the State papers, is interesting as -showing the relations existing between Bradshaw and Cromwell, -and the estimation in which he was held by the Lord <span class="nowrap">General:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>My Lord,—I return you my humble and heartie thanks for your late noble -and friendly letter, whereby I have the comfort and assurance of your -lordship’s faire interpretation of my past, and (so I dare call them) well -ment actions, which I shall not desyre to account for or justify to any man -lyving so soon as to yourself; of whome I shall ever have that esteeme as -becomes me to have of one who daylie approves himself religion’s and his -countrey’s best friend, and who may justly challenge a tribute of observance -from all that syncerely wysh them well, in which number I shall hope ever -to be found.</p> - -<p>My Lord, I have (’tis true) taken the boldness to write some few letters -to you since your late departure hence, and I have satisfaction enough that -they were receyved, and are not dyspleasing to you. Your applycation to -the gentleman, named in yours, who is of so knowne fytnesse and abylytie -to procure you effectuall returnes, was an act, in my apprehension, savouring -of your usuall prudence, and tending to the advantage of the publique -affayres committed to your trust and care; neither can any wyse man -justifie any charge of seeming neglect of others in that respect. I am -sorry your lordship hath bene put to any expense of your so pretious tyme, -for removing any such doubts; but these my over carefull fryends, who -have created your lordship this trouble, have, I must confess, occasyonally -contrybuted to my desyred contentment, which is, and ever hath been, -synce I had the honour to be knowne unto you, to understand myself to -be reteyned and preserved in your good opinion. And if my faithfull -endeavours for the publique, and respects unto your lordship in everything -wherein I may serve you, may deserve a contynuance thereof, I may not -doubt still to find that happiness; and this is all the trouble I shall give -your lordship as to that matter.</p> - -<p>We are now beginning with a new councell another yeare. I might -have hoped, either for love or something els, to have been spared from the -charge, but I could not obtaine that favour; and I dare not but submyt, -where it is cleare to me that God gives the call. He also will, I hope, give<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -His poore creature some power to act according to His mynd, and to serve -Him in all uprightness and syncerytie, in the way wherein He hath placed -me to walk.</p> - -<p>My Lord, I have no more, but to recommend you and all your great -affaires to the guydance, mercy, and goodness of our good God, and to -subscrybe myself, in all truth of affection,</p> - -<p> -<span class="in6left">Your lordship’s ever to be disposed of</span> -<span class="smcap bright">Jo. Bradshawe</span>. -<span class="in2left">Whytehall, 18 Feb., 1650.</span></p> - -<p>The customer who wronged Sir James Lidod is ordered to restore and -satisfie, and to come up to answer his charge, which, probably, will fall -heavy upon him.</p> - -<p>For his Excellency the Lord General Cromwell, These.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Bradshaw acted as President of the Council of State in 1651, and -again in the year following. So far his success had been uninterrupted, -and as the supreme magistrate his power and influence was -second only to that of Cromwell himself. His authority was almost -absolute. The amiable Evelyn, in his diary, records that he could -not witness the burial of Dorislaus, “the villain,” as he writes, -“who manag’d the trial against his sacred Majesty,” until “I got a -passe from the rebell Bradshaw, then in great power;” and again, -when he went to Paris with only “an antiquated passe, it being so -difficult to procure one of the rebells without entering into oathes, -which I never would do,” and he had to bribe the officials at -Dover, he found “money to the searchers and officers was as -authentiq as the hand and seale of Bradshawe himselfe,” “where,” -he adds, “I had not so much as my trunk open’d.”</p> - -<p>The very rapidity with which Bradshaw had attained to power -made him a formidable competitor with, if not indeed a dangerous -rival to, the man in whose goodwill he had said it was his “desyred -contentment” “to be reteyned and preserved;” and there can be -little doubt that his boldness and unflinching adherence to the -principles he had espoused brought about his own undoing, for it -was not long before an incident occurred which for ever alienated -Cromwell’s friendship from him. The occasion was one memorable -in the annals of England—the dissolution of the Long Parliament, -on the 20th April, 1653. Finding the action of the “Rump,” as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -was called, inimical to his designs, Cromwell, who seems to have -begun to think that government by a single person was desirable, -went down to Westminster with a force of 300 men, broke up the -House, expelled the members, and, pointing to the mace, directed -Col. Worsley—Manchester’s first Parliamentary representative—to -“take away that bauble,” which having been done, he ordered the -doors to be locked, and then returned to his lodgings at Whitehall. -And so, without a struggle or a groan, unpitied and unregretted, -the Long Parliament, which for 12 years had under a variety of -forms alternately defended and invaded the liberties of the nation, -fell by the parricidal hands of its own children.</p> - -<p>Bradshaw, refusing to submit in silence to such a daring infringement -of the liberties of Parliament, resolved upon taking his place -as head of the Council of State the same afternoon, thinking, -probably, that his presence might deter Cromwell from committing -any further acts of violence; but the Lord General was not to be -so easily diverted from his purpose. Taking Lambert and Major-General -Harrison with him, he proceeded to the Council, and -expelled its members in the same abrupt and arbitrary manner that -he had dismissed the Commons. Addressing Bradshaw and those -assembled with him, he said,—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Gentlemen, if you are met here as private persons, you shall not be -disturbed; but if as a Council of State, this is no place for you; and, -since you cannot but know what was done at the House in the morning, so -take notice that the Parliament is dissolved.</p></blockquote> - -<p>To which Bradshaw replied,—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Sir, we have heard what you did at the House in the morning, and -before many hours all England will hear. But, sir, you are mistaken to -think that Parliament is dissolved, for no power under heaven can dissolve -them but themselves; therefore, take you notice of that.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The President’s spirited reply cost him Cromwell’s friendship, -who, though he continued to treat him with the outward manifestations -of respect, ever afterwards regarded him with feelings of -distrust. Exasperated though he was, Cromwell must have felt -the justice of the rebuke, for in a conference afterwards with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -brother-in-law, Desborough, he remarked that his work in clearing -the House was not complete until he had got rid of the Council of -State, which, he said, “I did in spite of the objection of honest -Bradshaw, the President.”</p> - -<p>The Republican leaders, indignant at the forcible expulsion -of the Rump Parliament, denounced it as an illegal act, which -undoubtedly it was, but Cromwell was not the man to be bound -by the ordinary laws of constitutional liberty. The miserable -remnant of the Parliament, it must be admitted, had become a -reproach; it had become supreme through similar unconstitutional -violence, and was itself violating its own contract in refusing to -vote its own dissolution. The spirit manifested by Bradshaw has -been likened to that of an ancient Roman; but whether in the -resistance he offered he was influenced by purely patriotic and -disinterested motives may be very well questioned, for it must not -be forgotten that he had looked with complacency on the illegal -and high-handed proceeding which had laid the Parliament at the -feet of the army, when that sharp medicine, “Pride’s Purge,” was -administered—an act of daring violence by virtue of which alone -he held his office and had acquired his wealth.</p> - -<p>Up to this time, as we have said, his career had been characterised -by uninterrupted success; but the uniform good luck which -had hitherto shown what daring could accomplish when upheld -by an intelligent head and dauntless heart, now forsook him. -Cromwell, who was aiming at arbitrary government in his -own person, could not, on finding his authority thus openly disputed -by the President of the Council, but have had misgivings -that the man who had sufficient resolution to pass sentence of -death upon the King might not be unwilling, should occasion -arise, to perform the same office upon himself. It became -necessary, therefore, for the accomplishment of his plans that -Bradshaw’s power should be abridged; and though Parliament, on -the 16th September, 1653, enacted that the continuance of the -palatinate power of Lancaster should be vested in him, and he was -also named one of the interim Council of State that was to meet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -relative to a settlement of the Government, he was no longer permitted -to occupy an office of actual power and authority.</p> - -<p>On the 16th December, 1653, Cromwell was inaugurated Lord -Protector of the Commonwealth. Bradshaw, who was a thorough -Republican, and who certainly had the courage of his convictions, -was equally opposed to unlimited power, whether exercised by the -King or by the Protector, at once set himself to counteract the -authority of his former patron. In the first Parliament of the -Protectorate he sat for his native county, but it was only for a very -brief period, for scarcely had the representatives of the people -assembled than they fell to questioning the Protector’s authority, -when Cromwell, after surrounding the House with his guards, -administered a corrective in the shape of a declaration promising -allegiance to himself, which he required every member to sign, -shortly after which he dismissed them unceremoniously to their -homes.</p> - -<p>For a year and nine months England was left without a Parliament, -the supreme power being exercised by the Protector, and -every one holding office was required to take out a commission -from him. This Bradshaw refused to do, alleging that he held his -office of Chief Justice of Chester by a grant from the Parliament -of England to continue <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">quamdiu se bene gesserint</i>, and should -therefore retain it, though willing to submit to a verdict of twelve -Englishmen as to whether he had carried himself with that integrity -which his commission exacted; and shortly after this protest he set -out on the circuit without any further attempt being made to hinder -him. His daring and firmness, as might be expected, widened the -breach and still further provoked the anger of Cromwell, who -wrote a letter to Major-General Bridge, at Middlewich, requesting -that he might be opposed by every means at the approaching -election at Chester. By some accident this letter fell into the -hands of Bradshaw’s friends, and was publicly read in the city. -In spite of this opposition he succeeded in securing his election, -but, there being a double return, neither representative took his -seat. The Protector had not only used his power against Bradshaw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -at Chester, but he also succeeded in preventing his election for -London, a position he had aspired to.</p> - -<p>Cromwell and his Independents had gone beyond the Puritan -Republicans, who, joining with the Anabaptists, Fifth Monarchy -men, and other fanatics, protested against any earthly sovereignty. -Plots for restoring the Commonwealth were rife, and there is good -reason to believe that in some of these Bradshaw was implicated; -certain it is that he was in correspondence with Okey and -Goodgroom, whom he assured that “the Long Parliament, though -under a force, was the supreme authority in England.”</p> - -<p>The feeling of jealousy and distrust entertained by Cromwell -and Bradshaw for each other, though not openly avowed, became -evident to all, and Whitelocke says that in November, 1657, “the -dislike between them was perceived to increase.” These mutual -jealousies were not, however, to be of long continuance, for in less -than a year the grave had closed over the object of Bradshaw’s -distrust. On the 3rd September, 1658, the anniversary of his -victories over the Scots at Dunbar, and the Royalists at Worcester—his -“Fortunate Day” as he was wont to call it, Cromwell -passed away, and his son and successor, even had he been so -disposed, was too weak to continue any very energetic resistance.</p> - -<p>On Richard Cromwell’s accession, a new Parliament was called, -when Bradshaw was again returned to the House of Commons for -Chester. Though he did not scruple to take the oath of fidelity to -the new Protector, he, nevertheless, entered into active co-operation -with Haslerig, Vane, and other Republicans, in their opposition to -the Government. This Parliament came to an end on the 22nd -April, 1659, the dissolution having been forced by the officers of -the army, and with it Richard Cromwell’s power and authority were -gone, and the Protectorate was at an end.</p> - -<p>It is about this time that we discover the first indications of -Bradshaw’s health failing him. At the Easter assizes, in 1659, he -was lying sick in London, and unable to attend the Welsh circuit; -and as Thomas Fell, who had been associated with him—the -Judge Fell, of Swarthmoor in Furness, whose widow George Fox,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -the founder of the Society of Friends, afterwards married—had -died in September of the previous year, John Ratcliffe, Recorder -of Chester, was appointed to act as his deputy <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">pro hac vice tantum</i>.</p> - -<p>That anomalous authority, the “Rump,” which the elder -Cromwell had so ignominiously expelled from the House of -Commons, was, on the 17th May, restored by the same power of -the army that, six years previously, it had been dismissed. Six -days after, a Council of State was appointed, in which Bradshaw -obtained a seat, and was elected president; and on the 3rd June -following he was named, with Serjeants Fountain and Tyrrel, a -Commissioner of the Great Seal. His health, however, had now -seriously given way, and as he had been for some months suffering -from “aguish dystemper,” he asked to be relieved of the duties of -the office. For the following copy of a letter written at this time, -while he was lying sick at Fonthill—one of the few of Bradshaw’s -which have escaped destruction—the author is indebted to the -courtesy of that industrious labourer in the field of literature, the -late Mr. John Timbs, F.S.A., by whom it was transcribed from the -original in the possession of Mr. F. Kyffin-Lenthall, a descendant -of “Speaker” Lenthall, to whom it was <span class="nowrap">addressed:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Honourable Sir,—I have, by Mr. Love, a member of this happie -P’liament, receyved the Howse’s pleasure touching myself in relation to -ye Great Seale, wherein, as I desire wth all humble thankfulnes to acknowledge -ye respect and favour done me in honouring me with such a trust, so -I should reckon it a great happiness if I were able immediately to answer -ye call and personallie attend ye service wch at present I am not, laboring -under an aguish dystemper of about 8 months’ continuance; for removing -whereof (after much Physicke in vaine) according to advyce on all hands, I -have betaken myself to the fresh ayre, and hope (though my fitts have not -yet left me) to receive benefit and advantage thereby. And for this I -humbly begge ye Parliamts leave and permission, if upon this just occasion -they shall not in their wysdome think fit otherwise to dyspence with me. -In ye meane time it hath been and is noe small addition to my other -afflictions that for want of health it hath not bene in my power according -to my Heart’s earnest desire to be serviceable in my poor measure to the -publiq. But by ye helpe of God when through his goodnes my strength -shal be restored (of wch I despayre not) I shal be most free and willing to -serve ye Parliment and Commonwealth in anie capacity and that through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -dyvine assistance wth all diligence, constancy and faithfulness, and to ye -utmost of my power.</p> - -<p>Sir, I judged it my dutie to give this account of myself to ye House, -and humbly desyre by your hand it may be tendered to them; for whom I -daylie praye that God would blesse all their counsels and consultations, -and succeede all their unwearyed endevors for ye happie setling and -establishment of this latelie languyshing and now revived Commonwealth -upon sure and lasting foundations.</p> - -<p> -<span class="in2left">Sir, I rest and am</span> -<span class="in6left">Your humble Servant</span> -<span class="smcap bright">Jo. Bradshawe</span>.<br /> -<br /> -(Fonthi) "ll in Wyltshire<br /> -... in 1659<br /> -... scentis Respublica, Primo.<br /> -(Read June 9, 1659)<br /> -<br /> -For the Right Honble William Lenthall, Speaker<br /> -<span class="in2left">of ye Parliament of the Commonwealth</span> -<span class="in6left">of England. These.</span> -</p> - -<p>Consider what it is we ask, and consider whether it be not the same -thing we have asserted with our lives and fortunes—<em>a Free Parliament</em>. -And what a slavery is it to our understandings, that these men that now -call themselves a Parliament, should declare it an act of illegality and -violence in the late aspiring General Cromwell to dissolve their body in -1653, and not make it the like in the garbling of the whole body of the -Parliament from four hundred to forty in 1648? What is this but to act -what they condemn in others? <em>A new free Parliament!</em> This is our cry.</p></blockquote> - -<p>On the 1st of August, Sir George Booth appeared in arms, and -in a few days was at the head of several thousand men. Through -the influence of Mr. Cook, a Presbyterian minister in Chester, he -and his troops gained admission to the city. Colonel Lambert, -with a well-disciplined force, was sent by the Parliament after them, -and an engagement took place at Winnington Bridge, near Northwich, -when Sir George and his army—which Adam Martindale -likened to “Mahomet’s Angellical Cockes, made up of fire and -snow”—were completely routed.</p> - -<p>On the return of the victorious army to London a schism broke -out between the officers and the Parliament, which was followed -by one of those outrages upon the liberties of the Parliament -with which the country had become only too painfully familiar. -Lambert and his troops surrounded the House, which Lenthall, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -Speaker, and the other members were prevented by the soldiery -from entering. Bradshaw felt the insult, and, anticipating that the -break-up of the House would be followed by the dissolution of the -Council of State, went the same day, ill as he was, to the meeting, -in the hope that he might serve the cause of the Republic, and -when Colonel Sydenham, the member for Dorsetshire, and one of -the Committee of Safety, in attempting to justify the arbitrary act -of the army by affirming, in the canting phraseology of the day, -that “a particular call of the Divine Providence” had necessitated -its having recourse to this last remedy, Bradshaw, says Ludlow, -“weak and attenuated as he was, yet animated by his ardent zeal -and constant affection to the common cause, stood up, and, -interrupting him, declared his abhorrence of that detestable -action, and told the Council that, being now going to his God, -he had not patience to sit there to hear His great name so openly -blasphemed.”</p> - -<p>This was his last public act—the last office he was permitted to -render to the Commonwealth he had so long served, as he said, -“with all diligence,” for he passed out of the world a few days -after, his death occurring on the 22nd November, 1659, in his -57th year. His remains were deposited with great pomp in the -Sanctuary of Kings, from which, however, they were soon to be -ignominiously ejected. His funeral sermon was preached by Mr. -Row, who took for his text Isaiah lvii., 1. His Republican -spirit animated him to the last, for Whitelocke says that, so little -did he repent of his conduct towards his Sovereign, that “he -declared a little before he left the world, that if the King were to -be tried and condemned again, he would be the first man that -should do it.”</p> - -<p>John Bradshaw married Mary, the daughter of Thomas Marbury, -of Marbury, Cheshire, by his first wife Eleanor, daughter of Peter -Warburton, of Arley, and he thus connected himself with some of -the best families in the county. This lady, who was some years -his senior, predeceased him without having borne any issue; and -when the President died he had not a child to continue his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -name or inherit the vast wealth he had accumulated. The closing -years of his life were for the most part spent at his pleasant retreat -at Walton-on-Thames, of which mention has already been made; -and there is very little doubt but that within the wainscotted rooms -of that quaint old mansion many and frequent were the consultations -touching the fate of England. A popular writer, who visited -the house some years ago, in describing it, says that an aged -woman, who then occupied a portion of the building, summed up -her account of it with the remark that “it was a great house once, -but full of wickedness; and no wonder the spirits of its inhabitants -troubled the earth to this day.” Though we are not of those -who “see visions and dream dreams,” and hold familiar converse -with visitants from the world of shadows, we may yet echo the -remark of the writer referred to: “It is trite enough to say what -tales these walls could tell, but it is impossible to look into them -without wishing ‘these walls had tongues.’”</p> - -<p>The character of Bradshaw has been variously estimated and -depicted in every hue, though it would seem to have been little -understood, for his admirers have refused to see any defects in -him, while those who abhor his principles have denounced him as -a “monster of men.” It does not come within our province to -offer any critical opinion on his life and actions—to pronounce -upon the purity of his motives or the sincerity of his doings. His -cousin Milton, who, however, can hardly be accepted as an -impartial witness, has written his eulogy in an eloquent passage -in the “Second Defence of the People of England;” and -Godwin, in his “History of the Commonwealth,” thus speaks of -<span class="nowrap">him:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>An individual who was rising into eminence at this time was John -Bradshaw, the kinsman of Milton. He was bred to the profession of the -law, and his eloquence is praised by Lilburn. Milton, who seems to have -known him thoroughly, speaks of him in the highest terms, as at once a -professed lawyer and an admirable speaker, an uncorrupt patriot, a man -of firm and entrepid cast of temper, a pleasant companion, most hospitable -to his friends, most generous to all who were in need, most -peaceable to such as repented of their errors.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<p>The same writer adds: “In December, 1644, he was appointed -high sheriff of his native county of Lancashire.” This last -statement is an error which has gained currency by frequent -repetition. Bradshaw was not a Lancashire man; and his namesake, -who held the shrievalty of that county by virtue of the -ordinance of the 10th February, 1644, when Parliament, exercising -the Royal functions, assumed the powers of the Duke of Lancaster, -and who, in contravention of the Act of 28 Edward III., retained -it for four successive years, was the head of the line of Bradshaw, -in the parish of Bolton, and, therefore, only remotely connected -with the Marple stock.</p> - -<p>After the Restoration both Houses of Parliament decreed (4th -December, 1660) that his body, with those of Cromwell and -Ireton, should be exhumed and drawn to the gallows at Tyburn, -and there hanged and buried beneath it. Evelyn, in his “Diary,” -thus describes the revolting spectacle he saw on the 30th January, -the anniversary of the King’s execution, and the “first solemn -fast and day of humiliation to deplore the sinns which so long had -provok’d God against His afflicted Church and people”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>This day (O the stupendous and inscrutable judgments of God!) were -the carcases of those arch rebells Cromwell, Bradshaw the Judge who condemned -his Majestie, and Ireton, sonn-in-law to the Usurper, dragg’d out -of their superb tombs in Westminster among the Kings, to Tyburne, and -hang’d on the gallows there from nine in the morning till six at night, and -then buried under that fatal and ignominious monument in a deepe pitt; -thousands of people who had seene them in all their pride being spectators. -Looke back at Nov. 22, 1658 (Cromwell’s funeral) and be astonish’d! and -feare God and honour the King; but meddle not with them who are given -to change.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It has been asserted, though without any apparent authority, -that Bradshaw was buried at Annapolis, in America, and Mr. St. -John says the following inscription was engraved on a cannon -placed at the head of his supposed <span class="nowrap">grave:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Stranger! ere thou pass, contemplate this cannon, nor regardless -behold that near its base lies deposited the dust of John Bradshaw, who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -nobly superior to selfish regards, despising alike the pageantry of courtly -splendour, the blast of calumny, and the terror of regal vengeance, presided -in the illustrious band of heroes and patriots who firmly and openly -adjudged Charles Stuart, tyrant of England, to a public and exemplary -death, thereby presenting to the amazed world, and transmitting down to -applauding ages, the most glorious example of unshaken virtue, love of -freedom, and impartial justice ever exhibited in the blood-stained theatre -of human action. Oh! reader, pass not on till thou hast blessed his -memory, and never, never forget that rebellion to tyrants is obedience to -God!</p></blockquote> - -<p>The heads of the three regicides were undoubtedly placed upon -Westminster Hall, and Bradshaw’s and Cromwell’s remained fixed -on the spikes in 1684, when Sir Thomas Armstrong’s<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> was placed -between them.</p> - -<p>Among the papers still preserved at Marple is the probate copy -of the President’s will, a lengthy abstract of which has been given -by Ormerod in his “History of Cheshire.” It bears date March -22, 1653, and there are two codicils appended, dated respectively -March 23, 1653, and September 10, 1655. By it he bequeaths to -his wife, Mary Bradshaw, all his manors, lands, and hereditaments -in Kent and Middlesex for her life, as jointure in lieu of dower; -and devises to her, and her executors in case of her decease, his -manors, &c., in Kent, for the term of five years, to commence -immediately after her decease, with liberty in her lifetime to dispark -the park at Somerhill, for her subsistence, and for making provision -for her kindred, “God not havinge vouchsafed me issue.” He -further devises his manors, &c., in the counties of Berks, Southampton, -Wilts, and Somerset, with his reversions in Middlesex, in -trust to his friend Peter Brereton, his nephew Peter Newton (the -son of his sister Dorothy), and his trustie servant, Thomas Parnell, -and their heirs, for the payment of his debts, &c., for the payment -of £100 per annum, for ten years after his decease, to his nephew -Henry Bradshaw, and £20 per annum to his cousin Katherine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -Leigh, for life, with further trust to pay £300 per annum to his -brother Henry Bradshaw, until the estates settled by the will -descend to him; and also to expend £700 in purchasing an -annuity for “manteyning a free schoole in Marple, in Cheshire; -£500 for increasing the wages of the master and usher of Bunbury -schoole; and £500 for amending the wages of the schoolmaster -and usher of Midleton schoole, in Lanc’r (in which twoe schooles -of Bunb’rie and Midleton I had part of my educac’on, and return -this as part of my thanfull acknowledgement for the same). These -two sums of £500 to be laid out in purchaseing annuities.” Then -follow a number of small bequests—an annuity of £40 for seven -years to Samuel Roe, his secretary, for maintaining him at Gray’s -Inn, and remunerating his assistance to his executors; £250 to -the poor of Fonthill, Stopp, Westminster, and Feltham; a bequest -of the impropriation of Feltham, for the use of a proper minister -to be established there; an annuity of £20 for providing a -minister at Hatch, in Wiltshire, charged on his estate there; -legacies to his chaplain, Mr. Parr, Mr. Strong, the preacher at the -Abbey, and Mr. Clyve, a Scottish minister; his houses and lodgings -at Westminster to the governors of the almshouses and school -there; and the residue of the estate to his brother Henry, -excepting £100 to his niece Meverell and her sister of the whole -blood. The first codicil directs his executors to sell the Hampshire -estates and to fell timber not exceeding the value of £2,000 -on his estates in the county of Kent for payment of his debts; -and the sum of £50 “to my cozen Kath. Leigh who now liveth -with me;” and he further bequeaths all his law books, and such -divinity, history, and other books as his wife shall judge fit, “to his -nephew Harrie Bradshawe.” It may be mentioned that the library -thus bequeathed remained at Marple until the close of the last -century, when, after having been augmented by later generations -of the family, it was sold to Mr. Edwards, of Halifax. Subsequently -it was offered for sale by Messrs. Edwards, of Pall Mall, -being then catalogued with the library of Mr. N. Wilson, of -Pontefract, and those of two deceased antiquaries, the entire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -collection, according to a writer in the <cite>Gentleman’s Magazine</cite> (v. -lxxxvi., part <span class="smcap">1</span>), being more splendid and truly valuable than any -which had been previously presented to the curious, and such -as “astonished not only the opulent purchasers, but the most -experienced and intelligent booksellers of the metropolis.” The -second codicil gives to his wife’s assignees seven years’ interest in -his Kentish estates after her death, confirms her right to dispark -Somerhill, dispose of the deer, and convert the same to the uses -of husbandry. It further confirms the Middlesex estates to her for -life, and gives her his house at Westminster, held on lease from the -governors of the school there, and directs that £1,000 due from -the State on account of his office of Chancellor of the Duchy of -Lancaster, and Chief Justice of Chester, Flint, Denbigh, and -Montgomery, be applied to discharge his debts. It annuls -several legacies, and bequeaths others, among them one of £10 -to John Milton; appoints a legacy of £5 each to all his servants -living at the time of his decease; and makes several additional -legal provisions. The will was proved in London, December 16, -1659, by Henry Bradshaw, the nephew—Mary Bradshaw, the late -wife and sole executrix of the testator, being then dead, and Henry -Bradshaw, the brother, having renounced execution.</p> - -<p>The will is interesting, as showing the extent to which the Lord -President had contrived to enrich himself out of the sequestrated -estates of obnoxious Royalists during the period of the usurpation. -Shortly before the Restoration his nephew Henry was ejected -from Fonthill by the heir of Lord Cottington, who recovered -possession of his ancestral home; and though he managed to -secure a large proportion of the property bequeathed by the will, -the benevolent intentions of the testator were in a great measure -frustrated by the changes made in the disposition of the estate -after the return of Charles II. through the operation of the Act of -Confiscation.</p> - -<p>Bradshaw makes allusion in his will to the fact that “God had -not vouchsafed him issue.” Though no children were born to him -by his wife, he is said to have had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> “an illegitimate son, whose last -descendant, Sarah Bradshaw, married, in 1757, Sir Henry -Cavendish, ancestor of Lord Waterpark.” In the absence, however, -of any substantial evidence, the accuracy of this statement -may well be questioned, for we can hardly suppose the testator -would have bequeathed so large a property to his nephew, and -have made no provision for his own offspring, while permitting -him to bear and perpetuate his name. Though the bar sinister -was the reverse of an honourable augmentation, the stigma of -illegitimacy did not attach so much in those days as now. Sir -Henry Cavendish, the ancestor of Lord Waterpark, who was himself -descended from an illegitimate son of Henry, the eldest son of -Sir William Cavendish, of Chatsworth, by his third wife, the -renowned “Bess of Hardwick,” married, August 5, 1757, Sarah -(or, according to some authorities, Mary) only child and heiress -of Richard Bradshaw, who, during her husband’s lifetime, was, in -her own right, created (15th June, 1792) Baroness Waterpark, of -Waterpark, in Ireland; and the supposition that John Bradshaw -left an illegitimate son seems to rest upon the statement made by -Playfair, in his “British Family Antiquities,” and reiterated by -Burke, and still more recently in the “Peerage” of Forster, that -this lady was “lineally descended from the Lord President -Bradshaw.”</p> - -<p>Another member of the family employed in the public service -during the Commonwealth period was Richard Bradshaw. His -name does not appear in any of the pedigrees of the Marple line, -nor has his identity been established, though it is very probable he -was a nephew of the Lord President’s, and he was certainly present -as one of the mourners at his funeral. He held the office for -some time of Receiver of the Crown Revenues in Cheshire and -North Wales, and was subsequently appointed to the post of English -Resident at Hamburg, whence he was transferred to Russia, and -other of the northern Courts. A great number of his letters are -given in Thurloe’s “State Papers,” and they are especially -interesting as showing the care taken to watch the movements of -Charles II., and the actions of the European Powers likely to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -render him assistance in any attempt to recover the throne. In -one of these letters addressed on his return to England to Secretary -Thurloe, and dated from Axeyard, 1st November, 1658, requesting -that the sum of £2,188 0s. 9d. then due to him from the Government -might be paid, some curious circumstances are related in -connection with his previous official life. He <span class="nowrap">says:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I am necessitated to acquaint your lordship, that in the yeare 1648, I -beinge then receiver of the crowne-revenue in North-wales and Cheshire -for the state, and cominge to London to passe accomts, and pay in some -money to Mr. Fauconberg the receiver generall, my lodgings in Kinge -Street, Westminster, was broake into by theeves the very same day the -apprentises riss in London and came down to Whitehall; and £430 was -taken fourthe of a trunke in the chamber where I lay. Though it was a -tyme of great distraction, yet I used such meanes with the warrants and -assistants of Mr. Fauconbridge, as that I found out and apprehended the -fellows the next day, in which the messenger, Captain Compton, was -assistinge to me, whoe were tryed and condemned at the sessions in the -Old Bailey as Compton very well knowes, being the sonnes of persons of -note in Covent Garden. The prosecution of them cost me above £100, -besides the greatest trouble that ever I had in my life aboute any businesse. -But before my accompte could be declared by the commissioners for the -revenue, whereon I expected allowance for that money, I was commanded -to Hamburg; and now being to settle these accompts in the exchequer, to -have out my ultimate discharge thence, I am told that it is not in the -power of the lords commissioners for the treasury to give allowance thereof -in the way of the exchequer, without a privy seale to pardon that sume. -Therefore I humbly request that the £430 so taken may be included in the -privy seal with the £3,461 5s. 10d., and then the whole will be £3,891 5s. 10d., -which, if your lordship be satisfied with the accompts, I pray that Mr. -Milbey or Mr. Moreland may have your lordship’s order to make ready for -the seale.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The riot referred to was no doubt that of the 9th of April, when, -in disregard of the strict Puritan orders in relation to religious -observances, the apprentices were found playing at bowls in Moorfields -during church time. They were ordered by the militia guard -to disperse, but refused, fought the guard, and held their ground. -Being soon after routed by cavalry, they raised the cry of “clubs,” -when they were joined by the watermen. The fight lasted through -the night, and in the morning they had got possession of Ludgate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -and Newgate, and had stretched chains across all the great -thoroughfares, their cry being “God and King Charles.” The -tumult lasted for forty hours, and was not put an end to until they -were ridden down by a body of cavalry from Westminster.</p> - -<p>In his petition to the Council of State, praying to be paid the -full sum of £2,188 11s. 4d., Richard Bradshaw states that he had -“suffered the loss of £5,000 in the late wars of this nation, without -any reparation for the same, and for above seventeen years freely -exposed his life at home and abroad in the service of the State; -that the same was disbursed out of his affection to his country, -whilst he resided as public minister in foreign parts, and, if not -paid, he should be now, at his return, rent from his small -estate, it being more than he hath got in the service of the -Commonwealth.”</p> - -<p>On the 9th March, 1659–60, the Council directed the amount to -be paid, and on the 12th his accounts were ordered for that purpose -to be laid before Parliament. It does not appear, however, -to have been received, for on the 23rd and 31st he is again found -petitioning Thurloe on the matter, and in the changes that were -then taking place it is doubtful if he ever got anything. Whether, -as he feared, he was “rent from his small estate” or not is not -recorded, but it is evident that in a pecuniary sense he was not so -successful as his kinsman, the Lord President; yet he was a man of -much energy and ability, and his letters give an interesting account -of the political affairs of foreign Courts at the time. He appears to -have been continually short of money through the Government -remaining indebted to him, and this fact rather suggests the idea -that Cromwell, who had already broken with John Bradshaw, -desired to hold him as a kind of hostage, and keep him wherever -he chose to place him.</p> - -<p>With a portion of the wealth acquired under John Bradshaw’s -will, Henry, his nephew, in 1693, purchased Bradshaw Hall, in -Lancashire, which, as previously stated, had for many generations -been the residence of another branch of the family, that had -then become extinct in the male line. It is a singular fact that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -within a comparatively short period, nearly all, if not all, the -branches of the Bradshaw family became extinct in the male line—the -Bradshaws of Haigh, of Bradshaw, and of Aspull, in Lancashire; -of Bradshaw Edge, and of Barton, in Derbyshire; and -finally, as we shall see, of Marple, in Cheshire, the latter by the -death of the Lord President’s grand-nephew in 1743.</p> - -<p>The subsequent history of the Bradshaws is soon told. -Henry, who inherited the patrimonial estates as well as the -bulk of his uncle’s property, married Elizabeth (erroneously -called Magdalene in Ormerod’s, Forster’s, and Burke’s pedigrees), -one of the daughters and co-heirs of Thomas Barcroft, -by whom, on the death of her father in 1688, he acquired -the demesne of Barcroft, in Whalley parish, Lancashire, with -the hall, an ancient mansion dating from the time of Henry -VIII. This Henry made considerable additions to Marple, -and erected a great portion of the outbuildings, as evidenced -by the frequent repetitions of his and his wife’s initials</p> - -<p class="center"> B<br /> - H E<br /> - 1669 -</p> - -<p>upon the hall and the stables. By his marriage he had three -sons, Henry, High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1701, who had to -wife Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Legh, of the East Hall, -in High Legh, and died in 1724, without issue; Thomas, -who died unmarried in 1743; and John, who predeceased -his brother, being also issueless; the estates, on the death of -Thomas, devolving upon the only daughter, Mary, who married -William Pimlot, and by him had two sons, the eldest of whom, -John, succeeded to the estates under a settlement made by his -uncle, Thomas Bradshaw, and had issue a daughter and only -child, Elizabeth, married to Lindon Evelyn, of Keynsham Court, -county Hereford, Esq., M.P. for Dundalk, whose only daughter -and heir, Elizabeth, married, December 29th, 1838, Randall -Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, elder brother of the present -holder of that title.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mary Pimlot, surviving her husband, again entered the marriage -state, her second husband being Nathaniel Isherwood, of Bolton, -by whom she had two sons, Nathaniel, who, under his uncle’s -settlement, succeeded as heir to the Marple and Bradshaw estates -on the death of John Pimlot. He married Elizabeth, daughter -and heiress of Henry Brabin, of Brabin’s Hall, in Marple, but -died without issue in 1765, when the property passed to his -younger brother, Thomas Isherwood, who married Elizabeth, -daughter of Thomas Attercroft, of Gillibrand House, near Blackburn, -and by her had a son, who died in infancy, and six -daughters. She predeceased her husband; when he married for -his second wife Mary, daughter and heir of Thomas Orrell, of -Saltersley, in Cheshire. This lady, who died 18th May, 1797, -bore him four sons and five daughters. Thomas Bradshaw-Isherwood, -the eldest son, succeeded, but died unmarried 5th -January, 1791, when the estates passed to Henry Bradshaw-Isherwood, -the second son, who also died unmarried January 26, -1801, the Marple and Bradshaw properties then devolving upon -his younger brother, John Bradshaw-Isherwood, born 19th June, -1776, who married, at Bolton, October 19, 1812, Elizabeth, eldest -daughter and co-heir of the Rev. Thomas Bancroft, M.A., vicar of -Bolton. In 1815 he filled the office of Sheriff of Cheshire, and by -his wife, who survived him and died 1st April, 1856, he left, in -addition to six daughters, a son, Thomas Bradshaw-Isherwood, -Esq., the present owner of Marple and Bradshaw, born 10th -February, 1820. Mr. Bradshaw-Isherwood, who is a J.P. and D.L. -for Cheshire, married 22nd July, 1840, Mary Ellen, eldest surviving -daughter of the late Rev. Henry Bellairs, M.A., rector of Bedworth, -in Warwickshire, and Hon. Canon of Worcester, one of -the heroes of Trafalgar, by his wife Dorothy Parker, daughter and -co-heir (with Mary, first wife of John, Earl of Strafford, distinguished -for his brilliant services in the battles of the Peninsula -and at Waterloo, and Sarah, wife of Captain Carmichael) of Peter -Mackenzie, of Grove House, Middlesex, descended from the -Mackenzies, barons of Kintail. The issue of this marriage is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -two sons, John Henry Bradshaw-Isherwood, born 27th August, -1841, who married, in 1864, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Luce, -Esq., formerly member for Malmesbury, and Arthur Salusbury -Bradshaw-Isherwood, born 21st May, 1843.</p> - -<p>We have said sufficient to establish the claim of Marple to rank -among the most interesting of the historic homes of the Palatinate. -The building, which is a good example of the early Jacobean -period, with considerable additions of late seventeenth century -work, has undergone comparatively few changes, having happily -escaped those coarse assaults to which so many of our old -mansions have been subjected by modern renovators. So little -is it altered that it would require no great effort of the imagination -to picture the momentous conferences of the chiefs of Cheshire -Nonconformity that were held within its walls, or to re-people its -sombre apartments with the buff-jerkined, jack-booted, and heavily-accoutred -troopers who followed Henry Bradshaw to the field; -indeed, we might almost fancy that the very chairs and tables have -remained undisturbed during the whole two centuries and more -that have elapsed since those eventful days. Of modern furniture -there is comparatively little, almost everything the house contains -being of an age gone by, and in keeping with its ancient character.</p> - -<p>As anything like a detailed description of the interior is beyond -the purpose and the limits of this sketch, we shall content ourselves -with pointing out the principal apartments and some of the more -notable objects they contain. The principal front is on the south -side, from which a porch, supported by stone columns, forming the -central projection from the house, gives admission to the entrance -hall, an apartment 40 feet long and 20 feet wide, lighted at each -end by long low mullioned windows. The floor is laid with -alternate squares of white stone and black marble, and the ceiling, -which is flat, is crossed by massive oaken beams. The want of -elevation gives a somewhat gloomy and depressing effect, and this -is heightened by the coloured glass in the windows, which further -subdues the light. The furniture is of black oak, bright with the -rubbings of many generations; and against the walls are disposed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -suits of mail, morions, corslets, and implements of war that -have no doubt done duty in many a well-fought field. On the -left of the entrance, leading from the hall, is the library, twenty -feet square, lighted on the south side by a mullioned window, -filled with stained glass, and having the armorial ensigns of the -Bradshaws and their alliances carved upon the wainscot. On -the same floor, and adjoining the library, is the dining-room, -a spacious apartment, thirty feet by twenty feet, with an oriel -window at the north end, commanding an extensive view of the -valley of the Goyt and the surrounding country. The walls of this -room are hung with portraits, and include several that are said to -have been brought from Harden Hall, and to have once belonged -to the Alvanley family. Among them is one of Queen Elizabeth, -and others representing the Earls of Essex and Leicester, Lord -Keeper Coventry, Sir Roger Ascham, and General Monk; there is -also a portrait of one of the Dones of Utkinton, hereditary chief -foresters of Delamere, and of his wife, who stands by his side. -Close by the door, on the right of the entrance hall, is a broad -oaken staircase, with decorated balustrades, leading to the upper -chambers. The walls are hung with portraits, views, &c., and in -one corner we noticed an antique spinning-wheel, the property -apparently of some former spinster of the house. The first -chamber we enter is a small ante-room, wainscotted, with a fireplace -composed of ancient Dutch tiles, above which is a shield, -with the arms of the Bradshaws carved in relief, with the date -1665. A flight of circular steps leads from this chamber to the -drawing-room, which is immediately over the dining-room, and -corresponding with it in dimensions. The walls of this apartment -are hung with tapestry of Gobelins manufacture, the subjects -being Diana and her Nymphs, and Time and Pleasure. On the -same floor is another chamber, now occupied as a bedroom, which -is interesting from the circumstance that the black and white -timber gable, the only fragment apparently of the original structure -remaining, is exposed to view, showing where the projecting bay -has been added when the house was enlarged by Henry Bradshaw,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -the Lord President’s nephew, shortly after the Restoration. -Opposite the wainscotted ante-room before referred to is a small -tapestried bed-chamber, where tradition says the Lord President -first saw the light; and here is the very bed on which, according -to the same reputable authority, he slept—an antiquated four-poster, -very substantial and very elaborately ornamented, with a -cornice round the top, with the following admonitory sentences,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> -in raised capitals, carved on three sides of it, though it is to be -feared the Lord President did not study them with much -<span class="nowrap">advantage:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse"><span class="smcap f90">He that is unmerciful, mercy shall miss;</span></div> -<div class="verse"><span class="smcap f90">But he shall have mercy that merciful is.</span></div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And on the <span class="nowrap">inside:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10"><span class="smcap f90">Love God and not gold,</span></div> -<div class="verse"><span class="smcap f90">Sleep not until U consider how U have spent the time;</span></div> -<div class="vi4"><span class="smcap f90">If well, thank God; if not, repent.</span></div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>There were formerly in this room, and may be now, a helmet, -breastplate, and pair of spurs that were supposed to have belonged -to John Bradshaw, but which are more likely to have been worn -by his elder brother Henry, the Parliamentarian soldier. On the -window of the same chamber is inscribed the well-known prophetic -lines that John is said to have written when a lad -attending the Macclesfield Grammar School. On the right of -the entrance hall are two small chambers, of comparatively -little interest; and adjoining them is the servants’ hall, the most -noticeable feature in which is a moulding in stucco, and here also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -is repeated the family arms—argent, two bendlets sable, between -as many martlets of the second; with the crest, a stag at gaze -under a vine tree fructed ppr., and the motto, “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Bona Benemerenti -Benedictio</i>.” A passage in the rear of the house communicates -with a door on the north or terrace front, on the lintel of which is -carved the date 1658. The outbuildings are extensive. They are -partly of stone and partly of brick, and with their quaint gables, -pinnacles, and clock tower form a very picturesque grouping. -They are commonly supposed to have been erected by “Colonel” -Henry Bradshaw, for the accommodation of his Roundhead -troopers; but the idea is dispelled by the initials</p> - -<p class="center"> B<br /> - H E -</p> - -<p>and the date, 1669, which may still be discerned—an evidence -that they were erected in more peaceable times by Henry, the -Colonel’s son and successor, who, as we have seen, married -Elizabeth Barcroft, and became heir to much of his uncle’s -wealth. Altogether, the old place is a deeply-interesting memorial -of times now happily gone by. Its history is especially -instructive, and it is impossible to wander through its antiquated -chambers without recalling some of the momentous scenes and -incidents in the country’s annals. Happily, evil hands have not -fallen upon it. It is preserved with jealous care; and from the -few changes it has undergone we gather the idea—always a -pleasant one—that here antiquity is reverenced for its worth.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<img src="images/i_099.jpg" width="200" height="69" alt="graphic" /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_100.jpg" width="600" height="105" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> - -<span class="f75">OVER SANDS BY THE CARTMEL SHORE—WRAYSHOLME TOWER—THE -LEGEND OF THE LAST WOLF.</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_100a.jpg" width="75" height="194" alt="I" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-capi"><span class="smcap">In</span> that sequestered tract of country that stretches away -from the mountain to the main—from the mouth of -the Kent to where the Duddon flows down to join the -sea, and extending from the majestic barrier of the -Lake country to the silvery shores of Morecambe -Bay—the wide estuary that divides the Hundred of -Lonsdale and separates the districts of Cartmel and Furness from -the other parts of Lancashire—there is a wealth of natural beauty -and many an interesting nook undreamt of by the ordinary tourist, -who, following in the steps of imitative sight-seers, rushes along the -great iron highway to the North, forgetting that the fairest spots in -the world are reserved for those who have the wisdom to seek out -and earn their pleasures for themselves. In that pleasant corner of -Lancashire, mountain and valley, moor and fell, blend together in -happy relationship, presenting a panorama of swelling hills, wood-clad -knolls, and quiet secluded hamlets within the bright setting of -the shimmering sea. It is, as poor John Critchley Prince was wont -to <span class="nowrap">sing:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A realm of mountain, forest-haunt, and fell,</div> -<div class="vi4">And fertile valleys beautifully lone,</div> -<div class="verse">Where fresh and far romantic waters roam,</div> -<div class="verse">Singing a song of peace by many a cottage home.</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> -<p>And <span class="nowrap">where—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Only the sound of the distant sea,</div> -<div class="verse">As a far-off voice in a dream may be,</div> -<div class="verse">Mingles its tale with the woodland tones,</div> -<div class="verse">As the sea waves wash o’er the tidal stones.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<a name="GFC" id="GFC"></a><img src="images/i_101.jpg" width="600" height="359" alt="George Fox’s Chapel, Swarthmoor" /> -</div> - -<p>But it is not for the lover of the picturesque alone that the district -offers more than ordinary attractions. There are few localities so -rich in records of the past, or surrounded by so many traditional -associations. In addition to the magnificent ruins of Furness, there -is the scarcely less interesting pile of Cartmel, one of the few priory -churches that England now possesses, and which only escaped -destruction in the stormy times of the Reformation by the -inhabitants literally buying off the King’s Commissioners. On -Swarthmoor, “the German baron, bold Martin Swart,” mustered -“his merry men” when Lambert Simnel, the pretender to the -Crown, landed at Piel, in 1486, an escapade in which we fear -“Our Lady of Furness” was not altogether free from implication. -Here, too, is Swarthmoor Hall, once the home of Judge Fell; and -close by is the modest Quakers’ Chapel, the first built by George -Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends. Holker Hall has -been for a century and more the home of the Cavendishes, as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -was previously of the Lowthers and the Prestons. The little -hamlet of Lindale has been made the scene of one of the most -charming of Mrs. Gaskell’s stories, and almost within bow-shot is -Buck Crag, sheltering beneath which is the humble dwelling that -for many a long year was the abode of Edmund Law, the curate -and schoolmaster of Staveley, the spot where the younger Edmund -Law, Bishop of Carlisle, and father of Lord Ellenborough, first saw -the light.</p> - -<p>Before the enterprise and skill of Brogden and Brunlees had -bridged the estuaries of the Kent and the Leven, and carried the -railway from Carnforth to Ulverston, the journey to Whitehaven -and the western lakes had to be made across the broad expanse of -sand left by each receding tide, and a perilous journey it was. In -bygone days the monks of Cartmel maintained a guide, paid him -out of “Peter’s Pence,” and, in addition, gave him the benefit of -their prayers, which in truth he often needed; and when their -house was dissolved, “Bluff King Hal” charged the expenses of -the office upon the revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster, so that -the “Carter,” as he is now called, is an old-established institution. -There is no beaten pathway “Over Sands,” for every tide removes -the traces of those who have gone before, and the channels are so -constantly shifting that what yesterday might be firm and solid to -the tread, to-day may be only soft and treacherous pulp. The -locality has been oftentimes the scene of mourning and sorrow, -and many are the tales that are told of the “hair-breadth ’scapes” -of those who have been overtaken by the “cruel crawling tide” -while journeying over the perilous waste. The old adage tells us -that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">The Kent and the Keer</div> -<div class="verse">Have parted many a good man and his meear (mare).</div> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_103.jpg" width="600" height="403" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">GRANGE-OVER-SANDS.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a></span></p> - -<p>And the registers of Cartmel bear testimony to the fact that, of -those who now sleep peacefully in its “God’s Acre,” a hundred -and twenty or more have met their fate while crossing the shifty -channels of this treacherous shore. The poet Gray, writing in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -1767 to Dr. Wharton, relates a pathetic story of a family who were -overtaken by a mist when half way across and lost their way; and -Edwin Waugh, in his pleasant, gossiping way, tells how an ancient -mariner, when asked if the guides were ever lost on the sands, -answered with grim <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">naïveté</i>: “I never knew any lost. There’s one -or two drowned now and then, but they’re generally found somewhere -i’th bed when th’ tide goes out.” When the subjects of the -Cæsars had established themselves here, the old Roman General -Agricola made a journey “Over Sands,” and the difficulties he -encountered are related by Tacitus the historian. Mrs. Hemans -braved the dangers, for in one of her letters she says: “I must not -omit to tell you that Mr. Wordsworth not only admired our exploit -in crossing the Ulverston Sands as a deed of ‘derring do,’ but as a -decided proof of taste. The Lake scenery, he says, is never seen -to such advantage as after the passage of what he calls its ‘majestic -barrier.’” In the old coaching days the journey began at Hest -Bank, about three miles from Lancaster, where the guide was -usually in waiting to conduct the travellers across, when a mixed -cavalcade of horsemen, pedestrians, and vehicles of various kinds -was formed, which, following the coach, and headed by the browned -and weather-beaten “Carter,” slowly traversed the trackless waste, -the incongruous grouping suggesting the idea of an Eastern caravan -on its passage across the desert. If nothing else, the journey had -the charm of novelty and adventure, which in some degree compensated -for the hazard incurred; and the scenes of danger and -disaster witnessed have furnished the theme for more than one -exciting story, as “Carlyon’s Year” and the “Sexton’s Hero” bear -witness. But the romance of the sands is fast passing away. The -guides have now comparatively little to do, the perilous path is -traversed less and less frequently every year, so that ere long we -shall probably only hear of it as a traditional feature of the times -when the name of Stephenson was unknown and railways were -only in the womb of time.</p> - -<p>On the western side of the Milnthorpe Sands, nestling at the -foot of the green slopes of Yewbarrow, with its whitened dwellings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -peeping from their garniture of leaves, and its rock-strewn beach -lipped by the capricious sea, is the slowly-rising village of Grange, -with its sands and its sea, its pleasant walks and cheerful drives, -all sheltered from the north winds by the great Cartmel fells -clustering at its back. A place that lures you by the peaceful -quietude that prevails, for here Ethiopian serenaders and blind -bag-pipers are unknown, and youthful lazzaroni with white mice -and pink-eyed guinea pigs are beings the people wot not of. It is -not “dressy,” nor is it fashionable in the sense that Scarborough -is, so that you can take your ease in your inn without risk of being -chilled by the freezing presence of Lord Shingleton or my Lady -Marina. The wandering creature who calls himself a tourist, -and is always in search of some new sensation, passes it by as -slow and unexciting, and the herd of holiday-makers who delight -to perform aquatic <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">poses plastiques</i> once a year prefer to do so in -such over-crammed places as Southport, or that marine Babylon—Blackpool. -Nevertheless, it is a pleasant place to stay at when -you have nothing to do, and all the day to do it in; a retreat -where you can shake off those fancies associated with everyday -life that cloud the brow and spoil the digestion, and get rid -of that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Army of phantoms vast and wan</div> -<div class="verse">That beleaguer the human soul.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>But our present purpose is not to write a description of Grange, -for though it is a pleasant place to stay at it is also a pleasant -place to go away from—a convenient spot from whence little -excursions can be made to neighbouring places of interest and -attraction, and this time it is Wraysholme Tower, the ruined home -of the once powerful Harringtons, and the rocky promontory of -Humphrey Head, where tradition says the last wolf “in England’s -spacious realm” was hunted down, that attracts our wandering -steps.</p> - -<p>As we slowly wend our way towards the upper end of the village, -pausing now and then to gaze across the broad expanse of Morecambe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -Bay to the wooded shores on the Lancaster side, and the -great fells that stretch away in rear to join the pale blue hills of -Yorkshire, we get sight of an antiquated building with mullioned -windows, now half buried in the ground, which in former times -served as a granary for the storage of the rich harvests gathered by -the fraternity of Cartmel, and hence the name of “Grange” -which has been given to the place. At an angle of the road, near -the higher end, is the church, erected some twenty years ago -through the persevering efforts of a lady resident. Keeping along -the level way, we come presently to a cross-road, and, turning -sharply to the left, pass the farmhouse where, for generations, the -“Carters” have resided. A few minutes’ walk along the railway -line brings us to a pleasant indentation in the shore, where Kent’s -Bank, a tiny watering place, with a trim hotel and cosy-looking -villas, bright with flowers and creeping plants, is striving to rival -its more famous neighbour. In a green nook by the sea is a -pleasant mansion that occupies the site of a more ancient structure, -Abbot Hall, once the abode, as tradition affirms, of the abbots of -Cartmel, but, as there were no “abbots” of that house, it is more -likely to have belonged to the fraternity of Furness, who, as we -know, had lands here granted to them as far back as 1135. Mr. -Stockdale, in his <cite>Annales Caermoelensis</cite>, suggests that it was built -for the convenience of the abbot when journeying from Furness to -his possessions in Yorkshire. He <span class="nowrap">says:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>No doubt the puisne monarch (the abbot) and his cavalcade would -travel, in making these journeys, in a stately, lordly, and ostentatious way, -and would pass along the narrow tracks from the (Furness) Abbey to the -Red Lane end, at Conishead Bank, with more or less difficulty, and then, -entering upon the sea sands, would, in a short time, reach “the Chapel -Island,” where, in the little homely chapel, prayers would be earnestly -offered up for the safe passage of the remainder of the dangerous, though -much the smaller, Morecambe estuary. This needful duty having been -performed, the long cavalcade would slowly wend its way over the creeks, -gullies, and quicksands, till the opposite bank of the estuary was gained, -and then by the old Roman road called now the Back Lane, to the town of -Flookborough, and from thence to Allithwaite, and by the very old road -up and over the precipitous hill to the abbot’s own comfortable and well-sheltered -residence, Abbot Hall.... As there has always been a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -tradition that there was a chapel near Kirkhead and Abbot Hall—some -remains of which, even graves, it is said, existed in the last century—there -can but be little doubt that the abbot and his numerous suite would, after -their night’s rest at Abbot Hall, resort to this chapel and again pray for a -safe passage over the wild and dangerous Lancaster estuary, eight or nine -miles in width, not passed at this day, even in the presence of a guide, with -entire safety.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p></blockquote> - -<p>A pleasant rural lane leads up from the station at Kent’s Bank -to Allithwaite, a little straggling village, the inhabitants of which -contrive to earn a scanty livelihood by fishing and “cockling” -upon the sands. Steep banks rise on each side, festooned with -plumy ferns and wild flowers, crested with spiked thorn-bushes, -scrubby hazels, and spreading ash-trees, that wave their shadowy -branches overhead. The honeysuckle spreads its delicious perfume -around, and as we saunter leisurely along the sunlight glints -through the leafy openings, shooting down long arrowy rays, that -here brighten with golden touches the gnarled and knotted stem of -a sturdy oak, and there light up a churlish bramble, like a woman’s -radiant smile reflecting its cheeriness upon some worthless Caliban. -On the left is Kirkhead, a lofty knoll, crowned with a prospect -tower—Barrow’s summer-house, as it is called—from the summit -of which there is a view that well repays the labour of ascent. -Wraysholme’s ruined tower, whither we are wending our way, is -but a short mile distant, and as we have a long summer -afternoon before us, we may wander at our will. Having -mounted the breezy hill, we lie down on a cushion of soft grass -at the foot of the building to gaze upon the scene, listening -the while to the wild bird’s song and the hoarse melody of the -fitful sea.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<p>The wide expanse of Morecambe Bay lies before us like an -out-stretched panorama, in which every jutting headland, every -indentation, and every crease in the green hills can be distinctly -traced. Far below us a long stretch of shore runs out; an old -boat lies upon its side, chained to a miniature anchor; children -are disporting themselves round it, and a few bare-legged fishermen -are busy arranging their long nets, for the tide is not yet in, though -we can see where the crafty silent sea comes stealing up from the -south, each delicate wavelet, as it breaks upon the yellow sand in -a white line of surge, creeping nearer and nearer to the beach. -The softest of summer breezes plays upon the water, breaking it -into innumerable ripples that dance and glitter in the mellow light. -Here and there a few cloud shadows fleck the surface. A soft -summer haze, like an ocean of white mist, hangs in mid distance, -and where it lifts, shows little patches of the blue of heaven -beyond. A broad streak of light marks the line of the horizon -where sea and sky blend together. A solitary white sail glints in -the blaze of sunlight, one or two fishing boats with red-brown sails -spot the sea with colour, and far away a long line of black smoke -shows where a steamer is rapidly ploughing its way towards the -Irish coast. Sheltering in quiet beauty in the little cove below is -Kent’s Bank, its buildings, dwarfed by the intervening space, -looking like a group of children’s toys. Grange is hidden behind -the projecting ridge of rock; but Holme Island, with its pretty -little marine temple, stands well out from the shore, like an -emerald gem in the flashing waters. Sheltering it from the northern -blasts, a range of rugged limestone rocks, all channelled and -weather-worn, and fringed with over-lapping trees, is seen; and -there, where a few puffs of white smoke gleam brightly against the -deep blue of space, a train is bearing its living freight across the -broad Milnthorpe Sands. Arnside Knott, with its shady background -of wood, thrusts up its huge form as a foil to quiet -Silverdale, reposing by its side; then, sweeping round in an -irregular circle towards the east, we have an ever-varying shore and -an amphitheatre of intersecting hills, now dark with shadow and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -now gay with the tints of the many-hued vegetation, with Ingleborough -and the great Dent Fells far, far beyond, yet, in the pure -atmosphere, seeming so near and so clear that we may almost -fancy we can see the purple heather blooming upon their sides. -Further south, bathed in a flood of sunshine, the battlemented keep -of Lancaster Castle comes full in sight, with its frowning gate-tower, -through which many an ill-starred wretch has doubtless -trembled as he passed, and where, upon its threshold, may be said -yet to linger the solemn footprints of mingled innocence and guilt—a -stony relic that calls to remembrance “Old John o’ Gaunt, -time-honoured Lancaster,” and turns back the pages of the -Book of Time to the turbulent days which witnessed the fierce -forays of the Northern hordes and the still fiercer struggles of -the rival Roses; and beyond the Castle, the green knolls rising -above the water-line in the direction of Heysham and Sunderland—Cape -Famine, as the people call it—looking like so many -islands in a sea of silver.</p> - -<p>Carrying the eye round to the west, a picture scarcely less -beautiful meets the gaze. The low-lying plain on the right—the -Wyke,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> as it is called—has, within living memory, been reclaimed -from the hungry sea; and where was once old ocean’s bed there -are now lush pastures, and fields of waving grain that give promise -of an abundant harvest. Below us, peeping up from a clump of -trees, are seen the ruined walls of Wraysholme Tower, where the -lordly Harringtons held sway, and with which we shall make more -intimate acquaintance by-and-by; and near thereto Humphrey -Head, looking like a monster couchant, thrusts its huge form far -out from the shore. The little village beyond is Flookborough, -and within half a mile is Cark, contiguous to which, half hidden -among the umbraged woods, is Holker, the favourite seat of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -Duke of Devonshire. Across the Leven sands we get a glimpse of -Chapel Island, a little sea-girt solitude, with the crumbling ruins of -its ancient sanctuary peeping through the gloom of the overshadowing -trees, where, in days of yore, the monks of Furness -“their orisons and vespers sung,” and offered prayers “for the -safety of the souls of such as crossed the sands with the morning -tide.” Almost within bow-shot are the rich woods and glades of -Conishead; and further on, the old town of Ulverston can be -discerned, with the great rounded hill—the Hoad—in the rear, on -which the monument to the memory of its distinguished son, the -late Sir John Barrow, <span class="nowrap">stands—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">On the gusty down,</div> -<div class="verse">Far seen across the sea-paths which he loved,</div> -<div class="verse">A beacon to the steersman.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>At the extreme corner of the Furness shore, where the tall -chimneys shoot up and the thick smoke hangs like a pall, is -Barrow, which by the magic power of iron has been suddenly -transformed from an obscure fishing village into a busy and -populous town, and the seat of industrial and commercial activity. -Reaching far out into the sea is lonely wave-girt Walney, with -its ruined castle—the pile of Fouldrey—built on the foundation of -the Vikings’ stronghold by the monks of Furness as a defence -against the marauding Scots—looming darkly against the flashing -waters. Black Comb, stern, bleak, and wild, its gleaming summit -breaking through the clouds, lifts its huge form with frowning -majesty above the dreary moors and storm-worn hills; and, rearward, -the eye wanders over the Coniston range to the Old Man, -and thence to Bowfell, the twin pikes of Langdale, and round -towards Skiddaw, where a succession of mighty headlands—the -silent companions of the mist and cloud—crowd one upon another -until the dim outlines of their giant peaks are lost in the blue -infinity of space.</p> - -<p>Apart from its natural beauty and the pleasant prospect it commands, -Kirkhead is not without attractions for those who delight -in investigating the memorials of prehistoric times. On the steep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -acclivities on the south side of the hill, mantled with ferns and -coarse weeds, and well-nigh hidden with trees and brushwood, is -the entrance to a natural opening or cavern in the limestone rock, -40 or 50 feet in length and about 20 feet high, which in the dim -and shadowy past has evidently been the abode of some primeval -Briton. You can get down to it by an inconvenient track from the -top, but the better way is by a path that winds round the base of the -hill, through the scrub, and along the edge of the meadow until -you reach a heap of soil and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">débris</i> left from previous explorations, -when the entrance is seen just above. In the excavations that -have been made a skull and other human remains have been discovered, -with fragments of rude pottery, implements of stone, and -the bones of the red deer, wild boar, fox, and other animals. Near -the surface was also found a coin of the reign of the Emperor -Domitian (<span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 84)—strong presumptive evidence that there have -been a succession of tenants, and some of them during the period -of Roman occupation. Repeated examinations have been made of -this primitive abode, and an account of its hidden mysteries will be -found in Dr. Barber’s “Prehistoric Remains.”</p> - -<p>Descending from our lofty eyrie, we pass through the little -village of Allithwaite, and then strike into a pleasant leafy lane on -the left, bordered with tall trees—oak, and ash, and beech—that -look as green and luxurious as if they were buried in some inland -combe instead of having had the sea breezes sweeping over them -for many a long winter past. A little rindle keeps us in pleasant -companionship, sparkling here and there in the deep shadow, and -now and then we get glimpses of the level waste of silver sand and -the sea beyond, shining through the summer haze. A few minutes’ -walking and we come in sight of the crumbling remains of Wraysholme -Tower, the object of our present pilgrimage, standing a little -way back on the left of the road. A bright-eyed youngster holds -the gate open for us, with expectant glances, as we pass through -into the farmyard, in which the old weather-worn relic stands, and -the gladsome looks with which our modest <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">largesse</i> is received -assure us that it is not unworthily bestowed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 496px;"> -<img src="images/i_113.jpg" width="496" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">WRAYSHOLME TOWER.</div> -</div> - -<p>The embattled tower or peel is all that now remains, and whatever -of other buildings there may have been have long since -disappeared. Built for defence, and as a place of refuge for men -and cattle against the incursions of Scottish marauders and enemies -approaching from the Irish Sea, it formed the strongest and most -important feature of the original structure; and even now, though -dismantled and forlorn, and applied to “base uses” its founders -little dreamt of, with its thick walls, its small jealous windows, and -its gloomy apartments, it gives evidence of purposed resistance to -sudden intrusion, and shows that security rather than convenience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -was the object of its builders—a lingering memorial of those grim -and stern old times ere order had spread and law had superseded -might, when even power could only feel secure when protected by -strongly-fortified walls, a</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Monument of rudest times,</div> -<div class="verse">When science slept entombed, and o’er the waste,</div> -<div class="verse">The heath-grown crag, and quivering moss of old</div> -<div class="verse">Stalk’d unremitted war.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The tower in general form is a parallelogram, measuring about forty-five -feet by thirty; the strongly-grouted walls are surmounted by -an overhanging parapet, with a watch-turret projecting from each -angle, giving it the character of a fortalice—as, indeed, it was in -the troublous times when watch and ward and beacon lights were -necessary safeguards against sudden assaults. In an angle of the -thick walls is a spiral stone staircase, communicating with the -upper chambers and the roof—the latter, in its original state, -having been flat and covered with lead. The masonry, though of -great strength, is plain and of the simplest character, the only -carved work being the small square-headed windows in the upper -stories, which have foliated lights, divided by a mullion, and are -apparently of later date than the main structure, having probably -been inserted about the close of the long reign of Edward III. In -one of these windows the arms and crests of the Harringtons and -Stanleys were formerly to be seen, but they were some years ago -removed for safety, and are now placed in a window of the adjacent -farmhouse. One of the small diamond panes has the well-known -Stanley crest—an eagle, with wings endorsed, preying upon an -infant in its cradle, with the addition of the fret or Harrington -knot—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">nodo firmo</i>—at each angle. On another pane are the letters -Q (the equivalent of W) H, with the fret above and below—the -initials being probably those of Sir William Harrington, who, -according to Dr. Whitaker, fell mortally wounded on the plains of -Agincourt, on that memorable St. Crispin’s Day in 1415<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>. A third<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -pane has depicted upon it an eagle’s claw, a cognizance of the -Stanleys, with a fleur de lis on each side.</p> - -<p>It is not known with certainty when Wraysholme was erected; -but probably it was not long after William Mareschal, Earl of -Pembroke, founded the Priory of Cartmel (1188); and it may have -been intended as a protection for the fraternity of that house, in -the same way that Piel Castle was for the security of the monks of -Furness; but, if so, the brotherhood did not enjoy a very lengthened -tenure, for a little more than a century after, it is found in the -possession of the great feudal family of the Harringtons of Aldingham, -descended from the Haveringtons or Harringtons of -Haverington, near Whitehaven. Sir Robert Harrington, the first -of the name settled at Aldingham, which he had acquired in right -of his wife, had two sons, the younger of whom, Michael Harrington -had—8 Edward II. (1314–15)—a grant of free-warren in -Alinthwaite (Allithwaite), in which township Wraysholme is situated, -but the property eventually passed to the descendants of the -elder brother, Sir John, a great-grandson of whom, Sir William -Harrington, Knight of the Garter, was standard-bearer at the -battle of Agincourt, where he is erroneously said to have lost his -life. This Sir William married Margaret, daughter and heir of -Sir Robert Neville, of Hornby Castle, and by her had a son, Sir -Thomas Harrington.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a name="HGH" id="HGH"></a><img src="images/i_115.jpg" width="500" height="243" alt="Heraldic Glass at Wraysholme" /> -</div> - -<p>In the fierce struggles of the Red and White Roses the -Harringtons ranged themselves on the side of the Yorkists, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -suffered severely in that internecine conflict Sir Thomas Harrington, -who married a daughter of the house of Dacre, and -succeeded to the Hornby estates in right of his mother, fell -fighting under the standard of the White Rose at Wakefield Green, -and his only son, Sir John Harrington, received his death-blow -while fighting by his side on that memorable day (December 31, -1460), a day fatal to the House of York, and scarcely less fatal to -the victorious Lancastrians; for the cruelties there perpetrated by -the Black-faced Clifford were repaid with ten-fold vengeance at -Towton a few months later. Drayton, in his “Queen Margaret,” -recounts the butcher-work that Clifford did at Wakefield when the -brave Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, and his son, the Earl of -Rutland, fell together—when</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi8">York himself before his castle gate,</div> -<div class="verse">Mangled with wounds, on his own earth lay dead;</div> -<div class="verse">Upon whose body Clifford down him sate,</div> -<div class="verse">Stabbing the corpse, and cutting off the head,</div> -<div class="verse">Crowned it with paper, and to wreak his teene,</div> -<div class="verse">Presents it so to his victorious queene,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and the “victorious queene,” the haughty Margaret of Anjou, in -the insolence of her short-lived triumph, gave the order,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Off with his head, and set it on York gates,</div> -<div class="verse">So York may overlook the town of York,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Dr. Whitaker tells us that when the news reached Hornby that -Sir Thomas and Sir John Harrington, father and son, with their -kinsman, Sir William Harrington, Lord Bonville of Aldingham, -were slain, the widow of Sir Thomas withdrew to her daughter -for consolation, but her son’s widow, Matilda, a sister of the -Black-faced Clifford, partaking, as it would seem, of her brother’s -hard nature, remained, and “was at leisure to attend to -business.”</p> - -<p>With Sir John’s death the male line of this branch of the -Harringtons terminated. He left two daughters, Anne and -Elizabeth, his co-heirs, then aged respectively nine and eight years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -Their paternal uncle, Sir James Harrington, took forcible possession -of the estates and claimed them as his own, but on an appeal -to the Court of Chancery, he was dispossessed and committed to -the Fleet, when the wardship of the two young heiresses and the -custody of their inheritance were granted to Thomas Lord Stanley, -who considerately married the eldest, Anne, to his third son, Sir -Edward Stanley, the hero of Flodden Field, and the youngest to -his nephew, John Stanley, of Melling, the son of his brother, the -first Sir John Stanley<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> of Alderley, in Cheshire.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward Stanley, who eventually became the possessor of -both Wraysholme and Hornby, the former, as it would seem, -having been forfeited to the Crown by the attainder of his -wife’s uncle, Sir James Harrington, who, with his brother, Sir -Robert, fought on the side of Richard III. at Bosworth Field, -had been a soldier from his youth up. “The camp,” it is said, -“was his school, and his learning the pike and sword.” The -lords of Wraysholme, with their retainers, had many a time and -oft set out to repel the Scots in their plundering raids across the -Border, but now they were called upon to meet the Scottish -King himself, who had entered England with a powerful army, -and laid waste some of the Border strongholds. Summoning his -followers, the valiant Stanley prepared himself for the field, when, -as the old ballad tells <span class="nowrap">us,—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Sir Edward Stanley, stiff in stour,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></div> -<div class="vi4">He is the man on whom I mean,</div> -<div class="verse">With him did pass a mighty pow’r,</div> -<div class="vi4">Of soldiers seemly to be seen.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Most lively lads in Lonsdale bred,</div> -<div class="vi4">With weapons of unwieldy weight,</div> -<div class="verse">All such as Tatham Fells had fed,</div> -<div class="vi4">Went under Stanley’s streamer bright.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4"><span class="wide">* * * * *</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">From Silverdale to Kent sand side, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></div> -<div class="vi4">Whose soil is sown with cockle shells,</div> -<div class="verse">From Cartmel eke and Connyside,</div> -<div class="vi4">With fellows fierce from Furness Fells.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>He and his brave men marched forward until they came to -“Flodden’s fatal field,” when Stanley was entrusted with the -command of the rear of the English army, which he led so -valiantly, and made such a sudden and unexpected onslaught with -his bowmen, that the Scots were put to flight, leaving their King -dead upon the field. Scott has enshrined Stanley’s deeds at -Flodden in imperishable verse, and few couplets are more -frequently quoted than that which tells <span class="nowrap">us—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">“Victory!—</div> -<div class="verse">Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!”</div> -<div class="verse">Were the last words of Marmion.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Doubtless it was a gay day at Wraysholme when the stout -Lancashire lads, with their brave leader, returned to tell the tale -of victory. Henry VIII., keeping his Christmas at Eltham, the -following year (1514), commanded that Sir Edward Stanley, as a -reward for his services in having won the hill and vanquished -those opposed to him, as also that his ancestors bore the eagle as -their crest, should there be proclaimed Lord Monteagle, which was -accordingly done, and by that title he had summons to Parliament, -and was made a Knight of the Garter.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward Stanley, Lord Monteagle, died in 1584, and about -this time the old peel of Wraysholme passed to the Dicconsons, a -branch of the family of that name seated at Wrightington, in -Eccleston parish, for in the following year “Richd. Dicconson, of -Raisholme,” appears among the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">liberi tenentes</i> in Cartmel parish, -and the place continued in the possession of this family for a -century or more. In 1756 it was purchased by John Carter, of -Cart Lane, and given by him, in 1790, to his daughter Dorothy, -the wife of John Harrison, from whom it has descended through -the female line to the present possessor—Thomas Newby Wilson, -of Landing, Newby Bridge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> - -<p>The gloomy-looking old tower, in which the chivalrous and -intrepid Harringtons so long held sway, now only exhibits the -melancholy aspects of desertion and decay. It is used as an outbuilding -to the neighbouring farmhouse, and, though much -dilapidated, tells more of time, and time’s slow wasting hand, than -of the ruinous havoc of ruthless war.</p> - -<p>The glory has long passed away, for two centuries and more -have rolled by since it was in the heyday of its prosperity. It is -now tenantless and forlorn, its battlements are broken, its rooms -are desolated, and the wind whistles through the narrow casements -that once were storied with the heraldic achievements of its -knightly owners. Old time has pressed heavily upon it—may no -ruder hand hasten its destruction!</p> - -<p>A little more than half a mile from Wraysholme Tower is -Humphrey Head, a huge mass of carboniferous limestone that -thrusts its gaunt form far out into the bay, dividing the Milnthorpe -from the Ulverston Sands. To the north it rises abruptly from -the plain, here grim and grey and lifeless-looking, and there decked -with a rich embroidery of lichens, moss, and trailing ivy, while the -ledges of the rock are covered with a thick vegetation of ash and -hazel, the bright greenery of which is in places relieved by the -darker foliage of the yew that here thrives luxuriously. Round -towards the sea the steep acclivities are all broken, channelled, -and weather-worn, with scarcely a sign of vegetation to relieve their -general sterility; and huge heaps that have been brought down -by successive storms lie strewn about the shore in picturesque -confusion. The rocky cliff which rears its naked front almost -perpendicularly to a considerable elevation is not without its tale -of sorrow, as we gather from the following warning, inscribed upon -a block of <span class="nowrap">limestone:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Beware how you these rocks ascend,</div> -<div class="verse">Here William Pedder met his end,</div> -<div class="vi4">August 22nd, 1857. Aged 10 years.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Near the top of the cliff is the Fairies’ Cave—a large cavernous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -opening or recess formed by the shrinkage of the limestone; and -at the base is the Holy Well, a mineral spring famed for its curative -properties in Camden’s time, and which even within memory -was resorted to by the Cumberland miners, who came in large -numbers to drink its health-inspiring waters. The spring issues -through a fissure in the rock within a few feet of the ground, the -flow being at the rate of about a gallon a minute, continuing -without variation through the different seasons of the year. The -water is perfectly clear and colourless, and effervesces slightly on -agitation—an indication of the presence of free carbonic acid. -Dr. Barber, who has written an account of the spa, tells us the -principal ingredients are the chlorides of sodium and magnesium, -and the sulphates of lime and soda; and that in its chief characteristics -it most resembles the waters at Wiesbaden and the -Ragoczy spring at Kissingen. Its celebrity would seem to have -arisen as much from its diluent powers as from its medicinal -virtues; and probably recent analyses, which have disclosed the -fact that it contains but a small proportion of solid ingredients, -have broken the charm with which traditional piety had surrounded -it, and caused the health-seeking pilgrims who formerly believed in -its virtues to seek elsewhere the refreshing and restorative draughts -which nature provides. The spring is now virtually abandoned; -the cottage close by, in which the high-priestess formerly resided, -is tenantless and falling to decay; but the key of the spring can be -had from the neighbouring farmhouse.</p> - -<p>Tradition gathers round this little corner of Lancashire, and the -shaping power of imagination has clothed it with the weird drapery -of romance—that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Dubious light</div> -<div class="verse">That hovers ’twixt the day and night,</div> -<div class="verse">Dazzling alternately and dim.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>When the Harringtons established themselves here the wolf -and the wild boar roamed at large through the thick forests of -Cartmel, and among the legends and scraps of family history that -have floated down through successive generations is the story that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -on the eminence to the north of Wraysholme the last wild boar -was hunted down; from which circumstance the hill has ever since -borne the name of Boar Bank. It is said, too, that, far back in the -mist of ages, it was from Wraysholme Tower a gallant company -rode forth to hunt the last wolf “in England’s spacious realm;” -and that, after a long and weary chase, the savage beast was -tracked to its lair on the wooded heights of Humphrey Head, and -there transfixed by the spear of a Harrington. Tradition has been -well described as the nursing-mother of the Muses, and these bits -of legendary lore, which have been deeply rooted in the memories, -and for many a generation have delighted the firesides, of the -Cartmel cottagers, have inspired the pen of a local poet, who has -told the story of “The Last Wolf” in spirit-stirring verse. This -interesting ballad, though varying considerably from the current -tradition, is yet a valuable contribution to our Palatine anthology. -Its great length—seventy-five verses—prevents our giving it entire, -but the following passages will give an idea of the salient features -of the <span class="nowrap">story:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The sun hath set on Wraysholme’s Tower,</div> -<div class="vi4">And o’er broad Morecambe Bay;</div> -<div class="verse">The moon from out her eastern bower</div> -<div class="vi4">Pursues the track of day.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">On Wraysholme’s grey and massive walls,</div> -<div class="vi4">On rocky Humphrey Head,</div> -<div class="verse">On wood and field her silver falls,</div> -<div class="vi4">Her silent charms are shed.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">No sound through all yon sleeping plain</div> -<div class="vi4">Now breaks upon the ear,</div> -<div class="verse">Save murmurs from the distant main,</div> -<div class="vi4">Or evening breezes near.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4"><span class="wide">* * * * *</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Within those walls may now be seen</div> -<div class="vi4">The festive board displayed,</div> -<div class="verse">And round it many a knight, I ween,</div> -<div class="vi4">And many a comely maid.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">For know that on the morrow’s dawn,</div> -<div class="vi4">With all who list to ride,</div> -<div class="verse">Sir Edgar Harrington hath sworn</div> -<div class="vi4">To hunt the country-side.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A wolf, the last, as rumour saith,</div> -<div class="vi4">In England’s spacious realm,</div> -<div class="verse">Is doomed that day to meet its death,</div> -<div class="vi4">And grace the conqueror’s helm.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And he hath sworn an oath beside,</div> -<div class="vi4">Whoe’er that wolf shall quell</div> -<div class="verse">Shall have his fair niece for a bride,</div> -<div class="vi4">And half his land as well.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The “fair niece” is the orphan Lady <span class="nowrap">Adela—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">For beauty famous far and wide,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>whose heart has previously been given to Sir Edgar’s son; but the -course of true love has been characterised by the proverbial -absence of smoothness, and the young knight, to escape his -father’s wrath, has betaken himself to the wars in Eastern -lands.</p> - -<p>The night’s carousal draws to a close, and at break of day -the huntsman’s horn wakes the sleepers to a glorious chase, -when</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Full threescore riders mount with speed,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>chief among whom, and the competitors for the fair Adela’s hand, -are the two knights, Laybourne and Delisle—the latter the long-lost -son of Sir Edgar, who has returned from the Crusades, and -appears in disguise and under an assumed name, though the old -retainers, as they view the stranger knight, know that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The long-lost wanderer meets their sight,</div> -<div class="vi4">Whate’er his name be now.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The wolf, scared from his covert on Humphrey Head, leads the -hunters a long and exciting chase over Kirkhead, past Holker and -Newby, and across “the Leven’s brawling flood,” to the Old Man -of Coniston. The dogs are again upon the track, and the grisly -beast is away through “Easthwaite’s lonely deep,” through woodland,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -brake, and forest hoar, “through Sawrey’s pass,” and on to -the shores of Windermere, where,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">With one bold plunge, the mere he takes,</div> -<div class="vi4">And, favoured by the wind,</div> -<div class="verse">The flabbing scent abruptly breaks,</div> -<div class="vi4">And leaves his foes behind.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>But the “tireless bloodhounds” are once more upon the scent, the -rival knights follow in hot pursuit, and</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Away along the wooded shore</div> -<div class="vi4">The chase betakes him now,</div> -<div class="verse">Beneath the friendly shade of Tower</div> -<div class="vi4">And craggy Gummerhow.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Then turn aside to Witherslack,</div> -<div class="vi4">Where Winster’s waters range,</div> -<div class="verse">And thence to shingly Eggerslack,</div> -<div class="vi4">And sand-surveying Grange.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Then, with the instinct of despair, the brute makes for his old -haunt on Humphrey Head, as “evening shades appear.” Reaching -a deep chasm in the rock, wolf and hounds rush headlong to their -destruction. Laybourne’s horse rears at the “giddy brink,” but the -“bold Delisle” rushes madly on, <span class="nowrap">crying—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Adela! I’ll win thee now!</div> -<div class="vi4">Or ne’er wend forth again.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Delisle and his “Arab white” pursue their headlong course down -the rocky <span class="nowrap">gulf—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Awhile from side to side it leapt,</div> -<div class="vi4">That steed of mettle true,</div> -<div class="verse">Then swiftly to destruction swept,</div> -<div class="vi4">Like flashing lightning flew.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The shingle in its headlong course,</div> -<div class="vi4">With rattling din gave way;</div> -<div class="verse">The hazels snap beneath its force,</div> -<div class="vi4">The mountain savins sway.</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> -<p>By chance the Lady Adela happens to be riding by at the -moment, upon her “palfrey white”—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">When, lo! the wild wolf bursts in sight,</div> -<div class="vi4">And bares his glistening teeth!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Her eyes are closed in mortal dread,</div> -<div class="vi4">And ere a look they steal,</div> -<div class="verse">The wolf and Arab both lie dead,</div> -<div class="vi4">And scatheless stands Delisle!</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The Red Cross knight now reveals himself as the lost son of Sir -Edgar. The father welcomes the wanderer, and in fulfilment of his -promise, bestows “his fair niece for a bride.” The result may be -anticipated. The Prior of Cartmel, happening opportunely to be -passing, “to drink the Holy Well”—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Sir Edgar straight the priest besought</div> -<div class="vi4">To tarry for awhile;</div> -<div class="verse">Who, when the lady’s eye he caught,</div> -<div class="vi4">Assented with a smile.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The “Fairies’ Cave,” on Humphrey Head, served for the nonce -as a chapel, for</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The monk he had a mellow heart,</div> -<div class="vi4">And, scrambling to the spot,</div> -<div class="verse">Full blithely there he played his part,</div> -<div class="vi4">And tied the nuptial knot.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And hence that cave on Humphrey Hill,</div> -<div class="vi4">Where these fair deeds befel,</div> -<div class="verse">Is called Sir Edgar’s chapel still,</div> -<div class="vi4">As hunters wot full well.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And still the holy fount is there</div> -<div class="vi4">To which the prior came;</div> -<div class="verse">And still it boasts its virtues rare,</div> -<div class="vi4">And bears its ancient name.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And long on Wraysholme’s lattice light,</div> -<div class="vi4">A wolf’s head might be traced,</div> -<div class="verse">In record of the Red Cross Knight,</div> -<div class="vi4">Who bore it for his crest.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">In Cartmel church his grave is shown,</div> -<div class="vi4">And o’er it, side by side,</div> -<div class="verse">All graved in stone, lies brave Sir John</div> -<div class="vi4">And Adela his bride.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Such is “The Legend of the Last Wolf.” The supposed monument, -“all graved in stone,” still adorns the choir of Cartmel -church. Beneath the ponderous canopy the recumbent figures of -the knight and his lady, lying side by side, may still be seen, -looking the very types of chivalrous honour and conjugal felicity; -and there for certainty is the sculptured figure of the veritable -wolf, reposing quietly at their feet—confirmations strong as proofs -of holy writ, although prosaic antiquaries, disdaining the faint -glimmerings of truth that only steal through the haze of tradition, -tell us, with irreverent disregard for the poetry of romance, that the -story is apocryphal; and further try to shake our faith by affirming -that the figures are those of the valiant Harrington, who fell fighting -for the White Rose at Wakefield, and his wife, a daughter of the -lordly house of Dacre. But we will not discuss the identity of the -departed knights, or the merits of their respective claims to the -battered effigies that have failed to perpetuate their names—monuments -that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Themselves memorials need.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>High up on Humphrey Head the cave in which the nuptial -knot was tied still remains; and there, at the foot, is the Holy -Well, the waters of which flow as freely as they did in days of yore, -though now only imbibed when a chance wayfarer finds his way to -this lonely seaside nook, and quaffs a goblet to the memories of -the</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Brave Sir John,</div> -<div class="verse">And Adela his bride,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and the holy friar who made them one.</p> - - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_126.jpg" width="600" height="104" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> - -<span class="f75">AN AFTERNOON AT GAWSWORTH—THE FIGHTING FITTONS—THE -CHESHIRE WILL CASE AND ITS TRAGIC SEQUEL—HENRY -NEWCOME—“LORD FLAME.”</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_126a.jpg" width="75" height="192" alt="I" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-capi"><span class="smcap">If</span> any reader wishes to obtain a brief respite from the -busy life of the “unclean city,” to get away from the -noise of looms and spindles, the smoke of factories -and the smell of dyes, and to find within easy distance -of the great manufacturing metropolis a place of perfect -quiet and repose where he may feel that for all practical -purposes he is “at the world’s end,” let him by all means spend -a summer afternoon in that quaint little out-of-the-way nook, -Gawsworth, and he will return to the crowded mart with little -inclination to cry out with the Roman Emperor, “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Perdidi diem</i>.” -Yet how few there are who have made acquaintance with this <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">beau-ideal</i> -of a quiet rural retreat. The places which it is the proper -thing to visit, or “do,” as the phrase is, are all carefully mapped -out for our convenience; but the literary finger-posts afford but -little guidance to the true rambler, who knows that the fairest spots -are those which are oftenest overlooked. Gawsworth may be easily -reached from Alderley or Chelford; but perhaps the most convenient -starting point is Macclesfield, from which it is distant a -short four miles.</p> - -<p>Macclesfield does not present a particularly prepossessing appearance, -though it possesses much that is historically interesting, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -you may here and there see relics of mediæval times; but the long -centuries have wrought many changes in its condition, and those -changes can hardly be said to be from grave to gay. Its forest -was once the hunting-ground of kings. A royal palace occupied a -site very near to the present Park Lane, and in the Fourth Edward’s -reign Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, had a princely residence -there. The town itself was walled, and though there is not now a -single stone remaining, the recollection of its fortifications is -preserved in the streets—Chestergate, Church Wallgate, and Jordangate—which -form the principal outlets from it. Notwithstanding -that it once boasted a royal owner, it now presents but a dingy and -uninviting aspect, so that we are little loth to leave its steep and -tortuous streets, and what Nathaniel Hawthorne would call its -ugliness of brick, and betake ourselves to the open country.</p> - -<p>On getting clear of the town, we enter upon a pleasant rural -highway that rises and falls in gentle undulations. Tall trees -border the wayside, which, as we advance, grow thicker, until we -reach a double line of spreading beeches that meet in an entanglement -overhead, and form a long shady avenue, through which a -pleasant vista is obtained. Now and then we meet a chance wayfarer -and occasionally a sleepy-looking carter with his team, but the -road is comparatively little frequented, and we almost wonder that -with the limited traffic it does not become grass-grown. Though it -is quiet now-a-days, it was lively enough in the old coaching times, -when the “Red Rover” and the “Defiance” were in the zenith of -their popularity, and the tootling of the guard’s bugle daily awoke -the echoes to the inspiring notes of the “British Grenadiers,” for it -was then the great highway between Manchester and the metropolis. -But those days are changed, and our dream of the past is rudely -dispelled by the shrill whistle of the “express” as it shoots along -the edge of the Moss, leaving a long white pennon of steam in its -wake.</p> - -<p>As we journey on we get agreeable glimpses of the country, and -the varied character of the scenery adds to the charm. Below us -on the left stretches a broad expanse of bog—Danes Moss, as it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -called—commemorating some long-forgotten incursion of the wild -Scandinavian <span class="nowrap">hordes—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">When Denmark’s raven soared on high.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>On the outskirts of the town is an old farmstead, called Cophurst, -on the site of which, as tradition sayeth, Raphael Hollinshead, -the chronicler, resided three hundred years ago. Close by is -Sutton, once the home of another Cheshire worthy—Sir Richard -Sutton—“that ever famous knight and great patron of learning,” -as King, in his “Vale Royal,” calls him, “one of the founders of -Brazenose, in Oxford, where by his bounty many of Cheshire -youth receive most worthy education.” The foreground is broken -into picturesque inequalities, and in the rear rises a succession of -swelling hills, part of the great Kerridge range—the stony barriers -of the Peak country. Where the steep crags cut sharply against the -eastern sky is Teg’s Nose, famed for its gritstone quarries. Further -on, Shutling’s Low rears its cone-shaped peak to a height of 1,660 -feet, and behind we catch sight of the breezy moor, on the summit -of which stands that lonely hostelry, the Cat and Fiddle, the highest -public-house, it is said, to be found in the kingdom. The great -hill-slopes, though now almost bare of wood, once formed part of -the great forest of Macclesfield, in which for generations the -Davenports, as chief foresters, held the power of life and death -over the robber bands who in the old times infested it, as well as -the punishment of those who made free with the Earl’s venison; -and they not only held but exercised their rights, as the long -“Robber Roll” at Capesthorne still testifies. Though it has long -been completely disafforested, the memory of it still lingers. Forest -Chapel, away up in the very heart of this mountain wilderness, -perpetuates the name, and Wildboar Clough—Wilbor Clough, as -the Macclesfieldians persist in calling it—Hoglegh, and Wolfscote -remind us of the former denizens of these moorland wastes. -Beyond Teg’s Nose a great gap opens in the hills, and then Cloud -End rears its rugged form—dark, wild, and forbidding. From the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -summit, had we time to climb it, a charming view might be -obtained of the picturesquely varied <span class="nowrap">country—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Of farms remote and far apart, with intervening space</div> -<div class="verse">Of black’ning rock and barren down, and pasture’s pleasant face;</div> -<div class="verse">And white and winding roads that creep through village, vale, and glen,</div> -<div class="verse">And o’er the dreary moorlands, far beyond the homes of men.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a></span></p> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 499px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a></span> -<img src="images/i_129.jpg" width="499" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">GAWSWORTH OLD HALL.</div> -</div> - -<p>On the right the scenery is of a more pastoral character. Lawns -and meadows stretch away, and the eye ranges over the broad -fertile plain of Cheshire—over quaint sequestered nooks and -quiet homesteads, and old-fashioned villages, with here and there -a grey church tower rising in their midst; over well-tilled fields -and daisied pastures, and league upon league of cultivated greenness, -where the thick hedgerows cross and recross each other in -a network of verdant beauty. The crumbling ruins of Beeston -Castle crowning the edge of a bold outlier of rock, may be dimly -discerned, with Peckforton rising close by its side, and beyond, -where a shadowy form reaches like a cloud across the horizon, -we can trace the broken outline of the Welsh hills, with Moel -Fammau towering above them all.</p> - -<p>Presently the battlemented towers of Gawsworth Church are -seen peering above the umbrage; then we come to a cross road, -and, turning sharply to the left, continue along a green old bosky -lane, and past the village school, close to which is a weather-worn -memorial of bygone days—the old wayside cross standing beneath -a clump of trees, erected, as old writers tell us, to “guide and -guard the way to church,” and the sight of which, with the surroundings, -calls to remembrance Hood’s lines on the symbol of -the Christian’s <span class="nowrap">faith:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Say, was it to my spirit’s gain or loss,</div> -<div class="vi4">One bright and balmy morning, as I went</div> -<div class="vi4">From Liège’s lonely environs to Ghent,</div> -<div class="verse">If hard by the way-side I found a cross,</div> -<div class="verse">That made me breathe a pray’r upon the spot—</div> -<div class="vi4">While Nature of herself, as if to trace</div> -<div class="vi4">The emblem’s use, had trail’d around its base</div> -<div class="verse">The blue significant Forget-me-not?</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Methought, the claims of Charity to urge</div> -<div class="vi4">More forcibly, along with Faith and Hope,</div> -<div class="verse">The pious choice had pitched upon the verge</div> -<div class="vi6">Of a delicious slope,</div> -<div class="vi4">Giving the eye much variegated scope;—</div> -<div class="verse">“Look round,” it whisper’d, “on that prospect rare,</div> -<div class="vi4">Those vales so verdant, and those hills so blue;</div> -<div class="verse">Enjoy the sunny world, so fresh and fair,</div> -<div class="vi4">But (how the simple legend pierced me thro’!)”—</div> -<div class="vi6">“Priez pour les Malheureux.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>For a short distance the road now descends, and near the bottom -a bank rises abruptly on the right, crowned with a plantation of -oak and larch—the “sylvan shade”—beneath which reposes the -“breathless clay” of the eccentric poet, wit, and player—Samuel -Johnson—known by his generation as “Lord Flame,” of whom we -may have something to say anon. A few yards further on is the -new hall, or “New Buildings,” as it is sometimes called, a plain -brick house, the south wing only of which has been completed, -built in Queen Anne’s reign by that Lord Mohun who brought the -noted Cheshire will case to a sanguinary end, when he and his -adversary, the Duke of Hamilton, fell together in a duel in Hyde -Park, Nov. 15, 1712. At this point the view of Gawsworth opens -upon us, presenting one of the fairest pictures of quiet rural -beauty that Cheshire possesses. There is a dreamy old-world -character about the place, a sweet fragrance of the olden time, and -a peaceful tranquillity of the present; and the ancient church, the -picturesque half-timbered rectory, and the stately old hall, with the -broad grass-bordered road, the wide-spreading sycamores, and the -old-fashioned fish ponds, in the weed-grown depths of which every -object, with the overarching sky and the white clouds sailing -therein are given back with distinct vividness, impart an air of -venerable and undisturbed respectability. The place belongs so -entirely to the past, and there seems such a remoteness between -the hoar antiquity of a scene so thoroughly old English and the -busy world from which we have just emerged, that we almost -hesitate to advance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/i_133.jpg" width="500" height="338" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">GAWSWORTH CROSS.</div> -</div> - -<p>There is no village, so to speak, the church, the parsonage, and -the two halls, with a cottage or two adjoining the church steps, -being all the buildings we can see; there is not even that usual -and supposed to be indispensable adjunct of an old English -country village, the village inn, the nearest hostelry being the -Harrington Arms, an old coaching house on the London road, -a quarter of a mile or more away. The church, a grey and -venerable pile, with a remarkably well proportioned tower, which -exhibits some good architectural details of the perpendicular -period, stands in its graveyard, a little to the south of a broad -grass-grown road, upon a gentle eminence encompassed by a grey -stone fence that looks as ancient as the building itself. Tall -trees overshadow it—larch and fir—that rear their lofty spines from -near the water’s edge, and, yielding to the northern blasts, bend in -graceful curves towards the ancient fane. You can mount the -steps and pass through the little wicket into the quiet “God’s-acre,” -and surely a spot more suggestive of calm and serious -thought is rarely witnessed. Move slowly through the tall grass -and round the green graves where</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Tread lightly upon the weather-stained and moss-grown stones<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -that loving hands have set up to keep alive the memories of those -who sleep beneath. Near the porch is the chamfered shaft of an -ancient cross, and close by two or three venerable yews cast their -funereal shade. One of them, an aged torso, is garlanded with ivy, -and buttressed on one side by a short flight of steps that have been -built against it. Its gigantic roots grasp the earth with a tenacity -that time cannot relax. It has lived through long centuries, and -seen generation after generation christened, married, and buried, -and, though now hollowed and decayed, the trunk still preserves -some of that vitality that was in its fulness when the valorous -Fittons were in the heyday of their power.</p> - -<p>Separating the churchyard from the road is an artificial lake or -fish-pond, one of a series of three or four, through each of which -the water flows in succession, and where, in the chivalrous days of -the knightly owners of Gawsworth, the water jousts and other -aquatic games took place. But those times of pomp and pageantry -have passed away, and the surface is now seldom ruffled save -when occasionally a fish rises, or a stately swan glides gracefully -through the warm sunshine. In its smooth mirror you -can see the old grey tower, the projecting buttresses, the traceried -windows, and the embattled parapets of the church, with their -pleasant environment of green all clearly reflected, presenting the -appearance of an inverted picture; while the old patrician trees -that border the wayside bend over the glassy surface, creating in -places a vernal shade that Undine might delight in.</p> - -<p>On the opposite side is the Rectory, a picturesque old structure -of black and white timber work, “magpie” as the people call it -hereabouts, with quaint overhanging gables, grotesque carvings, -and mullioned windows, with small diamond panes—one of them, -that lighting the hall, a spacious apartment with an open timber -roof, containing fragments of heraldic glass that would seem to -have formerly belonged to the church. There is a wide entrance -porch in the centre of the building, and over the door, between -two shields of arms, this inscription—“Syr Edward Fytton, Knight, -with my lady Mare ffyton, hys wyffe”—from which it has been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -commonly assumed that the house was built by Sir Edward Fitton, -who married Mary, the daughter and co-heir of Guicciard Harbottle, -of Northumberland, and so would fix the time of erection -in the reign of Henry VIII. But this inscription originally -belonged to another building of later date than the Rectory, -which, as we learn from some verses preserved in Ashmole’s -“Church Notes,” taken <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">circa</i> 1654, was erected by George Baguley, -who was rector of Gawsworth from 1470 to 1497.</p> - -<p>The “old” Hall, the ancestral home of the Fittons, now -occupied by Lord Petersham, stands a short distance east of the -church. Like the Rectory, it is half-timbered and of the Elizabethan -period, but the building is now incomplete, a part having -been taken down some seventy years ago, though the original -quadrangular form may still be traced. In the rear, in what has -been originally the courtyard, is a curious octagonal oriel of three -stories, each story overhanging the one immediately below in a -sort of telescope fashion. The windows are filled with leaded -panes arranged in a variety of shapes and patterns. The principal -front, which faces the road, has been rebuilt and painted in imitation -of timber-work. Over the principal entrance is a shield of -sixteen quarterings, representing the arms of the Fittons and -their several alliances, surrounded by a garter, on which is -inscribed the motto, “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Fit onus leve</i>”—a play upon the family -name. There is also the following inscription <span class="nowrap">beneath—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Hec scvlptvra finita fvit apvd</div> -<div class="verse">Villam Galviæ in Hibernia per</div> -<div class="verse">Richardvm Rany, Edwardo Fyton</div> -<div class="verse">Milite primo dn͞o presidente totius</div> -<div class="verse">Provinciæ Conatiæ et Thomoniæ.</div> -<div class="vi8">Anno Domini 1570.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In front of the hall is a grove of walnut trees, very patriarchs of -their kind; and adjoining is a large grassy amphitheatre, which -Ormerod, the Cheshire historian, has described as “a deserted -pleasure ground;” but, after careful examination, and with some -show of probability, pronounced by Mr. Mayer to be an ancient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -tilting ground, where in times past the warlike Fittons amused -themselves and their Cheshire neighbours with displays of martial -skill and bravery.</p> - -<p>Before we enter the church or view the hall, it may be well to -glance briefly at the earlier history of the place. Gawsworth, -though now an independent parish, was formerly included within -the limits of the great parish of Prestbury; and even at the -present day the whole of the townships which surround it—Macclesfield, -Sutton, Bosley, North Rode, Marton, Siddington, -and Henbury—all owe ecclesiastical allegiance to the mother -church of that widespread parish. The original name, as we learn -from the Domesday survey, was <i>Gouersurde</i>. After the Conquest -it formed part of the possessions of the Norman Earls of Chester; -one of whom, Randle de Meschines, in the twelfth century, gave -it to his trusty follower, Hugh, son of Bigod, with the right of -holding his own courts, without pleading before the prefects at -Macclesfield, in consideration of his rendering to the earl annually -a caparisoned horse; and this Hugh, in accordance with the -fashion of the age, adopted the name of Gawsworth. Subsequently -the manor seems to have passed to Richard Aldford, -whose daughter, Lucy, brought it in marriage to the Orrebies, who -held it free from all service save furnishing one man in time of war -to assist in the defence of Aldford Castle. They retained -possession until the reign of Edward I., when Richard, son of -Thomas de Orreby, dying without male issue, his only sister, -Isabel, who succeeded to the inheritance, and who had previously -married in succession Roger de Macclesfeld and Sir John de -Grindon, Knight, both of whom she survived, conveyed it on her -marriage in 1316–17 to her third husband, Thomas Fytton, a -younger son of Edmund Fytton, of Bolyn (Wilmslow); and thus -Gawsworth became closely associated with a family noted for their -chivalrous exploits, and famous in the annals of the county.</p> - -<p>Of the early history of this distinguished family—“Knights of a -long-continued Race and of great worth,” as Webb styles them—who -for so many generations held sway and practised a splendid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -hospitality in Gawsworth, but few memorials have been preserved -beyond the dry details embodied in their <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Inquisitiones post mortem</i> -in the Public Record Office, and the inscriptions which still remain -upon the sumptuous monuments erected to their memory in the -church which their pious munificence reared.</p> - -<p>Thomas Fitton, who acquired the manor of Gawsworth by his -marriage with the heiress of Orreby, had a son also named Thomas, -who married Margaret, a daughter and co-heir of Peter Legh, of -Bechton, and added to the patrimonial estate half of the manor of -Bechton and lands in Lostock-Gralam, which he obtained in right -of his wife. It was during the lifetime of this Thomas that we find -the first attempt made to erect the chapelry of Gawsworth, which -was then dependent upon Prestbury, into a separate parish. At -that time the Abbot of St. Werburg’s, Chester, held the rectory of -Prestbury, and in the chartulary of his house it is recorded that in -April, 1382, he conceded to John Caxton, rector of Gawsworth, the -privilege of burying his parishioners on paying a moiety of the dues -within ten days after each burial, and with a proviso that any -parishioner of Gawsworth might be interred at Prestbury without -any claim on the part of the rector of Gawsworth.</p> - -<p>In explanation of the granting of this privilege it may be -mentioned that in those times, on the formation of a parish, the -inhabitants were required to perform their parochial rites at the -mother church, the “ealdan mynstre” of the parish. But as many -parishes were of considerable territorial extent, those resident in -the remote hamlets found it inconvenient to resort on all occasions -to the mother church. To provide for the spiritual requirements of -the people in such districts, private chapels or oratories, founded -by the lords of the soil, were allowed to be licensed in convenient -situations. They were frequently attached or immediately adjacent -to the lord’s mansion, and were designed more especially for his -own accommodation and that of his dependents; and Gawsworth, -which is distant nearly six miles from Prestbury, was of this class. -To prevent such foundations trenching upon the rights of the -mother church, they were merely licensed for preaching and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -praying, the ministration of the sacrament of baptism and the -performance of the right of burial being strictly prohibited. These -latter were the true parochial rites, and the grant of them to a -chapel or oratory severed its connection with the parish church, -and converted it into a parochial chapel, or, more strictly speaking, -into an independent church.</p> - -<p>But who was John Caxton, the parson of Gawsworth? The -name is not very frequently met with, and the thought suggests -itself that he may have been, and probably was, a kinsman of that -William Caxton who, a century later, set up his press in the -precincts of Westminster Abbey, and revolutionised the world by -practising the art which Gutenberg had invented.</p> - -<p>In 1391 Thomas Fitton was appointed one of a number of -influential persons in Cheshire who were constituted a commission -to levy a subsidy of 3,000 marks (£2,000) in the city of Chester, -on account of the King’s confirmation of the old charters belonging -to that city. He died in 1397, and was succeeded by his son, Sir -Lawrence Fitton, then aged 22, who married Agnes Hesketh, a -daughter of the house of Rufford, in Lancashire. This Sir -Lawrence, who held the lordship for the long period of 60 years, -fills no inconsiderable space in the annals of the county. He was -frequently one of the forest justices in eyre, the assizes being then -held in Macclesfield, and took an active part in the stirring events -of his time. When, in 1399, Richard the Second went over to -Ireland to avenge the death of Roger Mortimer, by chastising the -Irish chieftains who had risen in insurrection, he, in order to -increase the strength of his Cheshire guard by a fresh levy, issued -his orders to Sir Lawrence Fitton and others commanding them to -summon the best archers in the Macclesfield hundred between 16 -and 60, and to select a number to go to Ireland in his train, who -were to be at Chester on the morrow of the Ascension of our Lord -for inspection by the King’s officers. The King did not actually -sail till the 4th of June, when he was joined by Sir Lawrence -Fitton, who, as appears by an entry on the Recognizance Rolls of -the palatinate, had protection granted him on his departure;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -and at this time, under date June 5, we find a licence to -William Prydyn, parson of Gawsworth, Robert de Tounley, -John Tryket, and Matthew del Mere to act as his attorneys and -to look after his affairs while absent in Ireland on the King’s -service.</p> - -<p>“When the shepherd is absent with his dog the wolf easily leaps -into the fold.” So says the proverb, and Richard had unpleasant -experience of the truthfulness of it, for scarcely had he loosed his -sails before some of the more discontented of his nobles at home -were plotting for his overthrow.</p> - -<p>Within a month of his departure Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of -Hereford, the only son of old John of Gaunt, who had been -banished the kingdom, landed at Ravenspur, near Hull—as -Shakspere <span class="nowrap">writes—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The banish’d Bolingbroke repeats himself,</div> -<div class="verse">And with uplifted arms is safe arrived</div> -<div class="verse">At Ravenspurg,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and before the end of July was at the head of a large army in the -wolds of Worcestershire. It was not until towns and castles had -been yielded to the invader that the King received intelligence of -the insurrection, for the winds had been contrary, and by the time -he landed at Milford the revolution was virtually accomplished. Ill -news does not always travel apace, and in these days, when the -trembling wire speeds the message through air and sea, it seems -difficult to realise the thought of a rebellion stalking through -England unchecked for weeks without the news reaching in the -sister isle him whom it most immediately concerned. On reaching -England, Richard started for Chester, where he had many friends -and his power was strongest. At Flint he was delivered by the -perfidious Percy into the hands of Bolingbroke, thence he was -taken to Chester, and afterwards conveyed to London and lodged -in the Tower, when, after having resigned the crown, he was formally -deposed—an act that was followed by his removal to Pontefract, -where, according to common report, he was murdered by Sir Piers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -Exton and his assistants, though it is more likely he was allowed -to perish of starvation.</p> - -<p>Whether Fitton was one of those who hastened to pay court to -the usurper, and in a bad game elected to adhere to the winning -side, is not clear, but he must have quickly accommodated himself -to the changed state of affairs, and to have gained the confidence -of Bolingbroke—“King Henry of that name the Fourth.”</p> - -<p>Scarcely was Richard dead when a great revulsion in public -feeling occurred, old hatreds and jealousies were revived, and those -who had clamoured most for his death now <span class="nowrap">exclaimed—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Oh, earth, yield us that King again,</div> -<div class="verse">And take thou this;</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and the usurping Henry, who had dreamed only of the throne as a -bed of roses, found himself between the fell spectres conscience -and insatiate treason. In Wales, where Richard had possessed a -strong attachment, Owen Glendower raised the standard of revolt, -renounced allegiance to the King, and claimed to be the rightful -Prince of Wales, when he was joined by young Harry Percy, the -Hotspur of the famous ballad of <cite>Chevy Chase</cite>. To meet this new -danger, Prince Henry, Falstaff’s Prince Hal—“the nimble-footed -mad-cap Harry, Prince of Wales,” who was also Earl of Chester, -and lived much in the county, joined his forces to those of his -father, and on the 11th January, 1403–4, we find him directing a -writ to Sir Lawrence Fitton, requiring him to repair “to his -possessions on the marches of Wales, there to make defence against -the coming of Owen Glendower, according to an order in Council -enacting that, on the occasion of the war being moved against the -King, all those holding possessions on the marches should reside -on the same for the defence of the realm,” and the Recognizance -Rolls show that a few days later the Lord of Gawsworth was -appointed on a commission<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> “to inquire touching those who spread -false rumours to the disquiet of the people of the county of Chester, -and disturbance of the peace therein, also to array all the fencible -men of the hundred of Macclesfield.”</p> - -<p>In 1416, when, after the victory at Agincourt, Henry V. was -preparing for his second expedition to France, with the design of -claiming the crown, Sir Lawrence Fitton, with Sir John Savage, -Knight, Robert de Hyde, Robert de Dokenfield, and John, the -son of Peter de Legh, was appointed collector of the subsidy in the -Macclesfield hundred, part of the 3,000 marks granted to the -King by the county of Chester; and in 1428, with other influential -Cheshire knights and gentry, he was summoned to the King’s -Council at Chester, with regard to the granting of a subsidy to the -King (Henry VI.) His death occurred on the 16th March, 1457, -when he must have been over 80 years of age, and his inquisition -was taken 37 Henry VI. (1459), when his grandson Thomas, then -aged 26, was found to be his next heir. As previously stated, he -had to wife Agnes Hesketh. This lady died in 1422, and he would -appear to have re-married, for in the inquisition taken after his -death mention is made of “Clemencia, his wife,” who is said to be -then alive.</p> - -<p>During his long life a movement was taking place in the Church -which brought about a great change in religious thought and action, -and in which Wycliffe, the rector of Lutterworth, may be said to -have been the chief actor. The rapacity of the monks was securing -or had secured for themselves the larger portion of the livings of -the country, the parishes being handed over to the spiritual care of -vicars, with the small tithes as a miserable stipend. In this manner -the rich rectory of Prestbury had been appropriated to the Abbey -of St. Werburg, Chester; and possibly it was this circumstance, as -much as his own personal convenience, which induced Caxton, -acting under the influence of his patron, the father of Sir Lawrence -Fitton, to seek to detach the chapel of Gawsworth from the mother -church of Prestbury. Having accomplished this, Sir Lawrence -Fitton would seem to have set about the erection of a building -more suited to its increased importance as a parish church, and an -examination of the building points to the conclusion that the -greater portion of the fabric was erected during his lifetime, as -evidenced by the architectural details of the building, as well as by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -the shields of arms displayed on different parts of the tower, -representing the alliances of the family, the latest impalement being -the coat of Mainwaring, intended to commemorate the marriage of -his son Thomas with Ellen, daughter of Randle Mainwaring, of -Over Peover, which would seem to fix the date between the years -1420 and 1430, and not in the reign of Edward III., as generally -supposed. In the Cheshire Church Notes, taken in 1592, there is -preserved an account of a window to the memory of Sir Lawrence -Fitton and his wife, which formerly existed in the church at -Gawsworth. He is represented as in armour, and kneeling with -his wife before desks in the attitude of devotion; on his surcoat -were displayed the arms of Fitton, and on the lady’s mantle those -of Hesketh; behind the knight were eight sons, and in rear of the -lady four daughters, and underneath the inscription, “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Orate pro -bono statu Laurencii ffitton milit’ et Agnet’ uxor ejus cum pueris suis</i>.”</p> - -<p>By his wife Agnes Sir Lawrence Fitton had a son Thomas, who, -as stated, married Ellen, daughter of Randle Mainwaring, of Over -Peover, and their names were in like manner commemorated by a -window, which has now disappeared, comprising three panes, one -representing Sir Randle Mainwaring and his wife Margery, -daughter of Hugh Venables, Baron of Kinderton, kneeling before -desks; the second, Thomas Fitton and seven sons; and the third, -his wife and six daughters, all kneeling, and the inscription, -“<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Orate pro a’iabus Thomæ ffitton, filii Laurencii ffitton, et Elene -ux’ ejus, et om’ puerorum suorum, qui istam fenestram fieri fecerunt</i>.”</p> - -<p>Thomas Fitton pre-deceased his father, leaving a son, also named -Thomas, who succeeded as heir on the death of his grandfather in -1457, he being then 25 years of age. This Thomas inherited the -martial spirit of his ancestors, and took his share in the fierce -struggle of the White and Red Roses, which destroyed the flower -of the English nobility, and impoverished and well-nigh exhausted -the country—“that purple testament of bleeding war”—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">When, like a matron butcher’d of her sons,</div> -<div class="verse">And cast aside some common way, a spectacle</div> -<div class="verse">Of horror and affright to passers by,</div> -<div class="verse">Our bleeding country bled at every vein!</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> -<p>He was present in the sanguinary encounter at Bloreheath, near -Drayton, on that fatal 23rd July, 1459—St. Tecla’s Day—when -Lord Audley and the Lancastrians were defeated, and was -knighted on the field; and there is on the Cheshire Recognizance -Rolls, under date April 29th, 38–9 Henry VI. (1460), the record of -a general pardon granted to Thomas Fitton and Richard Fitton, -late of Gawsworth; William, son of Lawrence Fitton, late of -Gawsworth; Edward, brother of Thomas Fitton, late of Gawsworth; -some of their kinsmen of the Pownall stock, and other -Cheshire gentry, with a long list of residents in Gawsworth, the -retainers of the Fittons—names that are still familiar in the -neighbourhood—“in consideration,” as it states, “of the good -service of the said Thomas Fitton, Knight, and his adherents at -Blore-heth.” His name also occurs under date June 10, 1463, -with those of John de Davenport, of Bramhall; Hugh Davenport, -of Henbury; and Christopher Davenport, of Woodford, in the -appointment of collectors of a subsidy for the King (Edward IV.) -in the Macclesfield Hundred. He married Ellen, daughter of Sir -Peter Legh, of Lyme, but this lady, who predeceased him, bore -him no issue. He died April 27, 1494, when the estates devolved -upon his brother and next heir, Edward Fitton, then aged 60 -years. This Edward, by his marriage with Emmota, the daughter -and sole heiress of Robert Siddington, had at that time acquired -possession of two parts of the manor of Siddington, which had -been held by his wife’s family for many generations on the tenure -of rendering a red rose yearly, and thus he added materially to the -territorial wealth and influence of the Gawsworth house. Though -there is no absolute evidence of the fact, there is yet good reason -to believe that the south porch of Gawsworth Church was added -or rebuilt by this Edward Fitton, one of the carved decorations -being a rose, in the leaves of which may be discerned two heads, -evidently intended to represent Henry VII. and his Queen, who, -by their marriage, had united the rival houses of York and Lancaster, -and so terminated the long and bitter War of the Roses.</p> - -<p>Edward Fitton died 15th February, 1510–11, leaving, with other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -issue, a son John, who succeeded as heir, and who, as appears by -the inquisition taken after his father’s death, was then 40 years of -age. He had married, in 1498, Ellen, daughter of Sir Andrew -Brereton, the representative of a family that had been seated at -Brereton from the time of William Rufus. By her he had, with -other issue, a son Edward, who succeeded at his death, which -occurred on the Sunday after St. Valentine’s Day, 1525. In the -Cheshire Church Notes already referred to, mention is made of a -memorial window formerly existing on the south side of Gawsworth -Church, containing the arms of Fitton quartering those of Siddington -and Bechton, with the inscription underneath: “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Orate -pro a’iabus Edwardi ffitton et Emmotæ uxis suæ, et pro a’iabus -Johannis ffitton, et Elene ux’ sue ... et Roberti -Sedyngton et Elene uxoris sue</i>;” and there was also formerly in -one of the windows of the south aisle of Wilmslow Church, as we -learn from Mr. Earwaker’s “East Cheshire,” a representation of -John Fitton and his wife. The drawing made by Randle Holmes -shows the figure of a knight kneeling on a cushion and wearing a -tabard of arms, the coat being that of Fitton of Gawsworth; and -lower down is a knight kneeling, with his tabard of arms quarterly—(1) -Orreby, (2) Siddington, (3) Bechton, and (4) Fitton. Behind -him kneel eight sons; opposite, also kneeling, is his wife, wearing -an heraldic mantle representing the arms of Brereton, with a shield -containing the same coat above her head; and behind her, -kneeling, six daughters. The inscription had then disappeared, -but it is clear that the first figure was intended for Edward Fitton -of Gawsworth, whilst the other represented his son John, and his -wife, Ellen Brereton, and their children.</p> - -<p>On the death of John Fitton, in 1525, the family estates -devolved upon his eldest son Edward, who received the honour -of knighthood, and in the 35th Henry VIII. (1543–4) held the -shrievalty of the county. He married Mary, the younger daughter -and co-heir of Sir Guiscard Harbottle, a Northumberland knight, -and by her had five sons and six daughters. He died on February -17, 1548, and on his inquisition, which was taken the same year,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -Edward Fitton, his son, then aged 21 years, was found to be his -heir.</p> - -<p>Edward Fitton, who succeeded to the Gawsworth estates on the -death of his father, in 1548, was born 31st March, 1527; and when -only 12 years of age had been united in marriage with Anne, one -of the daughters of Sir Peter Warburton, of Warburton and -Arley, the lady being a month younger than himself. He was -one of the foresters of Macclesfield, and was exempted from -serving upon juries and at the assizes, in accordance with the -terms of a writ dated 29th March, 5 and 6 Edw. VI. (1532), -addressed to the sheriff of the county. Eight years after his -coming in possession of the patrimonial lands, as appears by -letters patent bearing date 3 and 4 Philip and Mary (1556–7), he, -in conjunction with William Tatton, of Wythenshawe, who in -1552 had espoused his eldest sister, Mary, obtained a grant from -the Crown of Etchells, part of the confiscated estates of Sir William -Brereton, together with Aldford and Alderley, the property being -subsequently partitioned; Aldford and Alderley remaining with Sir -Edward, whilst Etchells passed to his son-in-law, William Tatton.</p> - -<p>Subsequently his name occurs in the palatine records, with those of -William Davenport, Knt., and William Dokenfield and Jasper Worth, -Esquires, as collectors of a mise in Macclesfield, in 1559–60.</p> - -<p>The influential position which the Fittons held in their own -county was due, as we have seen, not less to their martial bearing -than to their successful marriages, and it was this chivalrous spirit -which was ever a characteristic of the stock that led to their being -frequently employed in the public service. In the person of Sir -Edward Fitton the ancient fame of the family was well sustained. -In 1569, the year in which Shane O’Neill, the representative of the -royal race of Ulster, was attainted in Parliament—that daring chief -of a valorous line, whose</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Kings with standard of green unfurl’d,</div> -<div class="vi4">Led the Red-branch knights to danger;</div> -<div class="verse">Ere the emerald gem of the western world</div> -<div class="vi4">Was set in the crown of a stranger—</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> -<p>when Ireland was in a state of anarchy and confusion—when the -Desmonds and the Tyrones were trying the chances of insurrection -rather than abdicate their unlicensed but ancient chieftainship, -and the half-civilised people were encouraged in their disobedience -to the law by the mischievous activity of the Catholic clergy, who -had been forcibly dispossessed of their benefices, and therefore -wished to free themselves from the English yoke—Sir Edward -Fitton was sent over to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth to fill the -difficult and responsible post of first Lord President of the Council -within the Province of Munster and Thomond—an office he held -for a period of over three years. His position can hardly be said -to have been an enviable one, for the country at that time had -become so wasted by war and military executions, and famine and -pestilence, that two years previously Sir Henry Sidney, the viceroy, -in his letters to Elizabeth, described the southern and western -counties as “an unmeasurable tract, now waste and uninhabited, -which of late years was well tilled and pastured.” He adds,—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>A more pleasant nor a more desolate land I never saw than from Youghall -to Limerick.... So far hath that policy, or rather lack of policy, in -keeping dissension among them prevailed, as now, albeit all that are alive -would become honest and live in quiet, yet are there not left alive in those -two provinces the twentieth person necessary to inhabit the same.</p></blockquote> - -<p>And the description is confirmed by a contemporary writer—a -Cheshire man, by the way, whose early life was spent in the neighbourhood -of Gawsworth (Hollinshead)—who thus expresses the -truth with hyperbolical <span class="nowrap">energy:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The land itself, which before those wars was populous, well inhabited, -and rich in all the good blessings of God, being plenteous of corn, full of -cattle, well stored with fruits and sundry other good commodities, is now -become waste and barren, yielding no fruits, the pastures no cattle, the -fields no corn, the air no birds, the seas, though full of fish, yet to them -yielding nothing. Finally, every way, the curse of God was so great, and -the land so barren, both of man and beast, that whosoever did travel from -one end unto the other he should not meet any man, woman, or child, -saving in towns and cities; nor yet see any beast but they were wolves, the -foxes, and other like ravenous beasts.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> - -<p>On the dissolution of the Council in September, 1572, Sir -Edward Fitton returned to England; but remained only a few -months, when he was appointed (March, 1573) Treasurer for the -War and Vice-Treasurer and Receiver-General in Ireland. He -appears to have taken up his abode in Dublin, where in January of -the following year he lost his wife. She was buried in St. Patrick’s -Cathedral, in that city, January, 1573–4; and in the MSS. of -Bishop Sterne there is preserved the following curious account of -the ceremonial observed on the occasion of her <span class="nowrap">funeral:—</span></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> -<blockquote> - -<p>“The order in the presyding for buriall of the worshypful Lady Fitton, -on Sonday, bein the 17 day of January, Anno 1573.</p> - -<p>First, serteyne youmen to goo before the penon with the armes of Syr -Edwarde Fytton, and his wyfe’s dessessed; and next after them the penon, -borne by Mr. Rycharde Fytton, second son to Syr Edw. Fytton and Lady, -his wyfe dessessed; and sarten gentillmen servants to the sayd Syr Edw. -Fytton; then the gentill-hossher and the chapplens, and then Ulster Kyng -of Armes of Ierland, weyring his mornyng goune and hod, with hys cote -of the armes of Ynglande. And then the corpes of the sayd Lady Fytton, -and next after the corps the lady Brabason, who was the principal morner, -bein lyd and assysted by Sir Rafe Egerton, knyght, and Mr. Fran. Fytton, -Esq., brother to the said Syr Edwarde, and next after her, Mistress -Agarde, wyfe to Mr. Fran. Agarde; then Mrs. Chalenor, wyfe to Mr. John -Chalenor; then Mrs. Dyllon; then Mrs. Bruerton, being the other III -murners. Then Syr Edward Fytton goying bytwene the Archebysshoppe of -Dublin and the Bishop of Methe; then Sir John Plunkett, Chefe Justice of -Ireland; then Master Dyllon, beying the Chefe Baron; then Mr. Fran. -Agard and Mr. John Chalenor, wyth other men to the number of XIII -gentylmen; then sarten other gentyllwomen and maydens, morners, to the -nomber of VIII; and then the Mayor of Dublyn, wyth his brytherne, the -Schyreffes and Aldermen; and the poure folks VI men on the one syde of -the corse and VI women on the other syde. And so coming to the cherche -of St. Patryke, where was a herse prepared, and when they cam to the -herse, the yomen stode, halfe on the one side and halfe on the other, the -penon berer stood at the fette of the corps; then the corps was layd upon -a payer of trestels within the herse, and then the III morners were -brought to their places by Ulster Kyng of Armes aforesaid, and the cheffe -morner was brought to her place at the hede of the corps, and so the herse -was closd; and the tow assystants set uppon tow stowles without the rayles, -and then sarvyce was begon by the Bysshope of Methe, and after sarvyce -there was a sermon made, and the sermon endyd, the company went home -to the house of the sayd Sir Edw. Fytton; and the corpse was buryed by -the reverent father, the Bysshop of Methe, and when the corpse was -buryed, the clothe was layd again upon the trestylls wythin the herse, -which was deckyed with scochyens of armes in pale of hys and her armes, -and on the morow the herse was sett over the grave and the penon sett in -the wall over the grave. And Ulster Kyng of Armes had V yardes of -fyne blake clothe for his lyvery, and 50s. sterling for hys fee, and the herse -with the cloth that was on the corse wyth all the furnyture there of the -herse.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>It may be mentioned that the claim of Ulster King of Arms to -the costly materials of which the hearse was composed was -disputed by the Vicars Choral of St Patrick’s, and the matter was -not settled until 1578, when a decision was given in favour of the -former by the Lord Deputy of the Council. Sir Edward Fitton -died July 3, 1579, and his remains were interred by the side of -those of his wife, the memory of both being perpetuated in an -inscription on a sepulchral brass still remaining in St. Patrick’s -Cathedral, Dublin, on which is engraved the figure of a man -with nine children behind him, and, opposite, a woman with -six children behind her, all kneeling. The inscription which is -below is as <span class="nowrap">follows:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Glorify thy name, hasten thy</div> -<div class="verse">Kingdome; Comforte thy flock;</div> -<div class="vi4">Confound thy adversaries;</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Ser Edward ffitton, of Gausworth, in the counte of Chester, in Englande, -knight, was sent into Ireland by Quene Elizabeth, to serve as the -first L President of her highnes Counsell within the province of Connaght -and Thomonde, who landing in Ireland on the Ascention day, 1569, Ao. R. -R. Elizabeth XI. lyued there in the rome aforesaid till Mighellmas, 1572, -Ao. Elizabeth XIIIIº.; and then, that Counsell being dissolued, and he -repayring into England, was sent over againe in March next following as -Threasaurer at Warres, Vice-treasaurer, and general receyvor within the -realme of Ireland, and hath here buried the wyef of his youth, Anne, the -seconnd daughter of Sir Peter Warburton, of Areley, in the county of -Chester, knight, who were born both in one yere, viz., he ye last of Marche, -1527, and she the first of May in the same yeare; and were maried on -Sonday next after Hillaries daye, 1539, being ye 19 daye of Januarie, in -the 12 yere of their age, and lyued together in true and lawfull matrymonie -just 34 yeres; for the same Sonday of ye yere wherein they were -maried, ye same Sondaie 34 yeres following was she buried, though she -faithfully departed this lyef 9 daies before, viz., on the Saturdaie, ye 9 daie -of Januarie, 1573; in which time God gave them 15 children, viz., 9<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -sonnes and six daughters; and now her body slepeth under this Stone, and -her soul is retourned to God yt gave yt, and there remayneth in kepinge of -Christe Jesus, her onely Saviour. And the said Ser Edward departed this -lyef the thirde daie of July, Ao. Dni. 1579, and was buried the xxi daie of -September next folowing; whose fleshe also resteth under the same stone, -in assured hope of full and perfect resurrection to eternall lyef in ioye, -through Christe his onely Saviour; and the said Ser Edward was revoked -home into England, and left this land the —— day of —— Anno Domini -being the —— yere of his age.</p></blockquote> - -<p>At the east end of the north side of Gawsworth Church there is -a replica of this inscription, with the figures of Sir Edward and -Lady Fitton, and their fifteen children.</p> - -<p>A younger brother of Sir Edward was Francis Fitton, who in -1588 married Katherine, the Countess Dowager of Northumberland, -one of the four daughters and co-heirs of John Neville Lord -Latimer. His portrait was formerly to be seen in the “new” hall at -Gawsworth, with a long and curious inscription surrounding it, -recording some of the alliances of the family.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward Fitton, as stated, died July 3, 1579. His inquisition -was taken the following year, when his son, Sir Edward Fitton, -Knight, then aged 30, was found to be his heir. He was probably -at the time in Ireland, for it was not until April 24, 25 Elizabeth -(1583), that he had livery of his lands. In 1602, as appears by an -indenture dated June 20 in that year, he sold the manor of Nether -Alderley, which had been acquired by his father, to Thomas -Stanley, ancestor of the present Lord Stanley of Alderley. Sir -Edward filled the office of President of Munster, in Ireland, and -died in 1606, leaving, by his wife Alice, daughter and sole heir of -John Holcroft, of Holcroft, in Lancashire, with other issue, a son, -Sir Edward Fitton, born 29th November, 1572, who was created a -Baronet in 1617. He died May 10, 1619, being then aged 47, -and was buried at Gawsworth, where a sumptuous monument was -erected to his memory by his wife, “the Lady Ann Fytton,” -daughter and co-heir of James Barratt, of Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, -Esq., with the following extravagant effusion inscribed on a panel -<span class="nowrap">below:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Least tongves to fvtvre ages shovld be dvmb,</div> -<div class="verse">The very stones thvs speak abovt ovr tomb.</div> -<div class="verse">Loe, two made one, whence sprang these many more,</div> -<div class="verse">Of whom a King once prophecy’d before.</div> -<div class="verse">Here’s the blest man, his wife the frvitfvl vine,</div> -<div class="verse">The children th’ olive plants, a gracefvll line,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose sovle’s and body’s beavties sentence them</div> -<div class="verse"><em>Fitt-ons</em> to weare a heavenly Diadem.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Lady Ann Fitton survived her husband many years. Her will -bears date January 31, 1643–4, but the date of probate has not -been ascertained. In it she bequeaths several small legacies to her -grandchildren and others, appoints her daughter, Mrs. Lettice Cole, -sole executrix, and her two grandchildren, William, Lord Brereton, -and Charles Gerard, supervisors. She died 26th March, 1644, and -was buried at Gawsworth.</p> - -<p>On the death of Sir Edward the family estates passed to his son, -also named Edward, who was baptised at Gawsworth, August 24th, -1603, and must, therefore, have been under age on his accession to -the property. In October, 1622, he married Jane, daughter of Sir -John Trevor, of Plâs Teg, in Denbighshire, by whom he had a -daughter, Margaret, who died in infancy. Lady Fitton died June, -1638, and was buried at Gawsworth, when Sir Edward again -entered the marriage state, his second wife being Felicia, daughter -of Ralph Sneyd, of Keel, in Staffordshire. Concerning this second -marriage there is the following curious entry in the Corporation -books of the borough of <span class="nowrap">Congleton:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1638. Paid for an entertainment for Sir Edwd. Fitton, of Gawsworth, -his bride, father, and mother-in-law, on their first coming through the -town, and divers other gentlemen who accompanied him and his bride, on -their going to Gawsworth to bring his lady. He sent his barber two days -before to the mayor and aldermen, and the rest, to entreat them to bid -them welcome -<span class="bright"> -12s. 4d.</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The civic authorities of Congleton were noted for their hospitality, -and we may therefore assume that little “entreaty” was -required on the part of the “barber” to secure a cordial welcome -for the Baronet and his bride. We are not told what the entertainment -consisted of, but no doubt the cakes and sack for which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -old borough had even then long been famous entered largely into -the festivities, though the amount charged does not suggest the idea -of any very extravagant convivialities.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward was soon called by the stern duties of the times from -the enjoyment of domestic life. Clouds were gathering upon the -political horizon which heralded a tempest; the seeds of civil war -had been sown, and soon King and Commons were arrayed against -each other, neither caring for peace, for if the olive branch was -held out it was stripped of its leaves, and appeared only as a dry -and sapless twig. In the great struggle between Charles and the -Parliament the owner of Gawsworth espoused the cause of his -Sovereign, and distinguished himself in several military engagements. -He raised a regiment of infantry for the King’s service -from among his own tenantry and dependents, of which he had the -command; and the good people of Congleton, not wishing to have -the tranquillity of their town disturbed by the quartering of his -troops in it, in the hope of avoiding the inconvenience proferred -him their hospitality, as one of the entries in the Corporation -accounts <span class="nowrap">shows:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1642. Wine gave to Colonel Fitton, not to quarter 500 soldiers on -the town<span class="bright">3s. 4d.</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Colonel Fitton fought in the battle at Edgehill, where the two -armies were first put in array against each other, and was also -present with the King at the taking of Banbury, as well as in the -operations at Brentford and Reading. He afterwards took part -with Prince Rupert in the storming of Bristol, and when that city—exceeded -only by London in population and wealth—was, after a -terrible slaughter, surrendered (July 27, 1643) by Nathaniel Fiennes -to the arms of its sovereign, he was left in charge of the garrison, -and died there of consumption in the following month, at the early -age of 40. His body was removed to Gawsworth for interment, -and the occasion of its passing through the town of Congleton is -thus referred to in the <span class="nowrap">accounts:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Paid for carrying Sir Edwd. Fitton through the town, and for repairing -Rood-lane for the occasion<span class="bright">4s. 0d.</span> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the south-east angle of Gawsworth Church there is a large -monument to the memory of Sir Edward, his first wife, and their -infant daughter, placed there by his second wife, who survived him, -and afterwards re-married Sir Charles Adderley. It consists of an -arch resting upon pillars, beneath which is an altar-tomb supporting -the effigies of Sir Edward and his wife, and that of their infant -daughter. A tablet containing a long Latin inscription, formerly -affixed to the south wall, beneath the canopy, has in recent years -been removed to the east wall of the chancel.</p> - -<p>Sir Edward left no surviving issue, a circumstance which gave -rise to almost endless contentions between the kinsmen of his -name and their cousins—the Gerards. Lawsuit followed lawsuit; -long and rancorous were the proceedings in the “Great Cheshire -Will Case,” as it was called; and the fierce struggle, which began -in one century with forgery, followed by seduction and divorce, was -ended in the next, when the husbands of the two ladies who -claimed to be heiresses were slain by each other in a murderous -duel in Hyde Park. Immediately after the death of Sir Edward -Fitton, Penelope, Anne, Jane, and Frances, his four sisters—married -respectively to Sir Charles Gerard, Knight; Sir John -Brereton, Knight; Thomas Minshull, Esquire; and Henry Mainwaring, -Esquire—entered upon possession of the estates; but, -after long litigation, they were ejected by William Fitton, son of -Alexander, second surviving son of Sir Edward Fitton, Treasurer -of Ireland, who claimed under a deed alleged to have been -executed by Sir Edward, settling the estates upon himself, with -remainder in succession to his sons, Edward and Alexander, the -latter of whom succeeded him in the possession, and he obtained -three verdicts in his favour. One of the sisters of Sir Edward -Fitton—Penelope—had married Sir Charles Gerard, of Halsall, in -Lancashire, and by him had a son, Sir Charles Gerard, created -Lord Brandon in 1645, and Earl of Macclesfield in 1679. Lord -Brandon was one of the notable gallants at the profligate Court of -Charles II. He held the office of Gentleman of the Bedchamber, -and was also Captain of the Guards—the latter a commission which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -he relinquished for a douceur of £12,000 when the King wanted -to bestow the dignity upon his illegitimate son, the Duke of -Monmouth. He kept up a large establishment in London, surrounded -by trim gardens, the remembrance of which is perpetuated -in the names of the streets that now occupy the site—Gerard -Street and Macclesfield Street, in Soho. His wife, a French lady, -brought herself into disfavour at Court through indulging in the -feminine propensity of allowing her tongue to wag too freely in -disparagement of the notorious courtesan, Lady Castlemaine, as -we learn from an entry in “Pepys’s Diary”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1662–3. Creed told me how, for some words of my Lady Gerard’s -against my Lady Castlemaine to the Queene, the King did the other day -apprehend her in going out to a dance with her at a ball, when she desired -it as the ladies do, and is since forbid attending the Queen by the King; -which is much talked of, my lord her husband being a great favourite.</p></blockquote> - -<p>On the restoration of the King, nineteen years after the death of -Sir Edward Fitton, and thirty after the entail had been confirmed, -as alleged by a deed-poll, Lord Gerard produced a will which would -be looked for in vain in the Ecclesiastical Court at Chester, purporting -to have been made in his favour by his mother’s brother, -Sir Edward Fitton. Hot, fierce, and anxious was the litigation that -followed, and in 1663 a small volume was printed at the Hague, -entitled, “A True Narrative of the Proceedings in the several -Suits-in-law that have been between the Right Honourable Charles, -Lord Brandon, and Alexander Fitton, Esqr., published for general -satisfaction, by a Lover of Truth.” Fitton pleaded the deed-poll, -but Gerard brought forward one Abraham Grainger, then confined -in the Gate House, who made oath that he had forged the name of -Sir Edward to the deed under a threat of mortal violence, whereupon -the Court of Chancery directed a trial to determine whether -the deed-poll was genuine or not. The forgery was admitted by -Grainger, and corroborated by other witnesses, who deposed that -they had heard Fitton confess that Grainger had forged a deed for -him, for which he had paid him £40. The judgment of the Court -was given in favour of Gerard, and the deed declared to be a forgery.</p> - -<p>The strangest part of the story remains. Grainger, impelled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -either by remorse or the desire to escape a heavy penalty by -acknowledging the smaller offence, made a written confession -setting forth that he had perjured himself when he swore that he -had forged the name of Sir Edward, and had been compelled to do -so by the threats of Lord Gerard. Pepys, who had a strong dislike -to Lord Gerard, refers to the circumstance in his <span class="nowrap">“Diary”:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>My cosen, Roger Pepys, he says, showed me Grainger’s written confession -of his being forced by imprisonment, &c., by my Lord Gerard, most -barbarously to confess his forging of a deed in behalf of Fitton, in the -great case between him and my Lord Gerard; which business is under -examination, and is the foulest against my Lord Gerard that ever anything -in the world was, and will, all do believe, ruine him; and I shall be glad of it.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The anticipations of the gossiping diarist were not, however, -realised. The confession, being unsupported by evidence, was -discredited, and Fitton, who was adjudged to be the real offender, -was fined £500 and committed to the King’s Bench.</p> - -<p>Alexander Fitton, who was thus dispossessed of the property, -lingered in prison until the accession of James II., when, having -embraced the Romish faith, he was released from confinement and -taken into favour by the King, who made him Chancellor of -Ireland, and subsequently conferred upon him the honour of -knighthood and created him Lord Gawsworth. He sat in the -Irish Parliament of 1689, where he appears to have been actively -employed in passing Acts of forfeiture of Protestant property, and -attainder of Protestant personages. On the abdication of James -he accompanied him into exile, where he remained, and, dying, left -descendants who, it is to be feared, benefited little from the tutelar -dignities his sovereign had conferred upon him.</p> - -<p>The whimsical <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">finesse</i> of the law, which wrested from Alexander -Fitton the lands owned for so many generations by his progenitors -and bestowed them upon the Gerards, though it added wealth, did -not convey peace or contentment to the successful litigants. Their -history during the brief period they owned the Gawsworth estates -partakes much of the character of a romance in real life, but it is -one that is by no means pleasant to contemplate. Charles Gerard, -on whom the barony of Brandon and the earldom of Macclesfield<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -had been successively conferred, died in January, 1693–4, when -the titles and estates devolved upon his eldest son, who bore the -same baptismal name. Charles, the second earl, was the husband -of the lady who, by her adulterous connection with Richard Savage, -Earl Rivers, and as the heroine of the famous law case that -followed upon the birth of the celebrated but unfortunate poet, -Richard Savage, acquired an unenviable notoriety even in that age, -when profligacy formed such a prominent characteristic of society.</p> - -<p>The Countess of Macclesfield, under the name of Madame -Smith, and wearing a mask, was delivered of a male child in Fox -Court, near Brook Street, Holborn, by Mrs. Wright, a midwife, on -Saturday, the 16th January, 1697–8. The earl denied the paternity, -and satisfactorily proved the impossibility of his being the father of -the son borne by his countess; who, on her side, narrated a -stratagem she had devised, whereby the disputed paternity could -not be denied. The stratagem was not unknown in the licentious -comedies of the time, but no credit was given to it in this case; -and thus the honour of Gerard was saved from being tainted by -the bastard of Savage. A divorce was granted in 1698; but the -law deemed the earl to be accountable, through his own profligacy, -for the malpractices of his wife, and decreed that he should repay -the portion he had received with her in marriage. With this -amount she married Colonel Brett, the friend of Colley Cibber, by -whom she had a daughter, Ann Brett, the impudent mistress of -George I., her illegitimate offspring by Lord Rivers—Richard -Savage, whom she disowned—being educated at the cost of her -mother, Lady Mason. It has been alleged that Savage was an -impostor, and this opinion was held by Boswell, the biographer of -Dr. Johnson, who says: “In order to induce a belief that the -Earl Rivers, on account of a criminal connection with whom Lady -Macclesfield is said to have been divorced from her husband by -Act of Parliament, had a peculiar anxiety about the child which -she bore to him, it is alleged that his lordship gave him his own -name, and had it duly recorded in the register of St Andrew’s, -Holborn. I have,” he adds,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> “carefully inspected that register, -and I cannot find it.” That Boswell should have failed in the -discovery is explained by a reference to “The Earl of Macclesfield’s -Case,” presented to the House of Lords in 1697–8, from which it -appears that the child was registered by the name of Richard, the -son of John Smith, and christened on Monday, January 18th, in -Fox Court, and this statement is confirmed by the following entry -in the register of St. Andrew’s, <span class="nowrap">Holborn:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Jany., 1696–7. Richard, son of John Smith and Mary, in Fox Court, in -Gray’s Inn Lane, baptized the 18th.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Notwithstanding the discredit that has been thrown upon -Savage’s story, there can be little doubt of its truth. It was -universally believed at the time, and no attempt was ever made by -the countess to contradict or to invalidate any of the statements -contained in it. Moreover, he was openly recognised in the house -of Lord Tyrconnell, a nephew of the Countess of Macclesfield, -with whom he resided as a guest for two years, and he was also -on terms of acquaintance with the Countess of Rochford, the -illegitimate daughter of Earl Rivers by Mrs. Colydon.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>The Earl of Macclesfield did not long survive the granting of -his divorce. He was sent as Ambassador to Hanover, and died -there, November 5, 1701, when the title devolved upon his younger -brother, Fitton Gerard, who died unmarried in the following year, -when the Earldom of Macclesfield became extinct, the estates -then passing under the will of the second earl to his niece and -co-heiress, the daughter of his sister, Charlotte Mainwaring, -married to Charles, Lord Mohun, son of Warwick, Lord Mohun, -by Philippa, daughter of Arthur, Earl of Anglesey. The preference -thus shown offended the Duke of Hamilton, who had married the -daughter of another niece, Elizabeth, daughter and sole heiress of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -Digby, Lord Gerard—by his wife, the Lady Elizabeth Gerard—the -heir-general of the Macclesfield family, who felt himself injured by -this disposition of the property. A lawsuit to determine the -validity of Lord Macclesfield’s will was commenced, much jealousy -and heart-burning followed, and eventually the two disputing -husbands brought their feud to a sanguinary end in the memorable -duel which proved fatal to both.</p> - -<p>The circumstances of this tragic affair are recorded in Dean -Swift’s “History of the Four Last Years of Queen Anne,” published -in 1758, and are more fully detailed in “Transactions During the -Reign of Queen Anne,” published in Edinburgh in 1790, by -Charles Hamilton, a kinsman of one of the combatants. It appears -that upon the return of Lord Bolingbroke, after the peace of Utrecht, -and the suspension of hostilities between Great Britain and France, -the Duke of Hamilton, long noted for his attachment to the -Stuarts, and the acknowledged head of the Jacobite party, was -appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the -Court of France. Previous to his departure he wished to bring to -a close the Chancery suit which had been pending between Lord -Mohun and himself. With that view he, on the 13th November, -1712, attended at the chambers of Olebar, a Master in Chancery, -where his adversary met him by appointment. In the course of -the interview, Mr. Whitworth, formerly the steward of the Macclesfield -family, gave evidence, and, as his memory was much impaired -by age, the duke somewhat petulantly exclaimed, “There is no -truth or justice in him,” upon which Lord Mohun retorted, “I -know Mr. Whitworth. He is an honest man, and has as much -truth as your grace.” This grating remark was allowed to pass -unnoticed at the time, but Lord Mohun afterwards meeting with -General Macartney and Colonel Churchill, both violent men, and -declared partisans of the Duke of Marlborough, who had then -been removed from the command of the army by the party to -which the Duke of Hamilton was attached, it would seem that the -offending person was induced by them to challenge the person -offended. Preliminaries having been arranged, the combatants<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -met in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, on the morning of the -15th November—the duke attended by his relative, Colonel -Hamilton, and Lord Mohun by General Macartney. In a few -moments the affair was ended, and when the park keepers, alarmed -by the clashing of swords, rushed to the spot whence the sound -proceeded, they found the two noblemen weltering in their blood—Lord -Mohun was already dead, and the Duke of Hamilton expired -before he could be removed. Nor had the combat been limited to -the principals alone. The seconds had crossed swords and fought -with desperate rancour. Colonel Hamilton remained upon the -field, and was taken prisoner, but Macartney fled to the Continent. -Colonel Hamilton subsequently declared upon oath, before the -Privy Council, that, when they met upon the ground, the duke, -turning to Macartney, said, “Sir, you are the cause of this, let the -event be what it will.” To which Macartney replied, “My lord, I -had a commission for it.” Lord Mohun then said, “These gentlemen -shall have nothing to do here.” Whereupon Macartney -exclaimed, “We will have our share.” To which the duke -answered, “There is my friend—he will take his share in my -dance.” Colonel Hamilton further deposed that when the principals -engaged, he and Macartney, as seconds, followed their -example; that Macartney was immediately disarmed; but that he -(Colonel Hamilton), seeing the duke fall upon his antagonist, -threw away the swords, and ran to lift him up; and that, while he -was employed in raising the duke, Macartney, having taken up one -of the swords, stabbed his grace over Hamilton’s shoulder, and -retired immediately.</p> - -<p>A prodigious ferment was occasioned by this duel, which assumed -a high political character. Neither of the combatants were men -who could lay claim to any great admiration on the score of -integrity or principle. Lord Mohun had, in fact, been long known -as a brawler, and had acquired an infamous reputation for his share -in the murder of William Mountford, the player, before his own -door, in Howard Street, Strand. The Duke of Hamilton, as we -have said, was the recognised head of the Jacobite faction, whilst -his antagonist, Lord Mohun, was a zealous champion of the Whig<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -interest. The Tories exclaimed against this event as a party duel, -brought about by their political opponents for the purpose of -inflicting a vital wound on the Jacobite cause, then in the ascendant, -by removing its great prop before his departure to the Court of -France. They affirmed that the duke had met with foul play, and -treated Macartney as a cowardly assassin. That the allegation was -well founded may be doubted, for all the evidence points to the conclusion -that both sets of antagonists, seconds as well as principals, -were so blinded by the virulence of personal hatred as to neglect -all the laws both of the gladiatorial art and the duelling code, and -assailed each other with the fury of savages. A proclamation was -issued by the Government offering a reward of £500 for the -apprehension of Macartney, and £300 was offered in addition by -the Duchess of Hamilton. After a time Macartney returned, -surrendered, and took his trial, when he was acquitted of murder, -and found guilty of manslaughter only. Subsequently he was -restored to his rank in the army, and entrusted with the command -of a regiment. After the accession of George I. he was in great -favour with the Court of Hanover, and was employed in bringing -over Dutch troops on the occasion of the insurrection in England, -which ended in the capitulation at Preston of the Earls of Derwentwater -and Nithsdale, and other English and Scottish lords and -gentlemen.</p> - -<p>The Gawsworth property, which Lord Mohun had acquired by -his first wife, Charlotte Mainwaring, he bequeathed by will to his -second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Thomas Lawrence, first -physician to Queen Anne; and the Lady Mohun, who thus became -possessed of the estates, which she held in trust, directed that at -her death they should be sold, and the proceeds, after the payment -of certain specified bequests, applied to the use of her two -daughters by her first husband, Elizabeth Griffith, wife of Sir -Robert Rich, Bart., and Ann Griffith, wife of the distinguished -soldier and statesman, William Stanhope, who, in recognition of his -public services, was elevated to the peerage, Nov. 20, 1729, by the -title of Baron Harrington, and subsequently raised to the dignities<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -of Viscount Petersham and Earl of Harrington. Lord Harrington -in 1727 purchased the manor from his wife’s trustees, and thus -passed into the family of Stanhope an estate with which they had -no connection by blood or by alliance. From the first Earl of -Harrington the property has descended in regular succession to -the present owner, Charles Augustus Stanhope, the eighth earl.</p> - -<p>A curious feature in connection with the Old Hall of Gawsworth, -and one strongly suggestive of the warlike spirit of its former -owner, is the ancient tilting ground in the rear of the mansion. -Ormerod, the historian, was of opinion that this relic of a -chivalrous age had been a pleasure ground; but Mr. Mayer, the -honorary curator of the Historic Society of Lancashire and -Cheshire, who made a careful survey some years ago, shows, with -much probability, that it was intended for jousts and other displays -of martial skill and bravery. The “tilt-yard,” the form of which may -still be very clearly traced, is about two hundred yards in length and -sixty-five in width, surrounded on three of its sides by a steep -embankment or mound, sixteen yards in width. Within this enclosure -the lists were arranged and the barriers erected, and here -the knights, with pointless lances or coronels in rest, assembled to -perform the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hastiludia pacifica</i> or peaceable jousts for the amusement -of the ladies and other spectators who occupied the embankment.</p> - -<p>At the further end of the long flat is a raised circular mound, -with a base twenty-five yards square, on which was placed the tent -of the Queen of Beauty, who, surrounded by her attendants, could -overlook the whole field, and to her the successful competitors were -heralded to receive at her hand the prize or guerdon to which -their chivalrous skill had entitled them. Near to this mound is a -smaller piece of ground, about fifty-seven yards in length, with three -rows of seats cut out of the bank, on three of its sides, and one row -on the fourth, that nearest the throne of the “Queen of Beauty.” -This, Mr. Mayer surmises, was intended for battles by single -combat with the sword and quarter-staff, for wrestling, and other -athletic displays; where, also, at Christmastide, and at wakes and -festivals, the mummers practised their rude drolleries; where,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -too, the itinerant bards sang their rugged and unpolished lays in -glorification of the achievements of the Cheshire warriors of ancient -days, and where</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Minstrel’s harp poured forth its tone</div> -<div class="verse">In praise of Maud and Marguerite fair.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The level ground is divided by a small stream that flows through -the middle, and the flat space beyond, which is hemmed in by a -mound similar to that surrounding the “tilting ground,” is supposed -to have been used for such games as football, leap-frog, prison-bars, -and foot-racing, in which the people generally participated. Here, -too, is a raised circular earthwork, corresponding with the lady’s -mound already referred to, where it is probable the awards were -made and the prizes distributed to the successful competitors. -The stream, after passing by the eastern end of the Old Hall, -empties itself into the uppermost of the series of lakes before -referred to, which are divided from each other only by a narrow -strip of land, and where, as has been said, in days of yore the -water jousts took place.</p> - -<p>Taken altogether, in the tilting ground, with its raised terraces for -spectators—the court, which formed the arena for quarter-staff, -wrestling, and similar games of strength—and the lakes or ponds, -used for water jousts and other aquatic sports—we have one of the -most remarkable, as well as one of the most complete, memorials -to be found in the North of England illustrative of the manners -and customs of our forefathers—of the military pomp and pageantry, -and those displays of prowess, skill, daring, and strength, which in -the reigns of the Plantagenet and Tudor Kings the English gentry -so much encouraged, and the common people so greatly delighted -in—the relic of an age the most chivalrous and the most picturesque -in our country’s history, when there was no lack of heroism -and brave hearts and noble minds, when men ruled by the stern -will and strong arm, and through successive ages fought the battle -of England’s liberties, and laid the foundations of the freedom we -enjoy. The place seems to belong so entirely to a bygone age<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -that imagination wings her airy flight to those remote days, and in -fancy’s eye we re-people the Old Hall, when</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi16">Every room</div> -<div class="verse">Blazed with lights, and brayed with minstrelsy;</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and call up in each deserted nook and shady grove the figures of -those who have long ago returned to dust. We can picture in -imagination the time when these grass-grown terraces were thronged -with a gay company of gallant youths and fair maidens, of stern -warriors and sober matrons, assembled to witness the princely -entertainments provided by the proud owners of Gawsworth. We -see the barriers set up, and hear the braying of the trumpets, and -the proclamations of the heralds; we see the knights, with their -attendant esquires, mounted upon their well-trained steeds, with -their rich panoply of arms and plumed and crested casques, and -note the stately courtesy with which each, as he enters the arena, -salutes the high-bred queen of the tournament; we hear the -prancing of horses, the clang of arms, the shock of combat, and -the loud clarions which proclaim to the assembled throng the -names of the gallant victors. But the days of tilt and tournament -have passed away, the age of feudalism has gone by, and in the -long centuries of change and progress that have intervened, time -has mellowed and widened our social institutions, and raised the -lower stratum of society to a nearer level with the higher. Yet, -while we boast ourselves of the present, let us not be unmindful of -what we owe to the past, for those times were instinct with noble -and true ideas, and with Carlyle we may say that, “in prizing justly -the indispensable blessings of the new, let us not be unjust to the -old. The old <em>was</em> true, if it no longer is.” The glories of -Gawsworth are of the past. The old mansion is still to be seen, -and the silent pools, the deserted terraces, the forlorn garden -grounds, and the stately trees still remain as representatives of the -once goodly park and pleasaunce, but those who here maintained -a princely hospitality, and bore their part in those splendid -pageantries, are sleeping their last sleep. We may not lift the -veil which hides their secret history, or reveal much of the story of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -their hopes and fears, their perils by flood and field, and their deep -feuds and still deeper vengeances. Their graven effigies and gaudily-painted -tombs are preserved to us, but</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The knights’ bones are dust,</div> -<div class="verse">And their good swords rust,</div> -<div class="verse">Their souls are with the just</div> -<div class="vi10">We trust.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In this quiet, out-of-the-way nook, amid these old landmarks, an -afternoon will be neither unpleasantly nor unprofitably spent. We -may learn something of English history, and of the historic figures -which played their parts in our “rough island story.” Our thoughts -and fancies will be stirred anew, and our sense of patriotism will -be nothing lessened by the contemplation of the relics of that past -on which our present is securely built</p> - -<p>Any notice of Gawsworth would be incomplete that did not -make mention of the remarkable series of fresco paintings that -were discovered during the work of restoring the church in the -autumn of 1851. At that time the fabric underwent a thorough -repair, and the remains of coloured ornamentation in the timber-work -of the roof led to the belief that the same method of -decoration had been applied to the surface of the walls. -Accordingly a careful examination was made, and on the removal -of the whitewash and plaster some curious and interesting examples -of mediæval art were discovered; but, unfortunately, no effort was -made at the time to preserve them. Happily, however, before their -destruction careful copies were made by a local artist, Mr. Lynch, -which have since been published as illustrations to a work he has -written. The three principal frescoes represented St. Christopher -and the Infant Saviour; St. George slaying the Dragon; and the -Doom, or Last Judgment. From the details they would appear to -have been executed in the early part of the fifteenth century—probably -about the time the tower was built and some important -additions made to the main structure, which, as previously stated, -would be between the years 1420 and 1430.</p> - -<p>At the period referred to, St. Christopher had come to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -regarded as a kind of symbol of the Christian Church, and the -stalwart figure of the saint wading the stream with the Infant Jesus -upon his shoulder was a favourite subject for painting and carving -in ecclesiastical buildings. The Gawsworth fresco is especially -interesting, from the circumstance of its being an exact <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">fac-simile</i> -(except that it is reversed) of the earliest known example of wood -engraving, supposed to be of the date 1423—an original and, as -is believed, unique impression of which was acquired by Lord -Spencer, and is now preserved in the Spencer library. The second -picture represents St. George on horseback, armed <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">cap-à-pie</i>, -brandishing a sword with his right hand, whilst with the left he is -thrusting a spear into the mouth of the dragon. In the distance is -the representation of a castle, from the battlements of which the -royal parents of the destined victim witness the fray, whilst the -disconsolate damsel is depicted in a kneeling attitude. The knight’s -armour and the lady’s costume furnish excellent data in fixing the -time when the work was done. The third subject—the Last -Judgment—occupied the space between the east window and the -south wall. It was in three divisions, representing heaven, hell, -and earth, and from the prominent position it occupied was no -doubt intended to be kept continually before the eyes of the worshippers, -that, to use the words of the Venerable Bede, “having -the strictness of the Last Judgment before their eyes, they -should be cautioned to examine themselves with a more narrow -scrutiny.”</p> - -<p>Among the rectors of Gawsworth was one who added lustre to -the place, but whose name is, curiously enough, omitted from the -list given in Ormerod’s “Cheshire”—the Rev. Henry Newcome, -M.A., who held the living from 1650 to 1657, when he was -appointed to the chaplaincy of the Collegiate Church at Manchester. -Newcome was born in November, 1627, at Caldecote, -in Huntingdonshire, of which place his father, Stephen Newcome, -was rector. In January, 1641–2, both his parents died, and were -buried in one coffin, when Henry removed to Congleton, where -his elder brother Robert had recently been appointed by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -Corporation master of the Free School. The circumstance is -thus referred to in his “Autobiography”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I was taught grammar by my father, in the house with him; and when -my eldest brother, after he was Batchelor in Arts, was master of the Free -School at Congleton, in Cheshire, I was in the year 1641, about May 4, -brought down thither to him, and there went to school three quarters of a -year, until February 13, at which time that eloquent and famous preacher, -Dr. Thomas Dodd, was parson at Astbury, the parish church of Congleton, -where I several times (though then but a child) heard him preach.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Newcome entered at St. John’s, Cambridge, May 10, 1644, and -began to reside in the following year. In 1646 he was a candidate -for the mastership of a Lincolnshire grammar school, but failed in -obtaining the appointment—a disappointment he bore with much -stoicism. In September, 1647, he was nominated to the mastership -of the Congleton School, and in the February succeeding he took -his degree of B.A.</p> - -<p>From his boyhood he seems to have had a fondness for -preaching, and the inclination grew with his years. His first -sermon was delivered at a friend’s church (Little Dalby) in -Leicestershire; and on settling down at Congleton, as he tells us, -“he fell to preaching when only 20 years old.” He was appointed -“reader” (curate) to Mr. Ley, at Astbury, and preached sometimes -in the parish church and sometimes at Congleton. At first he -“read” his sermons and “put too much history” into them, -whilst “the people came with Bibles, and expected quotations of -Scripture.” Before he had attained the age of 21 he entered the -marriage state, his wife being Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Mainwaring, -of Smallwood, to whom he was married July 6, 1648. He -speaks of himself as rash in taking this step at so early an age, but -admits that it turned to his own good, and he dwells on the -excellent qualities of his wife. It was indeed not only a happy, -but in a worldly sense an advantageous match, as by his alliance -with the Mainwarings he became connected with some of the -most influential families in the county, and to their interest he -undoubtedly owed his preferment to Gawsworth. He was ordained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -at Sandbach in August, 1648, the month following that of his -marriage, and began his ministerial labours at Alvanley Chapel, in -Frodsham parish, to which place he went for many weeks on the -Saturday to preach on the following day; but before the close of -the year he had settled at Goostrey, where he officiated for a year -and a half. It was whilst residing here that he received the startling -intelligence of the trial and execution of Charles I., for, under date -January 30, 1649, he writes: “This news came to us when I lived -at Goostrey, and a general sadness it put upon us all. It dejected -me much (I remember), the horridness of the fact; and much -indisposed me for the service of the Sabbath next after the news -came.” Newcome, though a zealous Presbyterian, was a scarcely -less zealous Royalist, and boldly avowed his abhorrence of the -murder of the King.</p> - -<p>Shortly after this event his name was mentioned in connection -with the then vacant rectory of Gawsworth, and an effort was made, -through the interest of the Mainwaring family, to secure his induction -under the Broad Seal. Under the Usurpation Independency -was in the ascendant, and “Dame ffelicia ffitton,” the widow of Sir -Edward Fitton, in whom the patronage of Gawsworth had been -vested, was then included in the list of delinquents whose estates -were to be sequestered for loyalty to the sovereign. Eventually the -instrument of institution under the Broad Seal was obtained. It -bears date November 28, 1649, and the opening sentence sets forth -that, “Whereas, the rectory of the parish church of Gawsworth, -in the county of Chester, is become void by the death of the last -incumbent, and the Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal of -England have presented Henry Newcome, a godly and orthodox -divine, thereunto. It is therefore ordered,” &c. Considerable -demur was made, however, to the appointment, and the people -locked the church doors against their new minister; but eventually, -as we are told,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> “it pleased God to move upon the people when I -thought not of it, and they came (some of the chief of them) over -to Carincham on February 12th, and sent for me, and told me they -were desirous to have me before another; and so were unanimously -consenting to me, and subscribed the petition, not knowing that the -seal had come.”</p> - -<p>The obstacles to this induction having been removed, Newcome -and his family took up their abode in the pleasant old rectory-house -at Gawsworth, April, 1650, and on the 14th of the month he -preached his first sermon to his new flock from Ezekiel iii., 5.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 460px;"> -<a name="RHN" id="RHN"></a><img src="images/i_167.jpg" width="460" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE REV. HENRY NEWCOME.</div> -</div> - -<p>There are several incidents recorded in his “Autobiography” -which throw light on the life and habits of the youthful divine at -this period. Thus he <span class="nowrap">writes:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Whilst living here (Goostrey) my cousin, Roger Mainwaring, would -needs go to Gawsworth (the park being then in the co-heirs’ possession) to -kill a deer, and one he killed with the keeper’s knowledge; but they had a -mind to let the greyhound loose, and to kill another that the keeper should -not know of, partly to hinder him of his fees and partly that it might not -be known that he had killed more than one. I was ignorant of their -design; but had the hap to be one of the two that was carrying the other -little deer off the ground, when the keeper came and only took it and -dressed it, as he had done the other, and sent it after them to the alehouse -where the horses were. But I remember the man said this word, that -“<em>priests should not steal</em>.” I have oft after thought of it, that when I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -parson at Gawsworth, and that tho’ Edward Morton, the keeper, was -sometimes at variance with me, he never so much as remembered that -passage to object against me; which, though I could have answered for -myself in it, yet it might have served the turn to have been retorted upon -me when the Lord stirred me up to press strictness upon them. But the -Lord concealed this indiscretion of mine, that it was never brought forth -in the least to lessen my authority amongst them.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is pleasant to reflect that while Newcome was residing in his -snug parsonage at Gawsworth, he was visited by his brother-in-law, -Elias Ashmole, the learned antiquary and founder of the Ashmolean -Museum at Oxford, who spent some time with him at the rectory -and rambled thence into the Peak country. They had married -sisters; Ashmole, who was Newcome’s senior by ten years, having -had to his first wife Eleanor, daughter of Peter Mainwaring. This -lady died in 1641, and in 1649 Ashmole married Lady Mainwaring, -the widow of Sir Thomas Mainwaring, of Bradfield, who died in -1668; and the same year he again entered the marriage state, his -third wife being Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Dugdale, Norroy, -and afterwards Garter King of Arms. Ashmole, in his “Diary,” -thus refers to his visit to Gawsworth and his ramble in the <span class="nowrap">Peak:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1652.<br /> -Aug. 16.—I went towards Cheshire.<br /> -<span class="wide"> "</span>28.—I arrived at Gawsworth, where my father-in-law, Mr. Mainwaring, -then lived.<br /> -Sept. 23.—I took a Journey into the Peak in search of plants and other -curiosities.<br /> -Nov. 24.—My Good Father-in-law, Mr. Peter Mainwaring, died at Gawsworth.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Oddly enough, Ashmole nowhere makes mention of Newcome’s -name in his “Diary,” but Newcome himself refers to the visit in one -of his letters to his brother-in-law, preserved among Ashmole’s -MSS. in the Bodleian Library, and printed by Mr. Earwaker in his -“Local Gleanings,” where, speaking of the Theatrum Chymicum -he had lent to Hollinworth, the author of “Mancuniensis,” he says, -“It was with him when you were with me at Gawsworth, and I -then sent for it home.”</p> - -<p>Puritan though he was, Newcome was by no means of a soured -or morose disposition, nor so rigid in his notions as were some of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -his southern brethren. He was fond of amusement within reasonable -limits, and his experiences he relates with charming candour -and impartiality. Indeed, sometimes his hilarity was a little too -exuberant. “I remember,” he says, “this year (1650), when the -gentlewomen from the hall used to come to see us, I was very -merry with them, and used to charge a pistol I had, and to shoot it -off to affright them.” Notwithstanding his liveliness of disposition, -he set himself determinedly against the vices to which some of his -parishioners were addicted. Drinking and swearing seem to have -been prevalent, and he records how, one Sabbath evening, at the -house of Lady Fitton, a Mr. Constable,—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>A known famous epicure ... told the lady there was excellent ale -at Broad [heath—what this place was does not appear], and moved he -might send for a dozen, some gentlemen of his gang being with him. I -made bold to tell him that my lady had ale good enough in her house for -any of them; especially, I hoped, on a Sabbath day she would not let -them send for ale to the alehouse. The lady took with it, and in her -courteous way told him that her ale might serve him. But notwithstanding, -after duties, he did send; but durst not let it come in whilst I staid.... -At last I took leave; and then he said, “Now he is gone! Fetch in -the ale.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>“My lady” was the beautiful and youthful Felicia Sneyd, the -second wife, and then widow of Sir Edward Fitton, who resided at -the hall, her jointure house. In all Newcome’s efforts to improve -the spiritual condition of his parish Lady Fitton warmly joined; -the Sacrament, which hitherto had been discontinued, was with her -co-operation revived. She offered herself to the minister for -instruction, and instituted family prayers twice a day in her house, -which Newcome for a while read; and we gather from several -passages that the fascination and dignified bearing of the youthful -widow greatly attracted the divine of twenty-three. It was not -long, however, before he had occasion to describe another and -more painful scene. Lady Fitton, as has been previously stated, -re-married Sir Charles Adderley; and on the 20th January, 1654, -Newcome writes she “was in lingering labour.”</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I had been at Congleton, and was just come home; and they came -shrieking to me to pray with Lady Fitton; she did desire it, it should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -seem. I went as fast as I could; but just as I came the fit of palsy -took her. We went to prayer in the gallery for her again and again. -Mr. Machin<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> came in, and he helped me to pray. We prayed there two -or three times over. We begged life for mother and child, very earnestly -at first. After we begged either, what God pleased. After the night we -were brought to beg the life of the soul, for all other hopes were over. -The next day I went, and prayed by her i’ th’ forenoon. I was much -afflicted to see her die, as in a dream, pulling and setting her head clothes -as if she had been dressing herself in the glass; and so to pass out of the -world. A lovely, sweet person she was; but thus blasted before us, dyed -Jany. 21 (1654), just after evening service. She was buried the next day, at -night.... Sir C. Adderley was removed, and all manner of confusion -and trouble came upon the estate, Mr. Fitton and the co-heirs striving for -possession, which begat a strange alteration in the place.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Lady Fitton, “a very courteous, respectful friend to me while -she lived,” as Newcome observes, lies near the east end of the -church of Gawsworth, close by the communion rails, and near to -the stately tomb of her first husband, on which she is described as -“<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">nulli secundam</i>.” In her death Newcome lost a good friend, for -the living of Gawsworth was very poor, and, finding it difficult to -equalise the wants of a growing family and the supplies of a small -stipend, he was led to consider the expediency of removing to some -other and more lucrative charge. His labours had been by no -means confined to his own parish. On the contrary, he devoted a -good deal of his time to ministerial work in other places. The -fame of the wonderful young preacher spread to the larger towns, -and those who had heard him once wished to hear him again. -Among other places, he had visited Manchester, and preached in -the Old Church during the sickness of Richard Hollinworth. It -was only on one Sunday, but the generosity of the town brought -him considerable relief at the moment that the necessities of his -family were pressing inconveniently upon him. As Dr. Halley -tells us, the relief produced an effect the contributors did not -intend, as it induced him, when contemplating his removal, to -remain in Gawsworth, where Providence had so unexpectedly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -relieved him of his anxieties by their liberality. He painted his -rectory-house, parted off a little study from his parlour, and spent -what he could of his friends’ bounty in smartening his home and -making it pleasant and comfortable.</p> - -<p>Newcome was not allowed to remain long in undisturbed tranquillity -in his quiet parsonage. On the 3rd November, 1656, -Mr. Hollinworth died; four days later a meeting of the “Classis” -was held at Manchester to nominate to the vacancy. Three -persons were mentioned as suitable—Mr. Meeke, of Salford; Mr. -Bradshaw, of Macclesfield; and Mr. Newcome, of Gawsworth—but -the feeling was so unanimous in favour of Newcome that -nothing was said about the other two. Friday, December 5th, -was fixed for the election; but here a difficulty occurred. Newcome -had spent a Sunday at Shrewsbury as well as at Manchester. -He had preached at “Alkmond’s, and the people of Julian’s” -(there were no saints in Puritanical times) “set their affections” -upon him while ministering in the neighbouring church, and by a -curious coincidence, on the same day that he received intelligence -of the arrangement at Manchester he received letters from the -people of “Julian’s,” from the Mayor of Shrewsbury, and from -three of its ministers, entreating him to accept their invitation. On -the Sunday preceding the election at Manchester he preached in -the Old Church, and, as he tells us, “the women were so pleased -that they would needs send tokens,” which amounted to seven -pounds. This gave great dissatisfaction to the proud Salopians, -who were evidently afraid the young preacher might not be proof -against the fascinations of the “Lancashire Witches,” and so they -“gave him a very unhandsome lash” for being drawn away from -them by “women’s favours.” Angry contentions arose, Richard -Baxter was asked to interfere, and a conference was suggested, but -the good folks of Shrewsbury were resolved upon securing the -services of Newcome, and would not agree to arbitration, or -listen to any other proposition. They were doomed, however, to -disappointment, and, in opposition to the advice of Baxter, Newcome, -on the 24th of December, made choice of Manchester.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> - -<p>His removal from Gawsworth was a sorrowful time both for -himself and his rustic congregation. The sight of the wagons -sent to remove his furniture overwhelmed him with sorrow, and -when the time came for leaving the old rectory, he says, “I was -sadly affected, and broken all to pieces at leaving the house. I -never was so broken in duty as I was in that which I went into -just when we were ready to go out of the house;” and he adds, -“I prayed the Lord the sin of the seven years might be forgiven -us, and that we might take a pardon with us.” On his arrival in -Manchester he was welcomed with extraordinary manifestations of -friendship and pleasure, and many of the townspeople went out to -Stockport to meet him.</p> - -<p>This “prince of preachers,” as he has been called by his friends, -continued his ministrations in the Church at Manchester until the -passing of the Act of Uniformity, when, unable to conform to the -discipline of the Church, he withdrew from her communion, to the -great grief of his people, by whom he was greatly beloved. On the -passing of the Act of Toleration, at the accession of William of -Orange, the wealthy Presbyterians of Manchester gathered round -their favourite divine and built him a tabernacle on the site of -the present Unitarian Chapel in Cross Street—the first erected -for the use of the Nonconformist body in the town. He -was not long permitted, however, to continue his ministrations, -his death occurring on the 17th September, 1695, little more than -a year after the opening of the “great and fair meeting house.”</p> - -<p>The church in which Newcome ministered, and where rest the -bones of so many of the “Fighting Fittons,” well deserves a careful -examination. Let us bend our footsteps towards the ancient fane. -It is a fair and goodly structure—small, it is true, but presenting a -dignified and pleasing <span class="nowrap">exterior—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Beauty with age in every feature blending.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The bold, free hand of the old English architect is seen in every -detail—in the deep mouldings, the varied tracery, and the quaintly -grotesque carvings, where burlesque and satire and playful fancy -have almost run riot. The restoring hand of the modern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -renovator—Sir Gilbert Scott—is also visible; but what he has -done has been well done, and, if we except the interesting examples -of mediæval art to which reference has already been made, everything -that was worth retaining has been carefully preserved. -Though erected at different times, the general features harmonise -and point to the conclusion that nearly the whole of the existing -fabric was erected in the period extending from the end of the -14th to the middle of the 15th centuries.</p> - -<p>The nave, which is three bays in length, is undoubtedly the -oldest part, and the point at which it originally terminated is clearly -shown by the diagonal projection of the angle buttress which still -remains. The chancel appears to have superseded an older foundation -of smaller dimensions. It is of equal width with the nave, -and, in fact, a continuation of it, and both are covered in with a -timber roof of obtuse pitch, with elaborately moulded and ornamented -beams and rafters. The external walls of both the nave -and chancel are surmounted by an embattled parapet, relieved at -intervals with crocketted pinnacles, that are carried above the edge -of the parapet wall as a termination to each buttress. There being -no clerestory or side aisles, the windows are unusually lofty. They -are of pointed character, with traceried heads and mouldings, -terminating in curiously-carved corbels, that have afforded scope -for the humorous fancy of the mediæval masons. On the south -side is an open porch with stone seats, that has at some time or -other been added to the original structure, as evidenced by the -fact that the greater portion of the buttress has been cut away -where it is joined up to the main wall. It has coupled lights on -each side, with hood mouldings, the one on the west terminating -in a curiously-carved corbel, representing a rose with two heads -enclosed in the petals, an evidence that this part of the fabric -must have been built shortly after the union of the rival houses of -York and Lancaster, in the persons of Henry VII. and Elizabeth -the eldest daughter of Edward IV. The tower is well proportioned, -and, rising gracefully as it does above the surrounding foliage, -forms a conspicuous object for miles around. It is remarkable for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -the armorial shields, 14 in number, carved in relief, in stone, on -each face. These insignia are especially interesting to the antiquary -and the genealogist, as showing the alliances of the earlier lords -of Gawsworth. They include the coats of Fitton, Orreby, Bechton, -Mainwaring, Wever, Egerton, Grosvenor, and Davenport, as well -as those of Fitton of Bollin, and Fitton of Pownall, and there is -one also containing the arms of Randle Blundeville, Earl of -Chester, with whom the Fittons appear to have been connected.</p> - -<p>The interior of the church is picturesque and well cared for, and -the garrulous old lady who brought us the keys looks upon it with -an affection that is not diminished by the serving and tending of -many long years. It is an interesting specimen of an old English -house of worship. As you cross the threshold a host of memories -are conjured up, and you feel that you are in the sanctuary where -in times past have communed, and where now rest, the remains of -a line famous in chivalry, the members of which, in their day and -generation, did good service to the State. The seats are low and -open, and the appearance has been greatly improved by the -removal of the heavy cumbrous pews with which until late years -it was filled. At the east end, within the chancel rails, are the -effigies and stately tombs of the Fittons already described. The -shadows of centuries seem to fall on the broad nave, while the -slanting rays of the westering sun, as they steal through the tall -windows, brighten the elaborate figures of the knights in armour, -and bring out the colouring of gown and kirtle, where their stately -dames are reposing by their side. During the restorations some of -them were removed from their original positions, and shorn of their -original canopies, as the inscription upon a tablet affixed to the -north wall testifies. Near the centre of the aisle is a plain marble -slab with a brass fillet surrounding it, on which is an inscription -commemorating the marriage and death of Thomas Fitton of -Siddington, the second son of Sir Edward of Gawsworth, by his -wife Mary, the daughter of Sir Guiscard Harbottle.</p> - -<p>After our brief survey we passed out through the western door -into the churchyard. The sun was circling westwards over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -woods, a warm haze suffused the landscape, and the shadows were -lengthening over the hillocks and grass-grown mounds in the quiet -graveyard. As our cicerone turned the key in the rusty wards of -the lock and turned to depart, a robin poured out its wealth of -song in the neighbouring copse, a fitting requiem to the expiring -day. We stood for a moment looking through the trees at the -picturesque old parsonage. What a lovely spot!—the spot of all -others that a country clergyman might delight to pass his days in. -Well might good Henry Newcome be “sadly affected and broken -all to pieces” at leaving it.</p> - -<p>Another celebrity connected with Gawsworth, though of a widely -different character to Henry Newcome, deserves a passing notice—Samuel -Johnson, popularly known by the title of “Lord Flame,” -and sometimes by the less euphonious <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">sobriquet</i> of “Maggotty -Johnson.” This eccentric character was well known in his day as a -dancing master, to which he added the professions of poet, player, -jester, and musician. He appears to have been among the last of -the paid English jesters, those professional Merry Andrews whose -presence was considered indispensable in the homes of our -wealthier forefathers—their duty being to promote laughter in the -household, and especially at meals, by their ready wit and drollery. -Johnson was frequently hired out at parties given by the gentry in -the northern counties, where he had licence to bandy his -witticisms, and to utter or enact anything likely to enliven the -company or provoke them to laughter. “Lord Flame” was the -name of a character played by him in his own extravaganza, -entitled “Hurlothrumbo, or the Supernatural,” a piece which had -a lengthened run at the Haymarket in 1729. It is upon this -burlesque that his fame chiefly rests. After much patient labour -he succeeded in getting it on the London boards. Byrom records -the circumstance in his “Journal” under date April 2, <span class="nowrap">1729:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>As for Mr. Johnson, he is one of the chief topics of talk in London. -Dick’s Coffee-house resounds “Hurlothrumbo” from one end to the other. -He had a full house and much good company on Saturday night, the first -time of acting, and report says all the boxes are taken for the next -Monday.... It is impossible to describe this play and the oddities,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -out-of-the-wayness, flights, madness, comicalities, &c. I hope Johnson will -make his fortune by it at present. We had seven or eight garters in the pit. -I saw Lord Oxford and two or more there, but was so intent on the farce -that I did not observe many quality that were there. We agreed to laugh -and clap beforehand, and kept our word from beginning to end. The night -after Johnson came to Dick’s, and they all got about him like so many bees. -They say the Prince of Wales has been told of “H,” and will come and -see it.... For my own part, who think all stage plays stuff and -nonsense, I consider this a joke upon ’em all.</p></blockquote> - -<p>On the same day, in a letter to Mrs. Byrom, he <span class="nowrap">writes—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Mrs. Hyde must let her brother teach (dancing), for “Hurlothrumbo,” as -the matter stands, will hardly be quitted while it brings a house, and consequently -more money, into the author’s pocket, than his teaching would -do of a long time.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The play was afterwards published with a dedication to Lady -Delves, and an address to Lord Walpole. The former, while -remarkable for its extravagant panegyrism, is interesting from its -reference to many of the local female celebrities of the time. It -is as <span class="nowrap">follows:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p> -To the Right Honourable the Lady Delves.<br /> -</p> - -<p>Madam,—When I think of your goodness, it gives me encouragement to -put my play under your grand protection; and if you can find anything in it -worthy of your Praise, I am sure the <em>super-naturals</em> will like it. I do not -flatter when I say your taste is universal, great as an Empress, sweet and -refined as Lady <i>Malpas</i>, sublime as Lady <i>Mary Cowper</i>, learned and complete -as Lady <i>Conway</i>, distinguished and clear as Mrs. <i>Madan</i>, gay, good, -and innocent as Lady <i>Bland</i>. I have often thought you were a compound -of the world’s favourites—that all meet and rejoice together in one: the -taste of a <i>Montague</i>, <i>Wharton</i>, or Meredith, Stanhope, Sneid, or Byrom; -the integrity and hospitality of <i>Leigh</i> of <i>Lime</i>, the wit and fire of <i>Bunbury</i>, -the sense of an Egerton, fervent to serve as <i>Beresford</i> or <i>Mildmay</i>, beloved -like <i>Gower</i>. If you was his rival, you’d weaken the strength of that most -powerful subject. I hope your eternal unisons in heaven will always sing -to keep up the harmony in your soul, that is musical as Mrs. Leigh, and -never ceases to delight; raises us in raptures like <i>Amante Shosa</i>, <i>Lord Essex</i>, -or the sun. If every pore in every body in Cheshire was a mouth they -would all cry out aloud, <em>God save the Lady Delves!</em> That illuminates the -minds of mortals, inspires with Musick and Poetry especially.</p> - -<p> -<span class="in2left">Your most humble servant, </span> <span class="smcap in2right">Lord Flame</span>.<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>The prologue was written by Mr. Amos Meredith, of Henbury, -near Macclesfield, and, at the urgent request of its author, Byrom -was induced to write the epilogue. Johnson’s subsequent career<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -was marked by many whims and oddities, and even death was not -permitted to terminate his eccentricity, his very grave being made -to commemorate it for the amusement or pity of future generations. -As we have previously stated, he is buried in a small plantation of -firs near the road, and a short distance from the New Hall, in accordance -with a request he had made to the owner in his life-time. His -remains are covered by a plain brick tomb, now much dilapidated, -on the uppermost slab of which is the following <span class="nowrap">inscription:—</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a name="LFT" id="LFT"></a><img src="images/i_177.jpg" width="500" height="276" alt="Lord Flame’s Tomb, Gawsworth" /> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi8">Under this stone</div> -<div class="vi4">Rest the remains of Mr. <span class="smcap">Samuel Johnson</span>,</div> -<div class="verse">Afterwards ennobled with the grander Title of</div> -<div class="vi8"><span class="smcap">Lord Flame</span>,</div> -<div class="verse">Who, after being in his life distinct from other Men</div> -<div class="vi4">By the Eccentricities of his Genius,</div> -<div class="verse">Chose to retain the same character after his Death,</div> -<div class="vi4">and was, at his own Desire, buried here, May 5th,</div> -<div class="vi8">A.D. MDCCLXXIII., Aged 82.</div> -<div class="verse">Stay thou whom Chance directs, or Ease persuades,</div> -<div class="verse">To seek the Quiet of these Sylvan shades,</div> -<div class="verse">Here undisturbed and hid from Vulgar Eyes,</div> -<div class="verse">A Wit, Musician, Poet, Player, lies</div> -<div class="verse">A Dancing Master too, in Grace he shone,</div> -<div class="verse">And all the arts of Opera were his own;</div> -<div class="verse">In Comedy well skill’d, he drew Lord Flame,</div> -<div class="verse">Acted the Part, and gain’d himself the Name;</div> -<div class="verse">Averse to Strife, how oft he’d gravely say</div> -<div class="verse">These peaceful Groves should shade his breathless clay;</div> -<div class="verse">That when he rose again, laid here alone,</div> -<div class="verse">No friend and he should quarrel for a Bone;</div> -<div class="verse">Thinking that were some old lame Gossip nigh,</div> -<div class="verse">She possibly might take his Leg or Thigh.</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> -<p>On the west side of his tomb a flat stone has been placed in -later years, on which some rhyming moralist has sought to improve -on his character, in a religious point of view, in a lengthy inscription -which says more for the writer’s sense of piety than his regard -for <span class="nowrap">prosody:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">If chance hath brought thee here, or curious eyes,</div> -<div class="verse">To see the spot where this poor jester lies,</div> -<div class="verse">A thoughtless jester even in his death,</div> -<div class="verse">Uttering his jibes beyond his latest breath;</div> -<div class="verse">O stranger, pause a moment, pause and say:</div> -<div class="verse">“To-morrow should’st thou quit thy house of clay,</div> -<div class="verse">Where wilt thou be, my soul?—in paradise?</div> -<div class="verse">Or where the rich man lifted up his eyes?”</div> -<div class="verse">Immortal spirit would’st thou then be blest,</div> -<div class="verse">Waiting thy perfect bliss on Abraham’s breast;</div> -<div class="verse">Boast not of silly art, or wit, or fame,</div> -<div class="verse">Be thou ambitious of a Christian’s name;</div> -<div class="verse">Seek not thy body’s rest in peaceful grove,</div> -<div class="verse">Pray that thy soul may rest in Jesus’ love.</div> -<div class="verse">O speak not lightly of that dreadful day,</div> -<div class="verse">When all must rise in joy or in dismay;</div> -<div class="verse">When spirits pure in body glorified</div> -<div class="verse">With Christ in heavenly mansions shall abide,</div> -<div class="verse">While wicked souls shall hear the Judge’s doom—</div> -<div class="verse">“Go ye accursed into endless gloom,”</div> -<div class="verse">Look on that stone and this, and ponder well:</div> -<div class="verse">Then choose ’twixt life and death, ’twixt</div> -<div class="verse">Heaven and Hell.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Poor Johnson! His last whim has been gratified: his “breathless -clay” reposes beneath the “sylvan shade” that in life he so -much delighted in. The thrush and the blackbird sing their -orisons and vespers there; the fresh and fragrant breeze sweeps -by; and the nodding trees that rustle overhead cast a verdant gloom -around, that is brightened only where the warm sunlight steals -through the intricacy of leaves and dapples the sward with touches -of golden light. May no rude or irreverent hand disturb his -resting-place, or “old lame gossip” share his sepulchre.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a></span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 344px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_180.jpg" width="344" height="600" alt="John Dee, the Wizard Warden" /> -</div> - - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_181.jpg" width="600" height="106" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> - -<span class="f75">THE COLLEGE AND THE “WIZARD WARDEN” OF MANCHESTER.</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_181a.jpg" width="75" height="184" alt="O" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Of</span> those who make up the mighty tide of human life -that daily sweeps along the great highway of traffic -between the Manchester Exchange and the Victoria -Railway Station, how few there are who ever give -even a passing thought to the quaint mediæval relic -that stands within a few yards of them—almost the -only relic of bygone days that Manchester now possesses—the -College. Pass through the arched portal into the great -quadrangle, the College Yard as it is called, and what a striking -contrast is presented. Without, all is noise and hurry and bustle; -within, quietude and seclusion prevail. The old place is almost -the only link that connects the Manchester of the present with -the Manchester of yore; and surely it is something to feel that -within this eager, striving, money-getting Babylon there is a little -Zoar where you may escape from the turmoil, and the whirl, and -the worry of the busy city, and, forgetting your own chronology, -allow the memory to wander along the dim grass-grown aisles of -antiquity, recalling the scenes and episodes and half-forgotten -incidents that illustrate the changes society has undergone, and -show how the past may be made a guide for the present and the -future.</p> - -<p>A wealth of interest gathers round this old time-worn memorial, -and its history is entwined with that of the town itself. That lively -and imaginative antiquary, Whitaker, has striven to prove that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -upon its site the subjects of the Cæsars erected their summer -camp, but the story, it must be confessed, rests on but a slender -foundation. There is little doubt, however, that the Saxon thegn -fixed his abode here, and dispensed justice according to the rude -fashion of the times—which means that he did what seemed right -in his own eyes, and hanged those who ventured to question the -propriety of his proceedings. The Norman barons who succeeded -him, the Gresleys and the La Warres, the men who bore themselves -well and bravely at Crecy, Agincourt, and Poictiers, held their -court here for generations, until good old Thomas La Warre, the -last of the line, the priest-lord as he has been called—for he held -the rectory as well as the barony of Manchester—gave up his -ancestral home as a permanent residence for the warden and -fellows of the ancient parish church which he caused to be -collegiated. But the splendid provision he bequeathed was not -long enjoyed by the ecclesiastics for whom it was intended. In -1547, when the minor religious houses were suppressed, the college -was dissolved, and the lands, with the building of the College -House, reverted to Edward VI., who granted them to Edward -Earl of Derby, subject to the payment by him of some small -pensions and other charges. On Queen Mary’s accession the -Church was re-collegiated, and the deeds of alienation in part -recalled. But the College House and the lands pertaining to it -were never recovered, though some of the wardens were considerately -allowed by the Stanleys to occupy part of the premises -that had belonged of right to their predecessors.</p> - -<p>In the eventful times which followed, the building experienced -many and various vicissitudes. At the time the fierce struggle -between Charles I. and the Parliament began a part was used as a -magazine for powder and arms, for we read that when the Commission -of Array was issued Sir Alexander Radcliffe, of Ordsall, and -his neighbour Mr. Prestwich, of Hulme, two of the commissioners -nominated in the King’s proclamation, attended by the under -sheriff, went to Manchester<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> “to seize ten barrels of powder and -several bundles of match which were stowed in a room of the -College.” During the troublous times of the Commonwealth the -building was in the hands of the official sequestrators, as part of -the forfeited possessions of the Royalist Earl of Derby; and at -that time the monthly meetings of the Presbyterian Classis, the -“X’sian consciensious people” as they were called, were held -within the refectory. A part of the building was transformed into -a prison, and another portion was occupied as private dwellings. -In 1650, as appears by a complaint lodged in the Duchy Court of -Lancaster, “a common brewhouse” was set up on the premises, -the brewers claiming exemption from grinding their malt at the -School Mills, to which by custom the toll belonged, on the plea -that the brewhouse was within the College, the old baronial residence, -and therefore did not owe such suit and service to the mills.</p> - -<p>About the same time a portion of the College barn (between the -prison and the College gatehouse) was converted into a workhouse, -the first in Manchester, having been acquired by the churchwardens -and overseers in order that it might be “made in readiness to set -the poor people on work to prevent their begging.” Another part -was used for the purposes of an Independent church, the first of -the kind in the town, and which would appear to have been set up -without “waiting for a civil sanction.” The minister was John -Wigan, who at the outset of his career had been episcopally -ordained to Gorton, which place he left in 1646, and fixed his -abode at Birch, where, we are told, “he set up Congregationalism.” -This brought him in collision with the “Classis.” Subsequently -he left Birch, entered the army, became a captain, and afterwards -a major. The church which he founded in the College barn is -alluded to by Hollinworth. How it came to be established here -would be inexplicable but for the explanation Adam Martindale -gives of the matter. He <span class="nowrap">says:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The Colledge lands being sold, and the Colledge itself, to Mr. Wigan, -who now being turned Antipædobaptist, and I know not what more, made -a barne there into a chappell, where he and many of his perswasion -preached doctrine diametrically opposite to the (Presbyterian) ministers’ -perswasion under their very nose.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> - -<p>Wigan had contrived to attract the notice of Cromwell, and -“received some maintenance out of the sequestrations.” Whether -with this and from pillage and plunder while with the Republican -army he obtained money enough to purchase the lease of the -College is not clear, but his conduct during the later years of his -life does not present him in a very favourable light. During his -time a survey of the College property was made, and it then -<span class="nowrap">comprised:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Ye large building called ye College in Manchester, consisting of many -rooms, with twoe barnes, one gatehouse, verie much decayd, one parcell of -ground, formerly an orchard, and one garden, now in ye possession of -Joseph Werden, gent., whose pay for ye same for ye use of ye Commonwealth—tenn -pounds yearly. There is likewise one other room in ye said -College Reserved and now made use of for publique meetings of X’sian -consciensious people (<i>i.e.</i>, the Classis).</p></blockquote> - -<p>Neither the sequestrators nor Mr. Wigan were at much pains to -preserve the fabric of the College while it was in their hands. The -building and outhousing fell into decay, and became ruinous; and -there is little doubt this interesting relic would have disappeared -altogether but for the timely interposition of one of Manchester’s -most worthy sons. Humphrey Chetham, a wealthy trader, who had -amassed a considerable fortune, conceived the idea of founding -an hospital for the maintenance and education of poor boys, and -also the establishing of a public library in his native town. He -entered into negotiations with the sequestrators for the purchase of -the College, then, as we have seen, in a sadly dilapidated condition, -for the purpose. Owing to some dispute, the project remained for -a time in abeyance, but it was never entirely abandoned; and -in his will Chetham directed that his executors should make the -purchase, if it could be accomplished. After his death this was -done, the building was repaired, and from that time to the present, -a period of more than two hundred years, it has continued to be -occupied in accordance with the founder’s benevolent intentions. -Thus has been preserved to Manchester one of its oldest and most -interesting memorials.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Many and strange vicissitudes of fate</div> -<div class="verse">Those time-worn walls have seen. The dwelling once</div> -<div class="verse">Of servants of the Lord; in stormy days,</div> -<div class="verse">The home of Cromwell’s stern and armèd band,</div> -<div class="verse">A barracks and a prison! Now it stands</div> -<div class="verse">A lasting monument of Chetham’s fame,</div> -<div class="verse">Unto posterity a boon most rich—</div> -<div class="verse">A refuge for the child of poverty,</div> -<div class="verse">A still secluded haunt for studious men,</div> -<div class="verse">The college of a merchant.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Though a mighty change has been wrought in the surroundings, -the ancient pile looks pretty much the same as it must have done -three centuries ago, when Warden Dee, who then occupied it, was -casting horoscopes and practising alchemy, and when Drayton saw -it, and in his “Polyolbion” made the Irwell <span class="nowrap">sing—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">First Roche, a dainty rill....</div> -<div class="vi10">And Irk add to my store.</div> -<div class="verse">And Medlock to their much by lending somewhat more;</div> -<div class="verse">At Manchester they meet, all kneeling to my state,</div> -<div class="verse">Where brave I show myself.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The Irwell and the Irk still mingle their waters round the base -of the rocky precipice on which the College stands, but alas for -the daintiness or bravery of either!</p> - -<p>As you enter the spacious courtyard a long, low, monastic-looking -pile with two projecting wings meets the eye, presenting -all that quaintness and picturesque irregularity of outline so -characteristic of buildings of the mediæval period, with scarcely -a feature to suggest the busy life that is going on without its walls. -On the right is the great arched gateway giving admission from the -Long Mill Gate, and which in old times constituted the main -entrance. At the opposite or north-western angle is the principal -entrance to the building itself. As you pass through the low portal -you notice on the right the great kitchen, large and lofty and open -to the roof, with its fireplace capacious enough to roast an ox; -adjoining is the pantry, and close by that most important adjunct -the buttery. On the other side of the vestibule, and separated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -from it by a ponderous oaken screen, panelled and ornamented, -and black with age, is the ancient refectory or dining hall, where -the recipients of Chetham’s bounty assemble daily for their meals -and chant their “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Non nobis</i>.” It is a spacious apartment, with a -lofty arched roof and wide yawning fireplace, preserving not merely -the original form and appearance but the identical arrangement of -the old baronial and conventual halls. In pre-Reformation times -this was the chief entertaining room, and its appearance suggests -the idea that in those remote days the ecclesiastics of Manchester -loved good cheer, and were by no means sparing in their -hospitalities. At the further end, opposite the screen, may still be -seen the ancient daīs, raised a few inches above the general level -of the floor, on which, in accordance with custom, was placed the -“hie board,” or table dormant, at which sat the warden, his -principal guests and the chief ecclesiastics ranged according to -their rank above the salt, whilst the inferior clergy and others were -accommodated at the side tables—the poor wandering mendicant -who, by chance, found himself at the door, and being admitted to -a humble share of the feast, taking his position near the screen, -and thankfully fed, like Lazarus, with the crumbs that fell from the -great man’s table.</p> - -<p>At the further end of the vestibule you come upon the cloisters -surrounding a small court, and note the crumbling grey walls and -vaulted passages of this the most perfect and most characteristic -portion of the original building.</p> - -<p>Just before reaching the cloisters, you ascend by a stone staircase, -guarded by massive oak balusters, that leads up to the library, -where, as “Alick” Wilson <span class="nowrap">sings—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Booath far and woide,</div> -<div class="verse">Theer’s yards o’ books at every stroide,</div> -<div class="verse">From top to bothum, eend and soide.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>They are disposed in wall cases extending the length of the -corridors, and branching off into a series of mysterious-looking -little recesses, stored with material relics of the past, old manuscripts, -and treasures of antiquity and art of various kinds, each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -recess being protected from the encroachments of the profane by -its own lattice gate. Here</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The dim windows shed a solemn light,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>that is quite in keeping with the character of the place, and as you -pass along you marvel at the plenteous store of ponderous folios -and goodly quartos, in their plain sober bindings, that are ranged -on either side, and you reflect upon the world of thought and the -profundity of learning gathered together, until the mind becomes -impressed with a feeling of reverence for the mighty spirits whose -noblest works are here enshrined.</p> - -<p>Until late years this gloomy corridor was at once a library and -museum. High up on the ceiling, on the tops of the bookcases -and in the window recesses, were displayed a formidable array of -sights and monsters, as varied and grotesque as those which -appalled the heart of the Trojan prince in his descent to hell—skeletons, -snakes, alligators, to say nothing of the “hairy man,” -and such minor marvels as Queen Elizabeth’s shoe, Oliver Cromwell’s -sword,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">An th’ clog fair crackt by thunner-bowt,</div> -<div class="verse">An th’ woman noather lawmt nor nowt.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Formerly, at Easter and other festivals, crowds of gaping holiday -folk thronged the College, and gazed with vacant wonderment -at the incongruous collection, while the blue-coated cicerones, -to the discomfort of the readers, in sonorous tones bawled -out the names of the trophies displayed, concluding their -catalogue with an account of the wondrous wooden cock that is -said (and truly) to crow when it smells roast beef. But the -quietude is no longer broken by these inharmonious chantings—the -strange collection has been transferred to a more fitting home, -and the scholar may now store his mind with “the physic of the -soul” and hold pleasant intercourse with antiquity without being -rudely recalled to the consciousness of the present by such -startling incongruities.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<p>At the end of the corridor a heavy oaken door admits you to the -reading-room, a large square antique chamber, with arched ceiling -and panelled walls, and a deeply-recessed oriel opposite the door, -that by the very cosiness of its appearance lures you to stay and -drink “at the pure well of English undefiled.” In the window -lighting this pleasant secluded nook is a shield on which the arms -of the benevolent Chetham are depicted in coloured glass—arms -that gave him much trouble to obtain, and the cost of which led -him to facetiously remark that they were not depicted in such good -metal as that in which payment for them was made, to which -Lightbowne, his attorney, assented, sagely observing, “there is soe -much difference betwixt Paynter’s Gould and Current Coyne,” a -conclusion the correctness of which we will not stay to dispute. -No doubt it was the thought that he had “paid for his whistle” -that led the careful old merchant to adopt the suggestive motto, -“<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Quod tuum tene</i>.” The furniture corresponds with the ancient -character of the room. In one corner is a carved oak buffet of -ancient date, with a raised inscription, setting forth that it was the -gift of Humphrey Chetham. There are ponderous chairs, with -leather-padded backs, studded with brass nails; and still more -ponderous tables, one of which we are gravely assured contains as -many pieces as there are days in the year. Over the fireplace, -surmounted by his coat of arms, is a portrait of the grave-visaged -but large-hearted founder, with pillars on each side, resting on -books, and crowned with antique lamps, suggestive of the founder’s -desire to diffuse wisdom and happiness by the light of knowledge; -and, flanking them, on one side is a pelican feeding its young with -its own blood, and on the other the veritable wooden cock already -mentioned; antique mirrors are affixed to the panelling; and dingy-looking -portraits of Lancashire worthies gaze at you from the walls—Nowell -and Whitaker, and Bolton and Bradford, with men who -have reflected lustre upon the county in more recent times, not the -least interesting being the two portraits lately added of the -venerable president of the Chetham Society, and that indefatigable -bibliopole, the late librarian, Mr. Jones.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> - -<p>On the ground floor, beneath the reading-room, is an apartment -of corresponding dimensions, which at present more especially -claims our attention. It is commonly known as the Feoffees’ -room; but in bygone days it was appropriated to the use of the -wardens of the College. It is a large, square, sombre-looking -chamber, with a projecting oriel at one end, and small pointed -windows, with deep sills and latticed panes, that, if they do not -altogether “exclude the light,” are yet sufficiently dim to “make a -noonday night.” As you cross the threshold your footsteps echo -on the hard oak floor—all else is still and silent. A staid -cloistered gloom, and a quiet, half monastic air pervades the place -that carries your fancies back to mediæval times. The walls for a -considerable height are covered with black oak wainscotting, -surrounded by a plaster frieze enriched with arabesque work. -The ceiling is divided into compartments by deeply-moulded -beams and rafters that cross and recross each other in a variety of -ways, all curiously wrought, and ornamented at the intersections -with carvings of fabulous creatures and grotesque faces. On one -of the bosses is a grim-visaged head, depicted as in the act of -devouring a child, which tradition affirms is none other than that -of the giant Tarquin, who held threescore and four of King -Arthur’s knights in thraldom in his castle at Knot Mill, and was -afterwards himself there slain by the valorous Sir Lancelot of the -Lake, who cut off his head and set the captives free; all which -forms a very pretty story, though we are more inclined to believe -that the mediæval sculptor, thinking little and caring less for -Tarquin or the Arthurian knights, merely copied the model of -some pagan mason, and reproduced the burlesque figure of Saturn -eating one of his own children.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> On one side of the room is a -broad fireplace, with the armorial ensigns of one of the Tudor -sovereigns behind, and those of the benevolent Chetham on the -frieze above. The whole of the furniture is in character with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -place—quaint, old-fashioned, and substantial. Shining tall-backed -chairs are disposed around the room, and in the centre is a broad -table of such massiveness as almost to defy the efforts of muscular -power to remove it.</p> - -<p>A special interest attaches to this sombre-looking chamber from -the circumstance that tradition has associated it with the name of -Dr. Dee, the “Wizard Warden” of Manchester, and that here -Roby has laid the scene of one of his most entertaining Lancashire -Legends. In this “vaulted room of gramarye,” it is said, our -English “Faust” had his</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Mystic implements of magic might,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>practised the occult sciences, cast his nativities, transmuted the -baser metals to gold, and, as the common people believed, held -familiar intercourse with the Evil One, and did other uncanny -things. But of Dee and his doings we purpose to speak anon.</p> - -<p>The wardenship of Dr. Dee forms a curious chapter in the -ecclesiastical history of Manchester, and at the same time presents -us with a humiliating picture of the condition of society in the -golden days of the Virgin Queen. It has been said that witchcraft -came in with the Stuarts and went out with them; but this is surely -an injustice to the memory of Elizabeth’s sapient successor, for the -belief in sorcery, witchcraft, enchantment, demonology, and practices -of a kindred nature were widely prevalent long ere that -monarch ascended the English throne. Henry VIII., in 1531, -granted a formal licence to “two learned clerks” “to practise -sorcery and to build churches,” a curious combination of evil -and its antidote; and ten years later he, with his accustomed -inconsistency, issued a decree making “witchcraft and sorcery -felony, without benefit of clergy.”</p> - -<p>The belief in these abominations was not confined to any one -class of the people, or to the professors of any one form of faith. -On the contrary, Churchmen, Romanists, and Puritans were alike -the dupes of the loathsome impostors who roamed the country, -though each in turn was ready to upbraid the others with being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -believers in the generally prevailing error, and not unfrequently -with being participators in the frauds that were practised. The -great and munificent Edward, Earl of Derby, “kept a conjuror in -his house secretly;” and his daughter-in-law, Margaret Clifford, -Countess of Derby, lost the favour of Queen Elizabeth for a -womanish curiosity in “consulting with wizards or cunning men.” -The bishops gave authority and a form of licence to the clergy to -cast out devils; Romish ecclesiastics claimed to have a monopoly -of the power; and the Puritan ministers, not to be behind them, -tried their hands at the imposture.</p> - -<p>Education had then made little progress, and the men of Lancashire, -though the merriest of Englishmen, were as ignorant and -superstitious as they were merry. Nowhere was the belief in -supernatural agency more rife than in the Palatinate. The -shaping power of the imagination had clothed every secluded -clough and dingle with the weird drapery of superstition, and made -every ruined or solitary tenement the abode of unhallowed beings, -who were supposed to hold their diabolical revelries within it. -The doctrines of necromancy and witchcraft were in common -belief, and it is doubtful if there was a single man in the county -who did not place the most implicit faith in both. Hence, Queen -Elizabeth, if it was not that she wished to get rid of a troublesome -suitor, may have thought there was a fitness of things in preferring -a professor of the Black Art to the wardenship of Manchester; -believing, possibly, that one given to astrology, and such like -practices, could not find a more congenial home than in a county -specially prone, as Lancashire then was, to indulge in <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">diablerie</i> -and the practice of alchemy and enchantment.</p> - -<p>A brief reference to the earlier career of Dr. Dee may not be -altogether uninteresting. According to the genealogy drawn up by -himself, he belonged to the line of Roderick the Great, Prince of -Wales. His father, Rowland Dee, who was descended from a -family settled in Radnorshire, carried on the business of a vintner -in London; and there, or rather at Mortlake, within a few miles of -the city, on the 13th July, 1527, the future warden first saw the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -light. After receiving a preliminary education at one or two of the -city schools, and subsequently at the Grammar School of Chelmsford, -he entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, being then only -fifteen years of age; and during the five years he remained there -he maintained, with unflinching strictness, the rule “only to sleepe -four houres every night; to allow to meate and drink (and some -refreshing after), two houres every day; and,” he adds, “of the -other eighteen houres, all (except the tyme of going to and being -at divine service) was spent in my studies and learning.” On -leaving the University he passed some time in the Low Countries, -his object being “to speake and conferr with some learned -men, and chiefly mathematicians.” He made the acquaintance -of Frisius, Mercator, Antonius Gogara, and other celebrated -Flemings; and on his return to England he was chosen to be a -Fellow of King Henry’s newly-erected College of Trinity, and -made under-reader of the Greek tongue. His reputation stood -very high, and his mathematical and astronomical pursuits, in -which he was assisted by some rare and curious instruments—among -them, as we are told, an “astronomer’s staff of brass, that -was made of Gemma Frisius’ divising; the two great globes of -Gerardus Mercator’s making; and the astronomer’s ring of brass, -as Gemma Frisius had newly framed it,” which he had brought -from Flanders—drew upon him among the common people the -suspicion of being a conjuror, an opinion that was strengthened -by his getting up at Cambridge a Greek play, the comedy of -“Aristophanes,” in which, according to his own account, he -introduced “the Scarabeus his flying up to Jupiter’s pallace, with -a man and his basket of victualls on her back; whereat was great -wondring, and many vaine reportes spread abroad of the meanes -how that was affected.” Though causing “great wondring,” and -seeming at that time too marvellous to be accomplished by human -agency, it was in all probability only a clumsy performance, and much -inferior to the ordinary transformation scene of a modern pantomime. -The “vaine reportes,” however, led to Dee’s being accused -of magical practices, and he found it expedient to leave the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -University, having first obtained his degree of Master of Arts. -In 1548 he went abroad and entered as a student at Louvain, -where his philosophical and mathematical skill brought him under -the notice of some of the continental <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">savants</i>. Apart from his -intellectual power, he must in his earlier years have possessed -considerable charms both of person and manner, for he contrived -to gain friends and win admiration wherever he went. He was -consulted by men of the highest rank and station from all parts of -Europe, and before he left Louvain he had the degree of Doctor -of Laws conferred upon him.</p> - -<p>On quitting that University, in 1550, he proceeded to Paris, -where he turned the heads of the French people, who became -almost frenzied in their admiration of him. He read lectures on -Euclid’s Elements—“a thing,” as he says, “never done publiquely -in any University of Christendome,” and his lectures were so fully -attended that the mathematical school could not hold all his -auditors, who clambered up at the windows and listened at the -doors as best they could. A mathematical lectureship, with a -yearly stipend of 200 crowns, and several other honourable offices -were also offered him from “five Christian Emperors,” among them -being an invitation from the Muscovite Emperor to visit Moscow, -where he was promised an income at the Imperial hands of -£2,000 a year, his diet free out of the Emperor’s kitchen, and to -be in dignity and authority among the highest of the nobility; but -he preferred to reside in his native country, and, foregoing these -inducements, he returned to England in 1551.</p> - -<p>The fame of his marvellous acquirements had preceded him, -and on his arrival he was presented by Secretary Cecil to the -young King, Edward VI., who granted him a pension of 100 -crowns a year, which was soon “bettered,” as he says, by his -“bestowing on me (as it were by exchange) the rectory of Upton-upon-Seaverne,” -in Worcestershire, and to this was added the rectory -of Long Leadenham, in Lincolnshire. Though holding these two -benefices, it is somewhat remarkable that Dee does not appear to -have ever been admitted to Holy Orders. There is no very clear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -evidence that he at any time occupied his Worcestershire parsonage, -but he must have been resident for a while at Long Leadenham, for -at that place a stone has been found inscribed with his name and -sundry cabalistic figures, indicating that he had at some time lived -in the parish. If he ever resided at Upton-upon-Severn he must -have found an uncongenial neighbour in Bishop Bonner, who then -held the living of Ripple—for the one was visionary, sensitive, and -unpractical, and the other stern, cruel, and unscrupulous, while on -religious and political questions their views were as wide apart as -the poles.</p> - -<p>On the 6th of July, 1553, Edward VI. finished his “short but -saintly course,” and the solemn sound then heard from the bell-towers -of England, while it announced the fact of his decease, -crushed the hopes of Dee, for a time at least, and in a proportionate -degree raised the expectations of Bonner. Mary had -not been many months upon the throne before Dee was accused -of carrying on a correspondence with Princess Elizabeth’s servants -and of compassing the Queen’s death by means of enchantments. -He was cast into prison and tried upon the charge of high treason, -but acquitted; after which he was turned over to Bonner to see if -heresy might not be proved against him. Christian martyrdom, -however, was not in Mr. Dee’s vocation, and so, after six months’ -detention, on giving satisfaction to the Queen’s Privy Council, and -entering into recognisances “for ready appearing and good abearing -for four months longer,” he was set at liberty August 19, 1555, to -find that during his incarceration his rectory had been bestowed -upon the Dean of Worcester, Bonner having detained him in -captivity in order that he might have the disposal of his preferment. -The following characteristic letter, written about this time, -and addressed from the Continent (endorsed “fro Callice to -Bruxells”), has been recently unearthed from among the Marian -State papers by that painstaking antiquary, Mr. J. Eglinton -Bailey, F.S.A., and printed in Mr. Earwaker’s “Local Gleanings:”</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>My dutye premysed unto youre good L’rdshype as hyt apperteynethe. -This daye abowt iiij of the clocke at after noone my L. Chawncelare<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -(Gardyner) taketh his Jorneye toward England havynge rather made a -meane to a peace to be hereafter condyscendyd unto, than a peace at thys -tyme yn any pointe determyned. In England all ys quyete. Souch as wrote -trayterouse l’res (letters) ynto Germany be apprehendyd as lykewyse -oothers yt dyd calculate ye kynge and quene and my Lady Elizabeth -natyvytee, wherof on Dee and Cary and butler, and on ooyr of my Lady -Elezabeths ... ar accused and yt they should have a famylyare -sp(irit) wch ys ye moore susp’ted, for yt fferys on of ther a(ccu)sers-hadd -ymedyatly upon thaccusatys bothe hys chyldr(en) strooken, the on wth put -deathe, thother wth blyndnes. Thys trustynge shortly to doe youe yn an -ooyr place bettre servyce I bed yowr good Lordshype most hartily to -farewell. Wryte ffro Cales ye viijth of June.<br /> - -<span class="in6left">Yowr Lordshyps most asured</span> -<span class="smcap bright">Tho. Martyn</span>. -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Happily for Dee, Mary’s reign was not of long duration, and on -the accession of Elizabeth he was at once restored to the sunshine -of Royal favour and courted by the wealthy and the great. He -was consulted by Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, -by the Queen’s desire, respecting “a propitious day” for her -coronation, and he says,—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I wrote at large and delivered it for Her Majesty’s use, by the commandment -of the Lord Robert, what in my judgment the ancient astrologers -would determine on the election day of such a time as was appointed for -Her Majesty to be crowned in.</p></blockquote> - -<p>At the same time he was presented to the Queen, who made -him great promises, not always fulfilled—amongst others, that -where her brother Edward “had given him a crown she would -give him a noble.”</p> - -<p>Dee was a great favourite with Elizabeth, who could well -appreciate his intellectual power, coupled as it was with some -personal graces. She frequently visited him at his house to confer -with him and to have peeps at futurity; and nothing perhaps better -illustrates the faith the “Virgin Queen” had in his astrological -powers than the circumstance of her consulting him, as other -virgins in less exalted stations consult “wise men,” upon the -subject of her matrimonial projects, and also that she had her -nativity cast in order to ascertain if she could marry with advantage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -to the nation. The credulous Queen placed the most implicit confidence -in Dee’s predictions. She was full of hope that the genius -and learning which had already worked such wonders would -accomplish yet more, and that he would eventually succeed in -penetrating the two great mysteries—the Elixir Vitæ and the -Philosopher’s Stone—those secrets which would endue her with -perpetual youth and fill her treasury with inexhaustible wealth.</p> - -<p>The fame of the English seer became more and more widely -spread. Invitations poured in upon him from foreign courts, and -his visits to the Continent became frequent. In 1563 he was at -Venice; the same year, or the one following, he was at Antwerp, -superintending the printing of his “Monas Hyeroglyphica.” An -original copy of this work is preserved in the Manchester Free -Library. Casauban acknowledges that, though it was a little book, -he could extract no reason or sense out of it. Possibly he was one -of those who, as Dee says, “dispraised it because they understood -it not.” Let us hope Dee’s patron was more fortunate, for she had -the advantage of reading it under the guidance of its author, in her -palace at Greenwich, after his return from beyond seas. The book -is dedicated to the Emperor Maximilian, to whom Dee presented it -in person, being at the time, as there is some reason to believe, on -a secret mission, for Lilly says, “he was the Queen’s intelligencer, -and had a salary for his maintenance from the Secretaries of State.”</p> - -<p>After his return, he was sent for on one occasion, “to prevent the -mischief which divers of Her Majesty’s Privy Council suspected to -be intended against Her Majesty, by means of a certain image of -wax, with a great pin stuck into it, about the breast of it, found in -Lincoln’s Inn Fields,” and this, we are told, he did “in a godly -and artificial manner.” In 1571 he again went abroad, and while -returning became dangerously ill at Lorraine, where the Queen -despatched two English physicians “with great speed from Hampton -Court,” to attend him, “sent him divers rareties to eat, and the -Honourable Lady Sydney to attend on him, and comfort him with -divers speeches from Her Majesty, <em>pithy</em> and <em>gracious</em>.” On his -return he settled in the house which had belonged to his father, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -Mortlake, in Surrey, a building on the banks of the Thames, a -little westward of the church. Here for some time he led a life of -privacy and study, collecting books and manuscripts, beryls and -magic crystals, talismans, &c., his library, it is said, consisting of -more than 4,000 volumes, the fourth part of which were MSS., the -whole being valued at the time at more than £2,000.</p> - -<p>In his “Compendious Rehearsall” there is a curious account of -a visit which Elizabeth, attended by many of her Court, made to -his house at <span class="nowrap">Mortlake:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1575 10 Martii.—The Queens Majestie, with her Most honourable Privy -Councell, and other her lords and nobility, came purposely to have visited -my library; but finding that my wife was within four houres before buried -out of the house, her Majestie refused to come in; but willed me to fetch -my glass so famous, and to shew unto her some of the properties of it, -which I did; her Majestie being taken downe from her horse (by the Earle -of Leicester, Master of the horse, by the Church wall of Mortlak), did see -some of the properties of that glass, to her Majestie’s great contentment -and delight, and so in most gracious manner did thank me, &c.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The glass is supposed to have been of a convex form, and so -managed as to show the reflection of different figures and faces.</p> - -<p>On the 8th October, 1578, the Queen had a conference with -Dee, at Richmond, and on the 16th of the same month she sent -her physician, Dr. Bayly, to confer with him “about her Majestie’s -grievous pangs and paines by reason of toothake and the rheum, -&c.;” and before the close of the year he was sent a journey of -over 1,500 miles by sea and land, “to consult with the learned -physitions and philosophers (<i>i.e.</i> astrologers) beyond the seas for -her Majestie’s health recovering and preserving; having by the -right honourable Earle of Leicester and Mr. Secretary Walsingham -but one hundred days allowed to go and come in.”</p> - -<p>After his return, Elizabeth honoured him with another visit, as -appears by the following entry in his “Diary”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1580. Sept. 17th.—The Quene’s Majestie came from Rychemond in her -coach, the higher way of Mortlak felde, and when she came right against -the Church she turned down toward my howse; and when she was against -my garden in the felde she stode there a good while, and then came ynto<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -the street at the great gate of the felde, when she espyed me at my doore -making obeysciens to her Majestie; she beckend her hand for me; I came -to her coach side, she very speedily pulled off her glove and gave me her -hand to kiss; and to be short, asked me to resort to her court, and to give -her to wete when I cam ther.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In less than a month he received another visit from his patron, -when the shadow of death was over his house; for his mother, who -shared the house at Mortlake with him, had expired a few hours -before the arrival of the Royal party. This time Elizabeth seems -to have come less to please herself than to comfort her <span class="nowrap">favourite:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Oct. 10th.—The Quene’s Majestie, to my great comfort (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">hora quinta</i>), cam -with her trayn from the court, and at my dore graciously calling me to her, -on horsbak, exhorted me briefly to take my mother’s death patiently; and -withall told me that the Lord Threasorer had gretly commended my doings -for her title, which he had to examyn, which title in two rolls, he had -browght home two hours before; she remembred allso how at my wive’s -death it was her fortune likewise to call uppon me.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The “title” alluded to had reference to the doubts Elizabeth -affected to have as to her right to rule over the new countries that -were at the time being discovered by her gallant sea captains, -when, to ease her scruples, she had desired Dee to give her a full -account of the newly-found regions. This he did in a few days, -producing two large rolls, which he delivered to the Queen “in the -garden at Richmond;” and in which not only the geography, but -also the history, of the English colonies throughout the world was -given at length. Dee must have made a liberal draught upon his -imagination in producing such a work; and Elizabeth, credulous -as she was, could hardly have looked upon his account of Virginia -or Florida or Newfoundland as trustworthy history. She wished -to believe it, however, and therefore signified her gracious approval -of Dee’s production, much to the disgust of Burleigh, who in the -Queen’s presence openly expressed his disbelief; and when, four -days later, Dee attended at the Lord Treasurer’s house, he refused -to admit him, and when he came forth, as he says, “did not, or -would not, speak to me, I doubt not of some new grief conceyved.” -On further examination of the writings, Burleigh’s misgivings may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -have been removed, or, as is much more likely, deeming it unwise -to provoke a quarrel with one whom the Queen delighted to -honour, he strove to make amends for his discourtesy, for he sent -Dee a haunch of venison three weeks after. Though the breach -was healed, the scholar’s fear of the Lord Treasurer was not -altogether dispelled, if we may judge from a dream with which he -was troubled shortly afterwards, when, as he s<span class="nowrap">ays—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I dreamed that I was deade; and afterwards my bowels were taken out. -I walked and talked with diverse, and among other with the Lord Threasorer, -who was come to my house to burn my bones when I was dead, and thought -he looked sourely on me.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Disraeli, in his “Amenities of Literature,” rightly estimated -the character of the “Wizard Warden” of Manchester when he -remarked that “the imagination of Dee often predominated over -his science—while both were mingling in his intellectual habits, -each seemed to him to confirm the other. Prone to the mystical -lore of what was termed the occult sciences, which in reality are -no sciences at all, since whatever remains occult ceases to be -science, Dee lost his better genius.” Casaubon maintains that -throughout he acted with sincerity, but this may be very well -doubted. It is true that until he dabbled in magical arts he gave -most of his time and talents to science and literature, but in the -later years of his life he laid aside every pursuit that did not aid in -his alchemical and magical studies, and rapidly degenerated into -the mere necromancer and adventurer. Conjuror or not, he -sported with conjuror’s tools; and when in the ardour of his -enthusiasm he claimed to hold intercourse with angelic beings -whom he could summon to his presence at his will, and boasted -the possession of a crystal given him by the Angel Uriel, which -enabled him to reveal all secrets, he naturally subjected himself to -suspicions which, as he afterwards lamented, “tended to his utter -undoing.”</p> - -<p>Many of the incidents of his life are recorded in his “Private -Diary,” edited for the Camden Society by Mr. J. Orchard Halliwell, -and the portion relating to the period of his wardenship of Manchester<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -has since been edited from the autograph MSS. in the -Bodleian Library, with copious notes, and the errors of the Camden -edition corrected by Mr. J. Eglinton Bailey. This journal gives a -curious insight into the private life and real character of the strange -yet simple-minded writer, relating, as it does with much circumstantial -detail, his family affairs, his labours and rewards, and his -trials and tribulations. There are notes of the visits paid to him by -great people; of his attendances at Court; entries of those who -consulted him as to the casting of their nativities; particulars of -moneys borrowed from time to time (for, though he received large -fees and presents, he was almost continuously in a state of impecuniosity); -and the ordinary small talk of a common-place book. -On the 15th June, 1579, his mother surrendered the house at -Mortlake to him, with reversion to his wife and his heirs. On the -5th February in the preceding year he had married, as his second -wife, a daughter of Mr. Bartholomew Fromonds, of East Cheam, a -fellow-worker in alchemical pursuits, the lady being 23 years of -age and Dee 51. They do not appear to have had many sympathies -in common. She was a strong-minded, shrewd, managing -woman, with a somewhat vixenish temper, who exercised considerable -influence over her visionary and unpractical husband, and -kept him in awe of her, though not sufficiently to restrain his -reckless expenditure on books, manuscripts, and scientific instruments. -Occasionally he complains of her irritability, but it must -be confessed that, with her domestic cares, the worry of her -“mayds,” the sickness of her children, and the difficulty she had -in getting from her mystical husband sufficient money for the -needful expenses of her household, the poor woman had anxieties -enough to try the most enduring patience and sour the sweetest -temper. On one occasion he writes: “Jane most desperately -angry in respect of her maydes;” at another time he puts up a -prayer to the angels that she may be cured of some malady -that so she may “be of a quieter mind, and not so testy and -fretting as she hath been.” And again,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> “Katharin (a child under -eight years) by a blow on the eare given by her mother did -bled at the nose very much, which did stay for an howre and -more; afterward she did walk into the town with nurse; upon -her coming home she bled agayn.”</p> - -<p>Though Dee was much noticed and flattered by Elizabeth, the -preferment she so often promised him was slow in coming; perhaps -it was that the calculating Queen wished to ascertain the full value -of his horoscope, which could be only done by the efflux of time, -though, if the prosperity of her reign depended upon the day he -had chosen for her coronation, she then had abundant proof of his -magical skill. Dee was beginning to lose heart, his finances were -getting low, he was in the usurer’s hands, and his pecuniary -obligations were disquieting him. At this time came the crisis of -his life. In 1581 he formed the disastrous friendship with Kelly, -whom he took into his service as an assistant in his alchemical and -astrological labours.</p> - -<p>This individual, whose dealings in the Black Art would fill a -volume, was a crafty and unscrupulous schemer—a clever rogue, -who, without a tithe of the learning or genius of Dee, contrived to -work upon his credulity to such an extent that Dee believed him -to have the power of seeing, hearing, and holding “conversations -with spirituall creatures” that were invisible and inaudible to Dee -himself. Kelly, who was nearly thirty years the junior of Dee, -having been born in 1555, “left Oxford,” says Mr. John Eglinton -Bailey, in his admirable notes to the reprint of Dee’s “Diary,” -“abruptly to ramble in Lancashire,” and for some delinquencies, -coining it is said, had his ears cut off at Lancaster. Mr. Bailey -says that he had been a lawyer, and Lilly states on the authority -of his sister that he had practised as an apothecary at Worcester. -Of a restless, roving, and ambitious disposition, he was</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Everything by turns, and nothing long.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>It was his practice to raise the dead by incantations, and to -consult the corpse for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge, as he -pretended, of the fate of the living. Weever, in his “Ancient -Funeral Monuments” (p. 45), says that upon a certain night in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -the park of Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, with one Paul Wareing, -of Clayton Brook, he invoked one of the infernal regiment to -know certain passages in the life, as also what might be known of -the devil’s foresight of the manner and time of the death, of a -young nobleman in Wareing’s wardship. The ceremony being -ended, Kelly and his companion repaired to the church of Walton, -where they dug up the body of a man recently interred, and whom, -by their incantations, they made to deliver strange predictions -concerning the same gentleman, who was probably present and -anxious to read a page in the book of futurity. This feat, which -was no doubt performed by a kind of ventriloquism, is also -mentioned by Casaubon. It is not said when the circumstance -occurred, but a local historian, anxious to supply the omission, -gives the date August 12, 1560, and says that Dee was present. -This, however, must be an error, for Kelly could then have been -only five years of age, and Dee did not make his acquaintance -until long afterwards.</p> - -<p>Kelly was a notorious alchemist and necromancer long before -Dee became associated with him, and after the unfortunate -intimacy commenced he acted as his amanuensis, and performed -for him the office of “seer,” by looking into the doctor’s magic -crystal,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> a faculty he himself did not possess, and hence he was -obliged to have recourse to Kelly for the revelations from the -spirit world. It would seem, therefore, that “mediums” are by no -means a modern invention. Dee says he was brought into unison<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -with him by the mediation of the Angel Uriel, and their dealings -and daily conferences with the spirits are fully recorded in -Casaubon’s work, entitled, “A True and Faithful Relation of what -passed for many years between Dr. John Dee and some Spirits.” -They had a black spectrum or crystal—a piece of polished cannel -coal, in which Kelly affirmed the Angels Gabriel and Raphael, and -the whole Rosicrucian hierarchy, appeared at their invocation—and -hence the author of “Hudibras” says,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Kelly did all his feats upon</div> -<div class="verse">The devil’s looking-glass—a stone;</div> -<div class="verse">Where playing with him at bo-peep</div> -<div class="verse">He solved all problems ne’er so deep.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>When an incantation was to take place, “The sacred crystal was -placed on a sort of altar before a crucifix, with lighted candles on -either side, and an open Psalter before it,” and prayers and -ejaculations of the most fervid description were intermingled with -the account taken down at Kelly’s dictation of the dress and hair, -as well as the sayings and movements, of the angels. Dee was -infatuated with his new acquaintance, and every experiment he -suggested was tried, at whatever cost, and hence it was not long -before Kelly’s weak and credulous dupe found himself in straitened -circumstances. It was at this time that the Earl of Leicester, the -Queen’s favourite, proposed dining with him at Mortlake and -bringing Albert Lasque, the Palatine of Sieradz, who was then in -England, with him, when Dee had to explain that he could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -give them a suitable dinner without selling some of his plate or -pewter to procure it. Leicester mentioned the circumstance to the -Queen, who speedily helped her old favourite out of the difficulty -by sending him “forty angells of gold.” He thus relates the -<span class="nowrap">circumstance:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Her Majestie (A. 1583 Julii ultimo) being informed by the right honourable -Earle of Leicester, that whereas the same day in the morning he had -told me, that his Honour and Lord Laskey would dyne with me within two -daies after, I confessed sincerely unto him, that I was not able to prepaire -them a convenient dinner, unless I should presently sell some of my plate -or some of my pewter for it. Whereupon her Majestie sent unto me very -royally, within one hour after, forty angells of gold, from Syon, whither her -Majestie was new come by water from Greenewich.</p></blockquote> - -<p>At the same time he makes the following entry in his “Diary”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Rawlegh his letter unto me of hir Majestie’s good disposition unto me.</p></blockquote> - -<p>the writer being Sir Walter Raleigh, who was then in great favour -with Elizabeth, and himself a patron of Dee’s.</p> - -<p>The visit of Count Lasque was an important event in Dee’s -career. The Polish noble was accounted of great learning, and -fond of “occult studies.” He paid frequent visits to the house at -Mortlake, where he was admitted to the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">séances</i> of the English -magician, and became much impressed with his learning and professed -knowledge of the mystical world. When the time came for -Lasque to return he suggested that Dee should go out with him to -Poland, with his wife and children, accompanied by Kelly and his -wife and brother, and their servants. When in his castle at Sieradz -they could make their experiments in undisturbed seclusion. -Seeing no prospect of the fulfilment of the promises made to him -at home, and being hampered with debt, Dee, who was then in his -57th year, was nothing loth to try his fortune abroad once more. -They left in September, and it was six years before any of them -again set foot on English soil. The departure is thus recorded in -the “Diary”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Sept. 21st (1583).—We went from Mortlake, and so to the Lord Albert -Lasky, I, Mr. E. Kelly, our wives, my children and familie, we went toward -our two ships attending for us, seven or eight myle below Gravessende.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> - -<p>The period of their residence abroad was a chequered one, and -many and extraordinary were their adventures and experiences, -alternating between honour and discredit—between luxury and -distress. For many months they were hospitably entertained by -Count Lasque while engaged in their researches for the Philosopher’s -Stone, but finding that they spent more gold than they were able to -produce he got tired, and persuaded them to pay a visit to Rudolph, -King of Bohemia, who, though a weak and credulous man, soon -became conscious of the imposture that was being practised, and -passed them on to Stephen, King of Poland, at Cracow, but he -declined to have anything to do with them, and the Emperor Rudolph -refused to pay their expenses, or further encourage their experiments, -though he permitted them to reside at Prague, and occasionally to -appear at Court, until they were banished from the country at the -instigation of the Pope’s Nuncio, who stigmatised them as “notorious -magicians.” Dee lamented the “subtill devises and plotts” -laid against him, and pathetically added, “God best knoweth how I -was very ungodly dealt withall, when I meant all truth, sincerity, -fidelity, and piety towardes God, and my Queene, and country.”</p> - -<p>The old man had surrendered himself entirely to Kelly. Under -his iniquitous influence he degenerated into a mere necromancer, -and was sinking more and more into discredit. On leaving -Bohemia the two adventurers found an asylum in the Castle of -Trebona, whither the Count of Rosenberg had invited them, and -where, for a time, they were maintained in great affluence, owing, -as they affirmed, to their discovery of the secret of transmuting the -baser metals into gold. Kelly would seem to have learned some -secrets from the German chemists which he did not reveal to his -employer, but by their possession contrived to increase his influence -over him, while he himself had recourse to the worst species of the -magic art for the purposes of avarice and fraud. It was while at -Trebona that Kelly produced the wonderful elixir, or Philosopher’s -Stone, in the form of a powder, which Lilly, in his “Memoirs,” -says he obtained from a friar who came to Dee’s door. With this -“powder of projection,” or “salt of metals,” as it was variously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -called, they were enabled to coat the baser metals with silver or -gold, and would seem to have hit upon the process which, a century -and a half later, Joseph Hancock introduced into Sheffield—that -of electro-plating. Among other transmutations they converted a -piece of an old iron warming pan, by warming it at the fire, into -(or covered it with) silver, and sent it to Queen Elizabeth.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Why, -when they were about it, they did not “transmute” the whole pan -is not stated, but it would seem they were not able to work the -discovery easily or quickly enough to make it pay, for heart-burnings, -jealousies, and disputations arose, and quarrels became of -frequent occurrence. At one time Kelly got such a hold upon his -dupe as to persuade him that it was the Divine will that they should -have their wives in common; then a rupture occurred between the -ladies, who, however, became reconciled to each other, and we -have the entries in the <span class="nowrap">Diary—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>April 10th (1588).—I writ to Mr. Edward Kelly and to Mistress Kelly ij -charitable letters requiring at theyr hands mutual charity.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="nowrap">And—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>May 22nd.—Mistris Kelly received the sacrament and to me and my wife -gave her hand in charity; and we rushed not from her.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Peace was restored, but it must have been of short duration, for -we find a few months <span class="nowrap">later—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>July 17th.—Mr. Thomas Southwell of his own courteous nature did -labor with Mr. Edmond Cowper, and indirectly with Mistress Kelly, for to -furder charity and friendship among us.</p></blockquote> - -<p>True to his sordid and scheming nature, Kelly, who had become -a full-blown knight, contrived to possess himself of the greater part -of Dee’s treasures—“the powder, the bokes, the glass, and the -bone”—and then, having no longer any need of the old man’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -co-operation, took himself off to earn elsewhere a success that, -however, proved only very short-lived, for it was not long before, -being detected in some knavery, he fell into disgrace, and was -immured by the Emperor Rudolph in one of the prisons of Prague. -Queen Elizabeth hearing of him, sent a messenger—Captain Peter -Gwinne—secretly for him to return; but he was doomed to end -his days in a foreign land, for in an attempt to escape from one of -the windows of the castle he fell to the ground, and was so bruised -and shattered that he died in a few hours—his elixir, it would -seem, not being sufficient to communicate immortality to its -possessor.</p> - -<p>Forsaken by his companion, Dee resolved on returning to -England. Elizabeth, who had heard of the doings of the two -adventurers, and being, moreover, much impressed with the silvered -piece of the warming pan, sent the doctor friendly messages -desiring his return, with letters of safe conduct, and Lord Rosenberg, -who had welcomed the coming, was now no less hearty in -speeding his parting guests, an attention that is not surprising -when it is remembered that for two years or more he had had -quartered upon him two families who maintained somewhat -questionable relations, and lived upon anything but friendly terms -with each other—two quarrelsome women, a whole bevy of -turbulent and unruly children, and a staff of servants that were -continually causing disquiet by their “unthankfulnesse” and discontent; -to say nothing of a brace of conjurors who crowded his -castle, or, at least, were believed to, with imps, hobgoblins, and -ghostly visitants of various kinds, and who there practised all sorts -of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">diablerie</i>. The count made him magnificent promises, and gave -him a present of money; and we can quite believe that he and -those about him were not very much overcome when Dee and his -household divinities left Trebona Castle and turned their faces -homewards. They travelled with great pomp and state, having -“three new coaches made purposely for my foresaid journey,” -“twelve coach horses,” “two and sometymes three waines,” with -“twenty-four soldiers,” and “four Swart-Ruiters,” as a guard of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -honour; the “total summe of money spent” being £796—well-nigh -sufficient for a royal progress. On November 19, 1589, the -Dees “toke ship by the Vineyard,” and December 2nd “came -into the Tems to Gravesende.” They landed the following day, and -on the 19th the doctor was “at Richemond with the Queen’s -Majestie,” when, according to Aubrey, who received the information -from Lilly, he was very favourably received.</p> - -<p>Though Dee and his family “cam into the Tems” on the 2nd -December, it was not until Christmas Day that they again entered -upon possession of the old home at Mortlake. And a comfortless -coming home and a sorrowful Christmas Day must have been that -25th of December, 1589. Courted by “Christian Emperors,” Dee -had lived long enough to realise the value of the aphorism which -says “Put not your trust in princes!” Feeble with years, broken -in health, and overwhelmed by his losses and disappointments, the -old man chafed and became fretful; while his comparatively youthful -spouse—for Jane Dee was then in the prime of womanhood—was -becoming increasingly irritable under the increasing cares of a -growing family, and the difficulties she experienced in obtaining -even decent food and raiment for them.</p> - -<p>On reaching their once pleasant abode on the banks of the -Thames, they found it dismantled and in part dilapidated. While -abroad, silvering his old warming-pan and dreaming dreams of -inexhaustible wealth, Dee had little dreamed of what was going on -at home. Scarcely had he and his quondam associate reached the -castle of Count Lasque than Nicholas Fromonds, his brother-in-law, -who had been left in charge of the old house, and was to -occupy it as tenant, “imbezeled,” sold, and “unduly made away” -his furniture and “household stuff;” and a noisy rabble, believing -that the old man had dealings with the devil, broke in, ransacked -the whole place, and destroyed nearly everything that remained. -Scarcely anything was left. 4,000 volumes, including the precious -manuscripts, that had taken more than 40 years to get together, -and had cost him £2,000, an enormous sum if we consider the -value of money at that time, were scattered; though, through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -efforts of his friends, some of them were afterwards recovered, as -he said, “in manner out of a dunghill, in the corner of a church, -wherein very many were utterly spoyled by rotting, through the -raine continually for many years before falling on them, through -the decayed roof of that church, lying desolate and wast at this -houre.” The “rare and exquisitely-made instruments mathematicall,” -the “strong and faire quadrant of five foote semi-diameter;” -the two globes, on one of which “were set down -divers comettes, their places and motions;” the sea compasses; -the magnet-stone “of great vertue;” the “watch clock,” which -measured the “360th part of an hour,” were all purloined, “piecemeal -divided,” or “barbarously spoyled and with hammers smit in -pieces.” Harland and Wilkinson, in their “Lancashire Folk-Lore,” -say that when the house was attacked, “it was with difficulty -Dee and his family escaped the fury of the rabble;” but this is a -mistake, for, as previously stated, they were at the time beyond -the seas, and in blissful ignorance of what was taking place.</p> - -<p>Dee’s affairs were now in a deplorable condition. The destruction -of his library was a terrible calamity. He was involved in debt, -his creditors were becoming clamorous, and, as he laments, “the -usury devoureth me, and the score, talley, and booke debts doe -dayly put me to shame in many places and with many men.” His -old friend and patron, the Queen, who had not yet lost faith in his -astrological powers and discoveries, sent him in the year following -his return “fiftie poundes to keep Christmas with,” and promised -him another “fiftie poundes” out of her “prevy purse.” Many -other friends sent him presents, in all about £500; but he was still -struggling in poverty, and craving for some lucrative office, that he -might free himself from his difficulties. In his distress he -memorialised the Queen, through the Countess of Warwick, -earnestly requesting that commissioners might be appointed to -inquire into and decide upon his claims. His indebtedness then -amounted to nearly £4,000, and the story he tells of the shifts he -had recourse to, to save his family from “hunger starving,” is truly -pathetic. He had been constrained, he says,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> “now and then to -send parcells of furniture and plate to pawne upon usury,” and -when these were gone, “after the same manner went my wife’s -jewells of gold, rings, braceletts, chaines, and other our rarities, -under thraldom of the usurer’s gripes, till <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">non plus</i> was written -upon the boxes at home.” Upon the report the Queen “willed -the Lady Howard to write some words of comfort to his wife, and -send some friendly tokens beside;” she further sent through Mr. -Candish (Cavendish) her “warrant by word of mowth to assure -him to do what he would in philosophie and alchemie, and -none shold chek, controll, or molest him,” and as a mark of -her regard, on two occasions, “called for him at his door” as -she rode by.</p> - -<p>About this time a domestic difficulty of a different nature -occurred. Dee’s nurse became “possessed,” and he had to try his -skill in exorcising what he believed to be the evil spirit, though, as -the result showed, with indifferent success. The incident is thus -referred to in his “Diary”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Aug. 2nd, 1590.—Nurs her great affliction of mynde.</p> - -<p>Aug. 22nd.—Ann my nurse had long byn tempted by a wycked spirit: -but this day it was evident how she was possessed of him. God is, hath -byn, and shall be her protector and deliverer! Amen.</p> - -<p>Aug. 25th.—Anne Frank was sorowful, well comforted, and stayed in -God’s mercyes acknowledging.</p> - -<p>Aug. 26th.—At night I anoynted (in the name of Jesus) Anne Frank, her -brest with the holy oyle.</p> - -<p>Aug. 30th.—In the morning she required to be anoynted, and I did very -devowtly prepare myself, and pray for vertue and powr, and Christ his -blessing of the oyle to the expulsion of the wycked; and then twyse -anoynted, the wycked one did resest a while.</p> - -<p>Sep. 8th.—Nurse Anne Frank wold have drowned hirself in my well, but -by divine Providence I cam to take her up befor she was overcome of the -water.</p> - -<p>Sep. 29th.—Nurse Anne Frank most miserably did cut her owne throte, -afternone abowt four of the clok, pretending to be in prayer before her -keeper, and suddenly and very quickly rising from prayer, and going -toward her chamber, as the mayden her keeper thowt, but indede straight -way down the stayrs into the hall of the other howse, behinde the doore -did that horrible act; and the mayden who wayted on her at the stayr fote -followed her, and missed to fynd her in three or fowr places, tyll at length -she hard her rattle in her owne blud.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> - -<p>Dee tried hard to regain the parsonages and endowments of -Upton and Long Leadenham, of which Bonner had many -years previously dispossessed him, but he was “utterly put -owt of hope for recovering them by the Lord Archbishop -and the Lord Threasorer.” Elizabeth had, on one occasion, -promised him the deanery of Gloucester, but objection was -raised on the ground of his not being in Holy Orders; subsequently -he had the promise of some small advowsons in the -diocese of St David’s; but the promise which was pleasant to the -bear was roken to the hope. Failing these, he applied for reversion -of the mastership of the Hospital of St. Cross, at Winchester. The -Queen and the Lord Treasurer were favourably disposed, and Mr. -J. Eglinton Bailey, in his admirable notes, to which we have before -made reference, cites a Latin document which he found among the -State Papers, dated May, 1594, being a grant to Wm. Brooke, -Lord Cobham, K.G., of the next advowson of the hospital of -Holyrood, near Winchester, of the Queen’s gift, by the vacancy of -the See, to present John Dee, M.A., on the death or resignation -of Dr. Robert Bennett, the then incumbent. Bennett, however, -did not die, or did not resign in reasonable time, for Dee never got -installed; or it may be that the Archbishop (Whitgift) had interposed, -for a month after the “grant” just mentioned, we find in -the “Diary” an entry in which he thus gives vent to his feeling of -mortification and disappointment, after an interview with the -<span class="nowrap">Primate:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>June 29th, 1594.—After I had hard the Archbishop his answers and -discourses, and that after he had byn the last Sonday at Tybald’s (Theobald’s) -with the Quene and Lord Threaserer, I take myself confounded for -all suing or hoping for anything that was. And so adieu to the court and -courting tyll God direct me otherwise! The Archbishop gave me a payre -of sufferings to drinke. God be my help as he is my refuge! Amen.</p></blockquote> - -<p>When Dee ceased to supplicate, his wife took up the parable, -and with much more satisfactory results. On the 7th of December, -in the same year, we <span class="nowrap">read:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Jane, my wife, delivered her supplication to the Quene’s Majestie, as -she passed out of the privy garden at Somerset House to go to diner to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -Savoy, to Syr Thomas Henedge. The Lord Admirall toke it of the -Quene. Her Majestie toke the bill agayn, and kept (it) uppon her cushen; -and on the 8th day, by the chief motion of the Lord Admirall, and somewhat -of the Lord Buckhurst, the Quene’s wish was to the Lord Archbishop -presently that I should have Dr. Day his place in Powles (<i>i.e.</i>, the -Chancellorship of St. Paul’s).</p></blockquote> - -<p>Possibly the Queen or the Archbishop, or both, were getting -wearied with the constant appeals of their tedious and egotistical -suitor, for a month later occurs the <span class="nowrap">entry:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1595. Jan. 8th.—The Wardenship of Manchester spoken of by the -Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.</p> - -<p>Feb. 5th.—My bill of Manchester offered to the Quene afore dynner by -Sir John Wolly to signe, but she deferred it.</p> - -<p>April 18th.—My bill for Manchester Wardenship signed by the Quene, -Mr. Herbert offring it her.</p></blockquote> - -<p>And so the magician of Mortlake was commissioned to minister -among the Lancashire witches, and an exceedingly unpleasant time -he had of it, as we shall presently see.</p> - -<p>Though the appointment was made, the patent was not yet sealed. -Dr. Chadderton did not actually relinquish the wardenship of -Manchester until the confirmation of his election to the see of -Lincoln, May 24, 1595. Immediately after appears the entry in -the “Diary”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>May 25th, 26th, 27th.—The Signet, Privy Seale, and the Great Seale of -the Wardenship.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The old man was evidently too poverty-stricken to pay the fees, -for he significantly adds, “£3 12s. 0d. borrowed of my brother -Arnold.”</p> - -<p>At last the long-hoped-for preferment was secured, and the -Warden elect at once began to prepare for removal to his new -sphere of duty. Though, as before stated, the building of the -College had been acquired by the Earls of Derby, under the -Confiscating Act of Edward VI., the Wardens continued to reside -there. On the 11th June Dee<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> “wrote to the Erle of Derby his -secretary abowt Manchester College;” and on the 21st June he -makes the <span class="nowrap">entry:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The Erle of Derby his letter to Mr. Warren for the Colledge.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Warren being apparently the agent of the Earl, and the -“secretary” previously mentioned. Having thus put matters in -train for the occupation of his new home, he set about the letting -or disposal of the old one, for we <span class="nowrap">read:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>July 1st.—The two brothers, Master Willemots, of Oxfordshere, cam to -talk of my howse-hyring. Master Baynton cam with Mistress Katharyn -Hazelwood, wife to Mr. Fuller.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Meantime the Manchester people, and more especially the -fellows of the College, were curious to know something about the -new Warden, of whom rumour had said so many strange things. -On the 12th July he records that “Mr. Goodier, of Manchester, -cam to me;” and on the 28th July he received “a letter from Mr. -Oliver Carter, Fellow of Manchester College,” of whom we shall -have more to say by-and-by. Mr. Goodier, it may be presumed, -was not altogether uninfluenced by worldly considerations in thus -paying his respects at Mortlake. The worthy burgher was a man -of some consequence in his way, and much given, it is said, to the -improvement of his temporal estate. He resided at the “Ould -Clough House,” a building adjacent to the College, “over anendst -the church,” as the Court Rolls of the day describe it, had served as -senior constable, and had also filled the more important office of -borough-reeve. He had, moreover, farmed the tithes of the -Warden and Fellows, and seems to have made a somewhat wide -interpretation of his lease, for shortly before he had prosecuted -one of the Fellows for withholding the surplice fees, which he claimed -to have of right. It is not unlikely, therefore, he had an ulterior -object in journeying to London and offering his civilities to Dee. -A year or two before, he had married a rich widow, Katharine, the -relict of Ralph Sorrocold, and the mother of John Sorrocold, at -whose house, the Eagle and Child, opposite Smithy Door, John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -Taylor, the “water poet,” when on his “Pennyless Pilgrimage,” -lodged, and whose wife he immortalised in his homely <span class="nowrap">rhymes—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I lodged at the Eagle and the Child,</div> -<div class="verse">Whereat my hostess (a good ancient woman)</div> -<div class="verse">Did entertain me with respect not common.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4"><span class="wide">* * * * *</span></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">So Mistress Saracole, hostess kind,</div> -<div class="verse">And Manchester with thanks I left behind.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>On the 31st July, the “very virtuous” Countess of Warwick, -who had proved her friendship for Dee by urging his claims upon -the consideration of the Queen, did this evening, as he <span class="nowrap">says—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Thank her Matie in my name and for me for her gift of the Wardenship -of Manchester. She took it gratiously, and was sorry that it was so far -from hers; but that some better thing neer hand shall be ffownd for me; -and if opportunitie of tyme wold serve, her Matie wold speak with me -herself.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is significantly added that “the firstfruits were forgiving by -her Matie,” which was fortunate, as it saved him the necessity of -borrowing money to pay them. Her Majesty, however, never -found the “opportunitie of tyme” to speak with her aged <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">protégé</i>, and -Dee eventually left without the satisfaction of a parting interview.</p> - -<p>Dee’s prospects were now brightening, and, though late in the -evening of life, there was again a prospect of sunny weather. Misfortunes, -it is proverbially said, seldom come singly—the same -rule, it would seem, holds good in regard to prosperity—for -scarcely had Dee obtained his preferment when Providence added -to his domestic bliss. A daughter was born unto him (he was now -in his 69th year), and the christening, as may be supposed, was a -great affair, the sponsors, who by the way, all appeared by deputy, -being the Lord Keeper—Sir Christopher Hatton, it has been said, -but more probably another Cheshire man, Sir Thomas Egerton, -afterwards Lord Chancellor, for Hatton had been in his grave four -years or more—Lady Mary Russell, Countess of Cumberland, the -mother of the stout-hearted Lady Anne Clifford, Dowager Countess -of Pembroke and Montgomery, of famous memory; and the Lady<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -Frances Walsingham, widow of Sir Philip Sidney, and the wife of -the unfortunate Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, whom Elizabeth, -in 1601, beheaded.</p> - -<p>The time of the new Warden was now much occupied in visiting -and receiving visits. On the 13th, and again on the 22nd of -September, he was the guest of the Earl of Derby at Russell -House, and on the 9th Oct. he “dyned with Syr Walter -Rawlegh, at Durham House,” in the Strand. On the 25th -Oct. we find him urging “Mr. Brofelde, Atturny-General, for som -land deteyned from the Coll.” (ege). Then come the entries,—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>Nov. 8th.—My goods sent by Percival toward Manchester.<br /> -Nov. 26th.—My wife and children all by coach toward Coventry.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Coventry was on the road towards Manchester. Finally, we -have the great mathematician himself following in their <span class="nowrap">wake—</span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p>1595–6. Feb. 15.—I cam to Manchester a meridie nova 5.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The severance from old scenes and old associations must -have been a painful one. It could only have been dire necessity -that induced the vain and pedantic philosopher to forsake the -pleasant vicinity of Richmond; to leave the courtly gallants and -the staid and erudite <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">savants</i> who had frequented his modest -“mansion” to settle down among the hard-headed, but uncultured -and unappreciative people of Manchester—to immure himself in a -place that must have been even less attractive then than it was a -century or more after when Brummell’s regiment was ordered there, -and the Beau sold out rather than submit to the infliction of being -quartered in it. Abroad Dee had been welcomed wherever he had -gone, and received with all the state and courtly ceremonial due -to one of such prodigious learning. At Mortlake he had enjoyed -the sunshine of royal favour, had been honoured with the frequent -visits of the Queen and her Ministers, and accustomed to the -friendship and society of such polished wits as Walsingham and -Raleigh, and Cavendish and Sir Philip <span class="nowrap">Sidney—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Sidney, than whom no gentler, braver man</div> -<div class="verse">His own delightful genius ever feigned,</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> -<p>And whom Spenser, in his “Shepheards’ Calendar,” <span class="nowrap">named—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi6">The President</div> -<div class="verse">Of noblenesse and chivalree.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>At Manchester he had to deal with a rude, boisterous, and -uncultivated people, who openly reviled him—a rough metal that -all his incantations and alchemical skill could not transform into -refined gold; and withal he had to contend with a body of clergy -who abhorred the unlawful arts he was supposed to practice, and -who treated him in consequence with implacable hatred. Of a -truth his position was not an enviable one.</p> - -<p>Lancashire was at that time the great scene of religious -conflict—the battle-ground of angry polemics and fiercely-contending -factions. It was accounted as more given to -Romanism than any other county in England, and in the rural -districts the Protestant cause seemed rather declining than -advancing. Dr. Chadderton, who preceded Dee in the -Wardenship, had carried on a vigorous persecution of those who -still adhered to the unreformed religion, the more obstinate of -whom he imprisoned in the New Fleet, a building adjoining his -residence in the College. He had further hit upon an ingenious -way of convincing these recusants of the error of their ways—as -they would not attend church to hear the sermons preached by -the Puritanical Fellows he gave orders to his clergy to read prayers -in the apartments where they were confined, especially at meal -times, so that they had the pleasant alternative of taking theological -nourishment with their food or going without victuals altogether. -Chadderton’s Protestantism had been intensified by his exile -during the Marian persecutions, and as Dee had been deprived of -his rectories of Upton and Long Leadenham, and had suffered -imprisonment at the hands of Bonner, it was not unreasonably -believed that he would follow in the steps of his predecessor, and -be no less zealous in hunting up seminary priests, and punishing -those who resorted to their secret masses. But Dee’s church -principles were not particularly pronounced. Devoted to mathematical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -and scientific pursuits, he did not greatly concern himself -with either Popish or Puritan theology; preaching was not in his -line, and he cared little for those controversial sermons which only -provoked strife between the professors of the old and the new faith, -and excited bitterness in the minds of all. He was content to -leave the Papists to the watchful care of the powerful Earl of -Derby and their opponents to do as they pleased, provided they -gave him no trouble. His colleagues were greatly angered at his -lack of zeal, and interminable quarrels were the consequence.</p> - -<p>Saturday, the 20th of February, 1596, was a great day in -Manchester, and one to be held in remembrance. The church -bells filled the air with their clanging melodies, and the groups of -curious onlookers at the church stile and in the grass-grown graveyard -denoted that something unusual was astir. And there was, -for the great philosopher whose marvellous skill had astonished -half the Courts of Europe, and about whom rumour had told so -many curious tales, was come to preside over the ancient College, -and direct the ecclesiastical affairs of the parish, and on that raw -February morning was to be installed in his office. Manchester -had never seen such a Warden before, and has not seen such -another since. The ceremony, we are told, was gone through with -“great pomp and solemnity.” Of those assisting at it were -Edmund Prestwich, of Hulme; Richard Massey, the representative -of a family of some consequence living “in the Milnegate, neere -unto a street comonly called Toad-lane;” George Birch, of Birch, -in Rusholme, the brother of Robert Birch, one of the Fellows, and -nephew of William Birch, who at one time had been the Warden -of the College; Ralph Byrom and Thomas Byrom, wealthy traders -of the Kersal stock; Ralph Houghton, another trader; Henry -Hardy, and Richard Nugent, who afterwards became a benefactor -to the town, but whose bequest, through the negligence of trustees, -has long since been lost. Dr. Hibbert mentions these names, -though he does not give his authority. Dee, however, was fond of -ostentation and display, and we may be sure would omit nothing -that would impart dignity and importance to the proceedings. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -are not told which of the Fellows were present. Nowell, who was -then in his 90th year, would be too old and infirm to undertake -the toil of a journey from London; but the bold and outspoken -Puritan divine, Oliver Carter, would of a certainty be in his place; -and probably with him would be his equally zealous coadjutor, -Thomas Williamson; though both must have been greatly exercised -in spirit at the thought of God’s heritage being lorded over by one -of such questionable antecedents. Humphrey Chetham had not -then amassed a fortune, and acquired fame as a reformer of -ecclesiastical abuses. He was only in his sixteenth year; but he -may have been, and very likely was, among the spectators, and in -his young mind may have wondered how and by what mysterious -influences so valuable a preferment had fallen to one who, not having -obtained ordination, had not even received authority to preach.</p> - -<p>The Manchester as Dee saw it must have presented a very -different aspect to the Manchester of to-day. Leland, who had -visited the place sixty years previously, described it, in his -“Itinerary,” as “the fairest, best builded, quickest, and most -populous town in Lancashire,” which, by the way, was not saying -very much, seeing that, as compared with other parts of the -kingdom, the county was thinly-peopled and ill-cultivated, and -the neighbourhood of the town little else than extensive moors, -mosses, and quagmires, where the stranger rarely adventured himself, -and so “very wild and dangerous” that Bishop Downham -pleaded its inaccessibility as a reason for seldom or never visiting -it. The extent of the town proper could have been little more -than that of an inconsiderable village of the present day, for though, -unfortunately, there is no plan of it as then existing, the enumeration -of the streets in the old Court Rolls of the manor enables -us to form a tolerably accurate estimate of its limits. Within a few -hundred yards of the Church the whole of the business of the place -was located, and what was then town was but a congeries of -crooked lanes and devious by-ways, with quaint black and white -half-timbered dwellings standing on either side in an irregular, -in-and-out, haphazard sort of way, and some very much inclined to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -“stand-at-ease,” yet rendered picturesque by their very irregularity -and their innumerable architectural caprices and fantasies, their -queer-looking and curiously-carved gables, their oddly-projecting -oriels and cunningly-devised recesses, and the varied and broken -sky-lines of their roofs, so different to those dull, dreary uniformities -of brick the present generation is compelled to gaze upon. -Deansgate, Market Sted Lane, and Long Millgate were the principal -streets. These stretched irregularly towards the open country, and -from them a few narrow intricate lanes branched off in the -direction of the Church and the College. On the east and south -sides of the churchyard were then, as now, several public-houses, -where the bride ales and wedding feasts were held, and to restrain -the extravagances of which numerous sumptuary laws had to be -enacted. Round the Market Sted were the shops and “stallings” -of the principal traders, who, clad in their own fustian, measured -out their manufactured wares and sent out their pack-horsemen, -with tingling bells, to sell them wherever and whenever they could -find a buyer. Here also were located the “booths” in which the -Portmotes and the Courts Leet and Baron of the manorial lords -were held, and contiguous thereto were the Pillory, the Whipping -Post, and the Stocks, where rogues and dishonest and drunk and -disorderly townsmen were punished. On the north side of the -church—Back o’th’ Church, as it was called—between the churchyard -and the College gates, stood the bull oak, where bulls were -usually baited. The butts for archery practice, where every man -between 16 and 60 had to exercise himself in the use of the good -yew bow, were on the outskirts of the town, one being on the -south side, where Deansgate merged into Aldport Lane, and the -other, at Collyhurst, on the north. The cockpit stood on what -was then called the “lord’s waste,” the vacant land in the rear of -the Market Sted, which still retains the name of Cockpit Hill. -Hanging Ditch was, as its name implied, a ditch, part of the old -moat or fosse connecting the Irwell and the Irk, down which the -water still flowed at a considerable depth below the footway, Toad -Lane and Cateaton Street being but a continuation of it. Over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -this old and then disused watercourse was a stone bridge, the arch -of which may still be seen—the Hanging Bridge, so named from -the drawbridge which had preceded it, where officers were stationed -to see that horses and cows did not pass over into the churchyard. -Near the bridge was the smithy, which gave the name to Smithy -Door and Smithy Bank. In Smithy Door, near the entrance to the -Market Sted, was the town pump or conduit, fed from a natural -spring, near the top of the present Spring Gardens, where the good -wives of the town went for their water, and waited their “cale” -till they got it, gossiping and quarrelling with each other the while. -At the foot of Smithy Bank was Salford Bridge—the only bridge -over the Irwell connecting the two towns—a structure of three -arches, and so narrow that foot-passengers had occasionally to take -refuge in little recesses while vehicles passed along. In the -centre of it was the dungeon, which in earlier days had served the -purpose of a chapel. Withy Grove was in truth a group of withies, -the old “Seven Stars,” and a few other dwellings, being all that -existed to give the character of street. At the higher end was -Withingreave Hall, the town house of the Hulmes of Reddish, -progenitors of William “Hulme the Founder,” with its gardens, -orchard, and outbuilding, and beyond a pleasant rural lane led on -to Shudehill. Market Sted Lane, a narrow and tortuous thoroughfare, -extended no further than the present Brown Street, Mr. -Lever’s house, which occupied the site of the White Bear, -standing in what was then the open country. The picturesque old -black and white houses that bordered each side had their pleasant -gardens in rear; and beyond, towards Withy Grove in one direction -and Deansgate in the other, were meadows and pasture fields. In -one of those fields, on the south side, was the mansion of the -Radcliffes, surrounded by a moat that gave the name to Pool Fold, -and which was oftentimes the scene of much mob-justice and very -much misery, for here was placed the ducking-stool for the punishment -of scolds and disorderly women,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">On the long plank hangs o’er the muddy pool,</div> -<div class="verse">That stool, the dread of ev’ry scolding quean.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a></span></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -From its frequent use we may suppose that in those days the -female portion of the community were neither very amiable nor -very virtuous. Long Millgate ran parallel with the Irk, an -irregular line of houses with little plots of garden behind forming -the boundary on each side, and a little way up a rural lane, shaded -with hedgerow trees, branched off on the right, known as the -Milner’s Lane—the present Miller Street. The Irk, a pure and -sparkling stream, was noted for its “luscious eels.” The Masters -of the Grammar School had the exclusive fishery rights from -Ashley Lane to Hunt’s Bank, and the Warden and Fellows of the -College might have envied them their monopoly had they not -themselves been able to obtain their Lenten fare from the equally -clear and well-stocked waters of the Irwell, which then glided -pleasantly by, innocent of dyes and manufacturing refuse. Altogether -the place presented more the semi-rural aspect of a country -village than an important town, as Leland represented it to be. -Picturesque, it is true, yet it possessed many unpleasant features -withal. The streets and lanes were ill-paved and full of deep ruts -and claypits, for every man who wanted daub to repair his dwelling -dug a hole before his door to obtain it. The eye, too, was offended -by unsightly cesspools and dunghills that were to be seen against -the Church walls, on the bridges, and, in fact, at every turn.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a></span> -<a name="MC" id="MC"></a><img src="images/i_221.jpg" width="600" height="390" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE COLLEGE, MANCHESTER.</div> -</div> - -<p>Though some of the more remote parts of the parish were barren -and uncultivated, the immediate environments of the town were -characterised by much that was exceedingly beautiful, with a wilder -sort of loveliness, increased by the natural irregularities of the -surface, and the great masses of foliage, part of the old forest of -Arden, that extended far away. On the north, Strangeways Park, -with its umbraged heights, its sunny glades, and shady dingles, -stretched away towards Broughton, Cheetham, and Red Bank. -Near thereto was Collyhurst Park, with the common, on which the -townsmen had the right to pasture their pigs, and where the town -swine-herd daily attended to his porcine charge; and the deep -sequestered clough through which the Irk wound its sinuous -course, its surface chequered by the shadows of the overhanging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -hazels and brushwood; and beyond, the extensive chase of Blackley, -with its deer leaps, and its aërie of eagles, of herons, and of hawks. -On the south was the stately old mansion of Aldport, standing in -a park of 95 acres, occupying the site of Campfield and Castlefield, -and reaching down to the banks of the Irwell, with the great parks -of Ordsal and Hulme on the one side and those of Garratt and -Ancoats on the other.</p> - -<p>It can hardly be said that among the inhabitants a very high -state of civilisation prevailed. If thrifty and industrious, they were -certainly not very refined, nor blessed with “pregnant wits,” as -good Hugh Oldham affirmed, nor yet remarkable for their moral -excellence. Boisterous and laughter-loving, they delighted in outdoor -games and uproarious sports,—the wild merriment of the day -being oftentimes followed by the wilder merriment of the evening. -Bull-baiting, wrestling, and cock-fighting were the leading diversions, -“unlawful gaming” and “lewdness” were frequently complained -of, and the ale-houses, to which the more dissolute resorted, were -the scenes of riots and feuds that not only caused annoyance and -scandal to the more well-disposed, but endangered the public peace -to a greater degree than we can now easily conceive. Under such -circumstances it is hardly surprising that they should have entertained -little reverence for their spiritual pastors, many of whom, by -the way, were only a degree less ignorant and disorderly than -themselves, for in those days the curate of Stretford kept an -ale-house, the rector of Chorlton eked out a scanty subsistence by -doing a little private pawnbroking, while the parson of Blackley -was “passing rich” on a stipend of £2 3s. 4d. a year.</p> - -<p>Such was the Manchester of which Dee had become the ecclesiastical -head. However apathetic he may have been as to the -spiritual affairs of the parishioners committed to his care, he was -by no means wanting in energy when his own temporal interests -were concerned. Scarcely had he taken up his abode at the -College than we find him entertaining at dinner two influential -tenants—Sir John Byron, of Clayton, and his son, and bargaining -with them about the price of hay before the grass was actually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -grown. A month later he records the “possession taking in -Salford,” and he quickly found himself in litigation with the -College tenants of some of the lands there. The tenants were a -source of trouble, and oftentimes disturbed the even tenor of his -way, while the collecting of his tithes was not unfrequently a cause -of anxiety also. He complains of being “occupied with low -controversies, as with Holden of Salford, and the tenants of Sir -John Biron, of Faylsworth,” of “much disquietnes and controversy -about the tythe-corn of Hulme,” of the “Cromsall corne-tyth” -being “dowted of and half denyed,” and then “utterly denyed,” -and of his riding to Sir John Byron “for a quietnes,” and “to talk -with him abowt the controversy between the Colledg and his -tenants.” Notwithstanding these unhappy disputations he had -some pleasant days. Thus, on the 26th June (1596), as he tells <span class="nowrap">us—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The Erle of Derby, with the Lady Gerard, Sir (Richard) Molynox and -his lady, dawghter to the Lady Gerard, Master Hawghton, and others, cam -suddenly uppon (me), after three of the clok. I made them a skoler’s -collation, and it was taken in good part. I browght his honor and the -ladyes to Ardwyk grene toward Lyme, as Mr. Legh his howse, 12 myles of, -&c.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Dee was eager for sympathy and approval of his favourite -schemes and pursuits, and, being a man of the world, he knew the -value of such friendships. As he was, moreover, given to hospitality, -there is little doubt the “skoler’s collation” would be as sumptuous -as the College larder would afford. A few days later (July 5) he -was visited by Mr. Harry Savill, the antiquary, and Mr. Christopher -Saxton, the eminent chorographer, who had come to make a survey -of the town; and on the following day, Dee, with Saxton and some -others, rode over to Hough Hall, in Withington, the mansion of -Sir Nicholas Mosley, who had in the same year become the -purchaser of the manor of Manchester. The survey was completed -on the 10th July, and on the 14th Saxton “rode away.” It is -much to be regretted that no copy of Saxton’s work, so far as is -known, has been preserved; for an authentic plan of the town in -Elizabeth’s reign would be a valuable addition to the topographical -records of Manchester, and would enable us to see exactly what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -progress was made in the extension of the town between that time -and the Commonwealth period, when another survey—the earliest -reliable one extant—was taken.</p> - -<p>Before the close of the first year of his Wardenship, Dee was -invited to exercise the power he was commonly believed to possess -of casting out devils; but he prudently declined. About two -years previously five members of the household of Mr. Nicholas -Starkey, of Cleworth, in Leigh parish, became demoniacally -possessed, through the influence, as was said, of a conjuror named -Hartley. Margaret Byrom, of Salford, who happened to be on a -visit at Cleworth, became infected with the malady. This occurred -on the 9th January, 1596–7; and at the end of the month she -returned to her friends at Salford, when Dee was importuned to -deliver her from the evil spirit which tormented her. The -Warden, however, refused, telling her friends he would practise no -such unlawful arts as they desired; but, instead, advised they -should “call for some godlye preachers, with whom he should -consult concerning a public or private fast,” and at the same time -he sharply rebuked Hartley for following his contraband calling. -Possibly the failure of his previous attempt to exorcise the spirit in -the case of “Nurse Anne Frank” had induced a wholesome -prudence on his part, though his refusal made him unpopular with -his parishioners, who were offended at his withholding the relief -they believed it was in his power to give, and his Puritan -colleagues took advantage of his unpopularity to make his life -miserable. Oliver Carter, who had held his fellowship for more -than a quarter of a century, and had become the recognised head -of the Presbyterian faction in the district, was chief among the -malcontents, and a sore thorn in the side the doctor found him. -Carter disliked alchemical philosophers as much as he hated -Popish recusants, and denounced the Warden’s intercourse with -the spirit world as a scandal upon the Church. The Presbyterian -Fellow had little respect for lawfully-constituted authority, and his -open resistance in matters of ceremony had aforetime brought him -in collision even with the cautious and temperate Bishop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -Chadderton, who had found it necessary to enforce some little -submission to ecclesiastical law. It is not surprising, therefore, -that he should have shown little regard for the authority of the new -comer, whom he looked upon as a Court spy, and detested -accordingly. He was a continuous source of annoyance, and his -contumacious demeanour, his “impudent and evident disobedience -in the Church,” and persistent obstructiveness are frequently -complained of, <span class="nowrap">thus—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Jan. 22, 1579.—Olyver Carter’s thret to sue me with proces from -London, &c., was this Satterday in the church declared to Robert Cleg.</p> - -<p>Sept. 25.—Mr. Olyver Carter his impudent and evident disobedience in -the church.</p> - -<p>Sept. 26.—He repented, and some pacification was made.</p> - -<p>Nov. 14.—The fellows would not grant me the £5 for my howse-rent, as -the Archbishop had graunted; and our foundation commandeth an howse.</p> - -<p>July 17, 1600.—I willed the fellows to com to me by nine the next day.</p> - -<p>July 18.—They cam. It is to be noted of the great pacification -unexpected of man which happened this Friday; for in the forenone -(betwene nine and ten), when the fellows were greatly in doubt of my -heavy displeasure, by reason of their manifold misusing of themselves -against me, I did with all lenity enterteyn them, and shewed the most part -of the things that I had browght to pass at London for the colledg good, -and told Mr. Carter (going away) that I must speak with him alone. -Robert Leghe (one of the four clerks) and Charles Legh (the brother of -Robert, and receiver) were by. Secondly, the great sute betwene Redich -(Redditch) men and me was stayed, and Mr. Richard Holland his wisdom. -Thirdly, the organs uppon condition were admitted. And, fourthly, Mr. -Williamson’s resignation granted for a preacher to be gotten from -Cambridge.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Reconciliation was thus effected, but it was not long before there -was a renewal of hostilities, for, under date Sept. 11, we <span class="nowrap">find—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Holland, of Denton, Mr. Gerard, of Stopford (Stockport), Mr. -Langley, &c., commissioners from the Bishop of Chester, authorised by -the Bishop of Chester, did call me before them in the Church abowt thre -of the clok, after none, and did deliver to me certayne petitions put up by -the fellows against me to answer before the 18th of this month. I answered -them all codem tempore, and yet they gave me leave to write at leiser.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Amid these harassing anxieties and unseemly disputations with -the unruly Fellows, Dee’s alchemical studies were not neglected.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -He had secured another medium in the place of Kelly—Bartholomew -Hickman, who turned out to be nearly as great a -knave, though not nearly half so clever as his predecessor, and, -losing confidence, Dee discharged him and burnt all the records of -what he had seen and heard in the wonderful show-stone. The -next day Roger Kooke, who had previously been in the service of -the philosopher, and to whom he had revealed “the great secret of -the elixir of the salt of metals,” offered “the best of his skill and -powre, in the practises chymicall.” He was quickly set to work, -but young Arthur Dee finding by chance among his papers what -seemed a plot against the father, he was charged with the -conspiracy, when Dee cried, “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">O Deus libera nos a malo!</i> All was -mistaken, and we are reconcyled godly;” and he again dreamed -of his “working the philosopher’s stone.” He would appear, -however, to have subsequently parted with Kooke, for before his -death Hickman had been restored to favour.</p> - -<p>Though devoted to scientific pursuits, it must not be supposed -that the Warden neglected his official duties, or that he was by -any means unmindful of the secular interests of the Collegiate -body. His business exactitude and active zeal in this direction, -however, did not always meet with the approval of his neighbours, -or at least of such of them as happened to be tithe-farmers or -College tenants. In May of the year following his induction we find -him with his curate, Sir Robert Barber (clerics commonly affected -the prefix of “Sir” in those days), Robert Tilsey, the parish clerk, -and “diverse of the town of diverse ages,” making a careful -perambulation of the bounds of the parish with the view of determining -its exact limits, a procedure that somewhat alarmed Mr. -Langley, the rector of the adjoining parish of Prestwich, who smelt -litigation in Dee’s anxiety “for avoiding of undue encroaching of -any neighbourly parish, one on the other.” On another occasion -he was careful to note <span class="nowrap">that—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>At midnight (January 22, 1599), the College gate toward Hunt’s Hall -did fall, and some parte of the wall going downe the <span class="nowrap">lane—</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>the “lane” being the narrow passage that led from the north<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -side of the church, by the venerable tree where bulls were baited, -and past the prison to Irk Bridge, then known as Hunt’s Bank, a -name it retained until modern times, when it was superseded by -the present Victoria Street. The gate-house, which, as before -stated, was at one time used as a workhouse, stood on this, the -westerly side of the great quadrangle, the gates opening into Hunt’s -Bank. Though they have long since disappeared, the evidences of -their former existence may still be traced in the wall.</p> - -<p>After an absence in London he paid an official visit to the -Grammar School, where he “fownd great imperfection in all and -every of the scholers, to his great grief,” a record that must be -taken as reflecting on Dr. Cogan, the head master, whose time -appears to have been divided between the teaching of youth and -the practice of physic. In August, 1597, the “Erle and Cowntess -of Derby” having taken up their abode at Aldport Lodge, Dee -entertained them at “a banket at my lodging at the Colledge hora -4½.” There are many other entries of visits from distinguished -personages, among them Sir Urian Legh, of Adlington, the -reputed hero of the ballad of “The Spanish Lady;” Sir George -Booth, sheriff of Cheshire; Mr. Wortley, of Wortley. Probably, -also, Camden, the historian, for it is recorded that when that -distinguished antiquary visited the town, Dee pointed out to him -the inscription of some Roman remains at Castle Field, attributable -to the Frisian cohort, which occupied the station there. -While dispensing his hospitalities the poor old man was suffering -from lack of money, his financial difficulties being as great as ever, -and we find him raising loans on the security of his diminished -stock of plate, &c.—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Feb. 17, 1597.—Delivered to Charles Legh the elder (the receiver of -College before referred to), my silver tankard with the cover, all -dubble gilt, of the Cowntess of Herford’s gift to Francis her goddaughter, -waying 22oz., great waight, to lay to pawne in his own name to Robert -Welshman, for iiijli tyll within two dayes after May-day next. My -dowghter Katherin and John Crocker and I myself were at the delivery of -it and waying of it in my dyning chamber—it was wrapped in a new handkercher -cloth.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> - -<p>Many similar transactions are recorded—indeed, he appears to -have been continually borrowing money from his friends, and -almost as frequently lending his books to them. Dee was certainly -not one of those who believe that “imparted knowledge doth -diminish learning’s store,” for he was ever ready to place his -literary treasures at the service of others, and frequent entries occur -of his lending rare and valuable works to those he thought capable -of understanding and appreciating them.</p> - -<p>It was some little relief to him when, on the 2nd December, -1600, his son Arthur had a grant of the chapter clerkship, though -before he could pay £6 for the patent he</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Borrowed of Mr. Edmund Chetham, the schoolmaster (the uncle of -Humphrey, the founder) £10 for one yere uppon plate, two bowles, two -cupps with handles, all silver, waying all 32oz. Item, two potts with -cover and handells, double gilt within and without, waying 16oz.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The Warden’s pecuniary embarrassments kept him in discredit -with his parishioners, who naturally looked with disfavour upon an -ecclesiastic that did not pay his debts, especially when, as they -believed, it required only a very little closer intimacy with the evil -one to enable him to do so. The fellows maintained their -hostility, his neighbours became more and more unfriendly, the -urgency of his creditors was oppressive, and on every hand he was -assailed with suspicions of sorcery. The nine years he was in -Manchester was the most wretched portion of his life. Unable to -bear the odium attaching to him, he petitioned King James that -he might be brought to trial, “and by a judicial sentence be freed -from the revolting imputations” his astrological and other inquiries -had brought upon him; but Elizabeth’s wary successor, who detested -his mysteries, would have nothing to say to him. Weary with -the struggle, he quitted Manchester in November, 1604, and -once more sought shelter in the house at Mortlake. Of the -closing years of his chequered life little is known, but that little is -sad enough. The friends of former years had died or forgotten -him, and the new generation of Court favourites left him to pass -his few remaining days in poverty, sickness, and desolation. After<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -all his tricks and conjurations the once haughty philosopher was -reduced to such miserable straits that he oftentimes had to sell -some of his books before he could obtain the means wherewith to -purchase a meal. The prediction of the Earl of Salisbury that he -“would shortly go mad” was nearly being realised, for in the -midst of his poverty, and while on the very verge of the grave, he -resumed his occult practices, in which he was aided by the -formerly discarded Bartholomew Hickman. At last, in poverty -and neglect, wearied and worn out, the miserable wreck of an ill-spent -life, he, in 1608, passed away at the advanced age of 81, and -was buried in the chancel of the church at Mortlake without any -tombstone or other memorial to preserve his name.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 440px;"> -<a name="MTC" id="MTC"></a><img src="images/i_231.jpg" width="440" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">MORTLAKE CHURCH.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -Of the numerous family that had once gathered round his hearth -few remained at the time of his dissolution, death or estrangement -having removed nearly all. His son Michael had died in infancy. -His busy, shrewish wife died on the 23rd March, 1605. Of the -other seven children Katherine was the only one who clung to him -to the last. Rowland, on completing his studies at the Manchester -Grammar School, obtained an exhibition at Oxford, but of his -subsequent career nothing is known, nor, with the exception -of Arthur, can we trace anything of the after-history of the others. -Arthur, his first-born, resided in Manchester for some time, and -subsequently practised as a physician. He married Isabella, -one of the daughters of Edmund Prestwich, of Hulme Hall, and -afterwards was chosen physician to Michael III., the first Czar of -Russia, and for many years he resided in that country, where his -wife died, July 6, 1634, after having borne him 12 children. -Returning to England, he was sworn physician to Charles I., and -located himself at Norwich, where he continued to reside until his -death, September, 1651. Anthony à Wood, in his <em>Athenæ</em>, -mentions that Arthur Dee, when an old man, spoke in full -confidence of his father’s goodness and sincerity, and affirmed that -in his youth, when he had initiated him in some of his mystical -pursuits, he had seen enough to satisfy him that he had discovered -many marvellous secrets, and only lacked the means to make them -available. The son may not have been altogether an impartial -witness, but it would be unfair to judge the father by the standard -of the present day.</p> - -<p>Dee lived in an age when everybody believed in the occult -sciences, and in the power of summoning visitants from the world -of shadows by incantations and other mysterious means. Half a -century before his death he had been pre-eminent for his learning, -his eloquence, and his scientific attainments, and he was -undoubtedly one of the great lights of his era. Camden styled -him <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">nobilis mathematicus</i>, and he may fairly be accounted the -prophet of the arts which Bacon and Newton were afterwards to -reveal. A ripe scholar, well skilled in chemistry, mathematics,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -and mechanics, and the master of the whole circle of the liberal -arts as then <span class="nowrap">understood—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">He sought and gathered for our use the true.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>He was one of the first who accepted the theory of Copernicus, -and he successfully performed the labour of correcting the -Gregorian calendar. He was, moreover, a good linguist, an -earnest antiquary, and a diligent searcher of those records which -tend to elucidate the history of the country, and to him is due the -credit of first suggesting the formation of a “National Library,” for -the preservation of those ancient writings in which lie “the -treasures of all antiquity, and the everlasting seeds of continual -excellency.” Paradoxical as it may seem, there was with the -splendour and universality of his genius much childlike simplicity; -and his credulous confiding nature often exposed him to the -iniquitous arts of those about him; while his reckless extravagance, -his love of ostentatious display, his debts, and his carelessness of -the method which brought relief, kept him in continuous disquiet. -He was part of the age in which he lived in that he was fond of -alchemy, a believer in the divining-rod, and a devout practitioner -of the astral science; but it is to be feared that his straitened -circumstances sometimes prompted him to have recourse to tricks -and artifices that his better judgment condemned. He was a -strange mixture of pride and gentleness, of goodness and credulity. -He discoursed learnedly with foreign philosophers, tended his little -folks in their sicknesses, and soothed them in their childish griefs -and sorrows; gazed into the glittering depths of his magic mirror and -smiled good temperedly at his shrewish wife’s scoldings; dispensed -his hospitalities and gossiped freely with the aristocratic personages -who sought his society, and pawned his property to pay for their -entertainment; contended with an archbishop and sought peace -with the irrepressible Carter and his unruly associates; but we -willingly forget the weaknesses and the foibles of the man when we -remember the genius and the learning of the philosopher. With -all his failings Dee possessed much kindness of heart, and though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> -Manchester may not have been greatly advantaged by the -ecclesiastical supervision of the “Wizard Warden,” he was yet, in -many respects, much to be preferred to the needy Scotch courtier -whom King James appointed as his successor.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/i_234.jpg" width="350" height="162" alt="graphic" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a></span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_236.jpg" width="600" height="340" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">BEESTON CASTLE.</div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_237.jpg" width="600" height="117" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<span class="f75">BEESTON CASTLE.</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_237a.jpg" width="75" height="160" alt="T" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">The</span> traveller who has ever journeyed in the “Wild -Irishman” between that hive of industry, Crewe, and -the ancient city upon the Dee, will have noticed upon -his left, midway between the two places, a bold outlier -of rock that rises abruptly from the great Cheshire -plain, with the ivy-covered remains of an ancient -castle perched upon its summit. A better position for a fortress -it is difficult to conceive. It looks as if nature had intended it as -a place of defence; and evidently Randle Blundeville, the crusader -Earl of Chester, thought so, when, in those stormy days in which -the Marches were the constant scene of struggle and strife, and</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Like volcanoes flared to heaven the stormy hills of Wales!</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>he chose it as the site for one of his border strongholds.</p> - -<p>Avoiding, for the nonce, the “Irishman,” we will avail ourselves -of the more convenient, if more common-place, “Parliamentary,” -as it enables us to alight at Beeston—for that is the place to which -our steps are directed, and almost within bowshot of the relic of -ancient days, of which we are in search. Beeston is not a town—it -can hardly be called a village even, the houses are so few, and -neighbourhood there is none. The little unpretentious railway -station is innocent of hurry and bustle, and seems almost ashamed -of disturbing the rural tranquillity; the Tollemache Arms, a comfortable -hostelrie standing below the railway, opens its doors<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> -invitingly; a peaceful farmstead or two, surrounded by verdant -pastures and fields of ripening corn, with here and there a cleanly -whitewashed cottage, half hidden among the trees and hedges, are -almost the only habitations we can see.</p> - -<p>A few minutes’ walk along a sandy lane, that winds beneath the -trees and across the sun-bright meadows, where cattle are pasturing -and haymakers are tossing the fragrant grass, brings us to the foot -of the castle rock. The huge mass of sandstone lifting its unwieldy -form above the surrounding greenery seems to dominate the entire -landscape. Few landmarks are more striking, and, as you draw -near, the hoary time-worn ruin crowning the summit, and looking -almost gay and cheerful in the fresh morning sunlight, reminds -you, only that the water is wanting, of those picturesque strongholds -that crest the rocky heights along the lonely reaches of the -<span class="nowrap">Rhine—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">High from its field of air looks down</div> -<div class="vi4">The eyrie of a vanished race;</div> -<div class="verse">Home of the mighty, whose renown</div> -<div class="vi4">Has passed and left no trace.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>On the north-easterly side the hill rises slopingly, but towards the -south and west it shoots up abruptly from the plain, presenting a -mass of jagged perpendicular rock three hundred and sixty feet in -height. Seen from the distance, it looks as if it had been upheaved -by some convulsive effort of Nature, and then toppled over, the -foundations standing up endways. Keeping to the left, we ascend -by a path steep and rough, and stony withal. Brushwood and -bracken, and the wild, old, wandering bramble border the way; and -now and then a timid sheep rushes out from some shady nook and -gazes wonderingly at us as we go by. The turf in places is short -and slippery, for the rabbits keep it closely cropped; and were it -not for a fragment of jutting rock, or the branch of a tree that -occasionally proffers its friendly aid, we should find the ascent at -times difficult and toilsome. Little more than half way up we -come to the outer line of the fortifications, where a small lodge -has been erected, through which we gain admission into the -dismantled interior.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p> - -<p>The ruin is complete, and at the first glance presents only the -appearance of crumbling masses of shapeless masonry, that, having -outlived the necessities which called them into existence, time has -clothed with saddest beauty. The ivy spreads its roots and clings -with fond tenacity, the long grass waves, and the nettles grow in -rank profusion; yet the remains are so far perfect that the searching -eye of the archæologist can readily discern their purpose, determine -the plan, and reconstruct in every detail. The outer ballium, -which is pierced by a few embrasures, extends in the form of an -irregular semicircle round the sloping sides, and where the cliff is -not perpendicular, about five or six acres being comprehended -within the area. The entrance is so narrow that only one or two -persons can pass through at a time—a feature that indicates the -rude and lawless period of its erection, when strength and security -were the chief objects aimed at. It has been guarded by a square -tower, and the remains of seven other towers or bastions, mostly -round, and similar in appearance to the Moorish towers which -became so general in England after the return of the barons from -the Crusades, occur at irregular intervals. The court itself is a -large, rough pasture, broken and uneven. A pair of kangaroos are -disporting themselves among the moss-grown fragments, and a few -deer are quietly browsing upon the green turf; but there is no -picturesque assemblage of ruins, or trace of any previously-existing -building, though it was once a busy hive of life and work. -Nothing now remains but a few weedy heaps of masonry, the -shattered keep, and the small inner bailey which occupies the -highest and most inaccessible part of the rock, covering an area an -acre in extent.</p> - -<p>The keep was formerly protected and is still separated from the -outer court by a broad, deep moat, hewn out of the solid rock, -that extends round two sides and terminates near its precipitous -edge. It is now dry and partly choked with weeds and rubbish, -and a path has been made across where formerly a drawbridge -only gave access. The great barbican, though roofless and forlorn, -is imposing even in its decay, and gives a distinct impression of its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -former strength and solidity. It was proof against bows and -arrows, battering rams, and similar engines of primitive warfare, -and, ere “villainous saltpetre had been dug out of the bowels of -the harmless earth,” must have been, barring treachery from within, -absolutely impregnable. The round towers that flank the entrance -are clothed with the greenest and darkest ivy, that mingles with -and seems to form part of the ruined mass to which it clings so -lovingly, making it more picturesque than it could ever have been -in the days of its proud and pristine splendour. The walls are of -immense thickness, and on the face of each, near the top, where -the ashlar-work has not been destroyed, a kind of arcade ornament -may still be discerned. An early English arch unites the -two towers, and beneath it we can see the grooves wherein the -portcullis used to descend to bar the ingress and egress of doubtful -or suspected visitors. The entrance, like that to the outer court, -is very narrow; passing through, a few steps cut out of the sandstone -rock, and which have been worn by the tread of many -generations, lead to the inner court or bailey, environed on two -sides by lofty walls, from which project great bastions that have for -centuries braved the winter’s wrath and rejoiced in the summer -sunshine. The interior is now a vacant space, except for the few -fragments of masonry that serve to indicate what once was there. -This was the citadel, so to speak. In it was the home of the lordly -owner of the castle (and scant and rude enough it must have -been), the outer court being used as the quarters for the garrison. -Here we are shown the well-house and the famous well from which, -in bygone days, the occupants drew their supply of water, and -which now forms an object of attraction to wondering visitors. It -is a remarkable work, and says much for the perseverance and skill -of those who made it. The depth is said to be no less than 366 -feet—nearly double that of the well at Carisbrook—the water, it is -believed, being level with Beeston Brook, which flows near the foot -of the castle rock. A tradition was widely prevalent, and is still -believed in many a rustic home in the locality, that a great amount -of treasure lies buried at the bottom, having been cast in it during<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -a time of peculiar exigence by one of the earlier lords of Beeston; -but the story may be dismissed as resting upon no better foundation -than the shaping power of the imagination. There is no water in -it, nor has there been for years, owing to the drainage below, and for -a long time it was choked with rubbish; but some five-and-thirty -or forty years ago it was cleared out to the very bottom, when the -only treasures discovered were an old spade and a fox’s head. We -peer into the darksome vault, but the gloom is impervious; then -the janitor produces a frame with a few lighted candles upon it, -which he lets down by a rope and pulley. As it slowly descends the -light gradually diminishes until it becomes a mere speck, and we are -enabled to form some idea of the amazing depth to which the rock -has been excavated. Having done this, he will, if it will add to -your pleasure and you are ready to listen, give you his version of -Beeston’s history—lead you where nobles and high-born dames -have held their banquets; show you the iron rings to which, in -bygone days, the troopers fastened their horses; and then relate -with circumstantial detail the legend of the lost treasure, and tell -you how, long, long ago, a trusty servitor was let down to the -bottom of the well in the hope of recovering it, and that when he -was wound up again he was speechless, and died before he could -reveal the mysteries he had seen.</p> - -<p>For the boldness and beauty of its situation Beeston may be -fairly said to be unrivalled, and from the wide extent of country it -commands it must, in the days of watch and ward, have been -admirably adapted either for the purposes of offence or defence. -From the summit of the glorious old relic we can sweep the whole -arch of the horizon, from the pale blue hills of Wales on the one -hand, to the brown heathy wastes that once formed part of the -great forest of Macclesfield on the other. The palatinate which -boasts itself the Vale Royal of England is usually reckoned a flat -county, and this is in a great measure true, for league upon league -of broad, flat, fertile meadows spread before us, but the eye as it -ranges into the distance passes over a rich variety of undulating -country. Above the round-topped woods of Delamere we catch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -sight of the eminence on which the Saxon city of Eddisbury once -stood, and the bold promontories of Frodsham and Halton -guarding the shores of the Mersey; eastwards are seen the -umbraged heights of Alderley, and further to the right the range of -hills that form the barrier of the county, and separate it from the -Peak district of Derbyshire; while more to the south, where a -cloud of smoke hangs lazily upon the landscape, is Crewe, the great -central point of railway enterprise and railway industry. Gleaming -in the warm sunshine upon the left we note the stately tower of -Chester Cathedral rising proudly above the humbler structures -that, like vassals, gather round, and we recall the stormy times -when from its walls, on that sad September day, the ill-fated -Charles the First, after a fitful gleam of prosperity, saw his gallant -cavaliers borne down by the stern soldiers of Cromwell’s army on -Rowton Moor, a disaster that turned the fortunes of the King and -sealed the fate of Beeston. In rear one can look down the -wide estuaries of the Dee and the Mersey, and along the great -western horn of Cheshire, as it stretches away towards the Irish -Sea. More to the left the mountains of Wales loom darkly and -mysteriously, as distant mountains always do, and spread along the -line of the horizon until their further summits, softened by the -mellowing haze of distance, can hardly be distinguished from the -azure dome above; the bold form of Moel Fammau may be seen -rising conspicuously, and when the day is clear those who are -blessed with a keen eyesight may, it is said, discern even the peak -of Snowdon, seeming to touch the far-off western sky.</p> - -<p>Glorious is the prospect that spreads around. What a wealth of -pastoral loveliness lies before us, everywhere exhibiting the signs -of fertility and cultivation. All within the limits is a green and -beautiful expanse made up of copse and lea, of level meadow -breadths and cattle-dappled pastures, that rejoice in the warm -sunshine, with little hamlets and villages and shady lanes, old -manor houses and churches—the monuments of the past mingling -with the habitations of contemporary life and activity. Natural -beauty is everywhere, and the eye is delighted with its variety of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -extent. After leisurely contemplating the scene the mind is enabled -to occupy itself with the details. We can note the exquisite contrasts -of colour and the coming and going effects of the cloud-shadows -as, wafted by the softest of summer zephyrs, they slowly chase -each other over the woods and verdant glades. The slumber of a -summer day lies profoundly as a trance upon the scene. The -lowing of the kine in the neighbouring meadows, the harsh note of -the corncrake, and the soft dreamy call of the cuckoo are the only -sounds that break upon the ear. Bunbury twinkles through its -screen of leaves far below us, and we can discern the tower of the -venerable church where lie the bones of some of the lords of -Beeston, and where still may be seen the sumptuous monuments -that perpetuate their names. In front, and almost at our feet, is -the Chester and Ellesmere Canal, glistening like a line of liquid -silver, and the railway, over which the iron horse glides swiftly -every day, running parallel with it, types of the past and present -modes of travel. The white road that crosses them both leads up -to Tarporley, where there is an ancient church (or rather was, for -in the last few years it has been almost entirely rebuilt), and several -monuments that well deserve inspection. Close by is Utkinton, -for many a generation the home of the proud family of the Dones, -hereditary chief foresters of Delamere, one of whom, John Done, -the husband of that proverbial exemplar of unsurpassable perfection, -the fair Lady Done,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> in 1617 ordered so wisely the sports -of James the First, when that monarch took his pleasure and repast -in the forest, that, as the author of <cite>The Vale Royal</cite> tells us, he -“freely honoured him with knighthood and graced his house at -Utkinton with his presence;” but the house which he graced by -his presence was made the scene of revelry and pillage by the -soldiers of his son, the hall being plundered, and the plate, jewels,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -and writings taken away by the Royalist forces shortly after the -breaking out of the civil war.</p> - -<p>On the western side the view is singularly impressive. The rock -is perpendicular, its ruggedness being softened only by the ferns -and mosses that have attached themselves to the clefts and crevices, -and the shrubs and trees that grow out from the gaping stones. -You look down from the giddy height on to the road immediately -beneath, where the little homesteads and cottages seem reduced to -lilliputian dimensions, and the laden waggon going by looks no -bigger than a toy. Carrying the eye round towards the south, the -Broxton hills come in view; nearer is the lofty height of Stanner -Nab; and then, separated only by a narrow valley, the most prominent -feature in the whole landscape, the richly-wooded eminence -of Peckforton, surmounted by the castle, with its great round keep -and broken and picturesque line of towers and turrets, that Lord -Tollemache built some five-and-thirty years ago as a reproduction -of the fortified stronghold of the early Edwardian period.</p> - -<p>The historical associations of Beeston impart a deeper interest -to the beauty of its natural surroundings. Its annals run back to -the time of Randle Blundeville—Randle the Good, as he is sometimes -called—the most famous of the Cestrian Earls. This Randle -succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father, Hugh -Cyveliock, in 1187, and shortly afterwards married the Lady -Constance, widow of Geoffry Plantagenet, a younger son of -Henry II., the mother of the young Prince Arthur whom King -John cruelly put to death—a lady from whom he was afterwards -divorced. They were turbulent times in which he lived, and he -bore his full share in the stirring events that were then occurring; -but, though one of the most powerful nobles of the land, his power -was generally exercised in the interests of his legitimate sovereign. -When Richard the Lion-hearted, returning from his encounters with -the infidel in Palestine, was detained a captive in Austria, and the -treacherous John, to whom he had committed the care of the -kingdom, basely sought to appropriate the crown, Earl Randle and -his knights and retainers, with Earl Ferrars and others, besieged his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -castle of Nottingham, and valorously maintained the cause of the -absent King. After Richard’s death, when John had succeeded to -the throne, he remained loyal to him as he had done to his predecessor, -though he had the courage to rebuke him for violating the -wives and daughters of the nobility. Afterwards we find him taking -part in that ever memorable council which assembled on the greensward -of Runnymede, “encircled by the coronet of Cooper’s Hill,” -which secured the rights of the people of England, and the Great -Charter that still remains the foundation of their liberties, <span class="nowrap">when—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi8">England’s ancient Barons, clad in arms,</div> -<div class="verse">And stern with conquest, from their tyrant King</div> -<div class="verse">(Then render’d tame), did challenge and secure</div> -<div class="verse">The charter of our freedom.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>When that memorable June day had waned—when the Great -Charter had been won, and the thoughtful night which followed -had passed—when men began to think that the pledges so readily -given would be as readily violated, and that concessions extorted -could only be maintained by force of arms, Randle Blundeville -remained faithful to his faithless King, and defended his cause -against the Barons and the Dauphin of France, to whom they had -traitorously offered the English crown.</p> - -<p>The great Earl was then in the plenitude of his power, and when -the tyrant John had paid the penalty of over-indulgence in peaches -and new cider, he proved himself a firm and faithful champion of -his son, the young King Henry, and, with Earl Pembroke, was -mainly instrumental in securing him upon his father’s throne, and -by that means releasing England from the dominion of a stranger. -When the kingdom had settled into peace, having assumed the -cross in fulfilment of a vow he had previously made, the Earl -betook himself to the Holy <span class="nowrap">Land:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">To chace the Pagans in those holy fields</div> -<div class="verse">Over whose acres walk’d those blessèd feet</div> -<div class="verse">Which, many hundred years before, were nail’d</div> -<div class="verse">For our advantage on the bitter cross.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>He remained absent for about two years, during which time he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -assisted in the taking of Damietta; and immediately on the return -from his crusading expedition he set about the erection of the Castle -of Beeston, for the greater security of his palatinate against the -incursions of the brave but troublesome Welsh, with whom he had -previously had many encounters, bringing to his aid that Saracenic -style of architecture he had found so well adapted for defence, and -which is so admirably represented in the ivy-coloured walls and -bastions of Beeston.</p> - -<p>Randle Blundeville was a famous warrior, and withal a mighty -castle builder, for, in addition to re-edifying the castle of Deganwy, -on the Conway, which had been partially destroyed during the -numerous conflicts with Prince Llewelyn, he built the castles of -Beeston in Cheshire, and Chartley in Staffordshire. He also -founded and endowed the Abbey of Grey Friars, in Coventry, and -a religious house on the banks of the Churnet, near Leek, to which -latter, at his wife’s desire, he gave the name of Dieu-la-cresse—“May -God increase it”—and transferred to it the Cistercian -brotherhood of the Abbey of Poulton, near Chester, who had found -their home there too circumscribed, and probably uncomfortably -near the Welsh Marches—an act of piety he had been directed to -perform, as the old monkish legends declare, by his grandfather in -a vision. He believed in dreams, and he appears to have had -equal faith in the piety of the monks, for it is recorded of him that, -being overtaken in a storm at sea when returning from his -crusading expedition, and the ship being in danger of sinking, he -refused to lend a helping hand in righting it until midnight, when, -as he affirmed, the monks of Dieu-la-cresse would be supplicating -Heaven on his behalf; and that, consequently, God would then -give him strength. The ship was saved, and, as their prayers had -evidently availed so much, it may be assumed that the brethren of -Dieu-la-cresse were a more than usually righteous fraternity.</p> - -<p>The castles of Beeston and Chartley were both commenced in -the same year (1220), and to defray the cost of their erection the -Earl<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> “took toll throughout all his lordships of all such persons as -passed by the same, with any cattel, chaffre, or merchandize.” -The reason for the erection of Beeston is not far to seek. The -Welsh were troublesome neighbours, for though the Red King -and the English-born Henry—the “Lion of Justice,” as he was -called—had tried to unite their country with England, they had -been neither exterminated nor enslaved, and for long <span class="nowrap">years—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi8">All along the border here</div> -<div class="verse">The word was snaffle, spur, and spear.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In these border struggles Earl Randle found himself on one -occasion shut up in the castle of Rhuddlan—then called Rothelent—to -which he had retreated, and hard pressed by his foes. At -this time his constable of Cheshire, that doughty warrior Roger -Lacy, baron of Halton, whose fierceness had earned for him the -sobriquet of “Hell,” happening to be at Chester, hastily mustered -all the beggars, minstrels, debauched men, harlots, and other -disorderly characters who were then assembled at the fair, and with -this tumultuous company marched to his master’s rescue. The -Welsh, who were as much alarmed at the sight of such a multitude -as the French were at the sight of Talbot, raised the siege and fled; -and the Earl, returning in safety, in reward and in memory of such -welcome service, conferred upon his trusty follower the government -and licensing of all beggars, vagrants, strollers, and minstrels -within the limits of his earldom, a privilege which Lacy in turn -bestowed upon his steward, Hugh Dutton; and the Duttons of -Dutton, his successors, continued to exercise the right until the -passing of the Vagrant Act, a few years ago—the custom being for -them or their deputies to ride through the streets of Chester to St. -John’s Church every year, with the minstrels of Cheshire playing -before them; after which their licenses were renewed. After this -adventure, peace was concluded (1222) between the Earl and -Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, which was happily cemented by -the marriage in the same year of Randle’s nephew and heir, John -Scot, Earl of Huntingdon, with Llewelyn’s daughter Helen.</p> - -<p>Randle Blundeville, after having held the earldom for the long -period of fifty-two years, died at Wallingford on the 26th Oct. 1232,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -and was buried at St. Werburg’s, Chester, his heart being deposited -in the Abbey of Dieu-la-cresse. Having no issue, his sister’s son, -John the Scot, succeeded; but he bore rule only five years, dying -in 1237, having, as was commonly believed, been poisoned by his -wife, the Welsh princess.</p> - -<p>That amiable lady not having borne him any children, his vast -possessions should by right have devolved upon his sisters; but -King Henry, being unwilling, as he said, “that so great an -inheritance should be divided among distaffs,” considerately took -the earldom into his own hands, and gave them other lands -instead. In this transaction there is little doubt but that the King -got the best end of the bargain, though it might have been better -for his grandson if the “distaffs” had been left in undisturbed -possession of their property; for in that case it is more than -probable England would not have had to deplore the defeat at -Bannockburn which made Scotland a nation.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Maidens of England, sore may ye mourn,</div> -<div class="verse">For your lemans ye have lost at Bannockburn.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Of the sisters of John Scot, Margaret, the eldest, was the grandmother -of John Baliol, who became a competitor for the crown of -Scotland. Isabella, the second sister, by her marriage with -Robert le Brus, the Lord of Annandale, had a grandson—the -brave and heroic Robert Bruce—the “Bruce of Bannockburn,” -and the idol of the Scottish people.</p> - -<p>After Henry the Third had assumed the Earldom of Chester -the castle of Beeston was left to the charge of castellans, and the -people of Cheshire had a sorry time of it; for David, the son of -Prince Llewelyn, endeavoured to cast off the English yoke, and -long and bloody were the struggles for freedom on the one hand, -and for dominion on the other—the county being overrun and -ravaged alternately by friends and enemies until nearly every rood -of land was soaked with the blood of the combatants. In the -attack made by the King in 1245 the whole borderland was laid -waste, and the wyches or salt-pits were destroyed. Eleven years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> -later the county was plundered and desolated by the Welsh; and -in the year 1256 the young Prince Edward, to whom Henry had -two years previously assigned the Principality, made his first -progress into Cheshire, when his castle of Beeston was placed in -the charge of Fulco de Orreby. This year was an eventful one, -for before its close the Welsh again arose in insurrection, when -Prince Edward was compelled to retire; but the King marched -an army to his support, wasting the harvest as he advanced, and -well-nigh depopulating the county, when, as the ancient chronicler, -Matthew Paris, records, “the whole border was reduced into a -desert, the inhabitants were cut off by the sword, the castles and -houses burnt, the woods felled, and the cattle destroyed by -famine.”</p> - -<p>The day was not far distant when Beeston was to be wrested -from its royal possessor, and find itself garrisoned by the soldiers -of a rebellious subject The struggle between the Crown and the -Barons had commenced, and was continued under varying -circumstances; but the Sovereign was eventually borne down by -the union of ambitious nobles. The rival armies met at Lewes, -and in that hollow which the railway now traverses, on the 14th -of May, 1264, the King saw his army defeated by the valorous -Simon De Montfort, Earl of Leicester, aided by the forces of the -Welsh Prince Llewelyn, and he himself, with his son Prince -Edward and the King of the Romans, made prisoners. The next -day a treaty, known as the <em>mise</em> of Lewes, was entered into; but -the King and his son were detained as hostages until all matters -in dispute should be settled. In this forced peace Edward was -compelled, by a deed executed at Woodstock, December 24, 1264, -to surrender his Earldom of Chester, and with it his castle of -Beeston, to the victorious De Montfort, in whom the administration -of the realm was then virtually vested.</p> - -<p>The victory was short-lived; but it had a result that will be ever -memorable, for immediately after, De Montfort summoned a great -council of the nation—the first in which we distinctly recognise -the Parliament of England; for he not only called together the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -barons, prelates, and abbots, but also summoned two knights from -each county, two citizens from each city, and two burgesses from -each borough. Thus was the democratic element—the foundation -of the House of Commons—first introduced; and, as the Poet -Laureate sings, England became</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A land of settled government,</div> -<div class="vi4">A land of just and old renown,</div> -<div class="vi4">Where freedom slowly broadens down,</div> -<div class="verse">From precedent to precedent.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>De Montfort was now in the fulness of his power; but his -elevation was dangerous for himself. His natural and acquired -superiority provoked the jealousy of those around him, and brought -about his own destruction. As when the light is brightest, so the -shadow is ever darkest, and his success was the ultimate cause of -his downfall. The Parliament which sprang out of the turbulence -of civil war assembled on the 26th January, 1265; and in the -month of May following Prince Edward, thanks to the fleetness of -his horse, having effected his escape from Hereford, where he had -been in “free custody,” placed himself at the head of a numerous -army, the loyal barons being speedily in arms. Gloucester, Monmouth, -and Worcester, were successively taken; De Montfort’s son -was defeated at Kenilworth; and then the victorious Royalists -advanced to Evesham, to give battle to the father, who was posted -there. The contest, which lasted until night, was marked with -unusual ferocity; no quarter was asked or given; the Avon was -crimsoned with the blood of the slain; and, to add to the horrors, -while the dreadful carnage was going on, the air was darkened, and -a storm such as England has rarely witnessed burst over the -combatants. Drayton, in his “Polyolbion,” describes the horrors -of that dreadful <span class="nowrap">day—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Shrill shouts, and deadly cries, each way the air do fill,</div> -<div class="verse">And not a word was heard from either side but “kill!”</div> -<div class="verse">The father ’gainst the son, the brother ’gainst the brother,</div> -<div class="verse">With gleaves, swords, bills, and pikes were murdering one another.</div> -<div class="verse">The full luxurious earth seems surfeited with blood,</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Whilst in his uncle’s gore th’ unnatural nephew stood;</div> -<div class="verse">Whilst with their charged staves the desperate horsemen meet—</div> -<div class="verse">They hear their kinsmen groan under their horses’ feet,</div> -<div class="verse">Dead men and weapons broke do on the earth abound;</div> -<div class="verse">The drums bedash’d with brains do give a dismal sound!</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>On the fatal 4th of August, 1265, the narrow bridge at Evesham -afforded little chance of escape from the slaughter of Edward’s -horsemen, and when the storm was over, and the sun had gone -down, the pale moon on that warm summer night glittered on -the corslet of the gallant Simon de Montfort, whose mangled body -was stiffening upon the gory sward, to be sent off on the morrow -to the wretched widow as a testimony of the Royalist success; his -eldest son, Henry de Montfort, lay stretched by his side, and but -for the determined bravery of a few devoted fellows, who bore his -wounded form away upon their shields, Guy, the youngest, would -have shared their fate. Such was the ghastly end of one of the -lords of Beeston—the champion of English liberties and the -originator of our representative Parliament.</p> - -<p>When it became known that Prince Edward was in the field, his -Cheshire adherents at once took up arms; and on the Sunday -following his escape from Hereford James de Audley and Urian -de St Pierre possessed themselves of Beeston, and held it in the -name of the King; and as soon as the fight at Evesham was ended, -the youthful conqueror, with his victorious army, marched proudly -through the undulating country and along the great northern road -to his Cheshire stronghold with the wounded Guy de Montfort, -Humphrey de Bohun, and Henry de Hastings, as captives; and -where, on his arrival, Lucas de Tanai, whom the elder De -Montfort had made Justiciary of Chester, and Simon, the Abbot -of St. Werburg’s, came to surrender the city of Chester, which had -then withstood a ten weeks’ siege, and to bespeak the royal -clemency for themselves. The whole of De Montfort’s possessions, -including the earldom of Chester, and with it the castle of Beeston, -were forfeited by his rebellion, and reverted back to the crown; -and on the 27th August, twenty-three days after the great battle, the -Prince granted a charter, confirming to the barons of Cheshire all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -the privileges which Randle Blundeville had previously bestowed -upon them.</p> - -<p>Once more the royal ensign with the golden lions waved above -the battlements of Beeston; a garrison was left in charge, but, the -country having become tranquillised, the gallant Edward went to -win fresh laurels beneath the sunnier skies of Palestine. In 1269 -he took the cross at Northampton, and, accompanied by some of -the more powerful nobles, set out for the Holy Land, stormed the -city of Nazareth, gained several victories over the Moslems, and -displayed a personal prowess equal to that of the lion-hearted -Richard, and a military skill that was infinitely greater. At Acre -he escaped the poisoned dagger of the treacherous Saracen by the -devotion of his queen, who sucked the poison from the wound at -the risk of her own life—so, at least, the old chroniclers affirm, and -we are not inclined to reject so touching a story, even though it -may have come to us from a Spanish source. While on his journey -homewards he received the tidings of his father’s death, but, -instead of returning immediately, he made a triumphal progress -through Italy, crossed the Alps, and proceeded to the Court of -France, where he narrowly escaped death through the treachery -of the Count of Chalons.</p> - -<p>On arriving in England he was crowned at Westminster with -Eleanor his wife, August 19th, 1274. The hospitalities of his -coronation were scarcely over ere he set about the accomplishment -of the great scheme he had resolved upon—the union of the whole -island of Britain in one compact monarchy—Wales, his old battle-ground, -then presenting a tempting opportunity for commencing -the work of conquest. Llewelyn, the Welsh prince, though he -promised fealty to the English crown, refused to appear at the -coronation, whereupon Edward repaired to Chester, summoned -his friends, and prepared to march against the Principality.</p> - -<p>Beeston becomes once more the scene of bustle and excitement; -mail-clad warriors are hurrying to and fro; the pennons of the -knights, gay with their distinctive blazonings, flutter in the -breeze; lance and spear, and helm and burgonette, gleam<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -brightly in the sunlight—and the echoes of the stern old fortress -are again aroused by the sounds of martial preparation; for an -army has been levied and all are eager to advance. Llewelyn was -summoned to meet the King at Chester, but refused; he was again -summoned to attend the Parliament at Westminster, and again he -declined to appear; his lands were then declared forfeit, and -Edward led his invading host into his territory. Conscious of their -inability to withstand their more powerful neighbours in the field, -the Welsh retired to the mountain fastnesses, which had many a -time and oft enabled their ancestors to hold their own against their -Saxon and Norman oppressors; but, Edward having successfully -penetrated to the very heart of the country, Llewelyn was -compelled to submit to the hard terms the victor thought -fitting to impose, which, by the way, left only to the -vanquished prince the sovereignty of Anglesey and the district -of Snowdon.</p> - -<p>Unhappily for Llewelyn, he put faith in the prophecy of Merlin, -the native bard and necromancer, which, it is alleged, foretold that -he should be the restorer of Brutus’s Empire in Britain. His -compatriots chafed under the usurped dominion, and maintained -a dogged resistance to the invaders. In hope of the fulfilment of -the wizard’s prognostications, Llewelyn availed himself of the -fancied security of England to break out into open insurrection. -The castle of Hawarden was surprised, and the governor, Roger de -Clifford, carried off a prisoner; the border castles of Rhuddlan -and Flint were besieged; and then, leading his forces down into -the lowlands, the English intruders were driven back across the -Marches. Elated by his successes, he then marched into Radnorshire, -where, after passing the Wye, his army was defeated by -Edward Mortimer, and Llewelyn himself, while bravely endeavouring -to retrieve the misfortune, met the death he had so ardently -sought for; David, his brother, lord of Denbigh, was at the same -time made prisoner, and executed as a traitor. Such was the end -of Llewelyn, the great hero of Wales, and her last prince; and with -his end expired the government and distinction of the Welsh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -nation, after long centuries of warfare maintained by its sons for -the defence and independence of their <span class="nowrap">homes—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Such were the sons of Cambria’s ancient race—</div> -<div class="verse">A race that checked victorious Cæsar, aw’d</div> -<div class="verse">Imperial Rome, and forced mankind to own</div> -<div class="verse">Superior virtue, Britons only knew,</div> -<div class="verse">Or only practised; for they nobly dared</div> -<div class="verse">To face oppression; and, where Freedom finds</div> -<div class="verse">Her aid invok’d, there will the Briton die!</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>At this time (1283) Edward held his court at Rhuddlan, and -to appease the conquered people hit upon the politic, though -dangerous, expedient of promising them for their prince a native -of the Principality, who never spoke a word of English, and whose -life and conversation no man could impugn. By this bold -manœuvre he succeeded in obtaining their submission, and he -fulfilled his promise to the very letter; for he removed his Queen -Eleanor to Carnarvon, which was then so far completed as to -allow of her reception, and there, on the 24th of April, 1284, she -gave birth to a son—Edward of Carnarvon, the victim of -Berkeley Castle, and the subject of Marlowe’s tragedy—who was -created Prince of Wales—a title the heirs to the crown have ever -since retained.</p> - -<p>The sanguinary extirpation of Cambrian independence, while -ultimately a blessing to the native race, was also a good thing for -those who dwelt within the borderland of Cheshire, inasmuch as -it spared their country from a continuance of the bloodshed and -devastation it had been subjected to during the centuries of -struggle between the Saxon and the Celt. The land had rest, and -for a hundred years or more from that time Beeston is found to -occupy but a comparatively small space in the chronicles of the -kingdom.</p> - -<p>The power wielded by the first Edward fell from the feeble grasp -of his son and successor. In the fifth year of that unfortunate -monarch’s reign we find the custody of the castle being transferred -from John de Serleby to John de Modburly, who appears to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -been acting as the deputy of Sir Robert de Holland, the head of -the great feudal house of that name in Lancashire, who, in the -same year, by the king’s favour, had been appointed his Chief -Justice of Chester and custodian of his castles of Chester, -Rhuddlan, and Flint, and three years later Holland was -re-appointed to the same office. This Sir Robert, who had -married a great-granddaughter of that paragon of beauty, if not of -chastity, Rosamond Clifford—the “Fair Rosamond” of mediæval -romance—founded the Benedictine Priory at Up-Holland, in his -own county; he was held in great esteem by Thomas of Woodstock, -Earl of Lancaster, the king’s cousin, who made him his -secretary, and he was in that earl’s retinue on the occasion of the -rising of the barons to remove the De Spencers from the royal -councils, for which act his estates were forfeited after the defeat at -Boroughbridge in 1222, when the Earl, himself, was made prisoner -and conveyed to Pontefract, where, to satisfy the vindictive -favourites of the king, he was beheaded.</p> - -<p>During the protracted reign of Edward III. and the long French -wars, in which the Cheshire men, under the immediate eyes of the -king and his son, the Black Prince, won so much renown, several -castellans were appointed in succession, though it does not appear -that the castle was at any time the scene of active military operations. -On the death of Edward, his grandson, Richard, the eldest -son of the Black Prince, who was then only eleven years of age, -succeeded to the throne, to find, as many others have done, what -it is to <span class="nowrap">be—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Left by his sire, too young such loss to know,</div> -<div class="verse">Lord of himself, that heritage of woe.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A “heritage of woe” truly, for his reign, from the beginning to its -close, was one of continuous anarchy and disturbance. On the -23rd November, 1385, we find him appointing John Cartileche -janitor of his castle of Beeston for life, in the room of Sir Alan -Cheanie, who had then only lately died. The appointment was -made under the king’s seal, and about the same time Richard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -himself paid a visit to the chief city of his palatinate—the object, -no doubt, being to ingratiate himself with his Cheshire friends, -and, that being so, it is probable Beeston was on the same occasion -graced with his presence. Loyalty to the crown was a strong -characteristic of the Cheshire men, a feeling that was no doubt -strengthened by the many marks of royal favour their county had -received from its earls, in whom they recognised their titular -sovereigns; hence the intimate relations which existed between -the king and the palatinate. When the Duke of Gloucester -assembled a body of men in order that he might retain control of -the youthful sovereign, Richard hastened to Chester and called -out his loyal Cheshire guard; and when, in 1397, by what in -modern times would be called a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coup d’état</i>, he determined on -overthrowing the regency and recovering the power which -Gloucester and his cabal of nobles had deprived him of, and in -furtherance of that object had summoned a Parliament to meet -him at Westminster in September, he, to guard against any -possible resistance on the part of the disaffected nobles, surrounded -the house with a guard of two thousand of his Cheshire archers, each -wearing as a badge the white hart lodged, the cognisance of his -mother, the “Fair Maid of Kent,” which Richard had then -adopted.</p> - -<p>The power thus regained was wielded neither wisely nor well. -On the death of John o’ Gaunt, in 1399, Richard, to replenish his -exhausted exchequer, seized his possessions into his own hands, -leaving to the banished son of “time-honoured Lancaster,” the -youthful Bolingbroke, nothing but the empty title. This arbitrary -abuse of power naturally inflamed the resentment of Bolingbroke, -who resolved upon accomplishing the king’s dethronement, and it -was not long before the opportunity offered for putting his scheme -into execution. While the unsuspecting Richard was leading the -Cheshire bowmen among the bogs and thickets of Ireland, in -order to quell the insurrection and punish the murderers of -Mortimer, Bolingbroke, taking advantage of his absence, embarked -with a small retinue and landed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> “upon the naked shore of Ravenspurg,” -a place on the Humber, where, at a later date, Edward IV. -landed on a similar errand, with an excuse plausible as that of the -duke whose exploit he imitated. He quickly mustered a force of -60,000 men; towns and castles surrendered to him; and before -Richard could return the invader had virtually made himself master -of the kingdom. When he did arrive, there being no army to -receive him, seven loyal Cheshire men, John Legh of Booths, -Thomas Cholmondely, Ralph Davenport, Adam Bostock, John -Done of Utkinton, Thomas Holford, and Thomas Beeston, each -with seventy retainers, became his body guard, wearing his cognisance -of the white hart upon their shoulders, and keeping watch -over him day and night with their battle-axes.</p> - -<p>This would appear to have been the occasion when, according -to Stow, Beeston was chosen by the king, on account of its strength -and the usually loyal feelings of the county, for the custody of his -treasures, when jewels and other valuables said to be worth -200,000 marks (£133,333) were deposited in it for safety. The castle -was then garrisoned by a force of a hundred men; but it says little -for their valour that, without striking a blow, they surrendered it -to the victorious heir of Lancaster, who, anticipating Richard’s -advance towards his trusty friends in Cheshire, where his power -was strongest, and wishing to intercept his communications, had -marched through Gloucester, Hereford, and Ludlow to Shrewsbury, -crying havoc and destruction to Cheshire and Cheshire men -as he went; and who was then at Chester, where he had caused -to be beheaded that loyal and loving subject, Sir Piers Legh, the -founder of the house of Legh of Lyme—a Cheshire worthy who -had been the companion in arms of the Black Prince, and whose -name is still perpetuated in the inscription which one of his -descendants placed in the Lyme Chapel, in Macclesfield <span class="nowrap">Church—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Here lyethe the bodie of Perkyn a Legh,</div> -<div class="verse">That for King Richard the death did die,</div> -<div class="vi4">Betrayed for righteovsnes;</div> -<div class="verse">And the bones of Sir Piers, his Sonne,</div> -<div class="verse">That with King Henrie the Fift did wonne</div> -<div class="vi4">In Paris.</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p> -<p>The hapless king, finding his power gone and his castles of -Carnarvon, Beaumaris, and Conway destitute of provisions, gave -himself up to Percy, Duke of Northumberland, who conveyed -him to Flint, whither Bolingbroke repaired from Chester to receive -him. Thence the fallen monarch was removed to Chester; but -he could only have remained a day or two, for on the 21st August -he was at Nantwich, a prisoner on his way to the Tower, having -on the morning of that early autumn day passed with his captors -beneath the frowning walls of Beeston, so lately lost to him. The -close of that sad journey of triumph and humiliation has been -thus described by our greatest <span class="nowrap">dramatist:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Then, as I said, the duke, great Bolingbroke—</div> -<div class="verse">Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed,</div> -<div class="verse">Which his aspiring rider seemed to know,</div> -<div class="verse">With slow but stately pace kept on his course,</div> -<div class="verse">While all tongues cried—“God save thee, Bolingbroke!”</div> -<div class="verse">You would have thought the very windows spake,</div> -<div class="verse">So many greedy looks of young and old</div> -<div class="verse">Through casements darted their desiring eyes</div> -<div class="verse">Upon his visage; and that all the walls,</div> -<div class="verse">With painted imag’ry, had said at once—</div> -<div class="verse">“Jesu preserve thee! Welcome, Bolingbroke!”</div> -<div class="verse">Whilst he, from one side to the other turning,</div> -<div class="verse">Bare-headed, lower than his proud steed’s neck,</div> -<div class="verse">Bespake them thus—“I thank you, countrymen!”</div> -<div class="verse">And thus still doing, thus he pass’d along.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Alas, poor Richard! Where rides he the while?</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">As in a theatre, the eyes of men,</div> -<div class="verse">After a well-grac’d actor leaves the stage,</div> -<div class="verse">Are idly bent on him that enters next,</div> -<div class="verse">Thinking his prattle to be tedious;</div> -<div class="verse">Even so, or with much more contempt, men’s eyes</div> -<div class="verse">Did scowl on Richard. No man cried, “God save him;”</div> -<div class="verse">No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home;</div> -<div class="verse">But dust was thrown upon his sacred head;</div> -<div class="verse">Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off—</div> -<div class="verse">His face still combating with tears and smiles,</div> -<div class="verse">The badges of his grief and patience—</div> -<div class="verse">That had not God, for some strong purpose, steel’d</div> -<div class="verse">The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted,</div> -<div class="verse">And barbarism itself have pitied him.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -<div class="verse">But Heaven hath a hand in these events,</div> -<div class="verse">To whose high will we bound our calm contents;</div> -<div class="verse">To Bolingbroke are we sworn subjects now,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose state and honour I for aye allow.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Ere many moons had waxed and waned the humbled and -wretched king, who had resigned his crown to the usurper, fell -beneath the murderous battle-axe of Piers Exton, “within the -guilty closure of the walls” of Pontefract, <span class="nowrap">that—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Bloody prison,</div> -<div class="verse">Fatal and ominous to noble peers;</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and very near the spot where, less than sixty years before, Sir -Robert Holland’s patron, the “good Earl of Lancaster,” had -yielded up his life.</p> - -<p>In the fierce struggle between the Red and White Roses—that -“convulsive and bleeding agony of the feudal power” which -destroyed the flower of the English nobility, and well-nigh -exhausted the nation—we hear little of Beeston, though the -victorious Bolingbroke’s son, the “nimble-footed madcap Harry, -Prince of Wales,” lived much of his time within the palatinate, -and the Cheshire men figured prominently in the stirring events of -those stirring times.</p> - -<p>In 1460, when the compromise was made by which the “meek -usurper” was to retain the crown for the remainder of his life, and -Richard of York become heir at his death, we find an entry on -the Patent Rolls granting to him the Principality of Wales and the -Earldom of Chester, in which Beeston is included in the recital -of the manors and castles considered as appendages to the -earldom. The honours and possessions thus acquired were not, -however, to be long enjoyed, for before the close of the year -Henry’s Queen—Margaret of Anjou—refusing to acquiesce in an -arrangement that set aside the claims of her son, took up arms on -his behalf, and, aided by some of the most devoted supporters of -the Lancastrian cause, marched northwards. The opposing -forces met on Wakefield Green on the 31st December, 1460. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -army of the White Rose was completely routed, and Beeston’s -lately designated lord, the Duke of York, and his son, the Earl of -Rutland, fell together—butchered, it is said, in cold blood upon -the field by the black-faced Clifford.</p> - -<p>The grant of 1460 is the last occasion on which mention is -made of Beeston as an ordinary fortified stronghold. When Henry -of Richmond came out of the field of Bosworth, a victor, he -planted the heel of the sovereign upon the necks of the nobles, -and destroyed their power by putting down their retainers. He -freed their lands from the burden of supporting an army of the -State; but, while doing so, he succeeded in breaking up the -feudal system. From that time the decay of Beeston may be said -to date, and the old fortress must have soon begun to show -signs of dilapidation, for Leland, in his <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Genethliacon Eadverdi -Principis</i> written in 1548, describes it as being then in a -shattered and ruinous condition. In the reign of Elizabeth the -site was alienated from the Earldom of Chester, and given by the -Queen to her dancing Chancellor, “the grave Lord Keeper,” Sir -Christopher Hatton, who subsequently conveyed it to the -manorial lords of Beeston; and so it again became attached to -the manor from which it had originally been severed. In this -way it became part of the possessions of that famous Cheshire -hero, Sir George Beeston—a veteran soldier who had borne himself -bravely and well in the siege of Boulogne and the fight at -Musselburg, and whose warlike spirit was not even subdued by -age, for it is recorded that in the glorious victory over the -Spaniards at the time of the Armada, when he was nearly ninety -years old, he displayed such gallantry that Elizabeth knighted him -for his achievements. The brave old knight closed a life of -honour in 1601, being then 102 years of age, and was buried at -Bunbury, where his recumbent effigy upon an altar-tomb beneath -a pointed arch may be seen, with a long Latin inscription above -it in which his services to his country are recorded. The granddaughter -of Sir George Beeston conveyed the manor and castle in -marriage to William Whitmore, of Leighton, Esquire, from whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -it descended through the Savages to Sir Thomas Mostyn, who -died in 1831, when the property passed by sale to the present -Lord Tollemache.</p> - -<p>For more than a generation Beeston remained uncared for, -and ceased to have any significance as a military station. -Under the vigorous rule of the Tudor sovereigns there had -been no incursion or civil commotion that rendered a display -of strength and resistance necessary, and it was not until the -great outbreak of the seventeenth century, when almost every -considerable mansion in Cheshire was garrisoned for king or -Parliament, that it was again put into a state of defence and -made to undergo the ordeal of a protracted siege. At the -beginning of 1643 Sir William Brereton, the Parliamentary commander, -who had occupied Nantwich with a force of 2,000 or -3,000 men, found himself menaced by Sir Thomas Aston, who at -the time was holding the fortified city of Chester on behalf of the -King, and had attacked and pillaged Middlewich and other places. -Under such circumstances, Beeston, offering as it did so many -natural advantages, was too important a station to be neglected, -and accordingly on the night of the 21st February (1642–3), 300 -of the Parliamentary soldiers climbed the hill, and established themselves -in possession, not, however, without some opposition, for -it is recorded that on the same night they were met by the horse -of the array on Te’erton (Tiverton, the adjoining township) -townfield, where one of Colonel Mainwaring’s officers was slain -on the Parliamentary side, and a few others of the King’s, who were -buried at Tarporley. The first work of the Puritan garrison was -to repair and strengthen the fortifications, and put the castle in -such a condition as would secure its holders against attack. The -contest between sovereign and subject continued throughout the -year, with varying results. In November, General Brereton, at the -head of the Cheshire and Lancashire forces, marched into Wales, -but hearing of the arrival (at Parkgate, probably) of Royalist -reinforcements from Ireland, hastily fell back upon Nantwich. -His retreat would seem to have disheartened the garrison at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -Beeston, for within three weeks Captain Steel, the commandant, -surrendered the castle, without the semblance of a struggle, to -Captain Sandford, an Irish officer, who, with eight men, had a little -before daybreak on the morning of the 13th December (1643) -crept up the hill, and got possession of the upper ward. The story -of the capture is told with much circumstantiality in the “Diary” -of Edward Burghall, the Puritan schoolmaster of Bunbury, and -subsequent vicar of <span class="nowrap">Acton:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>December 13th.—A little before day, Captain Sandford (a zealous -Royalist), who first came out of Ireland with eight of his firelocks, crept -up the steep hill of Beeston Castle, and got into the upper ward, and took -possession there. It must be done by treachery, for the place was most -impregnable. Captain Steel, who kept it for the Parliament, was accused, -and suffered for it; but it was verily thought he had not betrayed it wilfully; -but some of his men proving false he had not courage enough to -withstand Sandford to try it out with him. What made much against -Steel was he took Sandford down into his chamber, where they dined -together, and much beer was sent up to Sandford’s men, and the castle -after a short parley was delivered up, Steel and his men having leave to -march with their arms and colours to Nantwich, but as soon as he was -come into the town the soldiers were so enraged against him that they -would have pulled him to pieces had he not been immediately clapped in -prison. There was much wealth and goods in the castle, belonging to -gentlemen and neighbours, who had brought it thither for safety, besides -ammunition and provisions for half a year at least, all which the enemy -got.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Six weeks after, as we learn from the diarist, Steel was “shot to -death, in Tinker’s Croft, by two soldiers, according to judgment -against him. He was put into a coffin, and buried in the churchyard. -He confessed all his sins,” it is added, “and prayed a great -while, and, to the judgment of charity, died penitently.” The -stern Puritans could scarcely have given a milder judgment, for -the dining together and regaling of Sandford’s men with “much -beer” must have told greatly against the recreant Steel.</p> - -<p>The surrender of Beeston was a great blow to the revolutionary -cause. The neighbouring country now lay at the mercy of Lord -Byron and the Royalist troops, who ravaged the entire district. -Crewe Hall capitulated; the halls of Dorfold and Doddington<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -surrendered without offering any resistance; Middlewich was -captured, and on the 17th January, 1644, an assault was made on -Nantwich, when, after some busy days of hard fighting, Captain -Sandford met a soldier’s death, within a day or two of that on -which poor Steel was led out to execution. The siege continued -for more than a week, when Fairfax, fresh from his victories in -Yorkshire, with Colonel Monk, who afterwards played so prominent -a part in bringing about the Restoration, came to the relief of the -beleaguered town, and the Royalists gave way to superior numbers. -They were, however, left in undisturbed possession of Beeston until -the 20th October following, when “the council of war at Nantwich -hearing that the enemy at Beeston were in want of fuel and other -necessaries layed strong siege to it.” For nearly five months the -siege was continued, when Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice -arrived with a considerable force, relieved the invested garrison -on the 17th March, and two days later plundered Bunbury and -burnt Beeston Hall. Scarcely had they departed than, as we learn -from the “Diary,” the Puritan soldiers again <span class="nowrap">appeared:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1645, April.—The Parliament again placed forces round Beeston Castle, -where they began to raise a brave mount with a strong ditch about it, and -placed great buildings thereon, which were scarce finished but news came -that the king and both the princes (Maurice and Rupert) with a strong -army were coming towards Chester. The Parliament army marched -towards Nantwich, leaving the country to the spoils of the forces in -Chester and Beeston Castle.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The garrison thus relieved sallied out on the 4th June, and -made an unsuccessful attack on Ridley Hall. Ten days after -came the disastrous defeat at Naseby, which put the Parliamentarians -in possession of nearly all the chief cities of the kingdom. -Three anxious months passed, and then (September 24th, 1645), -the unhappy monarch, standing upon the leads of the Phœnix -Tower on Chester walls, witnessed the fluctuating progress of the -last effort on Rowton Moor for the maintenance of the Royal -power, saw his gallant kinsman, the Earl of Lichfield, with many -gentlemen besides, fall dead at his feet, and all that had hitherto<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -survived of his broken remnant of a host either taken prisoners or -driven in headlong rout and ruin from the fatal field. “Thenceforth -the king’s sword was a useless bauble, less significant than -the ‘George’ upon his breast.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<a name="PTC" id="PTC"></a><img src="images/i_264.jpg" width="600" height="482" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE PHŒNIX TOWER, CHESTER.</div> -</div> - -<p>With the loss at Chester vanished the last hope of Charles. -Three weeks after, the castle of Beeston was delivered up to Sir -William Brereton, the garrison, though at times subjected to the -severest privations, having bravely held it for the space of nearly -a year. Burghall thus tells the tale of the <span class="nowrap">surrender:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>November 16th.—Beeston Castle, that had been besieged almost a year, -was delivered up by the Captain Valet, the governor, to Sir William -Brereton; there were in it 56 soldiers, who by agreement had liberty to -depart with their arms, colours flying, and drums beating, with two cart -loads of goods, and to be conveyed to Denbigh; but 20 of the soldiers laid -down their arms, and craved liberty to go to their homes, which was -granted. There was neither meat nor drink found in the castle, but only a -piece of a turkey pie, and a live peacock and a peahen.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> - -<p>The heroic defence of the castle by the Royalist garrison, and -their long endurance, even after their cause had become hopeless -and all chance of succour had disappeared, presents a remarkable -contrast to the meek surrender of Captain Steel and his three -hundred Puritan soldiers to Sandford’s gallant little band of -cavaliers. In the spring of the following year the old fortress, -which had withstood the batterings of time and been so often -exposed to the storms of war in the troubled reigns of the Plantagenets, -but which had never yielded to assault, was dismantled, and -since then it has gradually sunk into its present state of extreme -but picturesque decay.</p> - -<p>Since the days of the Stuarts little historical interest has attached -to it. Its glories are of the past. Its palmy days are over—for it -has outlived the needs that called it into being, and survives only -to show us how men lived and acted in those stern times when -they knew no other law than that which Wordsworth speaks <span class="nowrap">of—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">The old good rule, the simple plan,</div> -<div class="verse">That they should get who have the power,</div> -<div class="vi4">And they should keep who can,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and when even power could only feel secure when defended by -iron force. We love our country with love far brought from out -the historic past—the past on which the present is securely built—and -we cherish the relics of its ancient chivalry and romance, but -the spirit of the age is opposed to the revivication of feudal customs -and feudal prejudices. The time when it was only possible for men -to hold their own by length and strength of arm has gone by never -again to return.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/i_265.jpg" width="350" height="126" alt="graphic" /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_266.jpg" width="600" height="120" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> - -<span class="f75">WHALLEY AND ITS ABBEY—MITTON CHURCH AND ITS MONUMENTS—THE -SHERBURNES—THE JESUITS’ COLLEGE, STONYHURST.</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_266a.jpg" width="75" height="134" alt="W" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Whalley</span>—the Field of Wells, as our Saxon forefathers -called it—is one of the most picturesque, as also -one of the most interesting villages in Lancashire. -It is the centre, too, of a district which almost claims -to rank as classic ground. Few places possess greater -charms from a scenic point of view, or a higher -interest from the historical associations attaching to them. The -parish to which it gives name covers a wide extent of territory. -Originally, before the great parishes of Blackburn, Chipping, Mitton, -Rochdale, Ribchester, and Slaidburn had been carved out of it, -it embraced an area of four hundred square miles; and even now -it is accounted the largest parish within the diocese, being equal -to about one-ninth of the whole county. Well might the chief -ecclesiastics of this, the oldest Christian edifice in Lancashire, -dignify themselves in old times with the imposing title of “Deans” -of Whalley, though the magnitude of their domain was surely not -a sufficient justification for their setting at naught the decrees of -Holy Church, and the vows of celibacy it imposed, by perpetuating -a race of priests who married and transmitted their offices from -father to son for successive generations: a state of things that -continued until the Council of Lateran not only forbade but -disannulled such marriages, and so destroyed the constitution by -which the church of Whalley had been governed for nearly five -hundred years.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p> - -<p>A more charmingly diversified country than that of which this -quiet little pastoral village is the centre it is difficult to conceive. -Within the wide range of vision it commands we may note the type -of almost every stage of civilisation the country has passed through. -Though a railway viaduct, lofty as the Pont du Gard, bridges the -Calder, and a tall chimney or two may here and there be seen, -the virgin features of the country have as yet been happily but -little scarred by the intrusion of manufacturing industry. The -wild breezy moors and the wooded cloughs and dingles retain -much of their primitive character, while the fair and fertile valley -still bears evidence of the patient labour of the monks in redeeming -the soil from its primeval barrenness. Every object that can -beautify or adorn the landscape is there in picturesque variety, -charming by the very order of Nature’s disorder. The Ribble, -winding its way towards the sea, as it flows by Ribchester, reminds -us of the days when the Roman held dominion—when the subjects -of the Cæsars built their fortresses and reared their stately temples, -and their chief, Agricola, taught the naked and woad-stained -Britons the science of agriculture and the arts of civilisation. The -quaint Runic crosses standing in the churchyard, weathered and -worn with the blasts of twelve hundred years, serve as memorials -of the time when Edwin, the Saxon king of Northumbria, embraced -the doctrines of the Cross, and the great missionary Paulinus -brought the glad tidings to our pagan forefathers dwelling in this -remote corner of Lancashire; for tradition affirms that on this spot -the Gospel of Peace and Love was proclaimed in those ancient -days.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">There stands the messenger of truth; there stands</div> -<div class="verse">The legate of the skies, his theme divine,</div> -<div class="verse">His office sacred, his credentials clear;</div> -<div class="verse">By him the violated law speaks out</div> -<div class="verse">Its thunders, and by him, in strains as sweet</div> -<div class="verse">As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And the venerable church—“the white church under the Leigh,” -as it was anciently designated—that peeps above the enshrouding -foliage, is doubtless the successor of a pagan temple, for it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> -then the fashion to convert the edifices of the old religion to the -purposes of the new. The ruined keep of Clitheroe Castle, crowning -the limestone rock that rises abruptly from the plain, carries -the mind back to the times of the stout Norman earls, when men -ruled by the stern will and the strong arm, and vigilant sentinels -upon the watch-towers looked afar for the blaze of the baleful fires -that should warn them of the approaching foe. Within a short -two miles of the stately stronghold of the Lacies are the dilapidated -remains of Waddington Hall—a house which, though it escaped -the fiercer tide of politics and strife, is yet associated with the -period when England was drained of its best blood by the Wars -of the Roses; for it was at Waddington, which had for a time -afforded him an asylum, that the “meek usurper,” Henry VI., -after the disastrous fight at Hexham, in 1464, was betrayed into -the hands of his enemies, and, though he escaped for a moment, -he was caught ere he could cross the Ribble at Brungerley hipping-stones, -and given up to the vengeance of his successful rivals, for -which act of perfidy his captor, Thomas Talbot, was rewarded by -the Yorkist Edward with grants of land. He did not, however, -long enjoy them, for when the White Rose of York drooped before -Henry of Richmond on the Field of Bosworth, the same Talbot -experienced one of the common reverses of war, and had to -surrender his ill-gotten gains. Westward, lying among the tall trees, -where the sharp corner of Yorkshire runs in between the Hodder -and the Ribble, is Little Mitton Hall, another relic of the past -that serves to tell the story of the changing life of our great -nation, and to show how the frowning fortress gradually softened -into the stately mansion when order spread as law succeeded -might, and time had widened and mellowed our social institutions. -The giant form of Pendle Hill, sloping upwards from the green -valley, with its wild gorges, where the old forest of Bowland -formerly stretched its length, its broad turfy swamps, its sombre -masses of blackened rock, and its bleak ridges of “cloud-capped” -desolation overshadowing the verdant landscape, conjures up -humiliating memories of the credulity, the ignorant superstition,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -and the revolting practices which obtained for merry-hearted -Lancashire so unenviable a reputation in the golden days of the -virgin queen and her successor, the vain and weak-minded -<span class="nowrap">James—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Pendle stands</div> -<div class="verse">Round cop, surveying all the wild moor-lands,</div> -<div class="verse">And Malkin’s Tower, a little cottage, where</div> -<div class="verse">Report makes caitiff witches meet, to swear</div> -<div class="verse">Their homage to the devil, and contrive</div> -<div class="verse">The deaths of men and beasts.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The genius of superstition that fills the mind with</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Shaping fantasies that apprehend</div> -<div class="verse">More than cool reason ever comprehends,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>still lingers, and the voices of tradition may occasionally be heard -in the embowered gloom of its solitary cloughs and dingles; but -under the disenchanting influences of steam Pendle has lost much -of that weird character of wonder and fear with which the shaping -power of the imagination had enshrouded it, though it still retains -much of its wild and uncultivated character, and there are spots -that remain almost as savage and unfrequented, if not as much -feared, as in the days of the “British Solomon,” when its secluded -hollows and heathery wastes were commonly believed to be the -scenes of midnight feasting and diabolical revelries, and everything -and everybody were supposed to be under the evil influence of -decrepit hags who had sworn to do the devil service, and were -endowed by the Prince of Darkness with the power to work -destruction on man and beast. Happily, in these days, a gentler -species of witchcraft prevails. Though the spells of the Lancashire -witches are as potent as ever, they are exercised without -fear of judge or jury. Few escape the fascinations, and, it -may be added, still fewer desire to do so. But Pendle has -other associations than those with which the pedantic Master -Potts and Harrison Ainsworth have made us familiar. It was -upon its broad peak that George Fox, the founder of the Society -of Friends, received his “first illumination.” There, as he -tells us in his <cite>Journal</cite>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> “the Lord let me see in what places He -had a great people to be gathered together;” and then he adds, -“As I went down I found a spring of water in the side of the hill, -with which I refreshed myself, having eaten or drunken but little -for several days before.” The spring is still there, and to this day is -known in the neighbourhood as George Fox’s well.</p> - -<p>Wiswall, uprising in peaceful serenity upon the skirts of Pendle, -calls to remembrance the conflict between monarchy and -monasticism—the “Pilgrimage of Grace,” and the penalty that -Paslew, the last abbot of Whalley, paid for his share in that -uprising—the destruction of himself and the house over which he -had so long presided, for it was upon a gallows erected in front of -Wiswall Hall, the place of his birth, and in sight of the abbey, -which had then passed into profane hands, that Paslew was -ignominiously hanged. A flat gravestone, in the north aisle of -Whalley Church, marks the last resting-place of the ill-fated -ecclesiastic. A floriated cross and a chalice, the emblems of his -office, are carved upon it, with the simple and touching <span class="nowrap">inscription—</span></p> - -<p class="center"> Jhu fili dei miserere mei<br /> - J P -</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a name="APGS" id="APGS"></a> -<img src="images/i_270.jpg" width="300" height="520" alt="Abbot Paslews Grave Stone, Whalley Church" /> -</div> - -<p>Well might he ask pity from above, for, poor man, in the days of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> -his adversity he found none below. Let us hope, however, that -the malediction which tradition says the dying man pronounced -upon those who should despoil his house has lost its force, if it -ever had any, and that a Braddyll and an Assheton may now step -across his grave without risk of destruction.</p> - -<p>But the glory of Whalley is the famous abbey, with which -Whitaker’s history has made us so familiar. Though it is now -only a picturesque <span class="nowrap">ruin—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi6">A pile decayed,</div> -<div class="verse"><span class="gesperrt">...</span> in cunning fashion laid,</div> -<div class="verse">Ruined buttress, moss-clad stone,</div> -<div class="verse">Arch with ivy overgrown,</div> -<div class="verse">Stairs round which the lichens creep,</div> -<div class="verse">The whole a desolated heap—</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>there yet remains much to delight the eye. The groined gateway -shrouded in the gloom of a stately avenue of limes, the spacious -hospitium, the cloister court, with its beautifully-decorated arches, -the chapter-house, the abbot’s lodgings, the refectory, and the -huge kitchens, with their capacious fire-places, may still be seen, -but the crowning feature of all, the glorious conventual church, -with its choir and its transepts, has disappeared, a small fragment -of the walls and the foundations of its mighty pillars alone -remaining. Corbel and capital, mullion and transom, broken -columns and fragments of masonry lie strewn about, some half -buried in the rank grass and nettles, telling the story of its former -magnificence. Until recent years, when it was blown down in a -storm, an ancient cherry tree that must have been in its prime -when Whalley was in the fulness of its glory, grew in one of the -courts, contributing its fair white blossoms to the summer beauty. -There you can see where the monks sat in the sanctuary; that -grass-grown court was their cemetery; yonder is the nameless tomb -of a forgotten abbot; and that arch, with a span of nearly eighteen -feet, marks the resting-place of another. Verily, the monks of -Whalley were as splendid in their obsequies as in their hospitalities. -The floor is carpeted with turf, and the walls are canopied by the -heavens; ivy, the flower of ruin, lends its melancholy charm, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -the clustering masses that uphold the crumbling buttresses spread -their garniture of green to hide the signs of decay, and mock the -greyness of time with a decoration that lasts but for a season. As -you wander about seeking for the best points of view, or musing -upon the fallen fortunes of the house, you will gaze again and -again upon the broken arches and the empty windows, and think</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">How many hearts have here grown cold,</div> -<div class="vi4">That sleep these mouldering stones among;</div> -<div class="verse">How many beads have here been told;</div> -<div class="vi4">How many matins have been sung.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A spot more suited to the contemplative mind you will rarely -see. Sequestered, solemn, still, the calm tranquillity is in perfect -keeping with the sepulchre of human greatness, and the mind -brooding upon the past overleaps the boundaries of centuries. In -this spot orisons and vespers have been sung; the low sweet music -of the Litany of the Cross has rolled; through the “long drawn -aisle and fretted vault” the pealing organ has swelled the anthem’s -note; and where now the sod is shaded by the overhanging -verdure the funeral procession has often passed, the white-robed -monks chanting awhile the soul-stirring “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Supplicante parce Deus</i>.” -The following lines seem so applicable to the place that we make -no apology for transcribing <span class="nowrap">them:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Around the very place doth brood</div> -<div class="verse">A strange and holy quietude,</div> -<div class="verse">Where lingers long the evening gleam</div> -<div class="verse">And stilly sounds the neighbouring stream.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">I know not if it is the scene,</div> -<div class="verse">Bosom’d in hills by the ravine,</div> -<div class="verse">Or if it is the conscious mind</div> -<div class="verse">Hallows the spot and stills the wind,</div> -<div class="verse">And makes the very place to know</div> -<div class="verse">The peace of them that sleep below,</div> -<div class="verse">Investing Nature with the spell</div> -<div class="verse">Of that strange calm unspeakable.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Methinks that both together blend</div> -<div class="verse">To hallow their calm peaceful end—</div> -<div class="verse">The thoughts of them that slumber there</div> -<div class="verse">Seem still to haunt the holy ground;</div> -<div class="verse">And e’en the spot and solemn air</div> -<div class="verse">Themselves partake that calm profound.</div> -<div class="verse">Methinks that He who oft at even</div> -<div class="verse">Brings stillness o’er the earth and heaven,</div> -<div class="verse">Till mountains, skies, and neighbouring sea</div> -<div class="verse">Blend in one solemn harmony,</div> -<div class="verse">Hath caused e’en Nature’s self to grace</div> -<div class="verse">This sweet and holy resting-place.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Amid the venerable and peaceful shade we seem again to hear</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Litanies at noon,</div> -<div class="verse">Or hymn at complin by the rising moon,</div> -<div class="verse">When, after chimes, each chapel echoed round,</div> -<div class="verse">Like one aerial instrument of sound,</div> -<div class="verse">Some vast harmonious fabric of the Lord’s,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose vaults are shells, and pillars tuneful chords;</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and we are almost tempted to forget the errors of the monks, and -to think only of them as the precursors of a simpler and purer -religion. In the seclusion of their solitary lives they laboured -earnestly and with prayerful zeal, for with them <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">laborare est orare</i> -was no idle expression. They threw the fervour of their souls -into their work, and dispensed their hospitalities with a lavish -hand; but they taught no liberty, and preached no freedom, to a -Christian world. The knowledge they cherished most was as a -lamp beneath a bushel—it kept all in darkness but themselves. -Better that their system should pass away, and that their houses -should be dismantled and left only to beautify and adorn the -landscape, than that we should have a return to their sensual -pageantry and pent-up learning.</p> - -<p>Many stories are related of the doings and misdoings of the -brotherhood at Whalley in those far-off days; but the legend that -they disturbed the peace of the fair anchorites who had their -habitation in the hermitage close by the great gate of the abbey -must surely be a fable, though tradition affirms that the lady -hermits were not always spotless in their lives, and a more trustworthy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> -authority records that one of them, Isold de Heton, a fair -widow, who, in the first transports of her grief, had vowed herself -to Heaven, led a disorderly life there, to the scandal of the abbey -and the prejudice of the morals of the fraternity. Here is the -story of the profane doings of this dissolute votaress, as set forth -in the representation made to that paragon of virtue, King Henry -the Eighth, of blessed <span class="nowrap">memory:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Be it remembered that the please and habitacion of the said recluse is -within place halowed and nere to the gate of the seyd monastre, and that -the weemen that have been attendynge to the seyd recluse have recorse -dailly into the seyd monastre for the levere of brede, ale, kychin and other -things; the whych is not accordyng to be had withyn such religyous -plases: and how that dyvers that been anchores in the seyd plase have -broken owte and departed: and in especyal how that now Isold of Heton -is broken owte, and so levying at her owne liberte by this two yere and -mor, like as she had never been professyd; and that dyvers of the wymen -that have been servants there, have been misgovernyd and gotten with -chyld within the seyd plase halowyd, to the great displeasuance of hurt -and disclander of the abbey aforeseyd, &c.</p></blockquote> - -<p>On this report the pious Henry, as in duty bound, suppressed -the little hermitage, and cast its inmates upon the world.</p> - -<p>The Calder still flows on bright and clear as it did of yore; -but the glories of the abbey of Whalley have for ever passed -away, and the roofless ruined walls serve only to remind us of the -days of the old Catholicism; whilst across the valley, crowning a -thickly-wooded eminence that rises from the slopes of Longridge -Fell, we can see the tall towers of Stonyhurst, which may be said -to typify the new—for the monasticism which Henry so ruthlessly -rooted out has been revived in a new form in the stately mansion -which once formed the home of the Sherburns. To that seminary -of learning, the college of the fathers of the Society of Jesus, and -the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">alma mater</i> of so many of the Catholic gentry of England, let -us now bend our steps, taking in the way the little hamlet of -Mitton, and its ancient church, in which so many of the former -lords of Stonyhurst repose.</p> - -<p>Leaving the village of Whalley at the upper end, we pass -beneath the viaduct, and continue along a pleasant rural<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> -high road that winds away to the right in sweetest solitude. -The tall hedgerows are fresh with their summer foliage, and -fragrant with the odours of the honeysuckle, the sweetbriar, and -the wealth of floral beauty that spreads around. Now and then -we get a glimpse of the Calder, flowing “with liquid lapse -serene,” here coming out of the verdant shade, and there going -into it again, and murmuring its admiration of the scene in a -perpetual song of joyousness. Presently the trees thicken, and -through the openings we look over a country serenely pastoral -in its character, with its wooded bluffs, its level holms, and wide-spreading -pastures, through which the</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Cold springs run</div> -<div class="verse">To warm their chilliest bubbles in the grass.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Behind us rises Whalley Nab, with the old abbey nestling at its -foot; the wooded heights above Wiswall, Billinge Hill, and the -bleak, cloud-mottled heights of the majestic Pendle. In mid-distance -the broken keep of Clitheroe Castle gleams in the mellow -light, and just below the tower of Clitheroe Church may be -discerned. Sweeping round towards the north, Waddington Fell, -Bleasdale Moor, and the wooded heights of Bowland Forest come -in view; and, far beyond, the shadowy peaks of Pennygent and -Ingleborough, reminding us of the old <span class="nowrap">saw—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Pendle Hill and Pennygent and Little Ingleborough,</div> -<div class="verse">Are three such hills as you’ll not find by searching England thorough.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Nearer we see the woods about Whitewell, a spot dear to every -lover of the gentle craft, and to the artist a very storehouse of -scenic beauty; the opening shows where the Hodder flows down -to add its tributary to the Ribble; further westward we have the -huge form of Longridge Fell stretching across the landscape, with -Kemple End, and the wooded eminence rising from its lowest -spur, on which stands the stately hall of Stonyhurst.</p> - -<p>A little more than half an hour’s walking brings us to Mitton, a -pleasant little rural hamlet occupying a narrow tapering strip of -land that runs in between the two rivers, the Hodder and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -Ribble, and very near the point where the latter is joined by the -Calder. As the old distich reminds <span class="nowrap">us—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The Hodder, the Calder, the Ribble and rain</div> -<div class="verse">All meet in a point on Mitton’s domain.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The rivers keep us in pleasant companionship, but, happily, the -rain is absent. Before we cross the Ribble we get sight of the -ancient hall of Little Mitton, lying among the trees; on the left a -gabled mansion built by the Catteralls in the days of the seventh -Henry, which, though it has been modernised and part rebuilt in -recent years, still retains its spacious entrance hall, with the -original arched timber roof, the exquisitely carved oaken screen, -and the gallery above. With the exception of the great hall at -Samlesbury it is the finest room in any house in the country, and -its erection must well-nigh have laid a forest prostrate. Well -might Whitaker express the hope that “it might never fall into -the hands who have less respect for it than its (then) owner; and -that no painter’s brush or carpenter’s hammer might ever come -near it, excepting to arrest the progress of otherwise inevitable -decay.” Thomas Catterall, the last of the name who held Little -Mitton, granted the manor in 1579 to his daughter Dorothy, and -her husband, Robert Sherburn, a younger son of the house of -Stonyhurst, and their grandson, Richard Sherburn, in the reign of -Charles the Second, sold it to Alexander Holt, of the ancient -family of Holt of Grislehurst. Subsequently it passed by purchase -to John Aspinall, Esq., and his grandson, Ralph John Aspinall, -Esq., of Standen Hall, the late High Sheriff of Lancashire, is -the present possessor; Mr. John Hick, formerly M.P. for Bolton, -being the occupant.</p> - -<p>The village of Milton is finely embosomed among tufted trees -upon a slope that rises gently from the valley, watered by the -Ribble and its tributary streams, and is as thoroughly picturesque -and “old English” as you would wish to see. As you -approach, the grey embattled tower of its venerable church -peeping above the umbrage forms a pleasing object, but its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -appearance does not improve on a closer acquaintance, for -the hand of the spoiler has been busy, and a coating of coarse -stucco effectually conceals the ancient masonry. It should be said, -however, that a good deal has been done in recent years to atone -for the tasteless barbarism of bygone churchwardens, and Nature -has lovingly aided in the work by spreading a mantle of living -green so as to hide many of the tasteless deformities. The church -is a small and unpretending structure, though of considerable -antiquity, some parts dating as far back as the reign of the third -Edward, and probably it occupies the site of a still earlier building. -The tower is of much later date, and like many other old -churches the exterior, by its architectural diversities, gives ample -proof of alterations and “improvements” at distant periods. The -churchyard delights you by its placid beauty, and the little hamlet -sleeping peacefully at the foot is in perfect harmony with the -scene. When we entered the enclosure the doors of the church -were fastened, but the sexton, who was pursuing his vocation in -the corner of the graveyard, offered to bring the keys and show us -whatever was worth seeing.</p> - -<p>The interior has been lately restored, and the old timber roof of -the nave, which was previously hidden by a flat plaster ceiling, -has been again exposed to view. There are also some remains of -ancient carving, carefully preserved, and an oaken screen separating -the nave from the chancel that well deserve inspection. The -lower portion belonged originally to Cockersand Abbey, the -monks of that house being patrons of Mitton; and it was removed -to its present position when the fraternity was dissolved. The -fragment of an inscription still remaining shows that it was made -in the time of William Stainford, and this helps us to fix the date, -as Stainford was abbot of Cockersand from 1505 to 1509. One -peculiarity noticeable is that, unlike other churches, you have to -descend into the chancel from the nave by a few steps, an arrangement -necessitated by the natural formation of the ground, which -declines considerably towards the east. Within the chancel is an -old oak chest, bound with iron, and triple-locked, with the date<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> -1627 carved upon it. On the top is a copy of Burkett’s “Expository -Notes on the New Testament,” a paraphrase on the Book of -Common Prayer, and one or two other theological works fastened -with chains—the village library of former days, as the inscription -in one of them testifies: “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ex Libris Ecclesiæ Parochialis de -Mitton 1722</i>.”</p> - -<p>But the great feature of Mitton, and that which most attracts -the attention of visitors, is the Sherburn Chapel, the mausoleum of -the former lords of Stonyhurst. It is situated on the north side of -the chancel, from which it is separated by a parclose screen, and -is remarkable as containing an assemblage of recumbent figures -and other family memorials such as very few old country churches -can boast.</p> - -<p>It was erected on the site of the ancient chantry of St Nicholas -by Sir Richard Sherburn, of Stonyhurst, who died in 1594, as -appears by his will, which expressly directs that his body shall “be -buryed at my parish church of Mitton, in the midest of my new -quere.” His tomb is the oldest in the chapel, and upon it are -the recumbent figures in alabaster, life size, of the knight and -“Dame Maude, his wife,” a daughter of Sir Richard Bold, of -Bold, who predeceased him. The body of the tomb is enriched -with heraldic shields representing the family alliances, and there -are some panels of figures. The inscription, which is in old -English characters, describes Sir Richard as “master forrester of -the forest of Bowland, steward of the manor of Sladeburn, -Lieutenant of the Isle of Man, and one of Her Majesty’s Deputy -Lieutenants.” He commenced the building of the present -mansion of Stonyhurst, or rather the rebuilding, for it stands on -the site of an older house, a portion of which still exists, employing -in the decoration some of the stone carvings from the -neighbouring Abbey of Whalley, among them being noticeable two -shields of arms, one bearing the cognisance of the Lacies, the -founders of that house. Sir Richard lived during the eventful -reigns of the Tudor sovereigns, and he seems to have accommodated -himself very happily to the varying circumstances of those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> -stirring times, conforming without scruple to the religious changes -which occurred in the days of Henry, Edward, Mary, and -Elizabeth, and to have succeeded in making considerable additions -to his patrimonial estates the while. His friend and -contemporary, Edward, Earl of Derby, told George Marsh, the -Bolton martyr, that the true religion was that which had most -good luck, and this article of faith Sir Richard Sherburn very -rigidly maintained. He succeeded to the family estates on the -death of his father, Thomas Sherburn, in 1536, and two years later, -being then only 15 years of age, he married his first wife, the -daughter of Sir Richard Bold. He was nominated one of the -commissioners for the suppression of the religious houses in the -reign of Henry VIII., and for the sale of the chantry lands in -that of Edward VI., and in 1544 he had the honour of knighthood -conferred upon him for his bravery at the burning of Leith. In -the first year of Edward VI., when a writ of Parliamentary -summons was re-issued to Lancaster, Liverpool, Wigan, and -Preston, he was returned as member for the last-named borough, -and in the first Parliament of Mary’s reign he was returned as -knight of the shire for the county of Lancaster, and shortly afterwards -was nominated high steward and master forester of the -Forest of Bowland, where he gave evidence of his faith in the -excellency of the game laws by “vigorously prosecuting various -individuals for unlawfully hunting deer and other game within the -forest.” In the reign of Elizabeth he was associated with the -Earl of Derby, the Bishop of Chester, Sir John Radcliffe, and Sir -Edward Fitton in executing the penal laws against those who -adhered to the Romish faith, and in 1581 he was appointed by -Cecil, Lord Burleigh, along with other commissioners, to compound -with the tenants who had obtained fraudulent leases of the tithes -and other properties of the College of Manchester. Four years -later he was one of the Lancashire magistrates who promulgated -an order against the profanation of the Sabbath by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> “wakes, fayres, -markettes, bayre-baytes, bull-baits, ales, May-games, resortinge to -alehouses in tyme of devyne service, pypinge, and dauncinge, huntinge, -and all maner of vnlawfvll gamynge.” In 1588, on the occasion -of the threatened invasion by Spain, he was one of the eighty loyal -gentlemen of Lancashire who formed themselves into an association -for the defence of Queen Elizabeth against “Popish conspiracies,” -and from the “intolerance and insolence” of the -Papacy. Baines says that he was allowed by Elizabeth, as an -especial favour, to have his chapel and his priest at Stonyhurst, -but the accuracy of this statement may very well be doubted, for -it is more than probable, as the late Canon Raines observed in the -“Stanley Papers,” that “at this time, and long afterwards, the -family held the Reformed faith, nor does it appear when they -became absorbed by the Church of Rome.” Under his munificent -hand the splendid mansion of Stonyhurst arose, but death overtook -him before he had completed his work. He died July 26th, -1594, leaving to his son and heir, Richard, among other things, -“all my armor at Stonyhurste, and all my iron to build withall, so -that he fynishe the buildinge therewith now already begonne—the -leade, buildinge, stone, and wrought tymber.”</p> - -<p>The monument perpetuating the names of this Richard, the -“fynisher” of Stonyhurst, and his first wife, Katharine, daughter -of Charles, Lord Stourton, is affixed to the north wall of the -chapel. The pair are represented as kneeling before a faldstool -or litany desk, with their hands uplifted, as if in prayer, the figures -strongly thrown out and gorgeously coloured. The man wears a -full skirted jerkin and the Elizabethan ruffs, and his wife is -habited in a long gown with a hood falling over the top of her -head. The inscription records that he was Captain of the Isle of -Man for fifteen years, and that his wife died there in childbed of -twins, “and their lieth intomb’d.” In the panel beneath is a -carving in <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">alto relievo</i>, representing the twins in bed with their -nurses watching over them.</p> - -<p>Richard Sherburn again entered the marriage state, his second -wife being Ann, daughter of Henry Kighley, and widow of Thomas -Hoghton, of Hoghton Tower; but this lady, who died at Lea, -October 30th, 1609, bore him no issue. He died in 1629, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -advanced age of eighty-three, and was in turn succeeded by a son, -also named Richard, whose altar-shaped tomb, on which are the -recumbent figures of himself and his wife, bears a lengthy -inscription recording the family history for four generations. “He -was,” it states, “an eminent sufferer for his loyal fidelity to King -Charles I. of ever blessed memory.” He lived to see the -restoration of the Stuarts, and died February 11th, 1667, aged -eighty-one years.</p> - -<p>Another altar-tomb, on which lie the recumbent effigies of a -knight and his lady, is to the “pious memory” of Richard -Sherburn, son of the last-named, and his wife Isabel, daughter of -John Ingleby, of Lawkeland, in Yorkshire. The inscription, -among other things, records that “he built the almshouse and -school at Hurst Green, and left divers charitable gifts yearly to -the several townships of Carleton, Chorley, Hamilton, and Lagrim, -in Lancashire; Wigglesworth and Guisely in this (York) county; -departing this life (in prison for loyalty to his sovereign), at -Manchester, August 16th, <span class="smcap">A.D.</span>, 1689, in the 63rd year of his age. -He, like many other of the Catholic gentry of Lancashire, being -devoted to the family of the expatriated James by hereditary -attachment and personal affection, looked upon the exiled -monarch as a martyr to his religious convictions, and could not -therefore be persuaded that he was absolved from his allegiance -or at liberty to transfer it to the Prince of Orange.” The inscription -on his tomb adds—“The said Isabel (his wife), by whom, at -her own proper charge, these four statues were erected, died April -11th, 1663, whose mortal remains are together near hereunto -deposited.”</p> - -<p>As the “four statues,” <i>i.e.</i>, of Richard Sherburn and his wife, -and his father and mother, were not erected until 1699, thirty-six -years after the lady’s death, it may be assumed that she bequeathed -the funds “necessary to defray” the cost of their erection. Whitaker, -in his “History of Whalley,” remarks that the two male figures on -these tombs are probably the latest instances (that is, of former -days) of cumbent cross-legged statues in the kingdom, and this is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> -probably so, as it has been commonly supposed that the latest -recumbent monumental figure is that enshrined in Westminster -Abbey, and erected in 1676, to the memory of William Cavendish, -Duke of Newcastle. The effigies at Mitton were executed by -Stanton, the well-known lapidary, at a cost, it is said, of £253.</p> - -<p>There is another monument to the memory of Richard -Sherburn, eldest son of the Richard just named, who succeeded -on his father’s decease, but enjoyed the estates only for a few -months, his death occurring April 6th, 1690, when, having no -issue, the Stonyhurst possessions devolved upon his brother -Nicholas, who had had the dignity of a baronetcy conferred upon -him by Charles II. during the lifetime of his father. He was the last -of the name who resided at Stonyhurst, and died without surviving -male issue December 16th, 1717. His monument was placed -beside those of his ancestors by his only surviving daughter and -heir, Maria Winifred Francesca, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. -The inscription, which is said to have been written by the -duchess herself, is perhaps unsurpassed in prolixity and extravagant -adulation, and deserves to be noted as a specimen of the way -in which great families were wont, a couple of centuries ago, to -glorify themselves in their own charnel houses, forgetting that of -the long laudatory inscriptions which family pride had made -fashionable,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">One half would never be believed,</div> -<div class="verse">The other never read.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Here it <span class="nowrap">is:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>This monument is to the sacred and eternal memory of Sir Nicholas -Shireburn and his lady. Sir Nicholas Shireburn, of Stonyhurst, Bart., -was son of Richard Shireburn, Esq., by Isabel his wife, daughter of John -Inglesby, of Lawkeland, Esq. Nicholas Shireburn had by his lady, whose -name was Katharine, third daughter and co-heir to Sir Edward Charleton, -of Hesleyside, in Northumberland, Bart., by Mary, eldest daughter and -co-heir of Sir Edward Widderington, of Cartington, in Northumberland, -Bart., three children; the eldest, Isabella, died the 18th of October, 1688, -and is buried at Rothburgh, in Northumberland, in the quire belonging to -Cartington, where Sir Nicholas then lived; a son named Richard, who -died June 8th, 1702, at Stonyhurst; another daughter named Mary, -married May 26, 1709, to Thomas, Duke of Norfolk.—Sir Nicholas Shireburn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -was a man of great humanity, sympathy, and concern for the good of -mankind, and did many good charitable things whiles he lived; he particularly -set his neighbourhood a spinning of Jersey wool, and provided a man -to comb the wool, and a woman who taught them to spin, whom he kept in -his house, and allotted several rooms he had in one of the courts of Stonyhurst, -for them to work in, and the neighbours came to spin accordingly; -the spinners came every day, and span as long a time as they could spare, -morning and afternoon, from their families. This continued from April, -1699, to August, 1701. When they had all learn’d, he gave the nearest neighbour -each a pound or half a pound of wool ready for spinning, and wheel -to set up for themselves, which did a vast deal of good to that north side -of Ribble, in Lancashire. Sir Nicholas Sherburn died December 16, 1717. -This monument was set up by the Dowager Duchess of Northfolk, in -memory of the best of fathers and mothers, and in this vault designs to be -interr’d herself, whenever it pleases God to take her out of this world.</p> - -<p>Lady Sherburn was a Lady of an excellent temper and fine sentiments, -singular piety, virtue, and charity, constantly imployed in doing good, -especially to the distressed, sick, poor, and lame, for whom she kept an -apothecary’s shop in the house; she continued as long as she lived doing -great good and charity; she died Jan. 27th, 1727. Besides all other great -charities which Sir Nicholas and Lady Sherburn did, they gave on All -Souls’ Day a considerable deal of money to the poor; Lady Sherburn -serving them with her own hands that day.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Of a truth man is a noble animal—splendid in ashes and -pompous in the grave!</p> - -<p>There is yet another inscription from the pen of the dowager -duchess, to the memory of her second <span class="nowrap">husband:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>In this vault lies the body of the Hon. Peregrin Widderington. The -Hon. Peregrin Widderington was youngest son of William, Lord Widderington, -who died April 17th, 1743. This Peregrin was a man of the strictest -friendship and honour, with all the good qualities that accomplished a -fine gentleman. He was of so amiable a disposition and so ingaging that -he was beloved and esteemed by all who had the honour and happiness of -his acquaintance, being ever ready to oblige and to act the friendly part on -all occasions, firm and steadfast in all his principles, which were delicately -fine and good as could be wished in any man. He was both sincere and -agreeable in life and conversation. He was born May 20th, 1692, and died -Feb. 4th, 1748–9. He was with his brother in the Preston affair, 1716, -where he lost his fortune, with his health, by a long confinement in prison. -This monument was set up by the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, in memory -of the Hon. Peregrin Widderington.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Though careful to record the descent as well as the “good -qualities” and “delicately fine principles” of the amiable Peregrin,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> -her grace, whose grammar, by the way, is somewhat obscure, has -curiously enough, while perpetuating the fact of her previous -marriage, omitted all mention of her relationship to the dear -departed, and has thus inadvertently done an injustice to his -memory as well as to her own, for ill-natured people have -wickedly suggested that their union never had the sanction of a -priest, and that, as the old sexton assured William Howitt when he -visited Mitton nearly half a century ago, the “accomplished fine -gentleman” was only a “tally husband,” a belief that still prevails -in many a cottage home in the district. The “Preston affair,” so -delicately alluded to, was the occasion when the old Pretender, -the Chevalier de St. George, made the rash and abortive attempt -to recover the Crown of England by an appeal to civil war, and a -portion of the rebel army, headed by the ill-fated Lord Derwentwater -and General Foster, penetrated as far south as Preston, -where it was met by the King’s forces, under Generals Wills and -Carpenter, and compelled to surrender; when no fewer than seven -lords and 1,500 men, including officers, were made prisoners, among -them being the Hon. Peregrin Widderington and his father, -William, Lord Widderington, the latter of whom was impeached -before the House of Lords for high treason, but afterwards -reprieved and pardoned. The Widderingtons, like the Sherburns, -had for successive generations been devotedly attached to the -Stuart cause, the Lord Widderington of a former day having lost -his life at Wigan Lane on the 25th August, 1651, while bravely -fighting by the side of Lord Derby and the gallant Sir Thomas -Tyldesley.</p> - -<p>As previously stated, Sir Nicholas Sherburn was the last of the -name who resided at Stonyhurst. In his time considerable -additions were made to the mansion. He rebuilt the principal -front, placed the two eagle-crowned cupolas on the summits of the -old battlemented towers, dug out the ponds in front of the hall, -and laid out the gardens in the stiff fantastic Dutch style then -fashionable; but before he had completed the work he had the -misfortune to lose his only son, Richard Francis, a youth of nine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> -years, who, as tradition affirms, was poisoned with eating yew -berries gathered in the dark avenue at Stonyhurst—the fruit of</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Some dark, lonely, evil-natured yew,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose poisonous fruit—so fabling poets speak—</div> -<div class="verse">Beneath the moon’s pale gleam the midnight hag doth seek.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The untimely death of his heir so affected Sir Nicholas that he -abandoned his design, quitted Stonyhurst, and never returned. A -monument to the memory of the ill-starred boy adorns the chapel -at Mitton, and among the floral decorations upon it is a bunch of -yew berries; beyond this there is no evidence of the cause of death -save the tradition which has been handed down through successive -generations, and is still implicitly believed by the village gossips.</p> - -<p>On the death of Sir Nicholas Sherburn, in 1717, the baronetage -became extinct, and the extensive possessions of his house, in -default of a male heir, passed, in accordance with the provisions of -his will, dated August 9th of that year, after the decease of his -widow, to his only daughter, Maria Winnifred Francesca, wife -(first) of Thomas, eighth Duke of Norfolk, and (secondly), as -already stated, of the Hon. Peregrin Widderington. The -duchess died without issue September 25th, 1704, and was buried, -in accordance with her expressed desire, at Mitton, when the -estates reverted to the issue of her aunt Elizabeth, sister of Sir -Nicholas Sherburn, who had married William, son and heir of -Sir John Weld, of Lullworth Castle, in Dorsetshire. Edward -Weld, the grandson by this marriage, was the first to inherit the -property, and from him the estates passed in 1761 to his eldest -son, Edward Weld, Esquire, who had to his second wife Mary -Anne, youngest daughter of William Smyth, Esquire, of Brambridge, -in Hampshire, who survived him, and in her second -widowhood, as the relict of Thomas Fitzherbert, of Swinnerton, -was privately married to “the first gentleman of Europe”—George, -Prince of Wales, afterwards George the Fourth. On the -death of Edward Weld, the first husband of Mrs. Fitzherbert, in -1775, without issue, the property passed to his only surviving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> -brother, Thomas Weld, of Lullworth, who in 1794, when through -the fury of the French Revolution the Jesuits were driven from -their college at Liege, granted that body a lease of the Stonyhurst -estate, and subsequently the property became theirs by purchase.</p> - -<p>Looking upon these magnificent memorials—this blazonry of -human greatness—and contrasting the achievements of the sculptor’s -art as here displayed with the bare simplicity and, until recent -years, we might have said meanness, of the sanctuary itself, from -which they are only separated by an open screen, it is difficult to -avoid the conclusion that the proud Sherburns were more -concerned for the perpetuation of their own greatness than for the -honour and glory of God. Infinitely more appropriate is the -humble and prayerful ejaculation we found graven upon the stone -of poor Abbot Paslew, at Whalley, than this ostentatious chronicling -of the virtues of poor frail humanity.</p> - -<p>Having spent some time in the examination of the Sherburn -Chapel we stepped out into the quiet graveyard, among the -grass-grown hillocks where the “rude forefathers” tranquilly -repose, <span class="nowrap">and—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Their name, their years, spelt by th’ unletter’d muse,</div> -<div class="verse">The place of fame and elegy supply.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Underneath one of the windows on the north side, half hidden in -docks and nettles, we noticed the cumbent figure of a knight in -armour sculptured in stone, the counterpart of one of those we had -seen inside. There is a curious tradition connected with it. It -is said that when the effigies of the Sherburns came down from -London they were a good deal talked of in the neighbourhood. A -village stonemason hearing of the sum they had cost, and piqued -at the want of appreciation of his own skill, declared that he could -have done the work equally well. This was repeated at the hall, -when the man was sent for, questioned, and ordered to make good -his boast. This he did by producing the imperfect copy now in -the churchyard, and the story adds that the Sherburns gave him -£20 in acknowledgment of his skill. On the south side of the -church yard is the circular carved head of an ancient cross that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> -was dug up by a former clerk; there are also several curious -gravestones, including one to the memory of an ecclesiastic, -Thomas Clyderhow, the same, probably, whose curious will, made -in 1506, or rather the copy of it, is preserved in the Townley MSS. -Many members of the great family of Talbot, as well as that of -Winckley, have here found a resting-place, and altogether Mitton -is full of interest, as well from its associations as from the -secluded beauty of its situation.</p> - -<p>But we have loitered long by the way—who would not loiter in -such a pleasant old-world nook?—and must now betake ourselves -to Stonyhurst.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<a name="ACMC" id="ACMC"></a> -<img src="images/i_287.jpg" width="350" height="404" alt="Ancient Cross, Mitton Churchyard" /> -</div> - -<p>From the silent resting-place of the Sherburns to their old -ancestral home the walk is little more than a couple of miles, and -a pleasanter bit of country is rarely traversed. Half a mile brings -you to the banks of the Hodder, where a noticeable feature meets -the eye that brings to remembrance the “twa brigs of Ayr.” At -this point two bridges bestride the river, which, by the contrast -in their appearance, not inaptly symbolise the difference between -the old times and the new. One, that by which we cross, is a -comparatively modern erection, with parapet walls and bold -projecting piers; the other, which is placed a hundred yards or so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> -lower down, is a primitive-looking structure of ancient date, -extremely narrow, as most old bridges are, and now only serving -as a footpath to the cottages close by, though rendered picturesque -by the profuse growth of ivy and weeds upon it. The old bridge, -however, possesses more than a passing interest, and may fairly -claim to rank as one of the historic sites of Lancashire; for it was -here that Cromwell held a council of war with General Ashton, on -the 16th August, 1648, when the Scots had penetrated into -Lancashire, and there was a general fear that they might reach -London, in which case the hopes of the Parliamentarians would -be crushed. The Duke of Hamilton had at the time entered the -county with a large force; and Sir Marmaduke Langdale, with -another army, acting in concert, was moving in a parallel direction. -The Roundhead troopers, under General Lambert, being -insufficient in number to arrest their progress, withdrew into Yorkshire; -when Cromwell, who had just succeeded in reducing -Pembroke, marched northwards, and, forming a junction with -Lambert at Knaresborough, hastened into Lancashire to attack -the invaders. On the 16th August he arrived at the little bridge -over the Hodder, where he met Major-General Ashton, with a -Lancashire force; and, after consultation with him, determined -upon the plan of operations—the result, as is well known, bringing -victory to the arms of the invincible Ironsides and overwhelming -disaster to the Royalist cause. That night the future Lord -Protector was an unbidden guest at Stonyhurst, and was, doubtless, -more free than welcome. Tradition still points to the old oak -table near the entrance, on which it affirms that Cromwell slept, -while his men bivouacked in the grounds,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> though the accuracy -of the story may well be doubted, for the stern warrior was hardly -likely to put up with so indifferent a couch when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> “Papist’s -house” afforded so much better accommodation. The next -morning he marched with his followers towards Preston, forced -the bridge, and in a conflict which lasted several hours completely -routed Hamilton’s army, the waters of the Ribble and the Darwen -being crimsoned with the lifeblood of the combatants. It was -Charles’s last appeal to arms, and when intelligence of the disaster -reached him in the Isle of Wight he told Colonel Hammond, the -governor, that “it was the worst news that ever came to England.” -For the king it was; for there is little doubt that Cromwell’s -victory hastened the action of the Republicans, and precipitated -that event which the world has ever since condemned.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<a name="HB" id="HB"></a> -<img src="images/i_289.jpg" width="600" height="318" alt="The Hodder Bridge" /> -</div> - -<p>But we are wandering from our story, and more peaceful scenes -await us. As we approached the Hodder the sun shone full and -strong, and flashed and glittered upon its rippling surface, broken -at the time into innumerable wavelets where the full-uddered kine -were plunging and wading in the shallows to cool themselves -after the heat of the bright summer day. Half a mile or so up -the river, half hidden among the trees on the hillside, we catch -sight of the Hodder Place, or Hodder House, as it is sometimes -called—a kind of novitiate or preparatory school in connection -with the seminary at Stonyhurst. After crossing the river, our -road lay along a wild old wandering lane that winds away to -the left, rising and failing in a succession of gentle eminences,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> -filled with quiet nooks, whose vernal shade tempts you to relax -your speed and while away the passing hours in listless contemplation -of the wealth of beauty that Nature, with lavish hand, has -spread around. Then a steep ascent occurs, and as we mount the -stony and intricate path we look through the tangled vegetation to -the green links of undulating woodland and the distant hills that -swell gently into the blue of infinite space, and now and then get a -glimpse of the tall towers and dome-crowned cupolas of Stonyhurst -shooting above the rich umbrage that environs them. Then -another climb, and we are in front of the old mansion of the -Sherburns, though, in truth, it now presents a different aspect to -that it must have done when Sir Nicholas “set his neighbourhood -a spinning of Jersey wool,” and my Lady Sherburn—playing the -part of Lady Bountiful—“kept an apothecary’s shop in the -house,” and distributed her alms to her poorer neighbours “with -her own hands.”</p> - -<p>Before venturing upon a description of the building, let us refer -for a moment to the account which Dr. Whitaker, in his “History -of Whalley,” gives of the circumstances that led the disciples of -Ignatius Loyola to establish a seminary in this picturesque corner -of busy, practical <span class="nowrap">Lancashire:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>On the north-west border of the county is the ancient seat of the Shireburn -family. After the death of Sir Nicholas Shireburn, Bart., in 1720, it -was possessed by his daughter Mary, Duchess of Norfolk, till 1754. -It then became the property of Edward Weld, Esq., of Lullworth Castle, -Dorset, whose son, the late Thomas Weld, Esq., converted it, in 1794, into -a college, or house of education, for young pupils of the Roman Catholic -religion. This gentleman’s benevolent view was to facilitate the means of -religious and literary instruction for persons of his own persuasion, who had -now lost all the resources which the British transmarine colleges and -seminaries had afforded during two hundred years. He had received his -education among the English Jesuits abroad, and he had witnessed the -violent seizure and ejection of his old masters from their College of St. -Omer, which was perpetrated by the French Parliament of Paris in 1762. -This college was one of the principal houses of education which the -British Catholics had formed on the continent, while the severity of the -penal laws prohibited such institutions in their own country. The -English fathers of the society, not disheartened by persecution, proceeded -to form new establishments, for the same purpose of education, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> -Austrian Netherlands, and again in the city of Liege; and they were dislodged, -pillaged, and ejected, with similar injustice and violence, by the -governments which admitted the suppression of their order, by Pope -Clement XIV. in 1773, and finally, by the revolutionary armies of France -in 1794. In their uttermost distress they took advantage of the humane -lenity of our Government, which allowed them to settle and to open -schools for pupils of their own religion, under security of the oath of civil -allegiance which was prescribed by the Act of 1791. Under the immediate -protection of Thomas Weld, Esq., the gentlemen expelled from Liege by the -French conducted the small remnant of their flourishing seminary to -Stonyhurst; and, in the course of twenty-one years, by unremitting -industry, they have improved it into a distinguished seminary and house of -education, of which they justly acknowledge Thomas Weld, Esq., as the -founder and principal benefactor. It is filled at present (1816) by more -than two hundred and fifty students of the Roman Catholic religion, sent -thither from most parts of the world; and their established reputation for -good order and regularity has justly procured for them the countenance -and favour of their neighbours.</p></blockquote> - -<p>An amusing story is related of the eagerness of the students of -Liege to get possession of their new quarters in Lancashire. -Tradition says that the last person to quit the college at Liege -was George Lambert Clifford, and that he was the first to enter the -new institution at Stonyhurst. Another student, Charles Brooke, -was equally anxious for the honour; and when they came in sight -of the building both ran at their utmost speed down the avenue. -Brooke reached the entrance first; but Clifford, arriving almost at -the same moment, and seeing a window open, scrambled through -it, and so entered the building while his competitor was waiting for -admission by the ordinary way.</p> - -<p>In addition to that from Mitton, there is another road by which -Stonyhurst may be reached, leading up from Hurst Green—a little -village near the bottom of the hill, half a mile away, and past the -cemetery. The approach is by a broad avenue of spreading trees, -a quarter of a mile in length, the vista being terminated by the -principal front of the mansion, half revealed through the leafy -screen, and which gains in importance and architectural effect by -its natural surroundings. At the end of the avenue the road is -flanked on each side by an ornamental sheet of water, part of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> -old pleasure grounds as laid out in the stiff and formal fashion -prevalent in the time of the last Sherburn; and, beyond, a dwarf -wall is carried across, forming the boundary of the court. In the -centre is an ample gateway, with ornamental gateposts on each -side; and from this point the entire front of the mansion, in all its -stately proportions, appears in view.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_293.jpg" width="600" height="378" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">STONYHURST.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a></span></p> -<p>As previously stated, Sir Nicholas Sherburn made considerable -additions to the old home; but was prevented from carrying out -to their fullest extent the plans he had prepared, through the -untimely death of his only son. The work, however, which he left -undone has been completed on an even more extensive scale by -the present owners. A college church and other buildings have -also been erected to meet the requirements of the institution; -and altogether the place presents a much more imposing appearance -than it could at any time have done during its occupancy by -the Sherburns. The chief feature in the main façade is the -entrance tower, which forms the central compartment, and is -advanced slightly from the line of the main structure. It is a -handsome erection, essentially Italian in character, though -exhibiting some details of the late Tudor type, and is ascribed, -though erroneously as we believe, to Inigo Jones. The basement -is occupied by an arched portal, forming the chief entrance, and is -surmounted by an ornamental cornice supported on each side by -double-fluted columns, above which is a carved escutcheon, with -the arms of the Sherburns quartered with those of the Bayleys—the -family through whom they acquired the Stonyhurst property. -The “red hand” of Ulster is also displayed—an evidence that -the shield must have been placed there in the time of Sir Nicholas -Sherburn, he being the only member of the house who had the -baronetcy. The three upper stories are each pierced with a -square window, mullioned and transomed and flanked with -coupled columns, similar to those on the basement. An embattled -parapet surmounts the structure, and in the rear rise two octagonal -towers, covered with dome-like cupolas crowned with eagles. -These latter were erected in 1712 for the modest sum of £50, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> -appears by the “artickles of agreement” made in that year and -still preserved among the Stonyhurst muniments. From the -entrance tower two wings extend, one on each side, both being -similar in style and dimensions, though they are of different dates; -that on the south being coeval with the tower itself, whilst the one -on the north was erected so recently as 1842. From the south-west -angle a corridor extends at right angles, connecting the main -building with the chapel, a handsome Gothic edifice in the florid -or perpendicular style of architecture, erected in 1835, from the -designs of Mr. Scoles, of London, and resembling very much in -external aspect that splendid monument of mediæval art—the -chapel of King’s College, Cambridge.</p> - -<p>The recollection of the doings of the order which at one time -exercised such a powerful influence over the cabinets and councils -of Europe, if it did not create a feeling of awe, at least induced -one of curiosity to see the system pursued in what has been the -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">alma mater</i> of so many members of that notable fraternity. -Though we had omitted to provide ourselves with that customary -“open sesame,” a letter of introduction, our request to see over -the establishment was at once courteously complied with.</p> - -<p>Passing beneath the great arched portal and along a corridor -on the left we were ushered into a waiting-room the walls of which -are hung with a series of views, engravings, and photographs -representing the hall of Stonyhurst at different periods of its -history. The attendant then led the way into a paved court -directly opposite the principal entrance. It is quadrangular in form, -and from it you can note the general disposition of the buildings, -their architectural characteristics, and the difference between the -old and the new work. The additions harmonise and exhibit a -striking unity with the general features of the pile, while possessing -the conveniences required by the present occupants. Altogether it -conveys the idea of the ancient baronial hall erected when the -manor house had disengaged itself from the castle, and law having -succeeded to the reign of the strong hand, beauty and ornament -were considered more than strength and resistance. The south<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> -side is the more ancient, the greater part having been erected -during the lifetime of Sir Nicholas Sherburn, though there are some -remains of a still earlier date. There are unmistakable evidences, -however, of substantial repairs having been made at the time the -house was transferred to the Jesuit Fathers, and the leaden waterspouts -bear the date 1694, the year they acquired possession. A -handsome oriel projects from the main wall, and beneath is a -doorway giving admission to the range of apartments on this side -of the building; there are also indications of several other doors -that formerly existed, but in the rearrangement of the interior they -have been built up. The north wing, which has been added in -recent times, is of corresponding form and dimensions, though -much plainer in detail, its severity of character almost approaching -to baldness.</p> - -<p>Entering by the door beneath the oriel on the south side we -pass into a corridor that runs the entire length of the wing. At -the western end is an antiquated apartment lighted by a five-light -pointed window with traceried head, the old chapel or domestic -oratory of the Sherburns, but now used for school purposes. -Quitting this room we are next conducted through a series of -corridors, galleries, and apartments, a detailed description of which -is not only beyond our purpose but would be wearying to the -reader. Among them is a room deserving of especial notice—the -refectory—the banquetting hall of the former lords of Stonyhurst, -which, though it has been extended at one end and subjected to -other alterations, still retains many of its ancient features unimpaired. -It is a spacious apartment, ninety feet by twenty-seven -feet, with two recessed oriels and a fireplace capacious enough to -roast an ox. It is fitted up in a style harmonising with its ancient -characteristics, and is very suggestive of the abundance and lavish -hospitality that were here displayed in bygone days; when the “two-hooped -pot” was indeed a “four-hooped pot,” and fell felony it -was to drink small beer. The floor is of marble, arranged in -lozenge-like patterns, and a raised daïs or platform of the same -material extending across the southern end terminates in the oriel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> -recesses before referred to. The walls have the addition of a dado -of oak and an elaborately ornamented frieze in relief. Across the -northern end is a gallery protected by an open balustrade, adorned -in front with the head and antlers of the moose deer and other -trophies of the chase, and having the following inscription carved -<span class="nowrap">beneath:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap f90">Quant je Puis. Hugo Sherburn armig, me fieri fecit. Anno -Domini 1523. Et sicut fuit sic fiat.</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>Over the fireplace is the Sherburn coat of arms, with the motto, -“<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Quant je Puis</i>,” and the date, MDCLXXXIX. A large number -of portraits are placed against the walls, many of them those of -distinguished alumni of Stonyhurst, while others are again -commemorated by their heraldic shields in painted glass placed -in the two oriel windows. At one end of the room is a large -painting, the “Immaculate Conception,” which is said to be an -original of Murillo.</p> - -<p>Contiguous to the great dining-room is the library and museum, -which may be reckoned among the chief attractions of the place. -The library certainly contains a remarkably fine collection of -works, including many of extreme rarity and value. There are -about thirty thousand volumes in all, and the collection of ancient -MSS., missals, black-letter books, and examples of early typography -are especially interesting. Upon shelves reaching from floor to -ceiling, in galleries and recesses, upon tables and in glass cases, -and, in short, in every nook and corner, are these literary treasures -displayed. A world of thought, a mighty mass of intellectual -matter, is spread about, before which the haughty Aristarch himself, -without any consciousness of humiliation, might have doffed “the -hat which never veiled to human pride.” Every school of thought, -every department of literature is represented; here are sombre-looking -folios of ancient date that scholars of the old English school might -well delight in, and there, dapper duodecimos of the present age -to gratify the taste of the modern dilettante reader whose platonic -love of literature is influenced more by the external vanities—the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -gold and glitter without than the solid thought within. Among -these curiosities of book-craft, and especially deserving of note, is -a copy of Caxton’s “Boke of Eneydos” (1490), a translation of a -French novel partly based upon the Æneid of Virgil, which -provoked the anger of Gavin Douglas, who savagely attacked -Caxton for translating a book from the French, professing to be a -translation of Virgil when it had nothing to do with <span class="nowrap">it—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Clepaud et Virgil in Eneados</div> -<div class="verse">Quihilk that he sayes of French he did translait.</div> -<div class="verse">It has nothing ado therewith, God wate,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor na mare like than the Devil and Sanct Austin.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>There is also an imperfect copy of that remarkable work, the -“Golden Legend”—the first attempt to render hagiology amenable -to the laws of reason and decency, and which from its containing -a translation into English of the whole of the Pentateuch, and a -great part of the Gospels, became one of the principal instruments -in preparing the way for the Reformation. The first edition of the -work was printed by Caxton in folio 1483–4, the Stonyhurst copy -is of the date 1493, and must, therefore, be the third, the one -generally accepted as having issued from the press of Wynkyn -de Worde, and of which only nine copies are known to exist. A -singularly interesting relic, screened in a glass case, is a small -prayer-book which tradition affirms to be the identical one that -Mary Queen of Scots carried with her to the scaffold when she was -beheaded. It is said to have been given by her confessor to the -library at Douay; subsequently it was transferred to the college at -Liege, from which place it found its way to Stonyhurst when its -owners removed there. It is remarkable for the sharpness and -beauty of the type, which bears a close resemblance to the court-hand -of the Tudor period, as well as for the richness of the binding. -The cover is of crimson silk velvet, embossed, with the words -“Maria” and “Regina” in silver gilt capitals, with the arms of -France and England quartered, and a crown, rose, and pomegranate. -If this book ever belonged to the Queen of Scots there -is good reason to believe that it must previously have been owned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> -by her kinswoman and namesake, Mary of England, for the reason -that the pomegranate was the emblem of Spain, and one of the -badges of Catherine of Arragon, and Mary herself used as a device -the pomegranate and rose combined.</p> - -<p>Another feature of the library is the collection of ancient -illuminated missals, the largest and probably the most beautiful in -the kingdom. There is also a copy of the Gospel of St. John, -believed to have been transcribed in the seventh century, and said -to have been found in the tomb of St. Cuthbert in Durham -Cathedral, and a MS. copy of the Homilies of Pope Gregory, -attributed to Simon, Abbot of St Albans, in the twelfth century. -In another room is the valuable collection of books presented to -the college in 1834 by the Lady Mary Ann, widow of James -Everard, tenth Lord Arundell of Wardour, and numbering about -five thousand volumes.</p> - -<p>The contents of the museum at Stonyhurst are many and varied; -some are ancient, some modern, some of great historic interest, and -some, it may be said, of little or no interest at all. To learn what -they are we must yield ourselves and listen <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">auribus patulis</i> to the -descriptions of our courteous cicerone, who is familiar with the -history and uses of each and all. Here we find displayed the cap, -rosary, seal, and reliquary of that impersonation of goodness and -incorruptibility, Sir Thomas More, and near it a fragment of chain -mail taken from one of the dusky warriors of King Theodore; -porphyry from the ruins of ancient Carthage, and pistols that -played a part in the fight at Navarino; chips from the cedars of -Mount Lebanon, and prize cups of silver awarded to shorthorns of -the Stonyhurst breed, for be it known that Papal bulls are not the -only ones with which the Jesuit Fathers at Stonyhurst have concerned -themselves. Now our attention is drawn to the seals of -James the Second and Fenelon, and to a quaint old jewel case of -lapis lazuli once possessed by Queen Christina of Sweden; and -anon to the tobacco pouch of a Sioux Indian; next we are shown -a huge rusty key that belonged to the far-famed abbey of Bolton, -and an antique gold ring turned up by the plough near Hoghton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> -Tower some years ago with the arms of Langton on the seal, -and the motto “<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">De bon cuer</i>” on the inner side, and that, for -aught we know, may have been dropped at the time of that -lawless foray in 1589 which cost Thomas Hoghton, the builder of -Hoghton Tower, his life, and lost the manor of Lea to the proud -family of the Langtons. Here is a bit of masonry brought from -one of the Holy Places, and there a bullet taken from the body of -a British soldier at Sebastopol. Indian bows and arrows, swords, -spears, and other implements of warfare are exposed to view, with -grim relics from Waterloo, the Crimea, and Lucknow, that call up -mingled memories of bloodshed and bravery. Many of the -curiosities are deposited in glass cases to protect them from the -touch of the vulgar or profane; there are ivory carvings of -wonderful workmanship; crucifixes, triptychs, and devotional -tablets; ancient bronzes, Papal medals, seals, and coins of every -nation under the sun, sufficient in number and variety to turn the -head of a numismatist and set the student of history a-thinking of -the changes the whirligig of time has brought about, and the -dynasties that have risen and passed away since they received the -impresses they still display.</p> - -<p>From the library we return through the dining-hall to an apartment -named, from its proportions, the Long Room, occupied -chiefly as a museum of natural history. Tables run the entire -length, filled with geological and mineralogical specimens illustrative -of every epoch in the world’s history; precious stones of -every hue; fossil remains and skeletons of creatures of various -kinds; delicately-tinted shells, and eggs of every shape and size; -butterflies, beetles, and birds the splendour of whose plumage -would defy the painter’s art to imitate, many of them the gift of a -former student of the college, the distinguished naturalist and -genial, hospitable, and cultivated gentleman, Charles Waterton. -Another room is fitted up with mechanical appliances, models of -steam engines, &c., and adjoining it is one devoted to the purposes -of a laboratory.</p> - -<p>One of the great attractions of the place is the Sodality Chapel,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> -as it is called, devoted to the use of the students whilst “saying -their office,” small, but a very marvel of architectural skill and -decorative art. As we pass through the ante-chapel our attention -is arrested by a large plaster model of Auchterman’s celebrated -sculpture, the Dead Christ supported by the Virgin, placed there -to commemorate the services of Father Clough, who for a period -of twelve years was rector or principal of the college. The -Sodality Chapel was erected in 1856 from the designs of Mr. C. A. -Buckler, of Oxford. It is Gothic in character of the 15th century -period, and is remarkable for the elaborate carving and sculpture, -and the profuse decoration in polychrome displayed. There is an -apsidal termination lighted by three two-light windows with oak -traceried panelling carried round; the altar has wreathed columns -of alabaster, and the reredos is of stone and alabaster, with a statue -of the Virgin in the centre, surmounted by a richly-decorated -canopy. The windows are filled with stained glass, the work of -Hardman, of Birmingham. Close to this beautiful example of -Gothic art is the Community Chapel, in which the students attend -mass every morning.</p> - -<p>As previously stated, there is another church connected with the -institution, St Peter’s, erected nearly half a century ago, and of -much larger dimensions, being intended for the use of the neighbourhood -as well as that of the inmates of the college. It will -accommodate about 1,500 worshippers, and, considering the date -of its erection, will bear favourable comparison with many of the -Gothic structures of more recent years. Painting, carving, and sculpture -have been freely employed, with everything that could add to -that architectural effect the love of which forms so distinguishing a -feature of the Roman Church. The interior, with its spacious -nave, its “long drawn” aisles, its lofty arches, and its elegant oak-panelled -roof, has a very imposing appearance. The high altar -has a reredos behind, rich in carving, and above is a magnificent -window divided into five lights with a traceried head, and subdivided -by double transoms into fifteen compartments, each filled -with the image of one of the apostles or saints in stained glass,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -while the storied windows of the clerestory “shoot down a stained -and shadowy stream of light.” Within the sanctuary are two -niches occupied with statues of SS. Peter and Paul, and we also -noticed two coloured frescoes, the work of Wurm and Fischer, of -Munich, the one representing Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the -order, administering the communion to his first missionary companions, -and the other, St. Francis Xavier, “the apostle of India -and Japan,” who threw around the society the lustre of poetry in -action, and “the mists of the wonderful, if not the dignity of -historic heroism,” preaching to the Indians, some of whom are -represented as breaking their idols in his presence.</p> - -<p>The college chapel, as we have said, is situated near the south-west -angle of the main structure. Occupying very nearly a corresponding -position at the north-west side is the hospital, connected -with the main building by a broad corridor, the walls of which are -hung with portraits and engravings.</p> - -<p>Any notice of Stonyhurst would be incomplete that did not make -mention of the gardens and pleasure grounds. Though somewhat -diminished in size by the additions made from time to time to the -college buildings, they remain pretty much in the same stiff and -formal style in which they were laid out a couple of centuries ago. -They are pleasant in themselves and pleasantly situated, commanding -as they do a widespread view of the surrounding country, -a country rich in everything that can beautify or adorn the landscape. -A curious feature noticeable is the lofty, solid, well-trimmed walls of -yew which extend in various directions. Though more remarkable -for their quaintness than their natural beauty, they furnish a -pleasant shade for the students, and have a certain air of antiquity -that well accords with the surroundings. In one part of the grounds -is a large circular bowling green, on the edge of which is placed the -Roman altar found among some rubbish in the neighbourhood in -1834, and evidently the one found at Ribchester which Camden -saw in 1603. It originally bore an inscription setting forth that it -was dedicated by a Captain of the Asturians to the mother-goddesses, -but this can now only in part be deciphered, the greater<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> -portion of the lettering having become obliterated by exposure to -the weather. The following is Camden’s <span class="nowrap">rendering:—</span></p> - -<p class="center"> DEIS MATRIBVS<br /> - M. INGENVI<br /> - VS. ASIATICVS<br /> - DEC. AL. AST.<br /> - SS. LL. M. -</p> - -<p>Within the garden is a capacious circular basin, in the centre -of which, on a square pedestal, is the figure of a man in -chains, said to be that of Atilius Regulus; and near thereto is the -observatory, a building consisting of a central octagon and four -projecting transepts, fitted up with every necessary scientific -appliance. The kitchen gardens are on the south-east side, and -eastward of them is the famous “Dark Walk,” a long avenue of -firs, cedars, and yews, very patriarchs of their kind, that meet overhead, -and impart a green tinge to everything around, creating a -solemn and mysterious gloom, fitted for reflection and the meditations -of the religious devotee—a solemn, cool, and shady retreat—a -very grove of Academe, and the place of all others to dream -away a summer afternoon. These trees must have budded and -flourished through long centuries of time; successive generations -of Sherburns have paced beneath their vernal shade; here the -tender tale, the word that sums all bliss, <span class="nowrap">the—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi8">Sweet chord that harmonises all</div> -<div class="verse">The harps of Paradise,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>has doubtless oft been breathed to the fair daughters of the house; -and here, if tradition is to be believed, the last scion of the -Sherburns plucked the poisonous fruit that terminated a long and -illustrious race.</p> - -<p>The college at Stonyhurst has accommodation for 300 students, -and we were informed at the time of our visit that, including the -pupils at the Hodder House, about 250 were receiving instruction. -It does not come within our province to enter into the scholastic -arrangements of the place or the educational course pursued, and -the domestic life of the establishment is a subject too lengthy for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> -our notice. It may be said, however, that everything which efficient -teaching can accomplish is done; everything that skill and ingenuity -and means can provide in the shape of scientific and mechanical -appliances to aid the efforts of the teacher is there. As you pass -along the corridors, and through the halls and classrooms, you are -struck with the quietude, the order, and the perfect discipline which -prevail. Morality among the students is maintained by the strictest -supervision, and equal care is bestowed in the development of their -mental powers, with the natural result that the institution has earned -the fullest confidence of its Catholic patrons, while its pupils have -given proof of the excellence of their training by their scholarly -attainments, and the distinctions so many of them have earned in -the competition for honours at the examinations of the London -University. The life at Stonyhurst is one in which teacher and -taught are in kindly sympathy with each other, and where associations -are formed productive of quiet happiness to the one and joy -and gladness to the other.</p> - -<p>After our perambulation of the college we lingered for some time -in the gardens enjoying the prospect from the high ground, looking -across the broad fertile valleys of the Ribble and the Calder to the -bleak ridges of Pendle and the wooded heights of Bowland Forest. -Daylight was melting away into the soft warm haze of a summer -eve, deepening in splendour the woods and meads and darkening -hills beyond. A peaceful calm pervaded the scene, the stillness -being only broken as now and then some feathered warbler trilled -out its evening lay, or the wind rustled with plaintive cadence -through the trees that waved sleepily overhead, making a dreamy -lullaby. Then, as the sun circling towards the glowing west, and -the chapel bell summoning the collegiates to vespers, warned us of -the approach of night, we bade adieu to Stonyhurst, and, descending -by a steep path that winds round the edge of a thick wood, were -soon wending our way along the quiet old country lanes to our -quarters at Whalley.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_306.jpg" width="600" height="422" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">ADLINGTON HALL.</div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_307.jpg" width="600" height="101" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> - -<span class="f75">ADLINGTON AND ITS EARLIER LORDS—THE LEGHS—THE LEGEND -OF THE SPANISH LADY’S LOVE—THE HALL.</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_307a.jpg" width="75" height="176" alt="C" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Cheshire</span>, says Speed, in his “Theatre of the Empire of -Great Britain” (1606), “may well be said to be a seed-plot -of gentilitie and the producer of many most ancient and -worthy families.” Smith says that “it is the mother and -nurse of gentility of England;” and, if we may believe -the author of “The Noble and Gentle Men of -England,” it contains at the present day a larger number of old -county families than any other English shire of equal size. -“Cheshire, Chief of Men,” or, as it is versified,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Cheshire, famed for chief of men,</div> -<div class="verse">High in glory soars again,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>is a popular proverb in the palatinate, though Grose maliciously -insinuates that the Cheshire men fabricated the proverb themselves. -If, however, Menestrier’s definition of a gentleman, that he -must be one “<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">de nom d’armes et de cir</i>,” holds good, then the -men of Cheshire may pride themselves upon a lineage unsurpassed -by the gentry of any other county. Among those who have -brought renown, the Leghs have ever held a foremost place, and -have proved themselves the worthy compeers of the Grosvenors, -the Egertons, the Davenports, and other of the valiant men of -Cheshire whose names are</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Writ in the annals of their country’s fame.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Adlington, the ancestral home of one of the older branches of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> -this widespread family, is a pleasant old mansion, possessing, -besides its own particular attractions as a good specimen of the -half-timbered manor house of bygone days, much that is interesting -in its memories and associations. It lies, too, in the midst of -a spacious park, prettily feathered with woodlands, and environed -with much rural beauty, so that it is altogether a pleasant place to -spend a summer day in—a spot where you may find enough to -occupy your thoughts without satiety or weariness.</p> - -<p>The railway carries you within a hundred yards or so of the -park-gates. A roadside inn—the Unicorn’s Head—(the crest of -the Leghs), and a few picturesque cottages, with cunningly devised -porches of open rustic work, and little plots of garden in front, -gay with flowers of every hue—tall lilies and roses that sway their -heads in the passing breeze, and sweet-scented creepers that trail -around and half hide the little old-fashioned windows—constitute -what there is of village. Close by the station, and abutting upon -the high-road, is the old smithy. As we go by, the smith is hard at -work, the sparks fly merrily, and under the ponderous strokes of -his hammer the anvil rings as melodiously as it did a hundred -years ago, when, on a bright morning, Handel, while taking a -constitutional with his host, Charles Legh, of Adlington, listened -to it and first conceived the idea of the “Harmonious Blacksmith,” -the score of which he wrote down immediately on his return to -the hall, where it was long preserved. The park, which is well -stocked with deer, is of considerable extent, varied and picturesque, -and marked by much unrestrained beauty; for Art and -Nature seem both to have stopped short of “improvement,” and -to have given Time the opportunity of softening the harsh outline -of man’s labours. It is not too tamely kept, however, nor yet too -rigidly subjected to rule, the open lawns and broad sunny glades -being chequered with clumps of wood and sturdy <span class="nowrap">trees—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Whose boughs are moss’d with age,</div> -<div class="verse">And high top bald with dry antiquity,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>whilst through the grassy meads and beneath the woodland shade,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> -pranked with a thousand silvery shapes of beauty, the freakish -<span class="nowrap">Deane—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi16">A gentle stream,</div> -<div class="verse">Adown the vale its serpent courses winds,</div> -<div class="verse">Seen here and there through breaks of trees to gleam,</div> -<div class="verse">Gilding their dancing boughs with noon’s reflected beam,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>as it hastens on to mingle its waters with the Bollin, and unite with -it in helping the Mersey to do honour to the British Tyre. It is -a lovely summer day, with just sufficient breeze to cool the overheated -atmosphere, and give a pleasant and invigorating freshness -to it; the sunbeams are dappling the rich sward with their playful and -ever-changing patches of light, and the air is balmy with the odours -of the new-mown hay. The lark carols joyously in the bright blue -sky, the insects are busy in the tall grass, and the lowing of the -kine in the distant meadows, the merry song of the haymakers -spreading out the fresh-cut swaths, and the creaking of the waggon -as it bears its fragrant load to the stackyard, blending together, -make a rustic music delighting to the heart of him who loves the -sounds of country life.</p> - -<p>As we leisurely wend our way along the broad gravelled path we -have time to note the more prominent features of the surrounding -country; and assuredly there are few localities in the county -where the scenery is more agreeably diversified, the prospect -<span class="nowrap">embracing—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Hill and dale, and wood and lawn,</div> -<div class="verse">And verdant fields, and darkening heath between,</div> -<div class="verse">And villages embosomed soft in trees.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A long line of stately chestnut trees bounds one side of the walk. -Eastward the view is limited by a range of undulating eminences -that stretch along the line of the horizon, dark, shadowy, and -lonely-looking, in places, a kind of mountain wall—the outwork, so -to speak, of the Peak hills beyond—with upland pastures and -sweet verdant slopes, green where the grass has been newly mown, -and tinged with yellow where the grain is ripening in the bright<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> -August sunshine, showing where man has encroached upon -Nature’s wild domain, and what good husbandry has won from the -bleak wastes that once formed part of the great forest of Macclesfield. -Hidden from view in a green, cup-like hollow in the hills -is the “lordly house of Lyme,” that calls up memories of the deeds -at Crescy, in which the flower of the Cheshire chivalry were -engaged; for it was in acknowledgment of the seasonable aid Sir -Thomas Danyers rendered to the “Boy Prince,” when on that -bloody field his Royal father bade him “win his spurs and the -honour of the day for himself,” that Richard the Second bestowed -the fair domain of Lyme upon Sir Piers Legh, a younger son -of the house of Adlington, who had wed Sir Thomas’s daughter. -Just above the hall the “Knight’s Low” lifts its tree-crowned -summit; tradition hovers around it, and tells us that far back in -the mist of ages a knightly owner of Lyme there found his resting-place.</p> - -<p>Peeping out from the thick umbrage on the adjacent height we -get a glimpse of the modern mansion of Shrigley—the successor of -an ancient house that for full five centuries and a half was the -abode of the once famous, though now extinct, family of Downes; -the chiefs of which held the hereditary forestership of Downes and -Taxal, in the Royal forest of Macclesfield, with the right of hanging -and drawing within their jurisdiction, and further claimed the -privilege of holding the King’s stirrup when he came a-hunting in -the forest, as well as of rousing the stag for his amusement; in -allusion to which office they bore a white hart upon their shield of -arms, with a stag’s head for crest. But Shrigley has other associations. -In more recent times the name was identified with an outrageous -case of abduction—the carrying off and pretended marriage of -the youthful heiress of that pleasant domain by the notorious -adventurer, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in 1826. Below, where -the great break occurs in the mountainous ridge, and the hills look -as if riven asunder by the stroke of a giant’s hand, lies the little -town of Bollington, where the cotton trade has established itself, -and the tall chimneys—the “steam towers,” as Crabbe calls<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> -them—do their best, though in a small way, it is true, to detract -from the natural beauties of the landscape. The hill which -terminates the ridge nearest to us bears the name of the Nab, and -the one that bounds the opposite side of the defile, the summit of -which is crowned with a whitewashed summer-house that gleams -brightly in the sunshine, is popularly known as White Nancy. -With White Nancy the Kerridge hills, famed for their freestone -quarries, come in view. The name (Cær Ridge) suggests the idea -that the Romans had a camp or minor station in the vicinity, and -the opinion is strengthened by the fact that one of their highways -led eastwards over the rocky ridge.</p> - -<p>Southwards, near the foot of the Kerridge range, lies the old and -somewhat dingy-looking town of Macclesfield, the view of which -is, however, happily shut out by intervening plantations and the -eminence on which stands Bonishall, for a time the residence of -Lord Erskine, the grandson of the distinguished Lord Chancellor, -and occupying the site of an older house, where, in the days of -the Virgin Queen, a branch of the Pigots of Butley, had their -abode. Round towards the right, through the openings in the -dark belt of trees, the long crescent-like sweep of Alderley Edge is -seen rising sheer from the plain to a considerable elevation, and -extending a couple of miles or so, with its rough projecting rocks -full of changeful picturesqueness of indentation, and rich in their -exquisite variety of form and colour. The steep slopes are clothed -with vegetation and crested with a miniature forest of pines and fir -trees that mingle their dark-hued verdure with the brighter foliage -of the oak and the birch, making a little fairyland of woodland -beauty, the natural charm of which is heightened by the cloud-shadows -gliding slowly across. With a keen eye Stormy Point -can be discerned standing out a mass of sombre crag, in striking -contrast to the scenery around. The Beacon close by reminds us -of the troublous times when our grandfathers were in daily dread -of invasion, and erected this signal that they might pass the warning -on should their Gallic neighbours put foot on British soil. The -Edge is not without its tale of wonder, nor will it lose the recollection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> -of it while the sign of “The Wizard” adorns the neighbouring -hostelry, or “The Iron Gates” that of its rival. But we are not -now concerned with the legend of the countless milk-white steeds -or the nine hundred and ninety-nine slumbering knights—“the -wondrous cavern’d band”—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Doom’d to remain till that fell day,</div> -<div class="verse">When foemen marshall’d in array,</div> -<div class="verse">And feuds intestine shall combine</div> -<div class="verse">To seal the ruin of our line.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Our walk has brought us to the lawn in front of the mansion, -but before we enter let us take a glance at the past history of the -house and its possessors.</p> - -<p>Before the days of Duke William, the Norman conqueror, -Adlington formed part of the demesne of the Saxon Earl of -Mercia. The name is supposed by some authorities to be derived -from the Saxon words <i>adeling</i> (noble), and <i>ton</i> (a town), but in the -Doomsday Book it is written Edulvintone, signifying Edwin’s -town, the inference being that Edwin, then Earl of Mercia, a -grandson of Earl Leofric and that fair Lady Godiva whose memory -the good people of Coventry delight to honour, had a residence -here, and this is the more probable origin. The account in the -great Norman survey is summed up in the word “Wasta,” from -which it is clear that the district had at that time been devastated -or laid waste by the invaders, and the reason of this is not far to -seek, though the story is not without a spice of romance. Edwin -and his brother Morcar, Earl of Northumberland, were two of -Harold’s chief generals at the battle of Hastings. Knowing the -power and influence they possessed throughout the country north -of the Trent, William set himself diligently to discover the means -of effecting their overthrow. The Saxons generally were more -impassioned than politic, and Edwin, having conceived an affection -for the conqueror’s daughter, Adela, consented to abdicate his -position as a condition of obtaining that princess’s hand. As far -as a Norman word could bind she was given to him, whereupon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> -he laid down his arms and undertook to pacify and to bring over -to the invader nearly a third of the kingdom. Immediately he had -done so the treacherous William, feeling himself secure, broke the -promise he had given and refused to accept him for his son-in-law. -Stung with the insult thus offered to himself and his house, Edwin -and his brother flew to arms, and roused their countrymen into -open revolt. The brave Saxons entered into a solemn league and -covenant to expel the foreigners from their soil, or perish in the -attempt. Famine, pestilence, and war did their worst. The -Normans devoted themselves on the one hand to havoc, ruin, and -desolation; while on the other, the outraged Saxons dealt death -around them wherever they had the power. The foreigner was -bent upon extermination, and between him and the native Saxon -no intercourse existed save that of revenge and a rivalry as to -which should inflict the greatest amount of injury upon the other. -As a consequence, the country was drenched with slaughter and -made the scene of violation, rapine, and murder. In the bloody -conflict no place suffered more than this part of Cheshire, the -frequent occurrence of the phrase “Wasta” in the survey -evidencing the destruction accomplished by fire and sword. After -fruitless struggles, Edwin, with a small band of followers, fled -towards Scotland, but being overtaken near the coast he turned -upon his pursuers. A fierce resistance was made, in which he was -slain, when his head was cut off and sent as a trophy to the -victorious William, and so perished the first owner of Adlington -of whom history has furnished us with any particulars.</p> - -<p>On the death of Edwin the manor with other of his possessions -were given by the Conqueror to that pious profligate, Hugh -d’Avranches, surnamed Lupus, whom he had created Palatine -Earl of Chester, and who, being more concerned for the pleasures -of the chase than the cultivation of the soil, appears to have -retained Adlington in his own hands as a hunting seat, for in the -Norman Survey it is mentioned as then having no less than seven -“hays” (deer-fences or enclosures in which deer could be driven) -and four aeries of hawks. It remained in the possession of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> -Norman earls until the time of John Scot, the seventh and last, -who died without male heirs, when Henry the Third, with somewhat -indistinct ideas with regard to <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">meum</i> and <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">tuum</i>, took the -earldom into his own hands, deprived Earl John’s sisters of their -heritage, and so sowed the seeds of discontent that produced a -plentiful crop of troubles for King Henry’s grandson when he -succeeded to the crown.</p> - -<p>Immediately after this high-handed procedure Adlington is found -in the possession of Hugh de Corona, who would appear to have -held it by a grant direct from the Crown, for a Crown rental was -payable for the manor for centuries. He also held the superior -lordship of Little Neston-cum-Hargrave, in the Hundred of Wirral, -as well as lands in Penisby, in the same hundred, formerly belonging -to the hospital of St. John, at Chester. By his wife Amabella, -daughter of Thomas de Bamville, of Storeton, near Chester, he -had, in addition to a son, Hugh, two daughters—Sarah, to whom -he gave his lands in Penisby, and Lucy, who became the wife of -Sir William Baggaley, or Baguley, according to the modern -orthography, whose monumental effigy has lately been placed -in the old hall at Baguley.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> In 1316 Hugh de Corona gave the -whole of his manors of Parva Neston and Hargrave, excepting a -third part of the same held in dower by his wife Lucy, and the -tenements held in dower by Margaret, his mother, to John de -Blount, or Blound, citizen of Chester, in consideration of an annual -payment of ten marks; by another charter, executed about the -same time, he granted the reversion of the said third part to the -said John, and in the same year the grantee was released from the -payment of the ten marks, and an amended grant of the manors<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> -“in fee simple” was made to him, with the exception of the dower -estates. On the 15th March, 10 Edward II. (1316–17), Thomas -de Corona appeared in the Exchequer at Chester, and prayed that -these three grants might be enrolled, and they now appear on the -Plea Rolls, together with a separate one granting the reversions. -Finally, in the 27 Edward III., Thomas de Corona, the grandson -of Hugh, quit-claimed to John, son of John de Blound, all title to -the manors.</p> - -<p>Having in this way completely alienated the Wirral estates, -Adlington seems to have been made the chief abode of the Coronas. -Lucy, the daughter of Hugh de Corona, who became the wife of -Sir William Baggaley, had a son, John, who died without issue, and -two daughters—Isabel, who married Sir John de Hyde, and Ellen, -who became the wife of John, son of Sir William Venables, of -Bradwell, Knight, younger brother of Sir Hugh Venables, Baron -of Kinderton, but who assumed the surname of Legh, the maiden -name of his mother, Agnes de Legh, as also of the place (High -Legh) where he was born and resided until he became the possessor -by purchase of Knutsford-Booths-cum-Norbury-Booths, from -William de Tabley, 28 Edward I., 1300.</p> - -<p>Hugh de Corona, the second of the name who resided at -Adlington, had a son, John, who inherited the estates, and was in -turn succeeded by his son, Thomas de Corona, who died -unmarried in the reign of Edward III., when the male line of the -family became extinct. By a deed executed in the early part of -Edward II.’s reign, this Thomas granted to John de Venables, -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">alias</i> Legh, and Ellen de Corona, or Baggaley, his wife, all his -part of the manor and village of Adlington, excepting the lands -which Margaret, his mother, and Lucy, the widow of his grandfather, -Hugh de Corona, the second of the name, had in dower; -and by another charter, dated 9 Edward II., he gave to the said -John Legh and Ellen, his wife, all the rest of his lands in Adlington -previously held in dower by his mother and grandmother. -Thus John de Legh became lord of Adlington, and on the -paternal, as his wife Agnes de Legh was on the maternal side,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> -founder of the house of Legh of Adlington, a house that has held -possession of the manor for an uninterrupted period of more than -five centuries and a half.</p> - -<p>John de Legh, who acquired the lordship of Adlington by his -marriage with Agnes de Corona, could boast a lineage as ancient -and honourable as that of the Conqueror himself. When the -subjugation of England was accomplished the Norman invader -was enabled to reward his faithful followers out of the numerous -forfeitures that had accrued through the fruitless insurrections of -Earl Edwin and the other Saxon nobles. Hugh d’Avranches, or -Hugh Lupus, as he was more generally designated, from the wolf’s -head which he bore for arms, and which may have been given as -symbolical of his gluttony, a vice Oderic says he was greatly -addicted to, though he does not appear to have been with the -invading army at Hastings, having followed the victor in the -succeeding year, was largely instrumental in establishing William -upon the English throne. In acknowledgment of his services, as -well as for his valour in reducing the Welsh to obedience, he had -conferred upon him in 1070 the whole of the fair county of -Cheshire, “to hold of the King as freely by the sword as the King -himself held the realm of England by the crown”—he was, in -fact, a Count-Palatine, and all but a king himself. Thoroughly -appreciating the conditions of his tenure, he, in order the more -effectually to secure it, divided his palatinate into eight or more -baronies, which he distributed among his warlike followers upon -the condition of supporting him with the sword as he was in turn -to support the King. He also established his officers as well as his -own courts of law, in which any offence against the dignity of -“the Sword of Chester” was as cognisable as the like offence -would have been at Westminster against the dignity of the Royal -crown.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p> -<p>One of the eight barons created by Hugh Lupus was Gilbert, -a younger son of Eudo, Earl of Blois, and a first cousin of the -Conqueror. He was one of the combatants at Hastings, where he -received the honour of knighthood for his valour in the field, and -he afterwards rendered important services against Edgar Atheling, -as well as in the subjugation of the Welsh, for which welcome aid -Earl Hugh rewarded him with considerable estates in the newly-acquired -county, and he chose Kinderton as the seat of his barony. -Like his patron, he was devoted to the pleasure of the chase, and -from that circumstance acquired the name of Venables <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">(Venator -abilis)</i>, which some of his descendants have retained to the present -day, in the same way that another Norman chieftain, a nephew of -Hugh Lupus, and a mighty hunter withal, took the name of -Grosvenor—Gilbert <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le Gros venor</i>—which is now perpetuated by -the ducal house of Westminster.</p> - -<p>Gilbert Venables, Baron of Kinderton, who was a widower at -the time of the Norman Conquest, again entered the marriage -state, his second wife being Maud, the daughter of Wlofaith Fitz -Ivon, another Norman soldier, who had the lordship of Halton, -near Daresbury, conferred upon him by the gift of his brother -Nigell, Baron of Halton. This lady bore him in addition to a -son, William, who succeeded to the barony of Kinderton, and a -daughter, Amabella, who became the wife of Richard de Davenport, -a second son, Thomas Venables, whose exploits, if that most -respectable authority, tradition, is to be believed, rivalled those of -the mythical champion, St George, and that more modern hero, -More of More Hall, <span class="nowrap">who—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi8">With nothing at all,</div> -<div class="verse">Slew the Dragon of Wantley.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Here is the story as veraciously recorded by an ancient chronicler -in the Harleian MSS. (No. 2,119, art. 36) In the time of this -Thomas Venables, it says, “Yt chaunced a terrible dragon to -remayne and make his abode in the lordshippe of Moston, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> -sayde countye of Chester, where he devowred all such p’sons as -he lay’d hold on, which ye said Thomas Venables heringe tell of, -consyderinge the pittyfull and dayly dystruction of the people -w’thowte recov’ie who in followinge th’ example of the valiante -Romaynes and other worthie men, not regarding his own life, in -comparison of the commoditie and safeguard of his countrymen, -dyd in his awne p’son valiantlie and courragiouslie set on the saide -dragon, where firste he shotte hym throwe with an arrowe, and -afterward with other weapons manfullie slew him, at which instant -tyme the sayd dragon was devowringe of a child. For which -worthy and valiant act was given him the Lordshippe of Moston by -the auncestors of the Earle of Oxford, Lord of the Fee there. And -alsoe ever since the said Thomas Venables and his heires, in -remembrance thereof, have used to bear, as well in theire armes, -as in their crest, a dragon.”<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> The old chronicler has omitted to -give us a description of this wonderful creature, but doubtless it -bore a close resemblance to the monster of Wantley, whose -appearance is thus pourtrayed in the “Percy Reliques”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">This Dragon had two furious Wings,</div> -<div class="verse">Each one upon each Shoulder,</div> -<div class="verse">With a sting in his Tayl</div> -<div class="verse">As long as a Flayl,</div> -<div class="verse">Which made him bolder and bolder.</div> -<div class="verse">He had long Claws,</div> -<div class="verse">And in his Jaws,</div> -<div class="verse">Four and Forty Teeth of Iron,</div> -<div class="verse">With a Hide as Tough as any Buff,</div> -<div class="verse">Which did him round Inviron.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Have you not heard that the Trojan Horse</div> -<div class="verse">Held seventy men in his Belly!</div> -<div class="verse">This Dragon was not quite so big,</div> -<div class="verse">But very near, I’ll tell ye. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></div> -<div class="verse">Devour did he,</div> -<div class="verse">Poor children Three,</div> -<div class="verse">That could not with him grapple;</div> -<div class="verse">And at one Sup</div> -<div class="verse">He eat them up,</div> -<div class="verse">As one should eat an Apple.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The sixth in direct descent from the first Baron of Kinderton -was Sir William Venables, who, by his wife Margaret, daughter of -Sir Thomas Dutton of Dutton, had two sons, Sir Hugh, who -inherited the barony, and Sir William, to whom his father gave the -lordship of Bradwall, near Sandbach. This William was twice -married, his second wife being Agnes, daughter and heir of -Richard de Legh, of the West Hall, near Knutsford, and the -widow of Richard de Lymme. By her he had John Venables, -who, as previously stated, assumed his mother’s maiden name of -Legh. He became the owner by purchase of Norbury Booths, -and married some time previous to 1315 Ellen de Corona, who -inherited the Adlington estates under the settlement of her grand-nephew, -Thomas de Corona. Four sons were born of this -marriage, three of whom became the founders of distinct houses: -John, ancestor of the Leghs of Booths; Robert, to whom, at -the death of his mother in 1352, the manor of Adlington reverted -under the Corona settlement, and who thus became progenitor of -the Leghs of Adlington, Lyme, Ridge, Stoneleigh, Stockwell, &c.; -William, founder of the line of Isall in Cumberland, and from -whom descended Sir William Legh, Bart., Lord Chief Justice of -England; and Peter de Legh, who in right of his wife Ellen, -daughter and heir of Philip de Bechton, acquired the Bechton -estates, which were in turn conveyed by his two daughters, -Margaret and Elizabeth, to their respective husbands, Thomas -Fitton, of Gawsworth, and John de Davenport, of Henbury.</p> - -<p>Robert de Legh, who succeeded to the manor of Adlington on -the death of his mother in 1352, had a commission as a justice in -eyre for Macclesfield, and was also appointed a steward of the -manor and forest of Macclesfield. He was twice married, his first -wife being Sibilla, the daughter of Henry de Honford, of Honford<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> -(Handforth), by whom he had, in addition to two daughters, -Robert, who succeeded as heir to the Adlington estates, and -Hugh, who predeceased him. His second wife was Maud, the -daughter and heir of Adam de Norley of Northleigh, of the -manor of that name, near Wigan, Knight. This lady, who is said -to have been his second cousin, and very young at the time of her -marriage, bore him two sons in his old age, Peter or Piers, and -John. Peter, who was born about the year 1361, married in -1388, Margaret, the daughter and heiress of that famous Cheshire -hero, Sir Thomas d’Anyers, who distinguished himself at the battle -of Crescy<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> by taking prisoner the Count de Tankerville, chamberlain -to the King of France, and rescuing the standard of the Black -Prince when it was in danger of being captured, in acknowledgment -of which services his daughter afterwards received a Royal -grant of the manor of Lyme Handley, and, with her husband, -became progenitor of the Leghs of Lyme and the Leghs of Ridge. -John de Legh, the younger son by the second marriage, was -keeper of Macclesfield Park prior to 1395, and was sometimes -designated John de Macclesfield. He was living in 1399, and -had issue.</p> - -<p>Robert de Legh died at Macclesfield, about the year 1370. -Before his death his wife Maud, who survived, conveyed to him all -her estates in trust for their son, Piers Legh, who, at the time of -his father’s death, was a child of nine years. Six years after the -death of Sir Robert the name of his widow was unpleasantly -associated with a charge of fraud, as appears by the Chamberlain’s -accounts at Chester, she being indicted with one Thomas le Par, -who possibly may have been more active in the matter than herself, -with fabricating, in the name of Adam de Kingsley, the -trustee, a false settlement of the Broome estates within Lymm in -fraud of the heir and in favour of her youngest son, John, and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> -heirs male; and with having, through such false charter, unjustly -retained possession of the land for six years after her husband’s -death. The issue of the indictment is not recorded; but it is -clear that if she had succeeded her act would have given to her -son John a considerable estate, to the disadvantage of his elder -brother.</p> - -<p>Robert de Legh, who inherited the manor of Adlington on the -death of his father, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">circa</i> 1370, was, in 1358, in the retinue of -Edward the Black Prince in the war in Gascony; and there is -an entry in the Palatinate Rolls at Chester that he, with William -de Bostock and Hugh, son of Thomas le Smyth, of Mottram, -entered into a recognisance indemnifying the chamberlain for any -moneys that might be due to two of the Cheshire archers who were -serving under him while with the prince. In 1360–61, as appears -by the Recognisance Rolls, he had granted to him the custody of -the lands in Cheshire lately belonging to Henry de Honford, then -deceased, with the wardship and marriage of his daughter and -heiress, Katherine. In 1382, Joan, Princess of Wales, the widow -of the Black Prince, and the once “Fair Maid of Kent,” gave to -him and William del Dounes a lease for twelve years of her part of -the town of Bollington, with the water-mill there, on a payment of -eight marks yearly. He appears to have succeeded his father in -the office of bailiff of the manor of Macclesfield, and to have held -it until 1382, when his half-brothers, Peter and John, were -appointed in his stead. He died on the 9th November, 1382, -leaving by his wife Matilda, daughter of Sir John Arderne, of -Aldford, Knight, a son, Robert, born at Roter-le-Hay, and -baptised at Audlem on the 2nd March, 1361–2, and then aged 20; -and two daughters—Margery, who became the wife of Thomas de -Davenport, of Henbury, and Katherine, who married Reginald -Downes.</p> - -<p>Robert de Legh made proof of age on the 3rd March, 1382–3. -On the 13th May following he had livery of his father’s lands, and -on the 18th June he had also, as heir of his mother, livery of -what pertained to her as one of the heirs of Alina, daughter of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> -Robert Daa, whose lands were then in the king’s hands. In 1385, -or thereabouts, he married Isabel, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas -de Belgrave, Knight, who brought him the manor of Belgrave, with -several other estates in Cheshire and Flintshire. With these, and the -lands in Hyde, Stockport, Romiley, and Etchells, the inheritance -of his mother, the influence and social importance of the family were -largely increased, while Robert de Legh himself, by the active part -he took in the service of his country, as well as in the administration -of the affairs of his own county, attained to considerable -distinction, and well sustained the honour and dignity of his house. -In July, 1385, shortly after his marriage, he had protection of his -lands guaranteed to him on his departure to Scotland in the King’s -service, the occasion being the expedition headed by Richard in -person, following upon the invasion of John of Gaunt, which, -however, terminated without any trial of strength in battle, for -while the English army proceeded northwards, took Edinburgh, -and marched towards Aberdeen, wasting the country as it -advanced, the Scotch, with their French allies, in turn entered -Cumberland and Westmorland, burning and plundering as they -went on every side. In the succeeding year Robert de Legh had -the honour of knighthood conferred upon him, and shortly after -(September 26, 1386), on the threatening of a French invasion, he, -with Robert de Grosvenor, Knight, Reginald del Dounes, and -William de Shore, had protection granted on his departure for the -coast, there to stay for the safe custody of those parts and the -defence of the realm. In 1389 a contention arose between Sir -Robert and his kinsmen Peter, of Lyme, and John, his brother, a -renewal probably of a former dispute, touching the manner in -which they should discharge their several offices within the -hundred of Macclesfield, when Sir Robert with his sureties -entered into recognisances to the King for one thousand marks, to -keep the peace towards Peter and John Legh, they at the same -time entering into counter-recognisances of the same amount to -keep the peace towards Sir Robert. He and Peter de Legh, of -Lyme, having been entrusted with the custody of John, the son<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> -and heir of William Launcelyn, during his minority, an order was -made to them in 1392, as appears by the Recognisance Rolls, to -deliver possession of all his inheritance to the said John on his -making proof of age; at the same time a like order was made with -reference to Thomas, son and heir of William Voil, who, while -under age, had been in their custody, and in the same year a -commission was issued to Sir Robert, jointly with Peter Legh, to -arrest all malefactors and disturbers of the peace within the -hundred of Macclesfield. On the 12th October, 1393, John de -Massey, of Tatton, Sheriff of Cheshire, having been attainted, a -commission was issued to Sir Robert Legh and others, directing -them to arrest him and Thomas Talbot, Knight, and convey them -to the castle of Chester, and two days afterwards another commission -was issued appointing Sir Robert de Legh sheriff of the -county during pleasure, in the place of Massey. In 1394, when -Richard the Second proceeded to Ireland to quell the revolt which -had broken out among the native chiefs, taking with him four -thousand knights, and thirty thousand archers, including many of -the noted Cheshire bowmen, we find Sir Robert Legh, of Adlington, -accompanying him, he being in the train of Thomas, Earl of -Nottingham; before his departure license was given to William de -Shore, William de Prydyn (afterwards rector of Gawsworth), and -Henry Marchall, to act as his attorneys during his absence. On -the 23rd September, 1396, a commission was issued appointing -him one of the King’s justices for the three hundreds of the eyre -of Macclesfield; on the 12th February following he was a second -time made Sheriff of Cheshire; six months later (August 20th, -1397) he had a grant of an annuity of £40, the King retaining -him in his service for life; and as a further mark of his -sovereign’s favour he had conferred upon him on the 4th October -following the office of Constable of the Castle of Oswaldestre -(Oswestry) for life, with £10 yearly and the accustomed fees. In -1398 he was again named one of the justices for the three -hundreds of the eyre at Macclesfield, and on the 20th August in -the following year, when the banished Bolingbroke, taking advantage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> -of the King’s absence in Ireland, had returned to England, raised the -standard of insurrection, and eventually compelled the humbled -and wretched Richard to renounce the crown, John de Legh, of -Booths, one of the seven gallant Cheshire men who had met the -King on his landing in Wales, submitted himself to the usurper, -when Sir Robert de Legh of Adlington and Sir John Stanley -became sureties in £200 for his good behaviour. Unlike his -relative of Lyme, Peter Legh, who remained true to his sovereign -to the last, and at Chester sealed his loyalty with his life, as his -monumental inscription in Macclesfield old church still testifies, -and whose name Daniel thus <span class="nowrap">perpetuates—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Nor thou, magnanimous Legh, must not be left</div> -<div class="verse">In darkness, for thy rare fidelity—</div> -<div class="verse">To save thy faith—content to lose thy head,</div> -<div class="verse">That reverent head, of good men honoured—</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Sir Robert of Adlington elected to join the winning side, and -repaired to Shrewsbury, where he made his submission to the -victorious Bolingbroke, and afterwards joined with Sir James Booth -and other Cheshire men in furthering his cause. In this it must -be admitted the lord of Adlington showed as little gratitude as -loyalty, for it was only a few short months before that he had been -retained and pensioned by the king, and made constable or keeper -for life of Oswestry Castle, with an adequate salary; and had, -moreover, been honoured in receiving his sovereign as his guest -during the sitting of the Parliament at Shrewsbury, the occasion -being the memorable one when Bolingbroke charged the Duke of -Norfolk with treason to his liege lord the king. After Richard’s -deposition and the accession of Bolingbroke as Henry IV., Sir -Robert was made one of the conservators of the peace for the -hundred of Macclesfield, and about the same time had a confirmation -of the letters of the 20th August, 1397, granting him the -annuity of £40 for life. Hugh le Despencer, Knt., having in -1401 been appointed steward of Macclesfield, and surveyor, -keeper, and master of the forests of Macclesfield and Mara, and all -other of the Prince’s forests in Cheshire for life, Sir Robert de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> -Legh was appointed by him to act as his deputy. In the follow-year -(Oct 16, 1402) he was again named one of the justices for -the three hundreds of the eyre at Macclesfield, and at the same -time a commission was issued to him and the other justices, -directing them to inquire into the doings of certain malefactors -and disturbers of the peace in the hundred of Macclesfield of -whose enormities the Prince (as Earl of Chester) had been -informed. After the battle of Shrewsbury, in which the valorous -Hotspur lost his life, Henry, who had found the throne of an -usurper only a bed of thorns, had to direct his arms against the -obnoxious Glendower, and the young Prince of Wales, then only -seventeen years of age, who was appointed to head the expedition, -issued his precept (11th January, 1403–4) to Sir Robert Legh and -others “to hasten to his possessions on the Marches of Wales, -there to make defence against the coming of Owen Glendower, -according to an order in council, enacting that, on the occasion of -war against the King and the kingdom of England, all those -holding possessions on the Marches nearest to the enemy should -reside on the same for the defence of the realm.” This order, -however, would seem to have been countermanded, for in an old -MS. account of the family, beautifully written on vellum, and still -preserved at Adlington, it is stated that on the breaking out of the -revolt in the north of England, when the Earl of Northumberland, -the Earl of Nottingham, Lord Bardolf, and Scrope, Archbishop -of York, confederated to place the Earl of March on the throne, -Sir Robert Legh received a summons from the Prince of Wales, -as Earl of Chester, countermanding one previously issued, and -“requiring him to attend him (the Prince) in person at Warrington -on Thursday the next, or on Friday at Preston, or on Saturday at -Skipton-in-Craven, with 100 defensible, honest, able bowmen, in -good array for war, to go with him thence to his father the King, -then on his journey to Pontefract.” This was on the 26th May, -6 Henry IV. (1405), and it is the last occasion on which Sir -Robert’s name occurs in connection with any important movement, -for three years later (August, 1408) he brought to a close a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> -short but very active and eventful life, being then only forty-seven -years of age.</p> - -<p>Sir Robert Legh, of Adlington, made his will on the 9th August, -1408, and he must then have been <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">in extremis</i>, for he died before -the 18th, and was buried, in accordance with his expressed desire, -in the Church of St. Mary de la Pree, near Northampton. Among -other things, he directed the payment of 14 marks (£9 6s. 8d.) to -a priest celebrating in the church of Prestbury for two years—probably -the priest serving at one of the chantry altars there. -The inquisition taken after his death is interesting as showing the -extent of the family possessions at that time. They included the -whole of the manor of Adlington, a moiety of the manor of Hyde, -the manor of Belgrave, 40 acres of land in Eccleston, 12 messuages -and 20 acres of land in Stockport, three messuages and 20 acres of -land in Romiley, one messuage and 20 acres of land in Cheadle, -one messuage in Macclesfield, one messuage and three acres of -land in Rainow within the forest of Macclesfield, two messuages -and two acres of land in Bollington, one messuage and 10 acres of -land in Budworth, in the Fryth (the forest of Delamere), one -messuage and 10 acres of land in Tyresford, two messuages and -two acres of land in Kelsall, one messuage and 20 acres of land in -Legh, four salt pits, four shops and land in Northwich, three messuages -in Chester, one messuage and 20 acres of land in Warford, -two messuages and 40 acres of land in Mottram Andrew, one -messuage and 20 acres of land in Fulshaw, and the third part of -one messuage and two acres of land in Mottram-in-Longdendale. -By his wife, Elizabeth Belgrave, he had two sons—Robert, who -inherited Adlington, and Reginald, of Mottram Andrew, who built -the tower and south porch of Prestbury church, as the inscription -on his sepulchral slab in the chancel there, which may still be seen, -testifies,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> and two daughters. The name of his second wife is not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> -known with certainty, but she did not long wear the trappings of -widowhood, for on the 28th February, 1409–10, as appears by an -enrolment on the Recognisance Rolls in the Record Office, she -had a pardon granted to her for marrying Richard de Clyderhow -without the licence of the Earl of Chester.</p> - -<p>Robert Legh, who succeeded as lord of Adlington, though he -was only twenty-two years of age at the time of his father’s death, did -not long enjoy possession of the property. Dr. Renaud, relying -apparently on the MS. at Adlington, says that he died in 1410, -but this statement, as we shall hereafter see, is inaccurate. Shortly -after he entered upon his inheritance, a dispute arose between him -and the Grosvenors, of Eaton, touching their respective rights to -certain lands at Pulford and other places in the neighbourhood of -Chester, under the settlement of Robert Legh’s maternal grandfather, -Thomas de Belgrave, and his wife, who was heiress of -Pulford. Eventually the two disputants, with their relations and -friends, on the 14th April, 1412, repaired to the “Chapel” at -Macclesfield—the old church of St Michael—when a very remarkable -ceremony took place, which is thus recorded in the pages of -<span class="nowrap">Ormerod:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>A series of deeds relating to these lands having been publicly read in the -chapel, it was stated that Sir Robert de Legh, Isabel, his wife, and Robert -de Legh, their son and heir, having claimed them, it had been agreed, in -order to settle their differences, that Sir Thomas Grosvenor should take a -solemn oath on the body of Christ, in the presence of 24 gentlemen, or as -many as he wished. Accordingly Robert del Birches, the Chaplain, whom -Robert de Legh had brought with him, celebrated a mass of the Holy -Trinity, and consecrated the Host, and after the mass, having arrayed -himself in his alb, with the amice, the stole, and the maniple, held forth -the Host before the altar, whereupon Sir Thomas Grosvenor knelt down -before him whilst the settlements were again read by James Holt, counsel -of Robert de Legh, and then he swore upon the body of Christ that he -believed in the truth of these charters. Immediately after this Sir -Lawrence de Merbury, sheriff of the county, and 57 other principal knights -and gentlemen of Cheshire affirmed themselves singly to be witnesses of -this oath, all elevating their hands at the same time towards the Host. -This first part of the ceremony concluded with Sir Thomas Grosvenor -receiving the sacrament, and Robert Legh and Sir Thomas kissing each -other in confirmation of the aforesaid agreement. Immediately after this,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> -Sir Robert publicly acknowledged the right to all the said lands was vested -in Sir Thomas Grosvenor and his heirs, and an instrument to that effect -was accordingly drawn up by the notary, Roger Salghall, in the presence -of the clergy then present, and attested by the seals and signatures of the -58 knights and gentlemen.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The historian of Cheshire, in commenting upon the pomp and -circumstance attending the settlement of this family dispute, -remarks: “Seldom will the reader find a more goodly group -collected together, nor will he easily devise a ceremony which will -assort better with the romantic spirit of the time, and which thus -turned a dry legal conveyance into an exhibition of chivalrous -pageantry.”</p> - -<p>Robert Legh inherited the martial spirit of his father, and was -not long, after he had succeeded to the estates, in seeking an -opportunity to display his prowess. In 1415, Henry V., having -revived the old claim to the crown of France, determined upon an -invasion of the French King’s dominions, whereupon Robert Legh -engaged himself to join in the expedition, and accordingly, on the -18th July, protection of his lands whilst abroad in the retinue of -the King was granted him. The force mustered at Southampton -early in August, and on the 11th of the month the fleet, consisting -of 1,400 vessels, with 6,000 men-at-arms and 24,000 archers, an -army of picked men, strong of limb and stout of heart, caring little -for the abstract justice of the cause for which they were to fight, -content to know that they would receive their due share of the -“<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">gaignes de guerres</i>,” set sail. On the 14th, the <span class="nowrap">force—</span></p> - -<p class="center">A city on the inconstant billows dancing,</p> - -<p>arrived in the Seine, and landed near the fortified town of Harfleur, -which surrendered on the 22nd September. Henry’s army had, -however, to contend with a more powerful foe than the French. -Disease made frightful ravages in his camp, the poisonous miasma -of the marshes of Harfleur carrying off in those few weeks fully -five thousand of the besiegers. On the 7th October the remnant -of the army advanced, and on the 25th the splendid victory of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> -Agincourt was achieved. Robert Legh, however, was not permitted -to share in the glories of that memorable day, he having died of -the pestilence five days after the surrender of Harfleur, and an -inquisition by virtue of a writ of <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">diem clausit extremum</i>, dated 16th -October, 1415, was taken.</p> - -<p>He was succeeded by his only son, also named Robert, who, -though then only five years of age, boasted the possession of a -wife, he having, in accordance with the fashion of the time, and -well nigh before he could quit his cradle, been wedded to Isabel, -one of the daughters of Sir John Savage, of Clifton, Knight, who -was entrusted with the custody of his lands during his minority. -On the 16th October, 3 and 4 Henry V. (1416), Robert Legh’s young -widow petitioned for and had livery of dower, and shortly after she -became the wife of William Honford, of Chorley, a younger brother -of Sir John de Honford, of Handforth.</p> - -<p>On the 4th May, 1431, Robert Legh made proof of age, when -his mother’s second husband, William Honford, “aged 60 and -upwards,” was one of the witnesses, and testified “that the said -Robert was born at Adlynton, and baptized in the church at -Prestbury, the Tuesday on the feast of the Annunciation of the -Blessed Virgin Mary (March 25, 1410), and was aged 21 on the -feast of the Invention of the Holy Cross (May 3) then last past; -and that he, William, was present at Prestbury the day when -Robert Hyde, his godfather, came to the church at Prestbury with -the said Robert.” (Earwaker.)</p> - -<p>The name of Robert Legh appears among those who on the 3rd -March, 1435–6, were summoned to attend the Council of the boy -King Henry VI. at Chester, when he and the others then assembled, -in the name of the whole community of the county of Chester, -granted to the King a subsidy of 1,000 marks (£666 13s. 4d.); -and on the 28th May, in the same year, he with Robert de -Honford, Knight, Robert Massy of Godley, and John Pygot were -appointed collectors of the subsidy within the hundred of Macclesfield. -In March, 1441–2, a further subsidy of 3,000 marks -(£2,000) having been granted by the county, Robert Legh was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> -again deputed, with the others named, to collect the same within -the hundred.</p> - -<p>In the MS. account of the Legh family, preserved at Adlington, -and to which reference has already been made, it is said that, in -1447, Robert de Legh obtained a licence from the Bishop of -Coventry “to keep a chaplain to perform mass and other divine -offices in any of his manor houses within the diocese for the term -of thirty years, without prejudice to the curate of the place, on -which licence a domestic chapel was built at Adlington.” The -chapel thus erected stood in the park, within a few hundred yards -of the front of the present mansion, and on the site known at the -present day by the name of the Chapel Field.</p> - -<p>The first connection of the Leghs with the manor of Prestbury -dates from 1448, when the manor with the great and small tithes, -which had previously been leased to the Pigots, of Butley, were -demised by the Abbot of St Werburgh’s, Chester, to Robert Legh -for thirty-nine years, together with the Heybirches and Ewood, and -also the advowson of the church of Prestbury, and all other rights and -appurtenances belonging to it and the manor, the vicar’s endowment -excepted—one of the conditions being that the lessee should provide -a fit and proper chaplain to celebrate divine service in the -chapel of Poynton, within the parish of Prestbury, during the continuance -of the lease, a condition, however, that was not always -observed, for in 1500 the tithes of Poynton were sequestrated in -consequence of the omission or neglect to fulfil the condition -named. Some dispute having subsequently arisen, a new lease -was granted in 1461, which was renewed in 1493. This last -expired in 1524, and in the year following another lease was -granted for forty years. On the 9th March, 1462 (2 Edward IV.), -the King, as Earl of Chester, granted to Robert Legh a licence to -enclose and impark a certain wood called Whiteley Hay and -Adlington Wood, and also a place called Whiteley Green, with -liberty to hold the park so enclosed and imparked to him and his -heirs for ever. The place remained enclosed until the early part of -the last century, when it was disparked, and a tract of land more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> -conveniently near the hall applied to the purpose. In 1478 his -mother, Matilda, who had survived her first husband sixty-three years, -and had also outlived her second husband, William de Honford, died. -She must have been very old, for in the inquisition taken after her -death her son Robert was said to be sixty-eight years of age. He had -livery of the lands held by her in dower, but did not long enjoy -possession of them, for his death occurred on the 21st January -following. As already stated, he had been married in his infancy -to Isabella, daughter of Sir John Savage, of Clifton. This lady -predeceased him, and he afterwards married Isabella, a daughter of -Sir William Stanley, of Stanley, Stourton, and Hooton, who, -according to the Adlington MS., was within the prohibited -degrees, being of the blood of his first wife, and, consequently, it -was thought prudent, if not indeed necessary, to make the marriage -valid, to obtain a dispensation from the Pope.</p> - -<p>On the death of Robert Legh, his eldest son, who bore the same -name, and who was then fifty years of age, and married to Ellen, -daughter of Sir Robert Booth, of Dunham Massey, Knight, succeeded -to the patrimonial lands. Two years afterwards, a quarrel -having arisen between Edward IV. and James III. of Scotland, -which resulted in the breaking off of the marriage treaty between the -English Princess Cicely and the son of the Scottish King, and the -resumption of hostilities between the two countries, a commission -was issued (November 18, 1480) to Robert Legh, and other -persons therein named, requiring them to array the fencible men -of the hundred before the Christmas following, and to command -the same to be in readiness in warlike attire to attend upon the -Earl of Chester on three days’ notice; and on the 15th January -following another commission was issued to the same persons, -requiring them to communicate with the gentlemen of the hundred -to determine the number of horsemen, with their harness, that -could be raised in their households, and to make a return before -the Wednesday next before the Feast of the Purification. A third -commission was issued to them in May, 1481, to array the -fencible men of the hundred between the ages of sixteen and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> -sixty, and to appoint a certain day for the same to depart -“<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">pro viagio dicti partes nostri versus partes socie</i>.” Mr. Earwaker -cites a deed from which it appears that on the 6th December, 1483, -John Legh, a younger brother of Robert, a priest in orders, and -then rector of Rostherne, and Douce or Dulcia, his sister, granted -to the said Robert all their right and title to the manor and church -of Prestbury.</p> - -<p>The fierce struggle of the Red and White Roses destroyed the -power and weakened the influence of the English nobility and their -feudatory chiefs by sweeping away the heads of the principal -families. Their sun went down when the stout Earl of Warwick, -the renowned “King-maker,” lay weltering in his gore upon the -field at Barnet; Tewkesbury extinguished their hopes; and the fight -at Bosworth ended a contest which, in the field and on the scaffold, -had cost the lives of more than sixty princes of the royal family, -above one-half of the nobles and principal gentlemen, and above -a hundred thousand of the common people of England. Fortunately -for themselves, the lords of Adlington passed harmless -through that eventful period. It does not appear that Robert Legh -took any very active part in the protracted struggle between the -rival houses of York and Lancaster. The Lyme Leghs had -plucked the “pale and maiden blossom” and given their verdict -“on the White Rose side,” but there is reason to believe that, in -the closing years of his life at least, the sympathies of Robert -Legh were on the side of the Red Rose of Lancaster. It may be -that, like the kinsmen of his father’s second wife, the Stanleys -of Lancashire, he believed that to be “the true policy which had -the most success,” and, like them, have been a faithful adherent of -the party of “good luck.” Certain it is that the great and -exhausting quarrel between these rival houses, which brought -death and destruction to so many an English home, left his house -with unimpaired estates and undiminished power; but he did not -long survive the close of that unhappy struggle, his death occurring -on the 8th December, 1486, when he must have been sixty-eight -years of age. By his wife, whom he predeceased, and who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> -died in 1504, he had Thomas Legh, who succeeded as his heir, -four younger sons, and one daughter.</p> - -<p>Thomas Legh was thirty-five years of age when he entered upon -his inheritance, and he had then been married about seven years, -his wife being Katharine, daughter of Sir John Savage, of Clifton, -and sister of Thomas Savage, Archbishop of York, the founder of -the Savage chantry in Macclesfield church, and of Ellen Savage, -who married Sir Piers Legh, of Lyme.</p> - -<p>Two years after the victory at Bosworth, which gave the crown -of England to Henry of Richmond, a desperate effort was made -by the friends of the fallen tyrant, Richard III., to secure the -throne for the impostor Lambert Simnel, and when the new King’s -crown was in peril at the battle of Stokefield, Thomas Legh’s -relative, Piers Legh, of Lyme, drew his sword and fought valiantly -to defend it. In November of that year (1487) a subsidy was -voted to the King by his loyal subjects in the county of Chester, -and the name of Thomas Legh, of Adlington, occurs <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">inter alia</i> -among those authorised to collect the portion due from the -hundred of Macclesfield.</p> - -<p>In 1498 he obtained a licence from the Bishop of Lichfield and -Coventry to have mass and other divine offices performed by a fit -chaplain in the chapel situated within his manor of Adlington—a -renewal, it would seem, of the privilege conceded to his grandfather, -Robert Legh, in 1447. When Henry’s eldest son, Arthur, -Prince of Wales, succeeded to the earldom, he was at great pains -to guard against any encroachment affecting the “sword and -dignity of Chester,” and with that object made a searching inquiry -as to the authority in which many of his feudatories exercised -their privileges. Among them Thomas Legh, in 1499–1500, had -a <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">quo warranto</i>, requiring him to show cause why he claimed to -have a park at Whiteley Hay and to hold a court-leet, &c. He -replied, setting forth the grant made by Edward IV. to his grandfather; -he further pleaded right of free-warren in all his Cheshire -possessions, and claimed the assize of bread and ale, the punishing -of scolds by the cucking-stool, of bakers by amercement or the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> -pillory, and brewers by judgment of the tumbrell, and to have -amercements and fines for trespasses, offences, and effusions of -blood in affrays presented within the leet to be assessed by the -jury. The answer must have been deemed satisfactory, for no -further action appears to have been taken against him in the -Earl’s court.</p> - -<p>If we may judge from some of the enrolments on the Recognisance -Rolls, Thomas Legh must have been a somewhat turbulent -subject, and have been frequently at variance with his neighbours -and friends. Impatient of the dilatory and uncertain processes of -the law, he sometimes had recourse to the simpler and less tardy -method of taking the adjustment of his differences into his own -hands, a mode of procedure that occasionally brought him into -trouble, and subjected him to the inconvenience of having to find -sureties for his good behaviour. He oftentimes appeared in the -legal arena, and not unfrequently his quarrels were with his wife’s -father, Sir John Savage, who was then residing at the park at -Macclesfield, the custody of which had been granted him by King -Henry in acknowledgment of his services at Bosworth. Thus, on -the 14th November, 1488, he was required to enter into a recognisance -of 1,000 marks that he and all his children and servants -would keep the peace towards Sir John Savage, sen., knight, -and on the same day he entered into another recognisance of the -like amount that he, his children, and servants would keep the -peace towards Nicholas Davenport, of Woodford, and his servants. -On the 28th April, 1489, he again gave sureties in two sums of -1,000 marks each that he would keep the peace towards his father-in-law, -Sir John Savage, his children, and servants, and Nicholas -Davenport, of Woodford, his children, and servants, and at the -same time he entered into a further recognisance of £200 to keep -the peace towards Hamo Ashley, Esq. Whatever may have been -the cause of the difference with his father-in-law, it was a long time -before the variance was composed, for on the 20th April, 1490, he -again appeared in the law courts, when he was required to find -sureties in 1,000 marks to keep the peace towards him. On the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> -11th May, 1495, he and his brother, John Legh, of Lawton, -entered into recognisances of 1,000 marks each to abide the award -of Hamnet Massy and others named, touching all disputes -between the two brothers and Nicholas Davenport and William -Honford, of Davenport and Honford, at the same time entering -into recognisances for the same amounts. The arbitration must -have been very protracted, for the recognisances and counter -recognisances were renewed on the 12th April, 1496, again on -9th September in the same year, and a third time on the 19th -June, 1498. On the 8th June, 1501, Thomas Legh was again -required to give sureties, this time in £100, to keep the peace -towards John Carter and Robert Rokeley; and on the 19th -September, 1502, he entered into recognisances of £100 to -keep the peace towards Richard Phillips, chaplain. He either -lacked prudence, or his neighbours must have been more than -ordinarily litigious, for it was not long before he was again -involved in a suit, this time at the instance of Robert Walls, the -representative of a family located at Adlington. He appears to -have been then outlawed in error, for on the 5th March, 1st and -2nd Henry VIII., proceedings were taken against Roger Downes -and others for restitution of goods seized under the outlawry. In -July of the same year he entered into recognisances to the Earl of -Chester to keep the peace towards his neighbour, Sir John -Warren, of Poynton.</p> - -<p>In the Calendar of Warrants, removed from Chester to the -Public Record Office, London, there is one dated at Ludlow -Castle, 1st April, 12th Henry VII., 1497, appointing the Bishop of -Lincoln, the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, and others named, -a commission to levy money in the counties of Chester and Flint, -to aid the King in repelling the unprovoked invasion of James IV. -of Scotland, who, in violation of the treaty of 1493, had raised an -army in support of Perkin Warbeck and crossed the borders, -spoiling and plundering the country. The Parliament which -assembled at Westminster in January of that year had granted him -£120,000 under certain restrictions, and on the 6th April, Thomas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> -Legh, and other loyal men of Cheshire, assembled at Chester, and -in the name of the county granted him a further sum of 1,000 -marks. Four days later a commission was issued to Thomas Legh -and others to array the fencible men of the hundred before the 1st -May following, for the purpose of aiding in the war against the -Scotch. Henry VII., in the indulgence of his inordinate passion -for money, had frequent recourse to a system of benevolences or -contributions, apparently voluntary, though, in fact, extorted from -his wealthier subjects, and also to the granting of subsidies—“reasonable -aids,” as they were called. In 1501, on the occasion -of the marriage of Arthur, Prince of Wales, with Katharine of -Arragon, afterwards the unhappy queen of Henry VIII., a subsidy -was granted by the county of Chester, and Thomas Legh was -appointed with others to collect the portion due from his own -hundred.</p> - -<p>When Henry of Richmond came out of the field of Bosworth a -victor it was to rule over a nation weak and impoverished, and -bleeding at every vein. The sword had vied with the axe, and the -nobles had shown themselves too powerful for the comfort or -security of the monarch. To destroy their influence the King -determined upon the suppression of their retainers—virtually the -rent of the lands granted in knights’ service, thus freeing their -properties from the burden of supplying the armies of the State. In -this way peace and good order were re-established, and an end put -to those intestine wars which had well-nigh exhausted the country. -Though the Leghs had not suffered to any appreciable extent from -these internal broils, it is more than probable that less attention -had been paid to their ancestral home than would have been the -case had public affairs been in a more settled state. With the -return to a more peaceful order of things they had leisure to add -to the beauty and convenience of their permanent home. Architecture -marks the growth and development of human society, and -the progress of refinement as well as the changes society had undergone -rendered alterations at Adlington necessary for the comfort -and convenience of the inmates. Thomas Legh, if he did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> -rebuild the house, remodelled and greatly enlarged it; and much -of the traceried panel-work forming part of the ancient screen, as -well as other carved work still remaining, was no doubt executed -during his time. In commemoration of his work, he caused his -name and that of his wife, with the date, to be affixed in carved -Lombardic <span class="nowrap">letters—</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<img src="images/i_337.jpg" width="300" height="52" -alt="Thomas Legh & Catarina Sauage uxor ejus Ao. Doi. Mo cc/ccc Vto R. R. H. bij., xx." /> -</div> - -<p>The inscription appears over the high-place at the west end of the -great hall, and was probably replaced in the last century during the -occupancy of Charles Legh.</p> - -<p>Thomas Legh died August 8, 1519, leaving, with other issue, a -son, George Legh, then aged 22 years, who succeeded as his heir.</p> - -<p>“Better marry over the mixen than over the moor” has ever -been a favourite proverb with the men of Cheshire; and the heads -of the house of Legh evidently believed in the soundness of the -advice it conveyed, for, from the time their Norman progenitor -first settled in the county, they had been content to mate within -their own shire. The first of the manorial lords of Adlington to -depart from this long-established custom was George Legh, who, in -1523, married the daughter of a Huntingdonshire squire—Joan, -daughter of Peter Larke, and a sister of that Thomas Larke on -whom Cardinal Wolsey had bestowed the rich rectory of Winwick, -in Lancashire—and it can hardly be said that the departure added -much to the reputation of his house, the supposed antecedents of -the lady having given rise to no inconsiderable amount of scandal. -It is said that, previous to her marriage with Thomas Legh, Joan -Larke had been the mistress (not the illegitimate daughter, as a -recent writer has unnecessarily sought to disprove) of Cardinal -Wolsey. The statement is evidently made on the authority of -one of the “Articles of Impeachment” against Wolsey presented -to Parliament by a committee of the House of Lords, December 1, -1529, and quoted in Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s “Life of -Henry VIII.” The story is a curious one, and, if true, reflects<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> -little credit either upon the Cardinal or his frail companion. -The accusation is embodied in the 38th <span class="nowrap">article—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>That the sd Cardinal did call before him Sir Jno. Stanley, kt., which -had taken a farm by convent seal of the Abbot and Convent of Chester; -and afterwards by his power and might, contrary to right, committed the -said Sir Jno. Stanley to the prison of Fleet by the space of one year, until -such time as he compelled the sd Sir Jno. to release his convent seal to one -Leghe, of Adlington, which married one Lark’s daughter, which woman the -sd lord cardinal kept and had with her two children; whereupon the sd Sir -John Stanley, upon displeasure taken in his heart, made himself monk in -Westminster, and there died.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The story, it must be confessed, has much improbability about -it; and may, as has been suggested, have been prompted by -feelings of malice against the fallen ecclesiastic. Certain it is, the -charge was not pressed to a direct issue. Whatever may have been -the relations existing between Wolsey and the wife of Thomas -Legh, there is no doubt that in the short interval between the -expiry of the lease of the Prestbury tithes, in 1523–4, and the -granting of a new one by the Abbot of St Werburg, in the -following year, a dispute had arisen between George Legh and Sir -John Stanley respecting them. It is not improbable that the -latter had endeavoured to steal a march upon his neighbour by -securing a lease of a portion of them to the disadvantage of the -Leghs, who, as we have seen, had been farmers of the impropriate -rectory for a lengthened period, and that the Cardinal, who is -known to have been a patron of the Larkes, was then appealed to -with a view of inducing the monks of Chester to grant George -Legh a renewal of the privileges his family had so long enjoyed. If -so, the appeal was unsuccessful, for in 1524–5 a new lease for forty -years was granted, which was subsequently renewed.</p> - -<p>Sir John Stanley was a natural son of James Stanley, warden of -Manchester, and afterwards Bishop of Ely, a younger son of that -Thomas, Lord Stanley, who placed the crown of the vanquished -Richard upon the head of the victorious Richmond on the field -of Bosworth. He commanded his father’s retainers at the battle of -Flodden Field, in 1513, when his uncle, Sir Edward Stanley, afterwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> -created Lord Monteagle, led the forces of Lancashire and -Cheshire, and Sir Edmund Savage, mayor of Macclesfield, and so -many of the burgesses of that town were slain; and on that -occasion by his valour in the field won his golden spurs. He -married Margaret, the only daughter and heir of William Honford, -of Honford, by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir John Savage, and -was consequently closely allied to the Leghs of Adlington. In -1528 he and his wife prayed for a divorce in order that they might -severally devote themselves to a religious life, and be quit of the -world for ever. The divorce was granted, and he became a monk -of Westminster, where he died; his wife also entered a religious -house, but must have abandoned her intention of becoming a -recluse, for she afterwards married Sir Urian Brereton, by whom -she had a family, who through her inherited the Honford estates. -Though Sir John assumed the cowl and tonsure of a monk, it is -hardly credible, even supposing the story of Wolsey’s arbitrary -exercise of power to have been true, that he forsook the society of -his wife, retreated from the world, and disappeared in the shadow -of the cloister “from displeasure taken in his heart” upon a matter -of such comparatively little moment, and occurring four or five -years previously.</p> - -<p>A recent writer, in an account of Adlington, says that Sir John -Stanley “was himself an ecclesiastic and warden of Manchester;” -that his claim “was espoused by the Bishop of Ely, his father;” -and that “the battle seems in reality to have been fought between -the powerful Bishop of Ely on the one hand, and the yet more -powerful Cardinal on the other.” These statements are entirely -erroneous. Sir John, in early life, had embraced the profession of -arms; as a soldier he had earned his knighthood by bravery on the -field; and, being married, he would by the canons of the Church be -disqualified from holding an ecclesiastical preferment, while, as a -fact, his father, the Bishop of Ely, had been in his grave eight or -nine years when the dispute respecting the Prestbury tithes arose.</p> - -<p>George Legh died on the 12th June, 1529, at the early age of -thirty-two. His will was only made on the day preceding his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> -decease, and the broad lands of Adlington were transmitted to his -only son, Thomas Legh, then an infant two years of age. His wife -survived him, and was remarried to George Paulet, brother of the -Marquis of Winchester, and she with her second husband appear to -have resided at Adlington during the minority of the heir, for in a -return of the clergy serving at the various chapels of ease within the -parish of Prestbury there occurs the name of Sir James Hurst, a -stipendiary priest, paid by George Pollet (Paulet), and apparently -serving in the chapel at Adlington. By an unaccountable error -Thomas Legh, of Adlington, has been confounded with another -personage of the same name, who, as one of the commissioners -under Sir Thomas Cromwell, took an active part in the suppression -of the religious houses. The mistake will be apparent when it is -remembered that at the time (1536) that worthy was denouncing -monachism and despoiling the monks of their lands and houses -Thomas Legh, of Adlington, was only in his ninth year, and before -he had attained to manhood the great and lesser monasteries had -been swept away.</p> - -<p>Whilst he was in his minority he had been united in marriage -with one of the younger daughters of the great house of -Grosvenor—Mary, the daughter of Robert Grosvenor, of Eaton, -the direct ancestor of the present Duke of Westminster. It is not -known with certainty how the match was brought about, but in -those days the lord of the fee was entitled to the wardship of the -heir, with the right to put up his or her hand to sale in marriage; -and if Richard Grosvenor, as is not unlikely, had the wardship of -the Adlington estates, he may have thought the alliance a desirable -one for a younger member of his numerous family. It was to avoid -the evil arising from this feudal practice that so many early marriages -were in former times resorted to, parents being oftentimes prompted -to seek an eligible match for their heirs while under age to free -them from the exactions and other consequences of wardship—a -circumstance that could have been little understood by the -President Montesquieu, when he cast the sneer upon our country -in saying there was a law in England which permitted girls of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> -seven years of age to choose their own husbands, and which, he -added, was shocking in two ways, since it had no regard to the time -when nature gives maturity to the understanding, nor to the time -when she gives maturity to the body. Mary Grosvenor survived -her husband and remarried Sir Richard Egerton, of Ridley, Knight, -with whom she appears to have resided at Adlington during the -minority of the son by her first husband. She had the manor and -tithes of Prestbury settled upon her as dower; and in 1558 her -second husband is found attending a meeting in the church at -Prestbury, and acting there in the capacity of warden—an office -then held in much higher esteem than at the present day. The -lady deserves to be held in special remembrance by the men of -Cheshire, from the circumstance that she is generally believed to -have superintended the education and taken a kindly interest in -the well-being of a notable Cheshire worthy, who attained the -highest honours of the peerage, Richard Egerton’s base-born son -by Alice Starke, of Bickerton—Thomas Egerton, Viscount -Brackley, Lord Keeper and Chancellor of England, ancestor of -the great Duke of Bridgewater, as well as of the present Earl of -Ellesmere—a worthy who, if precluded by the circumstances of his -birth from deriving honour from an illustrious ancestry, reflected -on them, his descendants, and his county the lustre of a name -brighter than any other its annals can boast. It is pleasant to -think that some of the earlier years of the great Chancellor were -spent within the old house at Adlington, and that the generous-hearted -lady to whom he owed so much was not forgotten when he -had attained to distinction, and she in her old age had become the -victim of religious persecution.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> She died in 1599, having survived -her first husband for the long period of fifty-one years. In -her will, dated 18th October, 1597, she appoints the Lord Keeper -Egerton, whom she designates her “wellbeloved sonne,” one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> -her executors, and bequeaths to him “one ringe of Goulde having -thereon a Dyamond.” She is buried at Astbury, where her altar-tomb, -with a recumbent effigy upon the top, may still be seen.</p> - -<p>Thomas Legh, the first husband of Mary Grosvenor, did not -long enjoy possession of the ancestral domains, his death occurring -at Eaton, May 17, 1548, the year in which he attained -his majority. The only issue by his marriage was a son, Thomas, -aged one year at the time of his death, so that the broad lands -of Adlington were once more held in ward through the infancy -of the heir.</p> - -<p>On the 21st April, 1548, three weeks before his death, Thomas -Legh granted to his wife’s eldest brother, Thomas Grosvenor, of -Eaton, all the lands which his family had held in Belgrave from -the time of the marriage of Sir Robert Legh with the heiress of -Sir Thomas Belgrave, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">circa</i> 1385; and four days later he settled -the remainder of his estates, including “the Hall of Adlington,” in -trust for the benefit of himself and his wife and his heirs in tail -male.</p> - -<p>Sir Urian Brereton, who married the widow of Sir John Stanley, -the quondam recluse, seems to have acquired, with the lady, Sir -John’s craving for the Prestbury tithes, for in 1538, during the -minority of Thomas Legh the elder, he obtained from the Abbot -of St. Werburg’s, in the names of himself and John Broughton, the -reversion of the lease of the manor and advowson, to commence -on the expiry of the one for 40 years renewed to George Legh in -1524; and this reversion was afterwards purchased by Richard and -John Grosvenor, the brothers of Mary, the wife of Thomas Legh, -in trust, and to prevent their alienation from the other Adlington -properties. But a great revolution in religious thought and action -was then gradually gaining strength and power, and the day was -near at hand when the monks and their system were to be overthrown. -On the dissolution of St. Werburg’s Abbey the manor -and advowson of the church of Prestbury were granted to the Dean -and Chapter of the newly-founded Cathedral of Chester. They did -not, however, long enjoy possession; William Clyve, the third dean,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> -and two of the prebendaries, were confined in the Fleet by procurement -of Sir Richard Cotton, of Werblington, comptroller of the -King’s household, a Hampshire knight, who appears to have shared -the acquisitive properties of his elder brother, Sir George Cotton, -another courtier and favourite of the King, who had had conferred -upon himself the dissolved abbey and the greater part of the -demesne of Combermere, in Cheshire, and who, in other ways, had -increased his worldly possessions out of the spoils of the religious -houses. While in the Fleet, under intimidation, as was alleged, the -dean and canons granted to Sir Richard (20th March, 1553), for -ever, most of their lands on the payment of a yearly rental; he in -turn, on the 28th July, 1555, re-conveyed the manor and advowson -of Prestbury to Richard and John Grosvenor, who, in 1559, are -found presenting to the vicarage. The validity of the grant to -Cotton was subsequently disputed, and on the Cheshire Recognisance -Rolls, under date January 13th, 5 and 6 Elizabeth (1563–4), -there is the enrolment of a complaint exhibited by Richard and -John Grosvenor. Eventually the feoffees surrendered to the -Crown; on the 19th December, 1579, the whole of the lands -formerly held by the abbey were granted by Elizabeth to Sir -George Calveley, Knight, George Cotton, Hugh Cholmondeley, -Thomas Legh, Henry Mainwaring, John Nuthall, and Richard -Hurleston, Esquires, and their heirs for ever; and, by another -indenture, dated 6th August, 1580, the counterpart of which is -preserved among the Adlington charters, these fee farmers, after -reciting the grant of Elizabeth, for divers good causes and -considerations them specially moving, demised and quit-claimed to -Thomas Legh and his heirs the rectory, church, and manor of -Prestbury, with the appurtenances, excepting the certain messuages, -tenements, and hereditaments, with the appurtenances and the -tithes, oblations, and obventions, of Chelford and Asthull (Astle). -They have since continued in the possession of the Leghs, and -have descended with their other estates.</p> - -<p>Thomas Legh had a long minority, and it was a fortunate thing -for him that in those early years of his life he had a good mother,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> -who, with the aid of her powerful kinsmen, was able to guard his -estates and protect him from undue taxation. On the 16th March, -1567–8, he obtained livery of his father’s lands, he being then of -full age. He had, five years previously (29th June, 1563), being -then in his sixteenth year, married, at Cheadle, Sybil, the youngest -daughter of Sir Urian Brereton, of Honford, by his first wife, -Margaret, daughter and heir of William Honford, and widow of -Sir John Stanley, a marriage that it may be fairly assumed happily -terminated the long-standing disputes between the two houses -respecting the tithes of Prestbury.</p> - -<p>Following the example of his father-in-law, who rebuilt the hall -of Handforth, Thomas Legh, in 1581, rebuilt, or at all events, -greatly enlarged, the house at Adlington, as the following inscription, -in black-letter characters, over the entrance porch leading -from the court-yard <span class="nowrap">testifies:—</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_344.jpg" width="600" height="86" -alt="Thomas Leyghe esquyer who maryed Sibbell doughter to Sir Urian Brereton -of hondforde knight, and by her had Issue four sonnes & fyue doughters, made -this buyldinge in the yeare of or lorde god 1581 And in the raigne of our -soveyraigne lady Queene Elizabeth the xxiijth." /> -</div> - -<p>In 1587 Thomas Legh had the shrievalty of Cheshire conferred -upon him. The time was one of considerable excitement and no -little anxiety, for scarcely had he entered upon the duties of his -office than news came that the “Invincible Armada,” so long -threatened and so long deferred, had unfurled its sails, and was -then actually advancing towards the English coast. The spirit of -patriotism was aroused; Roman Catholic and Protestant united -as one man to repel the haughty Spaniard, and the Queen issued a -proclamation to her sheriffs and others, urging them by every -consideration of social and domestic security to call forth the -united energies of their respective counties, in common with the -country in general, to resist the meditated attack. Thomas Legh, -who was then in the prime of manhood, was not likely to be idle -on such an occasion, and doubtless he acted with much the same -spirit that Macaulay’s sheriff did when the signal fires announcing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> -the approach of the enemy flashed along the southern coasts,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">With his white hair unbonneted, the stout old sheriff comes,</div> -<div class="verse">Behind him come the halberdiers, before him sound the drums;</div> -<div class="verse">His yeomen round the market cross make clear an ample space,</div> -<div class="verse">For there behoves him to set up the standard of Her Grace.</div> -<div class="verse">And haughtily the trumpets peal, and gaily dance the bells,</div> -<div class="verse">As slow upon the labouring wind the royal blazon swells.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In the later years of his life Thomas Legh added considerably -to the patrimonial lands. Towards the close of the century, when -the Butley estates, which had been held for so many generations -by the Pigots, were partitioned among three co-heiresses, he -acquired by purchase the manor and a moiety of the lands, which -descended with the Adlington property until the present century. -On the 20th April, 1596, an enrolment was made, as appears by -the Cheshire Records, at the instance of Dame Mary Egerton, his -mother, then a widow, of a covenant by which he undertook to -convey the mansion house of Adlington, with other properties, to -her use for life, and afterwards to himself with successive -remainders in fee tail to his sons Urian, Thomas, and Edward, -and his daughter, Maria Legh, and his right heirs for ever. In -the same year his eldest son, Urian Legh, brought distinction to -the family by his gallant bearing at Cadiz, where he earned for -himself the honour of knighthood, an event respecting which we -shall have more to say anon. Proud as the father must have felt -at his son’s conspicuous bravery, the pleasure must have had its -alloy when, in the following year, he had the misfortune to lose his -younger son, Ralph, who was slain by the insurgents in an attack -upon Newry, in Ireland; and, to add to his sorrow, in the next -year, 1598, he lost another son, Thomas Legh, who, with his -commander, Sir Henry Bagnall, was killed in the disastrous -attempt to relieve the fortress of Blackwater,—the most signal -defeat ever experienced by an English force in Ireland,—when -Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who had been for some time in -insurrection against the English rule, was besieging it, and who had, -at the same time, burned down the castle of Kilcoleman, where</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">Amongst the coolly shade</div> -<div class="verse">Of the green aldars, by the Mulla’s shore,</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span></p> -<p>the “Faery Queen” had been written, and its gifted author, Edmund -Spenser, was then residing.</p> - -<p>Thomas Legh died at Adlington on the 25th January, 1601–2, -in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and was buried at Prestbury, -on the following day, as the parish registers show. The same year -his widow caused a memorial window, a portion of which still -remains, though in a very mutilated condition, to be placed in the -church, on which is a shield of arms, with several quarterings, -representing the alliances of the two families. Beneath is this -<span class="nowrap">inscription:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap f90">Orate pro bono statv Thomæ Leyghe de Adlington armigeri et -Sibilla vxoris svæ vni’ filiorvm Vriani Brereton de Handford -militis defvncti qvi hanc fenestram fieri fecervnt in anno -domini 1601.</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>She survived her husband eight years, and was buried at -Prestbury, February 19th, 1609–10.</p> - -<p>Sir Urian Legh, who succeeded as heir on the death of his -father, in 1602, was born at Handforth in 1566, and was, consequently, -in his thirty-sixth year when he entered upon his inheritance. -As we have seen, he had early embraced the profession of -arms, and in the service of his country had already won renown. -It was the time when Elizabeth’s sea captains, Howard and Essex, -and Raleigh and Drake, were adding to the national laurels by -their achievements on the main, justifying the witty and well-timed -impromptu which one of the courtiers gave when lament was made -that England was then under the rule of a queen, instead of that -of a king,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O fortune! to old England still</div> -<div class="verse">Continue such mistakes,</div> -<div class="verse">And give us for our Kings such Queens,</div> -<div class="verse">And for our dux such Drakes.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In 1596, when Philip of Spain was preparing for a second -invasion of England, Howard, the Lord Admiral, with his -characteristic daring and love of adventure, urged that, instead of -waiting for the enemy’s attack, a blow should be struck at Spain -herself, by destroying the fleet before it could leave her harbours.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> -The more cautious Burleigh counselled the less hazardous policy, -but was overruled by the dashing and impetuous Devereux, Earl of -Essex, who, with Howard and Raleigh, was eventually entrusted -with the command of the expedition. Young Urian Legh could -not remain a laggard when such opportunities for distinction -offered; leaving the bower and the tilt yard for the Spanish main, -and the saddle of the war horse for the deck of the war ship, he -joined the expedition, and on the 1st of June, the fleet, then lying -at Plymouth, loosed its sails and bore away towards the shores of -Spain, arriving before Cadiz on the 12th. Essex, whose -impetuosity could brook no restraint, and who had, moreover, a -bitter aversion to the tyrant Philip, was so eager for action that he -threw his hat into the sea in the exuberance of his delight. The -attack was commenced on the following day, and with such fury -that the Spanish Admiral’s ship and several others were blown up -with all their crews on board, whilst the few vessels which were not -either sunk or burned were run on shore, the English admiral -refusing to accept a price for their release, declaring that “he came -to burn and not to ransom.” This daring and successful enterprise -was followed up by an attack on the strongly-fortified town -of Cadiz. The impetuous Essex threw his standard over the wall, -“giving withal a most hot assault unto the gate, where, to save the -honour of their ensign, happy was he that could first leap down -from the wall, and with shot and sword make way through the -thickest press of the enemy.” The daring of the leader called -forth the courage of his followers. The town was captured on the -26th June, and six hundred and twenty thousand ducats were paid -as a ransom for the lives of the inhabitants. The heir of Adlington -took the leading part in the attack, and displayed such conspicuous -bravery that the Earl knighted him upon the spot. The display -of British valour on the occasion has been justly described by -Macaulay (“Essays,” art. “Lord Bacon,”) as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> “the most brilliant -military exploit that was achieved on the continent by English -arms during the long interval which elapsed between the battle of -Agincourt and that of Blenheim.”</p> - -<p>Sir Urian Legh stands out with marked individuality in any -record of the house of Adlington. The Leghs have ever looked -with pardonable pride upon the doughty deeds of their warlike -ancestor, and the feeling has been nothing lessened by the -romantic incident which tradition has linked with his name. He -is commonly believed to have been the hero of the old legendary -ballad,—“The Spanish Lady’s Love,” written by Thomas Deloney -immediately after the return from Spain, and reprinted by the -Percy Society from “The Garland of Goodwill”—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Will you hear a Spanish lady,</div> -<div class="verse">How she wooed an English man?</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The story is that, while with Essex in Spain, a captive maid, -“by birth and parentage of high degree,” was so overcome by Sir -Urian’s kindness that she conceived an ardent attachment towards -him, and when he was about to return, the amorous and high-born -beauty, flinging aside the trammels of country and kin, begged that -she might be allowed to accompany him and share his lot in life—a -request the gallant Cheshire man, after urging many other -objections, was compelled to refuse, for the best of all reasons—he -had already a wife.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Courteous ladye, leave this fancy,</div> -<div class="vi4">Here comes all that breeds the strife;</div> -<div class="verse">I in England have already</div> -<div class="vi4">A sweet woman to my wife;</div> -<div class="verse">I will not falsify my vow for gold nor gain,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor yet for all the fairest dames that live in Spain.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>To which the disappointed lady magnanimously <span class="nowrap">replies—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Ah! how happy is that woman</div> -<div class="vi4">That enjoys so true a friend!</div> -<div class="verse">Many happy days God send her!</div> -<div class="vi4">Of my suit I make an end.</div> -<div class="verse">On my knees I pardon crave for this offence,</div> -<div class="verse">Which did from love and true affection first commence.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Commend me to thy loving lady,</div> -<div class="vi4">Bear to her this chain of gold,</div> -<div class="verse">And these bracelets for a token;</div> -<div class="vi4">Grieving that I was so bold.</div> -<div class="verse">All my jewels in like sort bear thou with thee,</div> -<div class="verse">For they are fitting for thy wife, but not for me.</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span></p> -<p>It has been stated by some writers that the ballad has reference -not to Sir Urian Legh, but to Sir John Bolle, of Thorpe Hall, in -Lincolnshire, the representative of a family remotely connected in -a later generation with the Leghs of Adlington; while Dr. Percy, -in his introductory remarks, inclines to the opinion that the -original was either a member of the Popham family or Sir Richard -Leveson, of Trentham, in Staffordshire, an ancestor of the Duke -of Sutherland. The legend has doubtless some foundation in -fact, though the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">actores fabulæ</i> may be phantoms; it should, however, -be said that, until recent years, when they were removed to -Shaw Hill, in Lancashire, the Leghs, in proof of the identity -of their kinsman with the hero of Deloney’s ballad, were able to -show the veritable “chain of gold” and the casket in which -through long generations it had been carefully preserved as an -heirloom of the family. A half-length portrait of Sir Urian hangs -upon the staircase at Adlington. It has been taken when he was -in the fulness of manhood, and represents him as fresh complexioned, -with a regular and rather handsome cast of features, -suggesting the idea that comeliness of face and figure blended with -courage and courtesy,—the characteristics of an old English -gentleman. He wears a black felt hat with jewelled front, a black -gown with vandyked and richly embroidered points, and round his -neck a gold chain of many links that hangs down almost to the -waist—whether the one given him by the “Spanish Lady” or not -we will not undertake to say. In one corner of the picture is a -shield of six quarters, and in the opposite corner this <span class="nowrap">inscription:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap f90">Sir Urian Legh of Adlington in the county of Chester Knight -who went with Robert Devereux Earl of Essex to the siege of -Cadiz and was by him knighted in the field for his great services -in taking that Town in 1575 (should be 1596). He married Margaret -daughter of Sir Edmund Trafford in the county of Lancaster -Knight by whom he had four sons and three daughters.</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>On succeeding to his inheritance Sir Urian appears to have -settled down to the discharge of his duties as a country gentleman, -and to have applied himself to the further improvement of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> -patrimony, which he managed with so much thrift and care that -before the close of the century he was able to make an addition to -the family estates by the purchase of the lands and hall of Foxwist, -in Butley township, from William Duncalf, whose ancestors had -been resident there for more than three centuries, and in 1603 he -built the Milne House, which long afterwards continued to be used -as the dower house of the family. In 1613, the year following that -in which Cecil died and the notorious Carr, a raw Scotch lad, was -made Prime Minister, he was entrusted with the shrievalty of the -county, and in local affairs he appears to have taken an active -part, his bold and clearly defined autograph being of frequent -occurrence in the parochial records. He was a man of some -culture, had had the advantage of a university education, having -matriculated at Oxford, and in his private life he would seem to -have had a sweet fancy, turning to literature in the absence of -action, for in the inventory of his effects, taken after his death, it -is mentioned that there were in his closet at Prestbury “his bookes -valued at xvjli.” He affected the society of men of letters: Dee, -the “Wizard Warden” of Manchester, in his “Diary,” under date -April 22nd, 1597, records that he was visited at his residence in -the College by Sir Urian Legh and his brother (Edward Legh, -probably, for the other brothers, Thomas and Ralph, were at the -time in Ireland engaged in the suppression of O’Neill’s rebellion), -a Mr. Brown, and Mr. George Booth, of Dunham, then Sheriff of -Cheshire.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a name="UL" id="UL"></a><img src="images/i_350.jpg" width="500" height="174" alt="Autograph of Sir Urian Legh" /> -</div> - -<p>On the 6th of September, 1586, ten years before the affair -at Cadiz, Sir Urian Legh was united in marriage to Mary, one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> -the daughters of Sir Edmund Trafford, of Trafford, Knight, that -“hunter out and unkeneler of those slie and subtil foxes Iesuites -and semenarei Priests.” The guests who graced the ceremony by -their presence must have formed a goodly company, for William -Massie, the rector of Wilmslow, who preached a sermon on the -occasion, speaks of it as being delivered “before the right -honourable the most noble Earle of Derby, and the right reuerend -father in God the B(ishop) of Chester with diuerse Knightes and -Esquires of great worship at the solemne marriage of your (Sir -Edmund Trafford’s) daughter, a modest and vertuous Gentlewoman, -married to a young gentleman of great worship and good -education.”</p> - -<p>Sir Urian Legh died at Adlington on the 2nd June, 1627, -and two days afterwards, as the registers show, he was buried -at Prestbury.</p> - -<p>It is somewhat singular that Thomas Newton,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> the famous -Cheshire poet, who sang the glories of Essex and Drake in Latin -verse, should have remained silent upon the daring deeds of his -quondam friend and neighbour, Sir Urian Legh, leaving the -“Water Poet,” John Taylor, to record in rhyme the virtues of the -hero of Cadiz. Taylor was a guest at Adlington some time before -the close of the century, and in his “Pennilesse Pilgrimage” -describes the reception he met in a manner that recalls Ben -Jonson’s lines in praise of the daily hospitalities at <span class="nowrap">Penshurst:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">This weary day, when I had almost past,</div> -<div class="verse">I came vnto Sir Urian Legh’s at last.</div> -<div class="verse">At <em>Adlington</em>, neer <em>Macksfield</em>, he doth dwell,</div> -<div class="verse">Belou’d, respected, and reputed well.</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span> -<div class="verse">Through his great loue, my stay with him was fixt,</div> -<div class="verse">From Thursday night till noone on Monday next.</div> -<div class="verse">At his own table I did daily eate,</div> -<div class="verse">Whereat may be suppos’d did want no meate.</div> -<div class="verse">He would have giu’n me gold or siluer either,</div> -<div class="verse">But I with many thankes receiued neither.</div> -<div class="verse">And thus much without flattery I dare sweare,</div> -<div class="verse">He is a knight beloued farre and neere.</div> -<div class="verse">First, he’s beloued of his God aboue,</div> -<div class="verse">(Which loue he loues to keep beyond all loue),</div> -<div class="verse">Next with a wife and children he is blest,</div> -<div class="verse">Each hauing God’s feare planted in their brest.</div> -<div class="verse">With faire Demaines, Reuennue of good Lands,</div> -<div class="verse">He’s fairely blest by the Almightie’s hands.</div> -<div class="verse">And as he’s happy in these outward things,</div> -<div class="verse">So from his inward mind continuall springs</div> -<div class="verse">Fruits of deuotion, deedes of Piety,</div> -<div class="verse">Good hospitable workes of Charity;</div> -<div class="verse">Iust in his Actions, constant in his word,</div> -<div class="verse">And one that wonne his honour with the sword.</div> -<div class="verse">He’s no Carranto, Cap’ring, Carpet Knight,</div> -<div class="verse">But he knowes when and how to speake and fight.</div> -<div class="verse">I cannot flatter him, say what I can,</div> -<div class="verse">He’s euery way a compleat Gentleman.</div> -<div class="verse">I write not this for what he did to me,</div> -<div class="verse">But what mine eares and eyes did heare and see,</div> -<div class="verse">Nor doe I pen this to enlarge his fame,</div> -<div class="verse">But to make others imitate the same.</div> -<div class="verse">For like a Trumpet were I pleased to blow,</div> -<div class="verse">I would his worthy worth more amply show,</div> -<div class="verse">But I already feare haue beene too bold,</div> -<div class="verse">And craue his pardon, me excusd to hold.</div> -<div class="verse">Thanks to his Sonnes and seruants euery one,</div> -<div class="verse">Both males and females all, excepting none.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Sir Urian Legh, as we have said, died in 1627; and his eldest -son, Thomas, was approaching the meridian of life when he -succeeded as heir to the family estates. It was a memorable -epoch in English history, for in that year Buckingham, the King’s -favourite, by his inglorious expedition to France, had brought -dishonour on his country’s arms, and was impeached in Parliament; -and in the following year the Commons, before they would -grant the supplies necessary to retrieve the disaster, extorted from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span> -Charles the Petition of Rights, confirming the liberties that were -already the birthright of Englishmen—a measure which, had it -been accepted by its authors as final, would have spared the -country the calamities of civil war. Thomas Legh had married in -his father’s lifetime (1610) a rich heiress, one of the daughters of -Sir John Gobert, of Boresworth, in Leicestershire; with whom he -acquired considerable property, including the estate of Clumber,<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> -forming part of the royal manor and forest of Sherwood, which -subsequently passed into the possession of the Pelham-Clintons, -Dukes of Newcastle; so that by the time he came into his -patrimony he had added considerably to the territorial possessions -as well as to the social status of his house. On the death -of Sir John Gobert, dame Lucy, his widow, appears to have -resided with her daughter and son-in-law at Adlington, and to -have remained with them up to the time of her death in 1634. -In 1628–9 Thomas Legh was chosen to fill the office of high -sheriff of the county, a distinction that was again conferred on -him in the year 1642–3. The year of the second appointment -was a portentous one, for the seeds of civil strife which had been -sown in previous years had ripened, and King and Commoner—sovereign -and subject—were then placing themselves in open array -against each other. The Royalists of Cheshire, though in a -minority, were prompt in obeying the King’s summons. Thomas -Legh, in whom the blaze of youth was then sinking into the deep -burning fire of middle age, for fifty summers had passed over his -head, at once placed himself at the disposal of his sovereign, and -had a colonel’s commission in the Royalist army; Thomas, his -eldest son, had a lieutenant-colonel’s commission; whilst his four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> -younger sons—John, Charles, Peter, and Henry—and his brother -Urian, who had previously been in the wars in the Low Countries, -had also commissions.</p> - -<p>The attempt to maintain the neutrality of the county by the -Treaty of Pacification, as it was called, having failed, the commission -of array was issued, requiring the receivers to see that the -tenantry and others in their respective districts were mustered and -properly armed and accoutred, and each of the hostile parties set -to work to procure military stores in anticipation of approaching -conflict. The King’s troops were at Chester under the command -of Sir Thomas Aston, and the Parliamentarians, led by Thomas -Legh’s relative, Sir William Brereton, of Honford, established -themselves at Nantwich, which subsequently became the scene of -important military operations. In March, 1643, the rival forces -met at Middlewich, when an engagement took place in which the -Royalists were defeated, Sir Edward Mosley, of Manchester, and -several Cheshire men of mark being made prisoners; but Sir Thomas -Aston and Colonel Legh, who was present with him and at the -time sheriff, being more fortunate, succeeded in making good their -escape. Before the close of the year the Royalists suffered a series -of reverses. At Nantwich they sustained a defeat at the hands of -General Fairfax; on the 4th of February, 1643–4, Crewe Hall was -attacked and taken; three days later Doddington Hall shared the -same fate; in the same month Adlington was besieged by a force -under Colonel Duckinfield, and a few days after its surrender Mr. -Tatton’s house at Wythenshawe, was also stormed and taken.</p> - -<p>The probability of an attack on their home must have been foreseen -by the Leghs, and, consequently, the house was put in a state -of defence on the outbreak of hostilities, and stores of provisions -and ammunition for the use of the garrison collected in anticipation -of any attack that might be made upon it. Colonel Legh appears -to have been absent at the time of Duckinfield’s assault, being -probably with the King’s forces in some other part of the country, -and the defence, therefore, fell to the lot of his eldest son—a brave -scion of a brave ancestry, who must have conducted it with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span> -considerable energy and judgment, for the garrison held out a -whole fortnight, notwithstanding that the siege was carried on with -a good deal of vigour. The attacking party appear to have -encamped on the south side of the hall, and the assault must have -been made from that direction, for the door on the south front is -pierced in several places where the bullets and cannon shot passed -through. The garrison, by their obstinate bravery, must have won -the respect of their assailants, for, unlike the case of Biddulph, -which surrendered a week afterwards, when quarter for life only -was granted, the defenders of Adlington when they did capitulate -(Feb. 14) had full leave to depart. Burghall, the Puritan vicar of -Acton, thus records the circumstance in his “Diary”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Friday, February 14th.—Adlington House was delivered up, which was -besieged about a fortnight, where was a younger son of Mr. Legh’s and -140 souldiers, which had all fair quarter and leave to depart, leaving -behind them, as the report was, 700 arms and 15 barrels of powder.</p></blockquote> - -<p>By an order of the Parliament, dated March 18, 1643, Sir -William Brereton, of Honford, Thomas Legh’s second cousin, and -then major-general of the Cheshire forces, entered upon possession -and seized the family estates into his own hands, so that the owner -of Adlington could hardly say of Sir William what, according -to the old ballad, his kinsman Lord Brereton said when he espied -him on the hill overlooking <span class="nowrap">Biddulph—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Yonder my uncle stands, and he will not come near,</div> -<div class="verse">Because he’s a Roundhead and I am a Cavalier.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The house was pillaged, though the fabric itself does not appear -to have sustained any very serious injury considering the quantity -of powder that was burned and the efforts that were expended -upon it. Shortly afterwards it was retaken and held for the King, -but it must have been stormed and taken a second time by the -Parliamentarian soldiers, for when Colonel Legh’s widow appealed -to Sir William Brereton to be allowed to occupy the hall, and to -have a portion of her late husband’s estates assigned to her for the -maintenance of herself and children, the request was denied, so far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> -as the occupancy of the house was concerned, on the plea that as -Adlington Hall had been garrisoned twice against the Parliament -it was not judged fitting it should be ventured a third time.</p> - -<p>Colonel Legh’s active zeal in the Royalist cause made him so -obnoxious to the Parliament party that in the preliminary propositions -for the abortive Treaty of Uxbridge he was specially named -as one of those to be excluded from the councils of his sovereign, -and from holding any office or command from the crown under -pain of forfeiture of his estates and the penalties attaching to high -treason. The stipulation was unnecessary, for before the commissioners -had assembled he had entered into his rest. It is not -known with certainty when or where his death occurred; the -Prestbury registers for this period are imperfect, and no entry of -burial can be discovered; it is not unlikely, however, that he -found an unknown grave at some place distant from his home -where he may have lost his life in the service of the King.</p> - -<p>His widow took up her abode at the Miln House—the -picturesque old black and white gabled structure, now occupied as a -farmhouse, standing near the railway midway between Adlington and -Prestbury, built in the time of Sir Urian Legh—which she held in -jointure. She could hardly have been as uncompromising a -Royalist as her husband, for in a petition to the committee -for compounding with “delinquents,” praying that she might be -allowed to compound for her deceased husband’s estates, she sets -forth that “she had long before the death of her husband misliked -the course of the enemy (<i>i.e.</i>, the Royalists) in the parts where she -resided, and had departed thence into the Parliament’s quarters, -where she had ever since remained and conformed herself to all -the orders of Parliament.” The statement was no doubt made in -good faith, for some little time after Thomas Legh’s death she -married an ardent Republican, who had been as active in furthering -the Parliament’s interest in Lancashire as her first husband -had been in defending that of the King in Cheshire—Sir -Alexander Rigby, of Middleton-in-Goosnargh, a lawyer, statesman, -magistrate, and colonel, and eventually one of the barons of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> -Exchequer. Rigby, who represented Wigan in the Long Parliament, -was head and heart and hand and almost everything else of -importance in Lancashire; his activity was unwearied; his energy -irrepressible, and his influence unbounded. He was engaged in -every important action; he commanded at the siege of Lathom, -the fight in Furness, the capture of Thurland Castle, and the -defence of Bolton-le-Moors; and he was nominated one of the -King’s judges, but declined to act, the only occasion in his life, it -is said, in which he hesitated to do his worst against royalty. Dr. -Halley, in his “Lancashire Puritanism,” describes him as “rash, -impetuous, rude, haughty, severe, implacable; admired by many, -esteemed by few, and loved by none,” and the same writer adds, -“he is said to have contrived a scheme and bargain by which the -Royalist masters of three Cambridge colleges—St. John’s, -Queen’s, and Jesus’—were to be sold for slaves to the Algerines.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 454px;"> -<a name="SAR" id="SAR"></a> -<img src="images/i_357.jpg" width="454" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">SIR ALEXANDER RIGBY.</div> -</div> - -<p>The “insolent rebell, Rigby,” as Charlotte Tremouille, the -heroic Countess of Derby, designated him when he was besieging -Lathom House, though possessed of only a small estate, was -connected by birth and marriage with many of the best families<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> -in Lancashire; he was also closely allied with the Leghs, of -Adlington, having married for his first wife Lucy, the daughter of -Sir Urian, and sister of Thomas Legh, so that he stood in -the relationship of brother-in-law to his second wife.</p> - -<p>The marriage of their mother with the “insolent rebell” could -hardly have been viewed with much satisfaction by the sons, who -were all fighting on the side of the ill-fated Charles, and, therefore, -accounted “delinquents,” one of them being specially mentioned -as “very active against the Parliament” and continuing “extreamelie -malitious,” though, in other respects, it was fortunate, as -Rigby’s influence as a member of the House of Commons in the -Parliament interest was no doubt used in protecting the estates -from the more ruinous exactions to which they would otherwise -have been subjected, as well as the illegal challenges which -might have wrested them absolutely from their rightful owners.</p> - -<p>Sir Alexander Rigby died in 1650, having caught the gaol fever -of the prisoners while on circuit at Croydon, and some time after -his widow, who appears to have had a penchant for matrimony, -again entered the marriage state, her third husband being John -Booth, of Woodford, in Over, the uncle of Sir George Booth, of -Dunham Massey, the head of the Presbyterian interest in Cheshire. -John Booth was also a staunch Puritan; like the knight in -“Hudibras,” he had ridden out “a-colonelling” in the interest of -the Parliament, and may have been the identical Puritan whom -“Drunken Barnaby,” when on his “Four Journeys to the North -of England,” saw and thus <span class="nowrap">immortalised:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">I came to Over—O, profane one—</div> -<div class="verse">And there I saw a Puritane one,</div> -<div class="verse">A-hanging of his cat on Monday</div> -<div class="verse">For killing of a mouse on Sunday.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The marriage with John Booth could not have been a very -felicitous one, for, according to Sir Peter Leycester, husband and -wife lived apart from each other. She resided at the Miln House, -and died there in February, 1675–6, and was buried at Prestbury. -By her first husband, Thomas Legh, she had five sons, all of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> -whom served in the Royalist army, one of them, John, losing his -life in the war; and seven daughters, one of whom, Margaret, -became the second wife of the eldest surviving son of her mother’s -second husband, Alexander Rigby the younger, who, like his -father, was an active soldier on the Parliament side, and the -representative for Lancaster in the House of Commons in 1658.</p> - -<p>At the time of Colonel Legh’s death, in 1644, his eldest son and -heir, Thomas Legh, was a prisoner of war at Coventry, having been -captured in the engagement at Stafford in May in the preceding -year, where he was detained until June, 1645, when he was -exchanged for his brother-in-law, Alexander Rigby,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> who had been -taken prisoner during the siege of Lathom House. He had then -been married some few years, his wife being Mary, the daughter -of Thomas Bolles, of Osberton, in Nottinghamshire.</p> - -<p>Civil war has ever a devouring and insatiable maw, and in those -days of political trouble and disturbance, when hostile armies -were marching and counter-marching through the country, neither -persons nor property were safe. It was the <span class="nowrap">time—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">When nobles and knights so proud of late,</div> -<div class="verse">Must pine for freedom and estate,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>especially if they were suspected of having any political partialities, -whether on the “malignants” or the “roundheads” side. The -Leghs were all active partisans, and no family in Cheshire -sustained heavier losses or endured greater hardships in defending -what they believed to be the rights of their sovereign. While -Thomas Legh was a prisoner at Coventry his young wife petitioned -the sequestrators that some provision might be made for her, -and eventually she had allotted to her a small portion of her -husband’s lands. In June of the following year she again -memorialised the sequestrators that her husband might be allowed -to compound for his estates, pleading that since his release he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> -had foreborne to repair to the enemy’s quarters, and setting forth -the miseries which she and her children were enduring, being -destitute of the means of livelihood until relieved. Mr. Legh also -presented a petition praying that he might be allowed to compound, -when a statement of his “delinquencies” and a report -upon his estates was submitted, which is preserved among the -State papers in the Record Office. The charges exhibited against -him <span class="nowrap">were—</span></p> - -<p>(1.) That he led a company of musquetiers into Adlington Hall -when it was first garrisoned against the Parliament, and brought -some who were well affected to the Parliament prisoners into the -garrison, and kept them there till they compounded with him.</p> - -<p>(2.) That he bore arms in that garrison; was governor of it; -and gave directions to the inferior commanders therein.</p> - -<p>(3.) That he refused to deliver up the said house to Colonel -Duckinfield for the use of Parliament.</p> - -<p>(4.) That he went from that garrison to Shrewsbury, thence to -Chester, and thence to other garrisons of the enemy, and that he -associated himself and held intercourse of intelligence against the -Parliament with them.</p> - -<p>On the 10th March, 1645–6, the Committee of Sequestrators -agreed that Thomas Legh should be permitted to compound on -payment to them of the sum of £2,000. This amount having -been secured he, in July, obtained his discharge, and in the succeeding -year sued out a pardon under the great seal for himself and his -three surviving brothers, Charles, Peter, and Henry (John having -been killed in action), who had also been admitted to compound. -But his troubles were not yet ended. In November, 1648, he was -required by the commissioners to settle the tithes of Bosley in -Prestbury parish, valued at £56 a year, in trust for the minister of -Bosley, the following being the minute of the Commissioners of -<span class="nowrap">Augmentation:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><em>Thomas Leigh</em>, of Adlington, in ye said countie (Cheshire), by deeds -dated ye 16th of November, <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 1648, hath settled ye tithes of <em>Prestbury</em>, -of ye value of £56 per ann. upon George Booth, Esq., in trust for ye -minister of <em>Boseley</em>, and his successors for ever. Consideration £560.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span></p> - -<p>Before the close of the year, in pursuance of an order of Parliament, -he was ordered to pay £220, being an assessment of one-twentieth -part of the estate. Subsequently he was required to -furnish a particular account of his real and personal estate, which -being done, it was submitted to Major-general Worsley and the -Commissioners then assembled at Middlewich, in February, 1655.</p> - -<p>In November, 1656, he had the misfortune to lose his wife, who -had borne him a family of six sons and four daughters. She was -buried at Prestbury, November 22, and at the very time she lay -dead his estate was again decimated and himself secured. Whereupon -he presented a petition to the Lord Protector, alleging that -he had behaved peaceably under the then government, and praying -that he might no longer be looked upon as an enemy, but might -partake of the Protector’s grace and favour. The petition was -referred to Worsley and the Commissioners for securing the peace -of the county, who in January, 1656–7, reported that since his -composition he had behaved peaceably and respectably to the -Parliament party, soldiers and friends, and had not been concerned -in any plots against the Protector or Parliament to their knowledge; -that he had constantly paid all taxes for the use of the -Commonwealth; had sent forth such forces, both horse and foot, -for the service of the late Parliament as required; and had, moreover, -offered his personal assistance for them at the battle of -Worcester; and, finally, that they considered him a person capable -of favour. From this time he appears to have been left in -undisturbed possession of his property. He survived these -troublous times, and lived to see the overthrow of the Commonwealth -and the restoration of monarchy in the person of Charles -the Second. In 1662 he was nominated sheriff of his native -county—the only recognition he ever received of the losses -sustained and the great services which he and his family had -rendered to the cause of the Stuarts. Fortunately for his house, -those losses were in some measure made up from another source. -In the year in which he served the office of sheriff his late wife’s -mother, Dame Mary Bolles, who, in 1635, had been created a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> -baroness in her own right, the only instance of such a creation, -died, leaving property, to the value, it is said, of £20,000 to be -divided between her two sons-in-law, Sir William Dalston and -Thomas Legh—in the case of the latter a welcome addition to an -estate which during the usurpation had been so greatly -impoverished. The fortune thus acquired he seems to have -employed in improving and extending his territorial possessions, -for about the year 1669 he is found purchasing from Sir Thomas -Brereton the old manor-house of Handforth, which one of his -progenitors, Urian Brereton, erected in 1557, and subsequently -(1681) he became the owner, also by purchase, of lands in Newton, -adjoining Butley, that have since descended with the other -Adlington properties. Thomas Legh survived all his brothers, -and died in December, 1687, being then in his seventy-third year. -In accordance with his expressed desire, his remains were -“decently buried amongst his Ancestors in the Chancell of the -parish church of Prestbury.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a name="TL" id="TL"></a> -<img src="images/i_362.jpg" width="200" height="191" alt="Autograph of Thomas Legh" /> -</div> - -<p>Thomas Legh, the third of that name, was in his forty-fourth -year when he succeeded to the Adlington estates—those in Leicestershire -and Nottinghamshire passing under his father’s will to his -two surviving brothers, Edward and Richard. Shortly after the -Restoration (1666) he chose himself a wife from the historic house -of Maynard—Johanna, the daughter, and eventually heir, of the -distinguished statesman and lawyer, Sir John Maynard—a match -that must have brought him considerable wealth, and have added -to his social influence. Sir John had been an active member of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> -the Long Parliament, in which he distinguished himself as one -of the prosecutors of Strafford and Laud, but afterwards, for his -opposition to the violent acts of the army and the unconstitutional -proceedings of Cromwell, he was twice committed to the Tower. -At the conference between the Lords and Commons at the time -of the Revolution he displayed considerable ability, and warmly -advocated the abdication of James II. He was appointed one of -the Commissioners of the Great Seal in 1689, being then eighty-seven -years of age. He had frequently to submit to the coarseness -of Jeffries’ ribald tongue. On one occasion, when addressing -the court, that unjust dispenser of justice interrupted him with the -rude remark, “Mr. Serjeant, you’ve lost your knowledge of law; -your memory is failing you through age.” “It may be so,” -responded Maynard, “but I am sure I have forgotten more law -than your lordship ever knew.” And it is said of him that when -William III., alluding to his great age, remarked that he must -have outlived all the lawyers of his time, he happily replied, “Yes, -and if your highness had not come over to our assistance I should -have outlived the law itself.”</p> - -<p>Political prudence was not always a distinguishing characteristic -of the lords of Adlington, and Thomas Legh does not seem to -have profited greatly by his father’s and grandfather’s experiences -of political partisanship, for he contrived to get himself involved -in the troubles which fell upon Cheshire in 1683, the year of the -notorious Rye House Plot, when he was suspected of conspiring -with others to place the Duke of Monmouth upon the throne.</p> - -<p>Monmouth, who had been expatriated, had returned a year or -two previously to find himself hailed as the “Protestant Duke,” -and exalted into a popular hero. He made a partisan progress -through Cheshire, with the view of ingratiating himself with the -men of the county; while at Chester, courting popularity, a -violent “No Popery” mob broke into the Cathedral, and, amongst -other outrages committed upon the contents of the sacred building, -wholly destroyed the painted glass of the east window of the Lady -Chapel, broke up the organ, and knocked the ancient font to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span> -pieces. Enquiries were instituted as to those who were believed -to sympathise with the action of Monmouth, when Thomas Legh’s -name was included in the list of persons, who, being suspected, it -was deemed expedient should give security for their good behaviour. -He must, however, have regained the Royal favour, for he -retained his commission as colonel of militia, and the year -following that in which he entered upon possession of his -patrimonial lands he was honoured with the shrievalty of the -county. He did not live long to enjoy the estates, having met his -death by an accident on the 6th April, 1691, as thus recorded in a -MS. diary, preserved at <span class="nowrap">Tabley:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1691, April 6th.—Col. Legh, of Adlington, layning on a raile in Adlington, -whch breaking he fell and broak his neck and dyed.</p></blockquote> - -<p>His wife, who survived him several years, resided at the Miln -House, in Adlington, and died about November, 1700. The -bulk of her personal property was, in accordance with her -directions, invested in the purchase of lands for the benefit of her -second surviving son, Robert, who married Mary, daughter of Sir -Richard Standish, of Duxbury, and settled at Chorley, in Lancashire, -on the lands purchased under his mother’s will. Thomas -Leigh, by his wife had, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">inter alia</i>, Anne, his co-heiress, who became -the wife of Thomas Crosse, of Crosse Hall and Shaw Hill, in -Lancashire, by whom she had a son, Richard Crosse, of Shaw -Hill, who, through failure of direct male heirs, eventually succeeded -to the Adlington estates, and took the name and arms of Legh -by Royal license.</p> - -<p>Thomas Legh, who died in 1691, was succeeded in the estates -by his eldest son, John, who was then thirty-two years of age, -having been born in 1668. Two years after he entered upon his -inheritance (July, 1693) he married Isabella, the daughter of -Robert Robartes, Viscount Bodmin, and granddaughter of the first -Earl of Radnor. During his time some important additions were -made to the family estates. In the year of his marriage he -purchased from William Sherd, of Sherd and Disley, the descendant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> -of an old companion in arms of his grandfather, the estate of -Sherd-fold, on the confines of Adlington; three years later he -purchased Hope-green from Edward Downes, and in 1696 he -acquired the property known as “Day’s Tenement,” in Prestbury. -In 1705 he was nominated sheriff of the county, and he appears -to have succeeded his father as colonel of the militia, in which -capacity he was called upon to aid in suppressing the political -disturbances that arose in Lancashire on the occasion of the -Hanoverian succession.</p> - -<p>At the dine of Queen Anne’s death, in 1714, the country was -divided into two powerful factions, a large number of the people, -with that old English feeling of which we see traces even yet, -preferring as their monarch the son of an English king to the son -of a petty foreign prince. The flames of rebellion were kindled, -and a determined effort was made to restore the direct succession -to the throne, in the person of the Chevalier de St. George, the -eldest son of James II., and a half-brother of the deceased queen. -On the 10th June, 1715, the birthday of the Chevalier, a Jacobite -mob, headed by “Tom” Syddall, a peruke maker, attacked the -Nonconformist Chapel in Cross Street, Manchester—the only -dissenting place of worship at that time in the town—smashed in -the doors and windows, pulled down the pulpit and pews, and -carried away everything portable, leaving only the ruinous walls; -and, a few days later, sacked and destroyed the meeting-houses at -Blackley, Monton, and Greenacres. In October of the same year -the Earl of Derwentwater and General Foster, with the Earls of -Wintoun, Nithsdale, and Carnwath, and Lords Widdrington and -Nairne, raised the standard of the Pretender, and, with a small -army, crossed the border, passed through Kendal and Lancaster, -and as far as Preston—that “Capua” of Scotchmen, as it has been -called—on their way south. In the last-named town, if we are -to believe the Jacobite journalist, Peter Clarke, they were so -fascinated by the good looks and the gay attire of the Lancashire -witches that “the gentleman soldiers from Wednesday to Saturday -minded nothing but courting and feasting.” While they were thus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> -“courting and feasting” the news of their advance reached General -Willes, who was then in command of the garrison at Chester, and -he at once set out to attack them, passing through Manchester on -his way. Finding a strong Jacobite feeling existing there, he -caused several of the more influential leaders of the faction to be -secured, and disarmed the others, leaving a troop behind him to -overawe the disaffected. Before leaving he wrote to the Earl of -Cholmondeley, the lord lieutenant of Cheshire, urging him to send -on the militia while he with his regular forces marched against the -insurgents, and in the “Memoires of the family of Finney, of -Fulshaw,” written by Samuel Finney in 1787, it is recorded that in -October a warrant from three of the deputy lieutenants was -directed to John Legh, of Adlington, or, in his absence, to John -Finney, his captain-lieutenant, requiring them to give notice to the -constables of Macclesfield Hundred to order all persons charged -with any foot soldiers to send on the same by the 17th of the -month, “every Soldier to appear compleatly armed with musket, -bayonet to fix in the muzel thereof, a Cartooch Box, and Sword, to -bring pay for two days, and the Salary for the Muster Master. -Every Muskateer to bring half a pound of powder, and as much -(sic) Bullets, and the said Constables to appear and make returns.” -On the 27th October another warrant was issued requiring them to -assemble the forces at Knutsford on the 7th November, when, as -we are told in the “Memoires,” “having exercised their appointed -time, and the Rebells advancing, the Regiment was ordered to -advance northwards and secure the town of Manchester, whilst -Generals Willes and Carpenter advanced with the horse to attack -the Rebells at Preston. When,” it is added,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> “the Cheshire -Regiment was advanced to the Top of Deansgate, the Entrance of -the Town, they made a Halt to wait for Billets from the Constables, -which were so long in coming and the Weather extremely wet and -cold, and the road Miry, that both Officers and Men grew so -impatient that a messenger was despatched to the Constables -to tell them that if they did not immediately send them Billets -they would fire the Town; this had an immediate good Effect; they -soon got into warm quarters. The King’s Head in Salford fell to -the share of Sir Samuel Daniel, Coll. Legh, and Captain Finney, -intimate Friends, and jolly brave Fellows, who, instead of saying -their prayers and going to bed like good Folks, expecting to be -killed next day, sat drinking, laughing, and taking Spanish Snuff -till the morning, when they expected to come soon into action; -but Willes and Carpenter soon eased them of that trouble, by -forcing the Town of Preston.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Legh’s military experiences were not of a very sanguinary -character, and this appears to have been the last occasion in which -he was employed in any soldierly capacity. He died in 1739, and -on the 12th December was buried in the family vault at Prestbury, -having had in addition to a son Charles, who succeeded, two -daughters, who pre-deceased him; Elizabeth, who died unmarried, -and was buried at Westminster, August 20th, 1734, and Lucy -Frances, second wife of Peter Davenport (afterwards Sir Peter), -of Macclesfield, who died in November, 1728, leaving an only -daughter her sole heiress, Elizabeth Davenport, who became the -wife of John Rowlls, of Kingston, in Surrey, Receiver-General, who -afterwards assumed the surname of Legh.</p> - -<p>Charles Legh, who succeeded as heir on the death of his father, -John Legh, in 1739, was born at Adlington, September 17, and -baptised at Prestbury, October, 1697, so that he must have been -in his forty-fourth year when he entered upon his inheritance. He -had then been married some years, his wife being Hester, daughter -of Robert Lee, of Wincham, in Bucklow Hundred, who by the -death of her brothers, Robert and Clegg Lee, and her sister, -Elizabeth, without issue, became heir to the manor of Wincham.</p> - -<p>In earlier years the Leghs had evinced their piety by important -additions made to their parish church, as well as by the erection of -a chapel on their estate for the convenience of their more immediate -dependents; and Charles Legh, on first coming into his patrimony, -applied himself to the work of enlarging the old church of Prestbury -by the rebuilding of the north aisle and the Legh chapel, to -the cost of which he was the chief contributor. He could not,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span> -however, have felt much appreciation of the beauties of the -original design, or he would not have replaced a Gothic structure -with the unsightly, barn-like erection which has happily within the -present year been superseded by one of more ecclesiastical character.</p> - -<p>The following year was one of considerable excitement, for it -was that in which Prince Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, -renewed the attempt to recover the throne of his ancestors—the -fatal ’45. On the 28th November the rebel army reached -Manchester, which, as the story goes, was taken by “a sergeant, a -drum, and a woman;” three days later the march towards London -was resumed, Macclesfield being chosen as the terminus of the -first day’s journey. The Prince marshalled his forces in two -divisions, and, leading one of them, forded the Mersey at Stockport, -and then marched through the level country, by way of -Woodford, Adlington, and Prestbury, to Macclesfield. The story -is told that as they were passing through Adlington they came up -with a carter, named Broster, returning from Stockport, who was -forthwith “pressed” into the service and ordered by the soldiers -to convey their baggage to Macclesfield. Among the chattels put -into Broster’s cart was a heavy chest evidently containing treasure, -the money possibly in which the Manchestrians had been mulct, -and which poor James Waller, of Ridgefield, the borough-reeve, -had been compelled to gather in. The darkness of a December -night had fallen upon the scene by the time they approached Prestbury, -and, the baggage guards not being over vigilant, Richard -Broster watched his opportunity and made the most of it when it -came. Suddenly turning up a bye-lane, he whipped his horses -briskly, and succeeded in reaching his home at Old Hollin Hall -Farm, near Bollington, before he was missed; arrived there, the -box was quickly tipped into the yard pit as a hiding-place from the -troopers who might be sent in search of the lost treasure, and -there it lay until the rebels had started upon their march to Derby, -when it was fished up.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span></p> -<p>Though the Leghs of Lyme, who were suspected of favouring -the cause of the Pretender, might not be able to wipe out altogether -from their hearts the old Stuart affection, their kinsman of Adlington -could not have had much sympathy either for the young -Chevalier or the cause he represented, or, if he had, his Jacobitism -must have been under the control of a very cautious possessor, and -not so demonstrative as to imperil his personal and family interests, -for when Joseph Ward, the Vicar of Prestbury, preached a sermon -on the occasion of the “General Thanksgiving” for the suppression -of the “unnatural rebellion” it was published, as by the title-page -appears, “at the request of Charles Legh, of Adlington, Esquire.”</p> - -<p>In 1746 Mr. Legh added to his territorial possessions by the -purchase, from Thomas Pigot, of the estate of Bonishall, which for -several generations had been the residence of a younger branch of -the Pigots of Butley, the representative of which had then migrated -to Fairsnape, near Preston, and from that time Bonishall has -descended to the successive owners of Adlington with the other -estates of the family. In the following year Mr. Legh had the -shrievalty of Cheshire conferred upon him, a dignity that, as we -have seen, had been enjoyed by his ancestors in six consecutive -generations previously. He does not, however, appear to have -devoted much attention to public matters, preferring to reside upon -his own estate and there discharge the duties devolving upon him -as a country gentleman. In the later years of his life he occupied -his time in remodelling, and in part rebuilding, the home of his -fathers; in doing so, however, it is to be regretted that, influenced -by the then prevailing fancy for works of classic type, he was led -to adopt a style so much at variance with the character of the -original structure, and which, outwardly at least, robbed it of its -most picturesque and interesting features. In commemoration of -his work he inscribed his own name and that of his wife with the -year of its completion, 1757, upon the frieze of the portico, and -on the pediment above affixed a shield of arms—Legh quartering -Corona, with Lee of Wincham, on an escutcheon of pretence.</p> - -<p>While engaged in the re-edification of his house the barony of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> -Kinderton became extinct, when Mr. Legh set up a claim to be -considered heir male of the family, in right of his descent from -Gilbert Venables, the first baron, and, as such, entitled to bear the -Venables coat without any mark of decadence. The claim was -never admitted, but Mr. Legh assumed the arms notwithstanding, -and, in assertion of his supposed right, caused them to be placed -conspicuously in the hall at Adlington, and also on the chancel -screen in the church at Prestbury, where they may still be seen.</p> - -<p>Unlike his mother, who, if we may judge from the directions -she gave respecting her funeral, had as little respect for the blazonments -of chivalry and that ancient and respectable guild, the -College of Arms, as Macaulay’s old Puritan who wished to have -his name recorded in the Book of Life rather than in the Register -of Heralds, Mr. Legh had a great fondness for heraldry, and was -much given to the study of the “noble science.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>was with him no meaningless phrase, and before he began the -rebuilding of the south front of his mansion he had been at -considerable pains to adorn the interior of the great hall of -Adlington with the armorial ensigns of his progenitors and the -families with which they had severally become allied, like the lord -of Gray’s “ancient pile” at Stoke-Pogeis, upon</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi6">The ceiling’s fretted height</div> -<div class="verse">Each panel in achievements clothing.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The fine series of armorial shields which still appear were painted -under his directions, and are in place of a series, one hundred and -eighty-one in number, which were affixed shortly after the rebuilding -of the mansion by Thomas Legh, in 1581,<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> about which time that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> -assiduous worthy, William Flower, Chester Herald, and subsequently -Norroy King of Arms, was corresponding with and -enjoying the friendship and hospitality of the owner of Adlington, -and his kinsman, Sir Peter Legh, of Lyme.</p> - -<p>In 1758, the year following the rebuilding of the south front of -Adlington, Charles Legh’s only son, Thomas Legh, was united in -marriage with Mary, daughter of Francis Reynolds, of Strangeways, -Manchester, who represented Lancaster in Parliament for the long -period of forty-five years, and the sister of Thomas and Francis -Reynolds, who inherited successively the barony of Ducie of Tortworth. -The young couple took up their abode at Wincham, which -had come to Thomas Legh’s mother by inheritance, and there he -died, in his forty-first year, on the 15th June, 1775, without -surviving issue—thus terminating a line which had maintained an -unbroken succession for more than four centuries. His widow -survived him for the long period of forty-three years, her death -occurring March 26, 1818.</p> - -<p>Charles Legh is said to have been somewhat autocratic and -austere in his bearing, and to have ruled his little kingdom with a -strong hand, dispensing justice in a summary fashion, and not -scrupling at times to administer correction to the refractory with -his own hand. Many curious stories concerning him are related -and still find credence in the cottage homes around Adlington. -There is a tradition that it was his daily practice to perambulate -the boundaries of his domain with the object of discovering and -expelling any marauder or sturdy rogue who might be prowling -about his lands. Notwithstanding these little peculiarities, he -kept up a style of true old English hospitality, and was greatly -esteemed and respected by his neighbours. With his fondness for -heraldry, he united a love of music; and he had, moreover, some -claim to rank as a poet, though his muse, it must be confessed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> -was at times a little halting. When Handel<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> was in the zenith of -his popularity he was for some time a guest at Adlington, and -there is a common belief that while there he composed his -charming piece, “The Harmonious Blacksmith,” in response to -a request made by his host for an original composition, the -melody being suggested by the natural music of the smiths plying -their vocation at Hollinworth smithy, close by the park gates.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> -The original score is said to have been preserved at Adlington -until the sale of the library in 1846, but the music is undoubtedly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span> -a variation of an old French air. There is also preserved in the -drawing-room at Adlington a hunting song written by Charles -Legh, and set to music by Handel, which may find a fitting place -in the anthology of the <span class="nowrap">county:—</span></p> - -<p class="center">HUNTING SONG.</p> - -<p><span class="in2left"> <i>The words by Charles Legh, Esq.</i></span> -<span class="in2right"> <i>Set by Mr. Handel.</i></span> -</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The morning is charming, all Nature is gay!</div> -<div class="verse">Away, my brave boys, to your horses, away;</div> -<div class="verse">For the prime of our pleasure and questing the hare,</div> -<div class="verse">We have not so much as a moment to spare.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10"> <i>Chorus of the Hunters.</i></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Hark! the merry loud horn, how melodious it sounds</div> -<div class="vi4">To the musical song of the merry-mouth’d hounds!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">In yon stubble field we shall find her below,</div> -<div class="verse">So ho! cries the huntsman; hark to him, So ho!</div> -<div class="verse">See, see, where she goes, and the hounds have a view!</div> -<div class="verse">Such harmony Handel himself never knew.</div> -<div class="vi4">Gates, hedges, and ditches to us are no bounds,</div> -<div class="vi4">But the world is our own while we follow the hounds!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Hold, hold! ’tis a double; hark! hey, <em>Tanner</em>, hey!</div> -<div class="verse">If a thousand gainsay it, a thousand shall lie;</div> -<div class="verse">His beauty surpassing, his truth has been try’d—</div> -<div class="verse">At the head of a pack an infallible guide.</div> -<div class="vi4">To his cry the wild welkin with thunder resounds</div> -<div class="vi4">The darling of hunters, the glory of hounds!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O’er high lands and low lands and woodlands we fly,</div> -<div class="verse">Our horses full speed and the hounds in full cry;</div> -<div class="verse">So match are their mouths and so even they run,</div> -<div class="verse">As the tune of the spheres and their race with the sun.</div> -<div class="vi4">Health, joy, and felicity dance in the rounds,</div> -<div class="vi4">And bless the gay circle of hunters and hounds!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The old hounds push forward, a very sure sign</div> -<div class="verse">That the hare, though a stout one, begins to decline.</div> -<div class="verse">A chase of two hours or more she has led;</div> -<div class="verse">She’s down, look about ye; they have her; ’ware dead.</div> -<div class="vi4">How glorious a death, to be honoured with sounds</div> -<div class="vi4">Of the horn, with a shout to the chorus of hounds!</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Here’s a health to all hunters, and long be their lives!</div> -<div class="verse">May they never be cross’t by their sweethearts or wives</div> -<div class="verse">May they rule their own passions, and ever at rest,</div> -<div class="verse">As the most happy men be they always the best!</div> -<div class="vi4">And free from the care the many surrounds,</div> -<div class="vi4">Have peace at the last when they see no more hounds!</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Hunting was a favourite pursuit of Mr. Legh’s. In Prestbury -churchyard, near the lych gate, is a flat stone, with an inscription -recording the death of one of his huntsmen, and a couplet, which -he no doubt wrote.—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="center">Here lye the Remains of Thomas Bennison,</div> -<div class="center">Head Huntsman many years to Charles Legh,</div> -<div class="center">of Adlington, Esq. He died the 17th of February,</div> -<div class="center">in the year of our Lord 1768. Aged 75.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="center">The Joys of his Heart were good Hounds and good Nappy,</div> -<div class="center">Oh! wish him for ever still more and more Happy.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>On the 26th July, 1781, Mr. Legh, who had attained the ripe age -of 84, was removed by death, and on the 3rd August his remains -were committed to the family vault which he had himself erected -at the east end of the north aisle of Prestbury Church. His wife -survived him some years. By her will, which bears date September, -1787, the manor of Wincham passed to her second cousin, -Colonel Edward Townshend, of Chester, whose great grandson, -Edward Townshend, Esq., is the present possessor.</p> - -<p>By the death of Charles Legh without surviving issue the -direct succession ceased, and the manor and dependencies of -Adlington reverted to his niece Elizabeth, the only child of Lucy -Frances Legh, by her husband, Sir Peter Davenport, who was then -married to John Rowlls, of Kingston. She assumed, by royal -licence, the surname of Legh, as did also her eldest son John, -who had married Harriet, daughter and co-heir of Sir Peter Warburton, -of Arley. He pre-deceased his mother, and, his two sons -dying in infancy, the estates, with the exception of Butley Hall -and some lands adjacent, which were alienated to his daughter -Elizabeth Hester, who married, in 1800, Thomas Delves, third son -of Sir Thomas Delves Broughton, Bart., and died in 1821,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> -reverted in 1806, on the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Rowlls Legh, to -Richard Crosse, of Shaw Hill, Lancashire, great grandson of -Robert, the third son of Thomas Legh, of Adlington, who took -the name and arms of Legh by royal licence. He served the -office of sheriff of Lancashire in the succeeding year, and died on -the 11th August, 1822, at the age of sixty-eight, leaving by his -wife Anne, only surviving daughter of Robert Parker, of Cuerden, -who pre-deceased him, two sons and three daughters. Thomas -(Crosse) Legh, the eldest son, succeeded to the broad lands of -Adlington; the Lancashire estates of Shaw Hill, Chorley, and -Liverpool devolving upon his younger brother, Richard Townley -Crosse, who died, unmarried, February 27, 1825, when they -reverted to his sister Anne Mary, married to Thomas Bright Iken, -of Leventhorpe House, Yorkshire, who assumed the name of -Crosse, the father of the present possessor.</p> - -<p>Thomas Crosse Legh, of Adlington, was accidentally drowned -in crossing the river at Antwerp, April 25, 1829, being then only -thirty-six years of age. By his wife, Louisa, daughter of George -Lewis Newnham, of New Timber, Sussex, who survived him, -and married, May 12, 1830, the Hon. Thomas Americus, third -Lord Erskine, the grandson of the distinguished Lord Chancellor -of that name, he had, with other issue, Charles Richard Banastre -Legh, the present representative of this ancient stock. <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Esto -perpetua.</i></p> - -<p>As previously stated, the hall of Adlington stands in the midst -of an undulating and well-timbered park, from the higher parts of -which the views are extensive and pleasingly diversified. It is a -remarkably fine example of the ancient manorial residence of the -time when the power of the feudal chief had waned and the great -landowners were no longer under the necessity of cooping themselves -up in their fortified strongholds—a type of building that is -rapidly passing out of existence, and, with the exception of the -part rebuilt in the middle of the last century, furnishes an excellent -illustration of a style of architecture which, if not altogether -peculiar to, was certainly nowhere else practised so commonly or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> -on so extensive a scale as in Cheshire and Lancashire. The -timber-work is remarkable for its strength and solidity, an evidence -that our forefathers were by no means economists in the use of -their building materials; and, though the lighter ornaments of -architecture which give grace and beauty to the more stately -fabrics of brick and stone raised in other parts of the country, may -not be apparent, there is yet a rude magnificence and ingenuity of -construction, as well as excellence of decoration, that make it -well deserving of examination.</p> - -<p>The principal front has a southward aspect; it is the latest built -and most pretentious part of the mansion, but, withal, the least -interesting. It is of brick, with a portico of four columns in the -centre, surmounted by a frieze, bearing the inscription, “Charles -and Hester Legh, 1757,” with a pediment above, in which is a -shield with the Legh arms quartered with those of Corona, and an -escutcheon of pretence over all on which is the coat of Lee of -Wincham.</p> - -<p>On entering, the first thing that meets the eye is the ponderous -oaken door, thickly studded with iron nails and black with age, -which stirs the fancy with images of the strife with Roundhead and -Cavalier, for it bears abundant evidence of the rude assaults of -Colonel Duckinfield’s troopers in the shot-holes with which it is -pierced in several places. Over the door within the vestibule is -written, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sic vos nunc vobis mellificatis apes</i>, one of the four lines by -which Virgil exposed the imposture of Bathyllus. At the further -end of the corridor we enter the courtyard, on the opposite side of -which is the great hall, one of the finest in the county, if, indeed, -it has its equal, with its projecting porch, its long lofty windows, -its high-pitched roof, and quaint chequer work of black and white. -Over the doorway as we enter we notice the old black letter -inscription which Thomas Legh placed when, as he tells us, he -“made this buyldinge in the year of or lorde god 1581.”</p> - -<p>The “hall” itself is an admirable and almost perfect specimen -of the period when that apartment constituted the chief feature -of every mansion, serving not only as an audience chamber on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> -occasions of state and ceremony, but as the place where the owner -and his family, with his guests and dependents, assembled daily -at the dinner hour, and where, in fact, the public life of the -household was carried on. Though perhaps not so large as in -some of the baronial mansions of the country, it is yet a noble -apartment, and sufficiently spacious for the hospitalities which in -bygone days the lords of Adlington maintained. It occupies the -entire height of the building, the form being that of a parallelogram, -and, being the master feature of the house, is superior in -architectural adornment, as well as in the amplitude of its dimensions, -to any of the other rooms. The floors are laid with polished -oak, and the walls, which are elaborately carved and ornamented, -support a roof of dark oak acutely pointed and open to the ridge -piece. The framework of this roof is divided by massive principals -into bays, the collar braces being so arranged as to form a series -of fine Gothic arches, springing from bold projecting hammer-beams -that terminate in carved figures of angels holding heraldic -shields, each being in turn connected by a hammer-brace with the -main timbers of the walls. The daïs, or high place, which -undoubtedly had its position at the further end, and where the -master and mistress with their chief guests sat above the salt, as -Chaucer relates in his “Marriage of January and May”—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And at the feste sitteth he and she</div> -<div class="verse">With other worthy folk upon the deis</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>has disappeared, and the screen which separated the lower end -from the passage communicating with the buttery and the -kitchener’s department has been subjected to considerable alterations, -though the original form may be distinctly traced, and much -of the exquisitely ornamental panel work remains, though now -well-nigh hidden from view. These panels, though mutilated in -places, are deserving of careful examination; the design of the -tracery is very beautiful, and the carving, where not broken, -remains almost as sharp and as fresh as the day it left the workman’s -hands, save that time has given that sombre tint which so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> -well harmonises with the ancient character of the house. Above -the screen a gallery, the front of which is ornamented in arabesque -work, extends the entire width of the apartment; in it is an organ -elaborately painted and decorated, which, from the two shields of -Corona and Robartes on the top, would appear to have been -erected during the occupancy of John Legh, who married Isabella -Robartes, and died in 1739, and no doubt it was at this time the -original screen was subjected to so much injury. In addition to -the organ gallery there are two small side galleries near the -opposite end, each lighted by a dormer window, to which, in time -past, the ladies of the household and the more honoured guests -could retire to witness the revelries of the assembled retainers -below.</p> - -<p>Though it can no longer be said <span class="nowrap">that—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">With heraldry’s rich hues imprest</div> -<div class="verse">On the dim window glows the pictured crest</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>for every trace of the “storied pane” has disappeared, the want of -this species of decoration is in some measure compensated for by -the remarkable series of armorial shields with which the upper end -of the hall is adorned. At this end the roof is coved and divided -into square panels, each panel containing the arms of one of the -Norman Earls of Chester, the barons of their court, or of some -Cheshire family with whom the Leghs could claim kindred. -There are eight rows of panels in all. The upper ones -contain the heraldic insignia of the seven Norman Earls -of Chester in their successive order; immediately beneath -are the arms of the eight Norman baronies—Halton, Montalt, -Nantwich, Malpas, Shipbrooke, Dunham, Kinderton, and -Stockport; and below these again, and separated by an -elaborately carved oak cornice, the coats of the chief Cheshire -families, including those with which the Leghs are allied—fifty-four -in all. In the centre is placed an achievement of arms—quarterly -(1) Corona impaling Venables (for Legh, of Adlington), -(2) Honford, (3) Arderne, and (4) Belgrave; over all an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span> -escutcheon of pretence bearing the coat of Legh of Wincham, with -a crescent for difference. Beneath is the motto <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Da gloriam Deo</i>, -and, to give effect to his work, the artist, with scant regard for the -laws of heraldry, has added a couple of unicorns as supporters; -honourable accessories which it was not in the power of Garter -King or even the Earl Marshal himself to bestow. On the knots -of the framework of the panels is an inscription in single letters -carved in <span class="nowrap">relief—</span></p> - -<p class="center"> -<span class="smcap">Thomas Legh & Catarina Savage uxor eius</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Ao Doi Mo -<sub>C</sub><sup>C</sup><sub>C</sub><sup>C</sup><sub>C</sub> - Vto</span> R.R.H. vij., xx. -</p> - -<p>The walls on the west and north sides are adorned with paintings -of scenes from the “Æneid”—the one on the west end, which -occupies the entire width, representing Hector taking leave of -Andromache, and those on the north Venus presenting Æneas -with armour, and Andromache offering presents to Ascanius. -The wall spaces on each side of the organ at the west end are -similarly decorated, one representing St. Cecilia and the other a -figure playing upon the harp.</p> - -<p>Nash, in his “Ancient Mansions,” has given a characteristic -view of this glorious old banquetting room, and it requires little -stretch of the imagination to picture it as it must have appeared in -its pristine state in the days of bluff King Hal and the maiden -Queen—of Thomas Legh who built it, and his son, the valorous Sir -Urian, when banners gay with many a proud device floated overhead; -when the huge fire blazed cheerfully upon the halpas, and -the long windows shed a profusion of light and dyed the pavement -with the reflected hues of the heraldic cognisances with which -they were dight; when the walls were draped with richest arras, -and the screen, wrought with all the nicety of art, was hung with -arms and armour—halberds, bills, and partisans, and the spreading -antlers of deer captured in many a memorable chase; to re-people -it with the departed forms of sturdy warriors and sober matrons, -of gallant youths and lovely maidens; to see again the figures -and faces of those who have long ago returned to dust, and listen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span> -in imagination to the lusty laugh and the jocund song of the nameless -men who, at the trumpet call of “boot and saddle,” were -ready to mount and ride away wherever their lord might lead,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Alike for feast or fight prepared,</div> -<div class="verse">Battle and banquet both they shared,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Giving the rein to fancy, we may see the stately owner with his -dependents seated at the well-spread table, and hear the thrice-told -tale, while</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi8">flagons pass along the board,</div> -<div class="verse">Filled to the brim with foaming ale;</div> -<div class="vi4">And goblets flash with ruby wine,</div> -<div class="verse">And merrily speeds the glad wassail.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The hall was proverbially the place of festivity, and many a scene -of jocund mirth and roystering revelry, unrestrained by the laws -which modern civilisation imposes, has, doubtless, here been -witnessed, as the nut-brown ale, the mead and the sack, the -Malmsey, and the Rhenish, the mazer-bowl, and the highly-spiced -claret cup passed from hand to hand, and the “top beam -of the hall” was enthusiastically toasted as symbolising the health -of the lordly owner, whose armorial ensigns occupied that elevated -position, for</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Merry swith it is in halle</div> -<div class="verse">When the berdes waveth alle.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>On the north side of the hall, near what was the “high-place,” a -doorway communicates with the dining-room and some of the -principal apartments, and also with the staircase leading to the -drawing-room and the corridor which extends the entire length of -the south front; but these parts of the mansion have been greatly -modernised, and, with the exception of the dining and drawing -rooms, remodelled by Charles Legh about the middle of last -century, and in each of which are some exquisite carvings, said to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> -be by Grinling Gibbons,<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> but more probably the work of Sephton, -which well deserve examination, do not call for any special -description.</p> - -<p>In 1846 a large portion of the contents of Adlington, including -many family portraits by Vandyke, Lely, and Kneller; books, -manuscripts, and curiosities, were sold by auction. Some of the -books and manuscripts are now in the Chetham Library, and -others were purchased for the Portico in Manchester. Fortunately -many of the family portraits have since been recovered and -restored to their original positions, among them being the one of -Sir Urian Legh already referred to, and a large-sized picture in the -dining-room by Cornelius Janssens; a full length of Thomas Legh, -the Royalist soldier, and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas -Bolles.</p> - -<p>Apart from its memories, its traditions, and its associations as -the home of an ancient Cheshire stock, Adlington possesses a deep -interest as an example of old English domestic architecture. -Whilst retaining many of the more striking and important of its -ancient features comparatively unimpaired, it marks the growth -and development of human society, and expresses the needs and -ideas of changeful centuries, the varied and somewhat rude magnificence -of the Tudor and Stuart periods and the classic forms of the -earlier Georgian era mingling in curious contrast, and carrying the -mind rapidly through a long series of years. Happily, within the -present century the house has been subjected to but little change -or innovation, and has escaped, in a great degree, the evil influences<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> -of “renovators” and “improvers.” It is one of the -comparatively few old places that have remained to the descendants -of the ancient worthies by whom they were erected, and we -may venture to indulge the hope that as it has endured for -centuries past, so for centuries to come it may be preserved a -genuine relic of mediæval England—a monument and a memorial -of what men call “the good old times.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/i_382.jpg" width="350" height="183" alt="Graphic" /> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359"></a></span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_384.jpg" width="600" height="372" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">KERSALL CELL.</div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_385.jpg" width="600" height="107" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> - -<span class="f75">THE BYROMS—KERSALL CELL—JOHN BYROM—THE LAUREATE OF -THE JACOBITES—THE FATAL ’45.</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_385a.jpg" width="75" height="194" alt="I" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-capi"><span class="smcap">In</span> the township of Lowton, within the limits of the ancient -and far-reaching parish of Winwick, and a short distance -from the little town of Leigh, is an old-fashioned building -of no great architectural pretensions, erected apparently -in the reign of one of the Stuart kings, and now in the -occupancy of a farmer. Byrom Hall, for that is the -name, stands upon the site of an earlier structure, described in -ancient writings as a manor house, though there is no evidence -that the reputed manor ever enjoyed manorial privileges, and gave -name in times past to a family ranking with the smaller gentry, -who could boast a line of succession reaching as far back as the -time of the second Edward. The Byroms of Byrom, notwithstanding -their ancient lineage, do not appear to have ever attained -to any very great distinction, or to have held any very important -offices in the county; they married and were given in marriage -among the best families of the shire, and they maintained the -outward evidences of gentility by the use of armorial ensigns, but -how or when those were acquired is not clear, and it is somewhat -singular that they did not attend at any of the Herald’s visitations -to justify their right to the use of them, or to register their descent, -at least not until September, 1664, when, in answer to the -summons of Sir William Dugdale, Norroy King of Arms, Edward -Byrom attended at Ormskirk, and on behalf of his elder brother, -Samuel Byrom of Byrom—the grandfather of a certain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span> “Beau” -Byrom who wasted his substance in riotous living, and less than -half a century afterwards parted with his patrimonial lands—registered -a pedigree of five generations.</p> - -<p>In the reign of Henry VII., when the Wars of the Roses were -ended, and the people had settled down to more peaceful pursuits, -a cadet of the family, Ralph Byrom, repaired to Manchester, -established himself in trade, and throve apace by transactions -which in those days were accounted considerable.</p> - -<p>From the earliest period Manchester had exhibited an aptitude -for manufacture. Kuerden tells us that as far back as the reign -of Edward II. there was a mill for the manufacture of woollen -cloths, and in the succeeding reign the industry and wealth of the -town were greatly promoted by the encouragement given to a -number of Flemish artisans who were induced to leave their homes -in Flanders and settle in Lancashire, where they revealed the -secrets of their craft to the peasantry of the neighbourhood, and -thus planted the sapling of that industry which, taking root, -flourished and gradually spread through the Lancashire valleys, -the fulling mills and dyeworks then established in Salfordshire -being the auspicious beginnings of that vast manufacturing industry -which has enriched the kingdom and made Manchester the -commercial capital of the Empire.</p> - -<p>The old chronicler, Hollinworth, quoting an ancient writer, says -that in 1520 “there were three famous clothiers living in the -north countrey, viz., Cuthbert of Kendal, Hodgkins of Halifax, and -Martin Brian, some say Byrom, of Manchester. Every one of -these kept a greate number of servants at worke, spinners, carders, -weavers, fullers, dyers, shearemen, &c., to the greate admiration of -all that came into their houses to beehould them.” Whether -Hollinworth’s authority is historically correct, or the persons he -names only fictitious, certain it is that at that time Manchester was -“a greate cloathing towne;” the Byroms had become noted as -one of the great trading families, and took their places with the -Galleys, the Beckes, the Pendletons, and other of the merchant -princes of the day.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span></p> - -<p>Adam Byrom, of “Saulforde, merchaunt,” as he is styled, the -son of Ralph, who first settled in the neighbourhood and diverged -into trade, was, with one exception, the largest merchant in the -Salford Hundred, and in 1540 was assessed by the commissioners -of Henry VIII. at a larger amount even than Sir Alexander -Radcliffe, of Ordsall, who was accounted the great magnate of the -district. Manchester was even then a thriving and prosperous -mercantile town. Mills had been placed on the waters of the -Irwell and its affluent streams, and “Manchester Cottons,” as they -were called, and which, be it known, were then and for a hundred -years to come Lancashire woollens, were carried on pack-horses -to London and Hull, and were frequently sent to the great fairs at -Amsterdam, Frankfort, and to other foreign marts. So important -had the trade become that it was found necessary, after a year’s -experience, to repeal the statute bestowing upon the town the -privilege of sanctuary, and to send the sanctuary men, who by -their idleness and other enormities were “prejudicial to the -wealth, credit, great occupyings, and good order” of the place, to -Chester, which, being poor, was less likely to suffer by the presence -of such thriftless and disorderly <span class="nowrap">characters—</span></p> - -<p class="center">Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.</p> - -<p>The wealth which Adam Byrom acquired in his business was at -different times invested in the purchase of lands, &c., in Salford, -Darcy Lever, Ardwick, Bolton-le-Moors, and other places, including -the chief messuage or manor-house called Salford Hall, in which he -resided. He appears to have been a free-trader in principle, and -opposed to the feudal monopolies that were then in vogue, for it -is recorded in the Kalendar of Pleadings that he prosecuted -William Arram, the mayor of Preston, claiming exemption from -the payment of tolls and other imposts in the fairs and markets -of Salford and Preston. This worthy died on the 25th of July, -1558. His wife, a daughter of one Hunt, of Hunt’s Hall—the -Hunt’s Bank, probably, of later days—bore him six children, three -sons and three daughters; and it is a noteworthy fact that the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> -elder sons, George and Henry, died within a month of their father’s -demise. George, the first-born, was succeeded by his eldest son, -Ralph, then a child of three years of age. One of his daughters -was Margaret Byrom, the ill-fated victim of the memorable case of -supposed witchcraft in 1597, of which mention has been made in -our notice of Dr. Dee, the Wizard Warden of Manchester, who was -solicited by her friends to cast out the devil with which it was -believed John Hartley, a conjuror, had possessed her, while -staying on a visit at the house of Nicholas Starkey, of Cleworth.</p> - -<p>It is, however, with the descendants of Henry, the second son -of Adam Byrom, the “merchaunt,” that we are at present more -immediately concerned. This Henry had in his father’s lifetime -been united in marriage with Mary, one of the daughters of -Thomas Becke, a wealthy trader in the town, an alliance that -introduces us to quite a group of Manchester worthies. The -Beckes had been for years engaged in trade, and numbered among -them some of the earliest benefactors of Manchester, and some of -her most generous churchmen. Isabel, the widow of Robert -Becke, and the mother, probably, of Henry Byrom’s father-in-law, -at her own cost erected the conduit in the market-place, the first -“water works” in Manchester, conveying the water in pipes from -a natural spring at the upper end of the town, which gave name to -the present Spring Gardens and Fountain Street. Her father was -Richard Bexwyke, another opulent merchant, who founded the -Jesus Chantry on the south side of his parish church—the one -which his descendant Henry Pendleton, in 1653, gave to the -parishioners of Manchester for the purpose of a “free” public -library, the first of the kind in the town, if not, indeed, in the -kingdom; he also restored the choir and nave of the church, -erected the beautifully carved stalls on the north side of the choir, -and founded a grammar school, which one of his chantry priests -was to teach. It is probable that he was the husband of Joan -Bexwyke, the sister of Bishop Oldham, who, with Hugh Bexwyke -and Ralph Hulme (ancestor of William Hulme, the “Founder,”) -was named in the first charter of feoffment of the Manchester Free<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span> -Grammar School, the three being, in fact, not only trustees, but -special benefactors and co-founders in the endowment, if not in -the first erection, of the Manchester school, which absorbed the -original foundation of Richard Bexwyke. Another of these -Bexwykes, Roger, a son or nephew of the Richard just named, -married Margaret, the sister of John Bradford, the “martyr,” a -“worthy” whose name Lancashire men will always revere; and it -is recorded that this Roger attended Bradford at the stake at -Smithfield, but he was prevented by the brutal violence of one of -the officials from helping to soothe the martyrs last agonies.</p> - -<p>Henry Byrom left two sons—Robert, who succeeded as heir, but -died unmarried in May, 1586, when the property passed to his -younger brother, Lawrence. Of this representative of the family -but little is known. He was in infancy at the time of his father’s -decease, and he was yet only young when he became heir to his -brother, and succeeded to an inheritance that seems to have -involved him in no small amount of litigation—generally with his -own kinsmen, and for the purpose of adjusting differences respecting -properties bequeathed by his father and grandfather. Ultimately, -an agreement was come to, as appears by the following -deed, dated 13th December, <span class="nowrap">1586:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Be yt knowne to all men by these p’sents that wee Raphe Byrom (a -cousin of Lawrence), of Salford, in the countye of Lancaster, gent.; -Richard Hunte of the same Town, gent.; Adam Byrom (another cousin), -of the same Town, gent.; and Raphe Houghton, of Manchester, in the -countie afforesaid, gent.; for dyvers good causes and consideracons vs -movinge Have Remysed, &c., and quyteclaymed vnto Lawrence Byrom, of -Salfforde afforesaid, gent.; &c. All and all maner of accons, sutes, -querells, trespasses, &c. by reason of any Lease made unto us of confidence -and truste by Roberte Byrom (the elder brother of Lawrence and then -deceased) to us, &c. ffrom the beginning of the worlde till this p’sent daye -except onlie for the Release or discharge of one Obligacon of a thousande -poundes made &c. by Lawce. to Ralfe & Adam 3 Maye 28 Eliz. that the -sayde Lawrence B. shall not alter the state tayle made by Henry Byrom, -father of the said Robte B. & Lawrence B. Witnessed by “William -Radclyffe” and “Roberte Leighe.” Dated 13 Dec., 29 Eliz. (1586).<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p></blockquote> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span></p> -<p>The late Canon Parkinson, in his notes on the “Private Journal -of John Byrom,” says that “after an unsettled life, and a too keen -sense of his own infelicity, at least towards the close of his earthly -struggles, he found at last a haven of rest in the Collegiate -Church, being buried there June 26, 1598. There was,” he adds, -“more than ordinary sorrow in his family on that day, and -probably some ground for his son not appearing at the Herald’s -Visitation in 1613, as well as for his own Christian name not being -borne by any of his descendants.” The appearance at the -Visitation (Richard St. George’s) was scarcely necessary, for on -the same occasion Adam, the son of Ralph (Lawrence Byrom’s -cousin), entered a pedigree of six generations, claiming descent -from Ralph, “second sonne to Byrom of Byrom,” the first occasion -on which any pedigree of the family had been entered, and at the -same time he asserted his claim to and was allowed the arms -borne by the Byroms of Byrom—Argent, a chevron between three -porcupines, sable, a crescent for difference, with a porcupine, sable, -charged with a crescent for crest.</p> - -<p>Edward Byrom, the son who succeeded him, married, about the -year 1615, Ellen, the daughter of Thomas Worsley, of Carr in -Bowdon, an alliance that brought him in relationship with the -Worsleys, of Platt in Rusholme, of which family was the -distinguished Parliamentarian soldier, Major-general Charles -Worsley, returned as the first representative for Manchester in -Cromwell’s Parliament of 1654. Like his progenitors, he was -engaged in trade, and carried on an extensive business as a “linen -draper,” a phrase that meant a good deal more in those days -than it does now. In local affairs he took an active part, and in -1638–9 his name occurs on the Court Leet Rolls as one of two -constables of the town. His lot was cast in troublous times. -Unlike his contemporary, Humphrey Chetham, he seems to have -escaped the attentions of the money-seeking functionaries of Charles -the First. Greatness was not thrust upon him, and he had not, as -Chetham had, to pay smart for refusing to take upon himself the -“honour” of knighthood—a distinction in those days of doubtful -value.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span></p> - -<p>Manchester had oftentimes been the scene of conflict. Roman -and Saxon, Dane and Norman, had each in turn striven for -supremacy; but well nigh six hundred years had elapsed since the -tranquillity of the inhabitants had been disturbed by the presence -of contending armies. The day, however, was near at hand when -the sounds of war were once more to be heard, and that of war the -most unnatural; when members of the same family, and often the -same blood, were to contend with each other in deadly strife. -When the storm burst, and the struggle between Charles and the -Parliament began, the Byroms of Salford and the Byroms of -Manchester, with whom the recollection of the vexatious lawsuits -of Lawrence Byrom had not yet died out, ranged themselves on -opposite sides. The Byroms of Salford, like those of the parent -house, took up arms on behalf of the King, John Byrom receiving -a commission as sergeant-major in the regiment of Lancashire -militia commanded by Colonel Roger Nowell, of Read, for which, -and other acts of delinquency, his estates were seized by the -Commissioners of Sequestration, when he was obliged to compound -for them by the payment of £201 16s. 6d.; his brother, Edward -Byrom, being at the same time required to pay £2 6s. 8d.</p> - -<p>Edward Byrom, the representative of the Manchester stock, -though in earlier life a contributor to the building of Trinity -Church, in Salford, and accounted a moderate Churchman, was -strongly inclined to Presbyterianism, and, with two of his sons, -William and John, took an active part in promoting the cause of -the Parliament. Manchester was at the time the great stronghold -and rallying point of the Puritan party, and it is worthy of note -that it was here the first blood was shed in that unhappy conflict. -When the town was in peril of assault from Lord Strange’s -(afterwards Earl of Derby) forces, Heyricke, the Puritan warden, -engaged the services of a German engineer, John Rosworm, who -had served in the Low Countries, and happened at the time to be -in the town ready to be employed by either party, and bargained -with him to superintend the defences for six months for the -modest sum of thirty pounds. Edward Byrom,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> “Sergeant Mr. -Beirom the elder,” as he is called, served under Rosworm, and it -is recorded that he was the means of discovering a villainous plot -of certain individuals to seize and plunder the town, through -which the chief conspirators were apprehended and their designs -frustrated.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> At a later date, when Cromwell had been appointed -“Lord Protector of the Commonwealth,” and had summoned a -Parliament to meet on his “fortunate day,” September 3, 1654, -the anniversary of the battles of Dunbar and Worcester, we find -“Sergeant” Byrom among those of the witnesses to the return of -“Charles Worsley, of Platt,” his wife’s kinsman, as the first -member for Manchester. This appears to have been his last -official act, and his death occurred shortly after. His wife, Ellen -Worsley, bore him three sons and eight daughters. John, the -second son, was a zealous Puritan, and held a lieutenant’s -commission in the Parliamentarian army; his military experiences -were, however, cut short by an accident which cost him his life, -almost immediately after the outbreak of the war, and which is -thus recorded in a chronicle of the <span class="nowrap">time:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1642, October.—The two and twentieth day store of powder came in (to -Manchester) and the foure and twentieth day some (more powder) coming -was stayed. The joy of this last supply was sadly tempered with the -accidentall, but mortall, wound of a skilful and active souldier.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p></blockquote> - -<p>The “skilful and active soldier”—John Byrom—who was in -his twenty-second year, was buried in the Collegiate Church, -October 31, 1642.</p> - -<p>William Byrom, the eldest son, who succeeded as heir to his -father, was an active Presbyterian, and an elder in the Manchester -Classis. In 1656 he was one of the chief inhabitants who elected -Richard Radcliffe, of Pool Fold, as the representative of -Manchester in the Commonwealth Parliament in the place -of Worsley, who was then dead. Edward Byrom, the youngest of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span> -the three sons, was twenty-eight years of age at the time of his -father’s death, and had been then married only a few months, his -wife being Ellen, the daughter of John Crompton, of Halliwell. -He inherited the Puritan principles of his father and grandfather, -and was one of those who, on the death of Richard Hollinworth, -signed the invitation to Henry Newcome to supply the vacancy, -and, with his brother William, accompanied the deputation to -Newcome’s quiet little parsonage at Gawsworth to entreat the -famous preacher to comply with the wishes of the Church at -Manchester.</p> - -<p>This Edward was the first of the family who resided at Kersall -Cell, a house occupying the site of a religious settlement that -originally formed part of the possessions of the Cluniac monks of -Lenton, and which had been confiscated to the Crown in the -reign of Henry VIII. After its suppression the place, with the -manor, had been granted to Baldwin Willoughby, who, in 1540, -sold it to Ralph Kenyon, of Gorton, and he in turn conveyed it, -eight years afterwards, to Richard Siddall, of Slade Hall, an old -black and white house still standing in Burnage-lane, Rusholme. -The estate remained in the possession of the Siddals until 1613, -when it was alienated by Richard Siddal’s great grandson, George -Siddal, who seems to have been the spendthrift of his family.</p> - -<p>Edward Byrom made his will on the 14th June, 1668, being -then, as he states, “sick and weak of body,” and he must have -died within a day or two, for on the 18th June in the same year he -was laid to rest with his fathers in the Collegiate Church. By his -wife he had a family of six children, four of whom died in infancy, -two sons only surviving, Edward and Joseph Byrom.</p> - -<p>Joseph Byrom, the younger son, was largely engaged in trade, -and, in 1703, served the office of borough reeve. He acquired -considerable wealth in his business, and with the profits thus made -he, on the 10th July, 1710, purchased from Samuel Byrom, of -Byrom, the “Beau Byrom” before referred to, “the manor, -demesne and hall of Byrom,” the ancient house of his progenitors, -and it has continued in the family ever since.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span></p> - -<p>Edward Byrom, the eldest son, took up his abode at Kersall, -and he had also a house at Hyde’s Cross, which, with Withy -Grove—Within Greave, as it was called—was then a pleasant -outskirt, and the fashionable quarter of Manchester. In 1680 he -married Dorothy, daughter of Captain John Allen, of Redvales, -near Bury, and granddaughter of the Rev. Isaac Allen, rector of -Prestwich, by whom he had, in addition to seven daughters, two -sons, Edward, who, on his death in 1611, succeeded as heir, and -John Byrom, the famous poet and stenographer.</p> - -<p>The men of seclusion were by no means insensible to the -beauties of Nature, but, on the contrary, in the selection of the -sites for their religious houses usually displayed considerable -<span class="nowrap">judgment—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi10">The cunning rooks,</div> -<div class="verse">Pitched, as by instinct, on the fattest fallows—</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and Hugo de Buron was no exception, for he must have been -imbued with the feeling so characteristic of the monkish fraternity -when, in the days of Ranulph Gernons, he withdrew himself from -the world and settled as a solitary recluse in the quiet secluded -hermitage on the banks of the Irwell, which afterwards became an -appendage of the Cluniac monastery of Lenton, in Nottinghamshire, -and, in turn, the home of the opulent Manchester merchant, -Edward Byrom, and his descendants. Fairer spot than that -which Hugh de Buron chose it would be difficult to conceive, or -one better suited for a life of monastic seclusion. It was then -remote from the haunts of men, the atmosphere was not dimmed -by the smoke of innumerable chimneys, nor the broad stream -polluted with the abominations of countless manufactories. With -its breezy moor and low wooded hills, its ferny hollows and forest -avenues, and its wide shimmering river gliding swiftly yet silently -along, and heightened in beauty by the noble oaks and stately elms -that feathered down almost to the water’s edge, it was just the -place where the soul might commune with itself, and feed on -thoughts and fancies ever new and ever beautiful. A place where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span> -the purest and noblest impulses might be awakened and the -mind stirred to many a holy thought and deed—where in leaf and -blossom, in wood and water, might be discovered the parallelism -between the Great Artificer’s work and His precepts, or, as -Charles Kingsley puts it, “The work of God’s hand, the likeness -of God’s countenance, the shadow of God’s glory.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">It stood embosomed in a happy valley,</div> -<div class="vi4">Crowned by high woodlands, where the Druid oak</div> -<div class="verse">Stood like Caractacus, in act to rally</div> -<div class="vi4">His host, with broad arms ’gainst the thunderstroke.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>After the Reformation, when this little sanctuary passed into -lay hands, a house was built upon the site—a picturesque black -and white structure with projecting oriels, quaint mullioned -windows, and gabled roofs, and here Edward Byrom took up his -abode when he attained to manhood, for he was a youth of but -twelve summers when his father died; to this house he took his -youthful bride, Dorothy Allen, in 1680, and here many of his -children were born. He had another house, as already stated, at -Hyde’s Cross, and, besides this, his burgage shop or place of -business in the market stead opposite the Cross, to which he -afterwards added a stall, as appears by the following entry on the -court rolls of the manor of <span class="nowrap">Manchester:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1692, May 16th.—Stallinged and installed Edward Byrom, of Manchester, -milliner, in one stall, stallinge, or standing roome at or neare the -Crosse, in the Market Place, in Manchester aforesaid, formerly in the -possession of Francis Rydings, deceased, being next to Robert Pelton’s, -towards the Crosse, conteyning in breadth two yards, and length three -yards.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The spot thus indicated was in close proximity, if not, indeed, -actually in front of the shop—the quaint black and white structure -in the Market Place, which has been for many years a licensed -house, and is now known as the “Wellington.” The building has -ever since continued in the possession of the family, the present -owner being Mr. Edward Byrom, who assumed that name in lieu -of Fox on his succeeding at her death to the property of his godmother,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span> -Miss Eleanora Atherton, the great granddaughter of -Edward Byrom’s distinguished son, John Byrom. The “milliner’s” -business was in reality that of a mercer or haberdasher. It must -have prospered, for subsequently the two adjoining stalls were -absorbed; and it would seem to have been carried on after -Edward Byrom’s death by his youngest daughter, Phœbe, for in -Mrs. Raffald’s “Directory” for 1773 the name occurs, “Miss -Phœbe Byrom, milliner, 1, Shambles,” and in that for 1781, “Miss -Phœbe Byrom, milliner, Market Place.” The lady, who was five -years younger than her brother John, died on the 20th February, -1785, at the ripe old age of 88.</p> - -<p>It seems strange in these days to read of a merchant or trader -having a stall in the Market Place, but the mode in which business -was conducted in the earlier years of the last century was very -different to that with which the present generation is familiar. -Dr. Aikin, in his “Description of the Country Round Manchester,” -says that “When the trade began to extend, the chapmen used to -keep gangs of pack-horses, and accompany them to the principal -towns with goods in packs, which they opened and sold to shopkeepers, -lodging what was unsold in small stores at the inn. The -pack-horses brought back sheep’s wool, which was bought on the -journey and sold to the makers of worsted yarns at Manchester or -to the clothiers of Rochdale, Saddleworth, and the West Riding -of Yorkshire.” When at home the trader was invariably in his -warehouse or place of business at six o’clock in the morning; at -seven he and his children and apprentices had a “plain breakfast” -together, the “plain breakfast” being “one large dish of water -pottage, made of oatmeal, water, and a little salt, boiled thick and -poured into a dish.” “A pan or basin of milk” was placed by the -side, and each, using a wooden spoon, dipped first into one and -then into the other. The shops in the Market Place which were -occupied by clothiers, mercers, and the better class of tradesmen -were for the most part open to the street, and a loose stall or -standing in front, where their wares could be more advantageously -displayed, was not thought at all derogatory.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the “Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom,” -edited for the Chetham Society by the late Canon Parkinson, we -have pleasant glimpses of the daily doings of the worthy linen-draper -or milliner, as he was indifferently styled, Edward Byrom, -and an admirable picture of the habits and modes of life in the -household of a well-to-do trader as well as of the literary and social -characteristics of the better class of people in Manchester a century -and a half ago. Edward Byrom had a numerous family—seven -daughters, six of whom died unmarried, and, in addition, two sons. -Edward, the eldest son, who was brought up to the business which -had been carried on with so much success for so many generations, -was born March 4, 1686–7. John was baptised at the Collegiate -Church, 29th February, 1691–2, and was his junior therefore by -about five years. Having, as good old Bishop Oldham expressed -it, much “pregnant witte,” he was trained for one of the learned -professions, and in due course was sent to Chester and placed -under the tuition of his relative, the eminent schoolmaster, Mr. -Francis Harper, preparatory to his being entered at Merchant -Taylors’—then famous as a seminary of learning—in which it was -expected that his father’s influence with the city traders would -secure him admission. He proceeded from Chester to London -in January, 1707–8, and in the following month he writes to his -<span class="nowrap">father:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="right"> - -London, Feb. 1707/8, -</p> - -<p>Hond. Sir [such was the form in which a young gentleman addressed -his “governor” in the days of Queen Anne] I received yours in answer to -mine of the 10th and 27th inst. Our feast was on Tuesday last; the boys -went to school, had wine and biscuit, then walked to Bow Church, where -one Mr. Dunstan preached on Prov. xix. 8; from thence they walked to -Leathersellers’ Hall, where the gentlemen had a feast. The boys who -were my schoolfellows at Chester came up soon to London, which turned -to their advantage. I think it not prudence to go to University too soon, -both for Mr. Ashton’s opinion, and because I believe that when they come -there they are expected to know enough of school learning so as to read -authors, compose exercises, &c., with their own help and the instruction of -a tutor. I cannot have the opportunity of seeing the Register Book till -doctor’s day, which will be about Easter, when I shall take particular -notice how I stand as to election; in the meantime strive to improve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span> -myself in virtue, knowledge, and learning. We went to Bow Church on -Sunday to hear the Archbishop of York.—I am your dutiful son,</p> - -<p> -J.B.<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>In another letter he <span class="nowrap">writes:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>My master is very kind to me, and never yet spoke a cross word to me, -and I think I never gave him occasion, which is an encouragement and -satisfaction to me, and I will strive to preserve it.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Young Byrom’s progress in the classics was so satisfactory -that in 1709 he was admitted a pensioner of Trinity College, -Cambridge, and in a letter, dated 14th May in that year, he -gives his father a detailed account of the examination and -the circumstances attendant upon his election. His career -at the university was anxiously watched by his father, whose -letters, many of which have been preserved, contain many -admonitions and much excellent advice. Thus, apparently in -response to a request for a copy of Locke’s great work, he writes,</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I have not Mr. Locke’s book of “Human Understanding,” it is above -my capacity; nor was I ever fond of that author, he being (though a very -learned man) a Socinian or an atheist, as to which controversy, I desire -you not to trouble yourself with it in your younger studies. I look upon it -as a snare of the devil, thrown among sharp wits and ingenious youths to -oppose their reason to revelation, and because they cannot apprehend -reason, to make them sceptics, and so entice them to read other books than -the Bible and the comments upon it.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In another letter he <span class="nowrap">says:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I lately brought home Mr. Melling and Mr. Worsley from evening -prayers to drink a dish of tea in your remembrance ... good son, -look now before you to consider how precious your time is, and how to -improve yourself, to consider the design and end proposed in your -education, to fit you for sacred orders, which ought most considerately to -be undertaken ... whatever books you read, be sure to read Dr. -Hammond upon the Psalms and Lessons, with Dr. Whitby every day; it -is not every young scholar hath them, but you have, and shall want no -necessary thing I can buy you. I was reading, the other evening, the 2nd -lesson; Hebrews vi., 7, 8, made a deeper impression on my mind now, -after receiving the holy sacrament on Good Friday and Easter day, than I -ever noted in them before, which may be applicable to you. In your case, -when the good education bestowed upon youths designed for the ministry -bringeth forth herbs meet for them to whom it is dressed, it receiveth -God’s blessing; but if thorns and briars, &c. Reading this, I applied it so -on you, who I then thought of, but on myself as in my own case.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span></p> - -<p>No wonder that with such counsel from such a father, the young -undergraduate should have become imbued with a spirit of piety -that influenced every action of his future life. But that father -was soon to be taken from him. In August, 1711, Edward Byrom, -whose health had been failing for some time, passed away at the -comparatively early age of fifty-five, and on the twenty-first of the -same month was laid to rest by the side of his fathers in the Jesus -chantry, then called the Byrom chapel, in the old church of -Manchester—the church in which in life he had so often delighted -to worship.</p> - -<p>In December, 1711, young Byrom took his B.A., and in his -exuberant joy he thus writes from Cambridge to his confidential -friend, John Stansfield, the assistant manager of his late father’s -place of business in London, whom he frequently commissioned to -purchase books for <span class="nowrap">him:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I would fain have nothing hinder the pleasure I take in thinking how -soon I shall change this tattered blue gown (the undergraduate’s gown, -which was then, as now, blue) for a black one and a lambskin, and have -the honourable title of Bachelor of Arts. <span class="smcap">Bachelor of Arts!</span> John, -how great it sounds! the Great Mogul is nothing to it. Ay, ay, sir, don’t -pride yourself upon your fine titles before you have them. Are you sure -of your degree? Can you stand the test of a strict examination in all -these arts you are to be bachelor of? Has not one of your blue gowns -been stopped this week for insufficiency in that point already, and do you -hope to escape better? Why, sir, you say true, but I will hope on, notwithstanding, -till I see reason to the contrary.—Yours, J. B.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The “black gown,” the “lambskin,” and the “honourable -title” were gained notwithstanding, and the vacation which -followed was spent by the young Bachelor of Arts with his -widowed mother and sisters in his Lancashire home at Kersall. -His sister, Sarah (Mrs. Brearcliffe), in a letter to John Stansfield, -<span class="nowrap">writes—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Brother John is most at Kersall: he goes every night and morning -down to the water side and bawls out one of Tully’s orations in Latin, so -loud they can hear him a mile off; so that all the neighbourhood think he -is mad, and you would think so too if you saw him. Sometimes he -thrashes corn with John Rigby’s men, and helps them to get potatoes, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> -works as hard as any of them. He is very good company and we shall -miss him when he is gone, which will not be long to now; Christmas is -very near.</p></blockquote> - -<p>From orating on the banks of the Irwell, and “threshing corn -with John Rigby’s men,” Byrom returned to his studies at -Cambridge. His lively and cheerful disposition made him -popular with his brother collegians, and secured for him many -friendships. He was, too, a welcome visitor in the house of the -master of Trinity, Dr. Richard Bentley—the great Bentley; one -of his most intimate associates was the doctor’s nephew, “Tom,” -and he was also on friendly terms with the doctor’s young and -fascinating daughter, Joanna—“Jug,” as she was familiarly called—if, -indeed, they did not entertain something more than friendly -feelings towards each other. In July, 1714, we find him writing -to his old friend Stansfield as to his prospects of a fellowship, and -in the following month he writes to his brother Edward, who was -then in <span class="nowrap">London:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I have wrote to Mr. Banks to desire his interest at fellowships, but must -leave it to you to direct it and send it to him.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It was about this time that his passion for poetry first manifested -itself. He had before (August 17, 1714), under the signature of -“John Shadow,” contributed a paper to the <cite>Spectator</cite> on the -subject of dreams, which elicited a complimentary editorial note -from Addison. This was followed on the 6th October in the -same year by his pretty pastoral, “Colin and Phœbe,” prefaced by -another complimentary note, which at once brought him into -general <span class="nowrap">notice:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">My time, O ye muses, was happily spent,</div> -<div class="verse">When Phœbe went with me wherever I went,</div> -<div class="verse">Ten thousand sweet pleasures I felt in my breast;</div> -<div class="verse">Sure never fond shepherd like Colin was blest!</div> -<div class="verse">But now she has gone, and has left me behind,</div> -<div class="verse">What a marvellous change on a sudden I find!</div> -<div class="verse">When things were as fine as could possibly be,</div> -<div class="verse">I thought ’twas the spring, but alas! it was she.</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span></p> -<p>The poem, which comprises ten stanzas, at once became -generally popular; it was his first production in verse, and gained -the admiration of Chalmers and the praise of Bishop Monk, the -latter pronouncing it “one of the most exquisite specimens in -existence.” It is commonly supposed that the Phœbe of the -pastoral was Bentley’s witty and accomplished daughter, “Jug,” -who, Bishop Monk says, “from her earliest youth captivated the -hearts of the young collegians,” and for whom Byrom is said, -though without any evidence, to have conceived a passion. It is -more than likely that he wished to attract the attention of Bentley, -who was an ardent admirer of the <cite>Spectator</cite>, and who, finding in -its columns a poem of such merit from one of his own college -might be induced to use his influence in obtaining for the author -the fellowship which Byrom so much desired. Certain it is that -he got the fellowship he had previously despaired of, and did not -gain the hand of Bentley’s daughter, that young lady a few years -afterwards becoming the wife of Dr. Dennison Cumberland, afterwards -Bishop of Clonfert and Killaloe, the issue of the marriage -being Richard Cumberland, the well-known dramatic writer.</p> - -<p>The year following his election to a fellowship of his college -(1714) Byrom proceeded to his master’s degree. The ardent -aspirations of his father that he should enter the Church were not, -however, to be realised, for in 1716 he was obliged by the statutes -of his college to vacate his fellowship in consequence of his -declining to be admitted to holy orders. The reason of this is -not very clear, but it is evident from his correspondence that he -had then become strongly imbued with Jacobitism, and, in the -unsettled state of society consequent upon the Hanoverian -succession and the determined efforts that were made to restore -the crown to the exiled Stuarts, he may have felt a desire to be -free from the obligations his ordination vows would impose. Be -that as it may, he visited the continent in 1717, and remained for -some time in seclusion. There was some mystery about his -movements at the time, and it has been surmised that his retirement -was not altogether unconnected with politics, if, indeed, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span> -was not for the actual purpose of fomenting another Jacobite -insurrection. During his stay he met with Malebranche’s -“Search after Truth,” and some pieces of Mademoiselle -Bourignon, the consequence of which was that he became strongly -impressed with the visionary philosophy of the former, and the -enthusiastic extravagance of the latter. He resided for a while at -Montpelier, where he applied himself to the study of medicine. -His brother Edward, writing to him on the 17th August, 1717, -<span class="nowrap">says:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I hope you have improved yourself in physic since your being there -(Montpelier). I would gladly have you employ yourself that way, and you -need not doubt of encouragement here. Not one person but ourselves -knows where you are, but we think now to let our friends know that you -are studying physic at Montpelier.... You may save yourself any -trouble of inquiring after Mr. Roberts, for he is in these parts, but thinks -himself excepted out of the act of grace, as are all persons who have gone -beyond seas, or all who have been with the Pretender.</p></blockquote> - -<p>While away there was a probability of the librarianship of the -Chetham Library falling vacant, a post which Byrom was rather -anxious to obtain, though the emoluments were very small. In a -letter to his brother, written from Montpelier, January 3, 1718, -he <span class="nowrap">writes:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>My wife (his youngest sister Phœbe, whom he playfully spoke of by that -name) writes me word that Mr. Lesley, your library keeper, is going to -die; that the feoffees ask if I will have the place. I could like it very well, -but I suppose it tied to certain engagements which I do not like so well; -I suppose the feoffees (are) at liberty to give it to one <em>in</em> or <em>out</em> of orders, -but whether he must take the oaths or no depends not upon them. If I -may be as I am, I shall be glad to visit the skeleton. You all invite me -home very kindly, and in spring I think to come to you by way of Paris, if -you know of no other by any of the ports. I have nothing should tempt -me from your company at present but the occasion of a little insight into -physic in this place.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The “insight” having apparently been obtained, he returned to -England, and on the 3rd May he writes a hurried note to his -brother from Cambridge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The post is this moment going out, so I run to the coffee-house to return -you an answer in haste to yours, and let you know that I should be very -willing to have the library, and am very much obliged to you for your -pains in engaging the feoffees; if you can be sure of it, let me know -further; it will be better worth while than staying for a doubtful chance of -a fellowship whose profit will be slow in coming; besides, ’tis in Manchester, -which place I love entirely.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Whether admission to orders was a condition, or the taking the -oaths an obstacle, is not clear, but, though Byrom returned to -Manchester, he did not succeed to the office.</p> - -<p>The prospect of the librarianship of Chetham’s Library was not -the only inducement for Byrom to settle in his native town. His -uncle, Joseph Byrom, had a pretty daughter, then blooming into -womanhood, who had made an impression on his susceptible heart, -and, in short, the ardent young Jacobite, who awhile before had -penned verses in praise of Bentley’s fascinating <span class="nowrap">daughter—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Moving all nature with his artless plaints,</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>fell in love with his cousin; but the course of true love was ruffled -by the proverbial obstructions. The young lady’s favour was -quickly gained, but her father’s approval was not so easily secured, -and that is scarcely to be wondered at. Byrom at the time had -not settled down to any profession; his prospects were doubtful; -he had been obliged to seclude himself on account of his political -proclivities; and had, moreover, come to be accounted an eccentric -and somewhat dreamy philosopher, infected with the mysticism of -the French school. The practical, hard-headed Manchester merchant -could, therefore, hardly look upon him as an eligible suitor -or a promising husband for a young lady destined to inherit the -ancestral home of the Byroms. Everything, however, comes to him -who can wait. Byrom did wait; and eventually the obdurate parent -yielded, and gave his consent to, if he did not actually express -approval of, the match; and on Valentine’s Day, 1720–1, at the -old church, the young couple were united, the bride having just -completed her twenty-first year, and Byrom being then in his -twenty-ninth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span></p> - -<p>Chalmers, in his biography of Byrom, represents the marriage as -a clandestine one. He says the lady’s father “was extremely averse -to the match, and when it took place without his consent, refused -the young couple any means of support; and, as a means of supporting -himself and his wife, Byrom had recourse to the teaching -of shorthand writing.” But this is an error, as evidenced by a -passage in a letter addressed by the bride’s elder sister, Anne -Byrom, to Mr. Stansfield, under date February 18, 1720–1, four -days after the <span class="nowrap">wedding:—</span></p> - - -<blockquote> - -<p>I received yours last week, and designed answering it by first post, but -could not have an opportunity, we having been pretty much engaged this -week; for on Tuesday last sister Elizabeth was married to Dr. Byrom, with -consent of father and mother, and the wedding kept here, and we having -had a deal of company.</p></blockquote> - -<p>His sister here designates him “Dr.” Byrom, and the prefix to -his name was through life commonly accorded by his friends and -acquaintance. He does not appear ever to have taken a degree -entitling him to it, though in one of his letters written from -Montpelier he styles himself “Dr. of Physic.” There is a common -belief that he practised medicine in Manchester; but this was only -upon rare occasions, chiefly among the poor and the members of his -own family; and he threw physic to the dogs when he applied -himself to the perfecting of his system of shorthand. Shortly after -his marriage he became the occupant of a house belonging to Mr. -Hunter, standing at the corner of Hanging Ditch, and what is now -the lower end of Cannon Street, but then called Hunter’s-lane, and -here his family resided for many years. His journal affords pleasant -glimpses of his home life and surroundings at this <span class="nowrap">time:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>October 5, 1722.—This day we came to Mr. Hunter’s house. Saturday, -6th.—Laurenson’s wife died. Sister Ellen ill. Sorted my papers all -morning. Mr. Hooper came about one to ask me to go to Holme (Hulme -Hall). I followed ’em thither; Mr. M. and R. and Mrs. H. Malyn. Dr. -Mainwaring there. We bowled, read Haddon’s verses on the eclipses, &c. -Mr. Leycester came, and Mr. Kate.</p></blockquote> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<a name="JBH" id="JBH"></a> -<img src="images/i_405.jpg" width="600" height="541" alt="John Byroms House, Manchester" /> -</div> - -<p>The Mr. Hooper here referred to was the recently-appointed -librarian to Chetham’s Library, and the chaplain to Lady Anne<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span> -Bland, of Hulme Hall, lady of the manor of Manchester. Massey -Malyn was a son of Dr. Malyn, who had acquired by his marriage -the Sale Hall Estate, in Cheshire, and was himself the rector of -Ashton-upon-Mersey; Robert Malyn, his younger brother, was an -undergraduate of Cambridge; Peter Mainwaring was a well-known -medical practitioner in the town, who subsequently married one of -the sisters and co-heiresses of Massey Malyn; and John Haddon -was the rector of Warrington. Hulme Hall was at that time the -centre in which gathered the wit and learning and intellectuality of -the neighbourhood. Lady Anne Bland, the widowed owner, and -the foundress of St. Ann’s, was accounted the leader of fashion -among the Hanoverian and Whig party, and the rival of Madam -Drake, who carried the palm among the Jacobite and Tory -fashionables; the former deeming it not inconsistent with her -dignity to resent the exuberant display of Stuart tartan at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span> -newly-built Assembly-rooms, in King Street, by arraying her -party in orange-coloured ribbons, and dancing a minuet with them -by moonlight in the open street. Byrom was always a welcome -guest at Hulme, where his sprightliness and epigrammatic humour -was highly appreciated, and with the pious, if somewhat imperious, -owner he was, in spite of his Jacobite proclivities, an especial -favourite. He was a frequent worshipper at St. Ann’s, the “new -church” as it was called, in contradistinction to the “old” or parish -church, oftentimes occupying Lady Bland’s seat, and occasionally -going back to tea with her in her own <span class="nowrap">coach:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1725.—Wednesday, Twelfth-day (January 6th), went to the new church in -the morning with Beppy (his eldest daughter Elizabeth, then a child of -three years), and sat in Lady Bland’s seat; dined at Father Byrom’s; called -to see the Wild Irishman in Smithy-door.</p> - -<p>Tuesday, 12th,—Young Tarboc called on me, and we went to Hulme to -take the inscription off the stone (a Roman altar found in Castle Field). I -came home with Lady Bland in the coach, and went with Mr. Cattel -and Mr. Brettargh to dinner. I went to Hulme again with young Tarboc.</p> - -<p>Wednesday.—Lady Bland sent to invite me to the dancing to-night. I -walked to Hulme in the evening, when I found them dancing. We came -home between twelve and one in Lady Bland’s coach and father Byrom’s -chariot, which sister Ann had ordered.</p> - -<p>Sunday.—New church; sat with Mr. Mynshull (of Chorlton Hall); took -leave with Dr. Malyn, Mr. Chetham, and Lady Bland.</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is pleasant to think that at this time, when in Manchester -political and religious feeling was at fever heat, and the place had -become little else than a hot-bed of contending factions, there was -a disposition to observe the amenities of life, and people of the -most conflicting political opinions were able to meet in social intercourse -with every appearance of complaisant good humour.</p> - -<p>When Byrom married he obtained the consent of his bride’s -father, but he obtained little else; his own means were scanty, -and with the increasing demands of an increasing family he was -compelled to follow some occupation as a means of earning a livelihood. -While pursuing his studies at Cambridge he had invented -a system of shorthand, the leading principle of which was to denote -the different sounds of language by strokes of the shortest and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span> -simplest form. Reporting, as a profession, was all but unknown, -but in private life stenography was much more generally practised -than at the present time, especially among students and the better -educated members of society, who, before the age of cheap literature, -had recourse to it to reduce the labour of frequent -transcription. Cypher-writing had long been in vogue, the -“Diary” of Pepys being a notable illustration, but the system -which Byrom introduced was the first that was based upon any -clearly defined principle, and, though now out of date, may be -said to be the parent of all subsequent and “improved” systems. -Unfortunately for him the men of Manchester a century and a half -ago thought more of looms than of literature, and were more intent -on manufactures than on metaphysics; hence the place afforded -little scope for the practice of the art which he had invented. -London was a more promising field, and during several years he -made lengthened visits to the metropolis, where he met with very -encouraging support, his patrons and pupils including some of the -most eminent statesmen and divines of the day—the Duke of -Devonshire, the Archbishop of York, Lord Chesterfield, Lord -Hartington, Hoadley, Bishop of Salisbury, Horace Walpole, Pope, -and others of equal celebrity. In his Journal he <span class="nowrap">records:—</span>“Proposals -printed May 27, 1723, for printing and publishing a -new method of shorthand;” and on the 30th January, 1724, he -writes to his <span class="nowrap">wife:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I told you I was to see the Archbishop of York. I did so on Tuesday -morning, and talked with him and his son about our art. They entered -into the notion of it very readily, and his grace promised to recommend it -wherever he had an opportunity. New proposals are now printing off, -dated February 1st, 1724, that is, Saturday, on which day I intend to -advertise in the <cite>Daily Post</cite>, <cite>Evening Post</cite>, and <cite>London Journal</cite>. They are -the same as the old proposals, only Mr. Leycester’s (of Toft) approbation -is added to Mr. Smith’s. Now the thing receives a formal publication I -shall see what I am likely to expect from my friend Mr. Public, and -whether he will have a true relish for clever things or no.</p></blockquote> - -<p>“Mr. Public” had the desired “relish,” and the “clever things” -obtained for their inventor the honour of admission into the -Royal Society.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Thursday, March 19th (1724).—This day I was admitted Fellow of the -Royal Society by Sir Hans Sloane, and Mr. Robert Ord at the same time. -He and I went there together, gave Mr. Hawkshee two guineas, and signed -bond to pay fifty-two shillings a year.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Byrom found a competitor in the person of a Mr. James Weston, -who claimed to be the inventor of a superior method of stenography, -and the journalist thus writes of his “furious antagonist”<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Hooper and Jo. Clowes have been to pay Mr. Weston a visit, and -we have had good diversion with the account of it.... He describes -me seven foot high,<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> tolerably dressed in a tie-wig, spent my fortune, and -a little light-headed, and showed ’em all his challenge, and how he had -frightened me from dispersing my proposals publicly, but seemed at the -bottom to be plaguily afraid. He says I come to Dick’s coffee house almost -every night when he intends to come and challenge me before the company; -when he does, I shall let you know in what manner he (de)molishes me.</p></blockquote> - -<p>During his visits to London Byrom became associated with the -leading literary and political characters of the day—with Sir Hans -Sloane, Bentley, the great Newton, the Wesleys, and others—over -whom his great intellectual ability and ceaseless industry, -blended as it was with a high tone of religious and moral feeling, -enabled him to exercise considerable influence. His “Journal,” -in which from day to day he records the trifling occurrences of his -life, contains many references to his literary friends, and embraces -a variety of information interesting as illustrative of the manners -and habits of the age. In his long absences, however, he never -forgot the ties of home and family. His letters addressed “To -Mrs. Eliz. Byrom, near the Old Church, in Manchester,” relating -his daily doings, are full of entertaining gossip, and couched in -terms of the fondest endearment. Here is a passage taken at -<span class="nowrap">random:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Kent’s Coffee House, May 20, 1729.—I am sorry to hear of Nelly’s being -so ill and weakly; but I am not able to add anything to the care which -you take of her by any physic of mine. The diet of children is the only -thing to look after.... My dearest love, as thou takest all possible -care of thy infants, make not thyself uneasy about them; but secure thine -own health for the sake of them, and thy most affectionate husband and -friend.</p></blockquote> - -<p>A week later he <span class="nowrap">writes:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I promise myself that you are all pretty well at Kersall and Nelly better, -not having any letter last post.... Prithee let the children have some -sort of things that will keep the sun off ’em. Why should one let their -faces be spoiled when a little custom might prevent it? Oh, dear! that I -was with ye all. I long to jump into Kersall river.</p></blockquote> - -<p>If he could revisit his dearly-loved haunt at Kersall he would find -the river now not quite so inviting.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In one of his letters to Mrs. Byrom he speaks of meeting with -Whitefield, the great preacher and founder of the Calvinistic -Methodists, who had then just returned from a visit to the -American settlement of Georgia, when it was proposed to sing a -hymn; and he remarks, “If I was to sing with ’em, it must (be) -nearer homeward than Georgia. The tune that I should sing -would be something like this, I <span class="nowrap">believe:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Partner of all my joys and cares,</div> -<div class="vi4">Whether in poverty or wealth,</div> -<div class="verse">For thee I put up all my pray’rs;</div> -<div class="vi4">Well heard if answer’d by thy health.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Long absence, cruel as it is,</div> -<div class="vi4">Content still longer to endure,</div> -<div class="verse">If ought conducive to thy bliss</div> -<div class="vi4">The tedious torment could procure.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Joyous or grievous my employ,</div> -<div class="vi4">Absence itself would give relief,</div> -<div class="verse">Could I but give thee all the joy,</div> -<div class="vi4">And bear myself alone the grief.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Lost in this place of grand resort,</div> -<div class="vi4">Though crowds succeeding crowds I see,</div> -<div class="verse">Quite from the city to the court—</div> -<div class="vi4">’Tis all a wilderness to me!</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Amidst a world of gaudy scenes</div> -<div class="vi4">Around me, glittering, I move;</div> -<div class="verse">I wander, heedless what it means,</div> -<div class="vi4">Bent on the thoughts of her I love.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Still I usurp that sacred sound</div> -<div class="vi4">Too often and too long profan’d;</div> -<div class="verse">When shall I tread the happy ground</div> -<div class="vi4">Where love and truth may be obtained?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Let me and my beloved spouse,</div> -<div class="vi4">With mutual ardour, strive to quit</div> -<div class="verse">False, earthly, interested vows,</div> -<div class="vi4">And Heaven into our hearts admit.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">There let th’ endearing hope take place,</div> -<div class="vi4">Though parted here to meet above</div> -<div class="verse">In a perpetual chaste embrace,</div> -<div class="vi4">United, Jesu! in thy love!”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>It was during the time of these visits to London that the wordy -war arose between the admirers of Handel and his great Italian -rival Bononcini, which Byrom ridiculed in a witty epigram that will -remain famous for all <span class="nowrap">time:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Some say compared to Bononcini</div> -<div class="vi4">That Mynheer Handel’s but a ninny.</div> -<div class="verse">Others aver that he to Handel</div> -<div class="vi4">Is scarcely fit to hold a candle;</div> -<div class="verse">Strange all this difference should be</div> -<div class="vi4">’Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Its publication created quite a sensation in the literary world; -the wits of the day attributed it to Swift, and he has been often -credited with it in later times. Handel’s biographer, M. Victor -Schoelcher, thus refers to it—“Swift, who admired nothing, and -who had no ear, wrote an epigram upon the subject,” and adds, -“the angry injustice of the nobles” who were in league against the -great composer was “far preferable to the empty eclecticism of -the Dean of St Patrick’s.” The question of authorship is, however, -easily disposed of by a reference to Byrom’s journal, in which, -writing under date, Saturday, June 5, 1725, he <span class="nowrap">says:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“We went to see Mr. Hooper, who was at dinner at Mr. Whitworth’s; -he came over to us to Mill’s Coffee House, told us of my epigram upon -Handel and Bononcini being in the papers.... Bob came to supper; -said that Glover had showed him the verses in the <cite>Journal</cite>, not knowing -that they were mine.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>And so the years went round. The summer months he usually -spent with his family and kindred in Lancashire; looking in now -and then at the “College;” discussing learnedly with Dr. Deacon, -Clayton, Thyer, and other of the local <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">literati</i>; paying court to -Lady Bland; spending the day with “Mother Byrom” at Kersall; -dining with “brother Byrom at the Cross” (Edward Byrom’s, in -the Market Place); “drinking a dish of tea with sister Brearcliffe” -at her stately house in Spring Gardens; or taking an evening walk -“after sermon by the river side by Strangeways with Mr. Leycester -and Dr. Mainwaring;” for Strangeways Walk, as it was called, was -then a pleasant tree-shaded lane, with the pleasaunce belonging to -Hunt’s Bank Hall, the residence of Mr. Clowes, and the stately -woods of Strangeways Park on the one hand, and verdant meadows -and pastures reaching down to the banks of the pure and sparkling -Irwell on the other. In London his time was pretty well occupied -with his pupils, the brief intervals of leisure being spent in social -intercourse with his Lancashire and Cambridge friends, writing -epigrams, disputing on religious doctrines, attending meetings at -the (Royal) “Society,” “making merry at the Mitre,” and lamenting -the shortcomings of his laundress.</p> - -<p>The practice of reporting was not then universally popular, and -Byrom occasionally met with a humorous adventure. “Orator” -Henley, whom Pope has <span class="nowrap">immortalised—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The great restorer of the good old stage,</div> -<div class="verse">Preacher at once and zany of his age.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>objected to his sermons being reported on the ground that “he -might have his discourses printed against him.” He threatened to -turn out the “chiel amang them takin notes,” and when Byrom -would not desist, even when the “manager” offered to return the -shilling he had paid for admission,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span> “went on so much faster than -usual that he took the only way to stop me,” thus effectually getting -rid of the unwelcome attentions of the inexorable shorthand writer. -On another occasion when Byrom exercised his talents in assisting -the High Church party to oppose the application to Parliament for -an Act to establish a workhouse in Manchester for the employment -of the poor, a scene occurred which is best related in his own -words. A subscription had been raised in the town to defray the -cost of erection, and it was proposed that the house should be -managed by twenty-four guardians, eight to be nominated by the -Whigs, eight by the Tories, and the remainder by the Presbyterians. -Dr. Peploe, the Whig Bishop of Chester, who was also warden of -Manchester, undertook to present the Bill for forming the guardians -into a corporation; but the Tory and High Church party offered a -strong opposition to the scheme. Through some delay the measure -was defeated in the first session of Parliament, and on being -reintroduced in the succeeding year it was opposed by Sir Oswald -Mosley, of Ancoats, who, fearing that his interests as lord of the -manor might be prejudiced, had, in the meantime, caused a large -building to be erected for the purpose near Miller’s Lane—the -present Miller Street. Byrom, whom the Whigs denounced as an -incendiary and threatened to pull to pieces, was very active in -supporting the Tory opposition, and gave evidence before the -Commissioners. He appears on the same occasion to have -occupied himself in taking shorthand notes, when the scene -occurred which he thus describes in a letter dated February 20, -<span class="nowrap">1731:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I must tell you to get another petition ready to offer to the House that a -body may write shorthand in the cause of one’s country. I have ventured -to stand the threats of a complaint and the danger of a committee in defence -of that natural right of exercising the noble art which I have acquired. -At the last committee but one I was threatened by a Scotch knight (Sir -James Campbell) whom I provoked to execution of his said valiant threatening -yesterday, for in the midst of Serjt. Darnel’s reply out he comes at -the instigation of one Brereton, and suddenly and loud pronounces these -terrible words—<em>To oadur, oardur, I speak to oadur; I desair to knaw if any -mon shil wrait here that is nut a clairk or solicitur?</em> and an universal silence -ensuing I was going to speak for myself but a member of my acquaintance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span> -winking that I had better not, I repressed my rising indignation. Nobody -said anything to the knight’s query, only Sir Ed. Stanley (M.P. for the -county of Lancaster, and afterwards eleventh Earl of Derby) hinted that -there was no great harm done; and my friend the serjeant himself said -that the gentleman was famous for writing shorthand, and for his part he -was under no apprehension by his taking down anything he should say, -and so returned to his matter; and the apparition of danger vanished; -but if these attacks upon the liberty of shorthand men go on I must have -a petition from all countries where our disciples dwell, and Manchester -must lead ’em on.</p></blockquote> - -<p>On the 12th May, 1740, Byrom’s elder brother, Edward, the -“Brother Byrom at the Cross,” died unmarried, when John, the -poet and stenographer, became the head of the family and owner -of the estates at Kersall.</p> - -<p>Mr. Espinasse, in the first of his admirable series of “Lancashire -Worthies,” says that Byrom’s biographers “do not give the precise -date of the death of his elder brother, Edward.” The information -is supplied in the stenographer’s “Shorthand Journal,” in which -occurs this <span class="nowrap">entry:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>May 12th (1740).—Edward Byrom, of Kersall, elder son of Edward -Byrom, of Manchester, and Dorothy, daughter of John Allen, of Redivales, -near Bury. He was born March 4th, 1686, and died May 12th, 1740.</p></blockquote> - -<p>By his acquisition of the family estates at Kersall, Byrom was -placed in a position of comfortable independence, and able to relax -from the drudgery of teaching shorthand, though it was some time -before he could be induced to withdraw from London and its -pleasant society to settle down in quiet retirement in Manchester. -Two years after this addition to his fortune he received the welcome -intelligence from Lord Morton that the crowning act of all his -anxieties—the Act securing to him for a period of twenty-one -years the exclusive right of publishing his “Art and Method of -Shorthand”—the nation’s testimony to the merits of the system—had -passed the House of Lords and received the royal assent; an -Act which, singular to say, appears to have been obtained without -any cost.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span></p> - -<p>From this time his journeyings to London became less and less -frequent, and his life seems to have been passed for the most part -in his native town in a calm round of social and domestic enjoyment, -his playful fancy finding vent in squib and pasquinade, and in -sparkling epigrams, an easy and unshackled style of versification -for which he had a special aptitude. Not the least popular of his -effusions was the one directed against the farmers or tenants of the -Grammar School Mills, Messrs. Yates and Dawson, who had -involved the town in the costs of a lawsuit because the inhabitants -had refused to observe the old feudal monopoly and grind all their -corn, grain, and malt at the <span class="nowrap">mills:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Here’s Bone and Skin,</div> -<div class="vi4">Two millers thin,</div> -<div class="verse">Would starve the town, or near it,</div> -<div class="vi4">But be it known</div> -<div class="vi4">To Skin and Bone</div> -<div class="verse">That Flesh and Blood can’t bear it.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The point of the epigram was in the allusion to the professions -of Yates and Dawson, <em>Skin</em> being Joseph Yates, a barrister, the -father of Sir Joseph Yates, one of the Judges of the Common -Pleas; and <em>Bone</em>, Dr. Dawson (Byrom’s relative), a well-known -medical practitioner in the town, and the father of the ill-fated -“Jemmy Dawson,” the hero of Shenstone’s pathetic ballad. He -also, on the occasion of the Pretender’s visit to Manchester, -wrote the lines which have since become almost as famous as his -epigram on Handel and <span class="nowrap">Bononcini:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">God bless the King! I mean the faith’s defender;</div> -<div class="verse">God bless (no harm in blessing) the Pretender;</div> -<div class="verse">But who Pretender is, or who is King,</div> -<div class="verse">God bless us all—that’s quite another thing.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The period was one of great political excitement. The men of -Manchester, who a century previously had barricaded their town -and defied the soldiers of Charles the First, became jubilant on the -restoration of monarchy in the person of his son, and, to prove -their loyalty, caused the conduit in the market place to flow with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span> -claret and the gutters to swell with strong beer; their sons were -noted for their Jacobite proclivities, and nowhere did the young -Pretender receive a heartier welcome than in the old Puritan town -where, as has been said by a popular writer (Dr. Halley), “the -orange plumes seemed to have grown pale and faded into white -feathers before the bright colours of the Stuart tartan.” The -barbarous severities with which the rebellion of 1715 was crushed -had only served to perpetuate and increase the feeling of bitterness -against the Whig Government, and this feeling was intensified by -the religious feuds that sprang up in the town. The Tories and -High Churchmen, though they had taken the oath to King George -and desired to maintain the Protestant succession, were for the -most part Jacobites, while the Low Churchmen and Nonconformists -were staunch partisans of the house of Brunswick—the one proclaimed -the divine right of kings, and the other was equally zealous -in upholding the “Glorious Revolution.”</p> - -<p>Byrom’s intimate friend, Dr. Deacon, a nonjuring minister, who -had incurred the suspicions of the Government through his supposed -connection with the former rebellion, and on that account had -removed to Manchester, where he combined the profession of -theology with the practice of physic, assembled a congregation of -nonjurors at his house in Fennel Street, adjoining the present -“Dog and Partridge”—the “Schism Shop,” as it was irreverently -called—while Joseph Owen, a fierce Presbyterian polemic, -declaimed with angry invective against the clergy of the “Old -Church” for their alleged sympathy with the nonjuring divine. The -quarrel became fiercer than ever, and the coarse sermons of Owen -were answered by the satire and clever epigrams of <span class="nowrap">Byrom:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Leave to the low-bred Owens of the age</div> -<div class="verse">Sense to belye and loyalty to rage,</div> -<div class="verse">Wit to make treason of each cry and chat,</div> -<div class="verse">And eyes to see false worship in a hat.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Meetings of the rival factions were regularly held at the different -taverns in the town, the “Angel” in Market Street Lane being the -head-quarters of the Whigs, and the “Bull’s Head,” opposite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span> -Phœbe Byrom’s in the Market Place, the resort of those disaffected -to the reigning family; “John Shaw’s,” too, a “public” in the Old -Shambles, kept by a veteran trooper, who in his campaigns abroad -had acquired the art of brewing punch of unrivalled quality, and -who was as famed for the discipline and the autocratic rule he -maintained as for the excellence of the beverage he brewed, -received under its hospitable roof the more thorough-going Church -and King men and supporters of the Stuart cause.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> Byrom was a -frequent attender at the convivial gatherings at “John Shaw’s,” and -the only portrait of him in the later years of his life that has been -preserved, was one taken by stealth by his friend Dorning -Rasbotham, “after spending an evening at Shawe’s Coffee House,” -prefixed to the Leeds edition of his poems, and reproduced in -Gregson’s “Fragments.”</p> - -<p>Byrom’s pen was ever at the service of his political friends, and -the “Laureate of the Jacobites,” the “Master Tool of the Faction,” -as he was indifferently styled, was more than a match for his Whig -antagonists. Imbued, however, with strong religious feelings, there -was little of bitterness in his compositions; the shaft of ridicule -was never envenomed, his playful wit and genial good-humoured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span> -satire telling with far greater effect than the coarse and angry -invectives with which he was at times assailed. If he was ready to -lampoon a foe, he never lacked the courage to rebuke a friend. -This is evidenced by his well-timed admonition against swearing, -“addressed to an officer in the army,” Colonel Townley, the commander -of the regiment raised in Manchester in the service of the -<span class="nowrap">Pretender:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">O that the muse might call, without offence,</div> -<div class="verse">The gallant soldier back to his good sense,</div> -<div class="verse">His temp’ral field so cautious not to lose;</div> -<div class="verse">So careless quite of his eternal foes.</div> -<div class="verse">Soldier! so tender of thy prince’s fame,</div> -<div class="verse">Why so profuse of a superior name?</div> -<div class="verse">For the King’s sake the brunt of battles bear;</div> -<div class="verse">But, for the King of King’s sake do not swear.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In his early youth Byrom had manifested strong Jacobite -tendencies, but in the interval between the two rebellions—the -Sacheverel riots of ’15 and the rising of ’45—his political opinions, -if in no degree modified, had become much less demonstrative, -and his Jacobitism was under the control of a possessor sufficiently -cautious to prevent its imperilling his family interests or endangering -his personal safety. His daughter “Beppy” was then a young -lady of three-and-twenty; following her father’s example she had -set up a diary, and some of the entries in her journal, with a letter -written by Byrom to his kinsman and friend, Mr. Vigor, furnishes -the most circumstantial and entertaining accounts of the Pretenders -visit to Manchester extant. The doctor’s gossiping daughter was -an ardent Jacobite, though a very prudent one, her sentimental -devotion to the Stuart cause being most pronounced when personal -danger was remote, the fair young diarist having little scruple in -designating the wearers of the white cockade “rebels” when peril -was at hand. For all that, her “Diary” is very entertaining. -Apart from the vivid portraiture of the excitement and consternation -into which the Manchestrians were thrown by the presence of -the rebel army, it is impossible to read it without feeling that you -are listening to the sprightly chat of the lively and unsophisticated -writer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span></p> - -<p>On Tuesday, the 25th of November, news came that Prince -Charles Edward had marched his forces into Lancashire. The -town was in a state of great excitement. The Presbyterians and -Whigs deemed it prudent to get out of the way; the militia, which -had been very valiant before the approach of the rebels, followed -the example; the wealthier householders removed their families -into the country; and even furniture and provisions were conveyed -to places of more assured safety. On the afternoon of Friday, the -28th, Sergeant Dickson, a dashing young Scotchman, with his -sweetheart and a drummer, entered the town and proclaimed the -Chevalier King; and on the following morning the Prince with -the main body of his army joined them, and encamped in St. -Ann’s Square. “Manchester,” says Ray, in his “History of the -Rebellion,” “was taken by a sergeant, a drum, and a woman, who -rode to the market cross on horses with hempen halters on, where -they proclaimed their King.” Here is “Beppy” Byrom’s version:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Tuesday (November) 28.—About three o’clock to-day came into town two -men in Highland dress, and a woman behind one of them with a drum on -her knee, and for all the loyal work that our Presbyterians have made they -took possession of the town, as one may say, for immediately after they -were ’light they beat up for volunteers for P(rince) C(harles).... -They were directly joined by Mr. J. Bradshaw, Mr. Tom Sydall, Mr. Tom -Deacon, Mr. Fletcher, Tom Chaddock; and several others have listed, -about 80 men by eight o’clock, when my papa came down to tell us there -was a party of horse come in. He took care of me to the Cross, when I saw -them all. It is a very fine moonlight night.... My papa and uncle -are gone to consult with Mr. Croxton, Mr. Fielden, and others how to keep -themselves out of any scrape, and yet behave civilly (a very prudent procedure -in such a crisis). All the justices fled, and lawyers too, but coz. -Clowes.</p> - -<p>Friday, 29th.—They are beating up for the P.; eleven o’clock we went -up to the Cross to see the rest come in; then came small parties of them -till about three o’clock, when the P. and the main body of them came; I -cannot guess how many.... Then came an officer up to us at the -Cross, and gave us the manifesto and declarations. The bells they rung, -and P. Cotterel made a bonfire, and all the town was illuminated, every -house except Mr. Dickinson’s (the house in Market-street-lane, where the -Prince took up his quarters, and thenceforward known as the Palace). My -papa, mama, and sister, and my uncle and I walked up and down to see it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span> -About four o’clock the King was proclaimed, the mob shouted very cleverly, -and then we went up to see my aunt Brearcliffe, and stayed eleven o’clock -making St Andrew’s crosses for them; we sat up making till two o’clock.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Colonel Townley, a member of the great Catholic family of that -name, who had arranged for the Prince’s reception in Manchester, -and had engaged several of the principal residents for officers, -speedily mustered and enrolled a regiment in the service of the -Prince. Each recruit received a white St Andrew’s cross, which -cost little, and a <em>promise</em> of five guineas, which, as they were never -paid, cost less. In the next entry the enthusiastic young Jacobite -describes her impressions of the “yellow-hair’d laddie,” and the -way in which her father made homage to <span class="nowrap">him:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Saturday, 30th (St. Andrew’s Day).—More crosses making till twelve -o’clock; then I dressed up in my white gown and went up to my aunt -Brearcliffe’s, and an officer called on us to go see the prince. We went to -Mr. Fletcher’s and saw him get a horseback, and a noble sight it is [no -wonder that amid such excitement the young lady got a little “mixed” in -her moods and tenses]. I would not have missed it for a great deal of -money. His horse had stood an hour in the court without stirring, and as -soon as he got on he [<i>i.e.</i> the horse, not the prince] began a dancing and -capering as if he was proud of the burden, and when he rid out of the -court he was received with as much joy and shouting almost as if he had -been King, indeed I think scarce anybody that saw him could dispute it. -As soon as he was gone the officer and us went to prayers at the old church -at two o’clock by their orders, or else there has been none since they -came. Mr. Shrigley read prayers; he prayed for the King and Prince -of Wales, and named no names. Then we called at our house and eat a -queen cake, and a glass of wine, for we got no dinner; then the officer went -with us all to the Camp Field to see the artillery; called at my uncle’s and -then went up to Mr. Fletcher’s, stayed there till the prince was at supper, -then the officer introduced us into the room, stayed awhile and then went -into the great parlour where the officers were dining, sat by Mrs. Stark(ey); -they were all exceeding civil and almost made us fuddled with drinking the -P. health, for we had had no dinner; we sat there till Secretary Murray -came to let us know that the P. was at leisure and had done supper, so we were -all introduced and had the honour to kiss his hand; my papa was fetched -prisoner to do the same [another testimony to the doctor’s discretion], as -was Dr. Deacon; Mr. Cattell and Mr. Clayton [two of the Old Church -clergy who were less cautious] did it without; the latter said grace for him; -then we went out and drank his health in the other room, and so to Mr. -Fletcher’s, where my mamma waited for us (my uncle was gone to pay his -land tax) and then went home.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span></p> - -<p>December 1st.—About six o’clock the P. and the foot set out, went up -Market-street Lane and over Cheadle ford; the horse was gathering together -all forenoon; we went up to the Cross to see them, and then to Mr. -Starkey’s, they were all drawn up in the Square and went off in companies, -Lord Elcho’s horse went past Baguley.</p></blockquote> - -<p>What follows is matter of history.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">The Stuart, leaning on the Scot,</div> -<div class="verse">Pierced to the very centre of the realm,</div> -<div class="verse">In hopes to seize his abdicated helm.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The Pretender’s cause was soon lost, the progress of his army -being as brief as it was disastrous. Hearing, on their arrival at -Derby, that the Duke of Cumberland with an army of veterans was -in the neighbourhood, and distrusting the skill of their own officers, -they returned northwards, their vanguard reaching Manchester on -the 9th of December, where the regiment which Colonel Townley -had raised only a few days before was disbanded, though some of -the more resolute supporters of the Prince pushed on to Carlisle, -where, after a feeble effort to hold the city, they were compelled -to surrender. Chaplain Coppock was executed in the border city, -wearing his canonicals; ten of the others, including a son of Dr. -Deacon, and the adjutant, Syddal, whose father had given up his -life in the same cause thirty years previously, and Beppy Byrom’s -cousin, Jemmy Dawson, were executed on Kennington Common. -The heads of Deacon and Syddal were sent to Manchester and -fixed upon spikes on the top of the Exchange,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> to be reverenced -by friends and execrated by foes, an exhibition that called forth -the following <span class="nowrap">lines:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">The Deel has set their heads to view,</div> -<div class="vi4">And stickt them upon poles;</div> -<div class="verse">Poor Deel! ’twas all that he could do</div> -<div class="vi4">Since God has ta’en their souls.</div> -</div></div></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span></p> -<p>In Manchester the suppression of the rebellion of ’45 was hailed -with delight by the partisans of the house of Brunswick; the -church bells rang throughout the day, bonfires blazed at night, -and orange-coloured ribbons were flaunted in the streets as gaily -as the Stuart tartan had been only a few months before. That -day must have been a sorrowful one for Byrom and his enthusiastic -daughter, for they could hardly have escaped the insults of the -Hanoverian mob when Dr. Deacon’s house was attacked and that -of poor widow Syddal demolished.</p> - -<p>The ill-feeling engendered by these events was of long duration, -and the toast of “The King” was not unfrequently a cause of -angry disputation. The adherents of the exiled dynasty continued -their meetings, though they usually assembled in secret, and their -movements were carefully watched by the local authorities, suspected -persons being required to take the oath of allegiance to the -reigning monarch and abjure Popery and the Pretender. Some of -the more prominent sympathisers took alarm and fled, among them -being Clayton, the chaplain of the Collegiate Church, who was -said to have offered public prayers for Prince Charles in one of -the streets of Salford. Byrom, in describing this period, <span class="nowrap">says—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>We ourselves were many of us fugitives; and had we not met with some -kind asylum towns, might have wandered among the inhospitable hills, like -the present mountaineer rebels.</p></blockquote> - -<p>His Journal shows that at this time he was frequently away from -Manchester, and not unfrequently endeavouring through the -influence of his former patrons to obtain a mitigation of the punishment -of such of the Manchester rebels as had survived the thirst -of Whiggish vengeance, but were yet undergoing imprisonment. -Thus he wrote to his wife (June 18, 1748)<span class="nowrap">:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>On Friday the 10th of June I had been asked to meet Mr. Folkes at Mr. -Ch. Stanhope’s, where I found likewise Lord Linsdale, D(uk)e of Mountague, -and Mr. Stanhope’s brother, Lord Harrington, with whom we passed -the dinner and an hour or two after very agreeably. They asked me a -great many questions about the Pretender, and circumstances when he was -at Manchester, &c., and I told them what I knew and thought without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span> -any reserve, and took the opportunity of setting some matters in a truer -light than I suppose they had heard them placed in, and put in now and -then a word in favour of the prisoners, especially Charles D, (Charles, -youngest son of Dr. Deacon, who had acted as secretary, and superintended -the recruiting of the Manchester regiment). They were all very free and -good natured, and did not seem offended with anything that I took the -liberty to enlarge upon. When Mr. Folkes came away, about seven o’clock, -I came with him, and he said that what had passed might possibly occasion -young D.’s liberty, that they were not violent in their tempers, and that he -took notice that they listened very much to what I had been telling them of -Manchester affairs. I was much pleased with the openness of conversation -which we had upon several subjects; and as Mr. St(anhope) had made me -promise him some verses that I had lately writ, I added a Latin copy to his -brother the Viceroy of Ireland, which I brought him yesterday, for he had -sent a servant for me to dine with again, and then we had Lord Harrington, -Lord Baltimore, D. of Richmond and a lady—Lady Townshend—and somebody -else—oh, Sir John Cope. The Duchess of R. should have been there, -but the Duke made an excuse for her. As we had a lady, however, and one -(as Mr. St. had hinted to me) of great wit and politeness, who stayed the -afternoon, complaisance to her turned the conversation upon suitable -subjects, so that I could not well introduce the fate of Ch. D. &c. before the -D. of R. who is one of our present kings,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> as I wanted to do. Mr. St. had -read the Latin verses and given them before dinner, and the Duke might -have seen them if he would, but the lady and the Latin did not suit politely -enough, and there was no urging anything untimely, or else I could have -been glad to have heard what he would have said about the lot of the -imprisoned.... One can only try as occasion offers, what mercy can -be got from trying.</p></blockquote> - -<p>He did try, and on the 23rd July he again <span class="nowrap">writes:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I have heard nothing new about Ch. Deacon. I sent him (Mr. Stanhope) -a copy of the petition representing his case, and some further urging of my -own. By a report not being made, I understand that the judges have made -no report, which I am surprised at if that be the real meaning.</p></blockquote> - -<p>In a subsequent letter (August 4, 1748) to his “Dear Dolly” -(his younger daughter, Dorothy, then a maiden of 18) he sends a -translation of the verses, that young lady, as he says, not being “so -book-learned as to understand them in the original.” They are -as creditable to the heart as to the head of the writer for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span> -evidence they afford of his unswerving fidelity to a friend in -adversity. The following lines are a fair <span class="nowrap">specimen:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Three brothers—I shall only speak the truth—</div> -<div class="verse">Three brothers, hurried by mere dint of youth,</div> -<div class="verse">Precautious youth, were found in arms of late,</div> -<div class="verse">And rushing on to their approaching fate.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">One, in a fever, sent up to be tried,</div> -<div class="verse">From jail to jail, delivered over, died;</div> -<div class="verse">Sick and distressed, he did not long sustain</div> -<div class="verse">The mortal shocks of motion and of pain.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse"> - -<hr class="tb" /></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">The third was then a little boy at school.</div> -<div class="verse">That played the truant from the rod and rule;</div> -<div class="verse">The child, to join his brothers, left his book,</div> -<div class="verse">And arms, alas! instead of apples took.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Now lies confined the poor unhappy lad—</div> -<div class="verse">For death mere pity and mere shame forebad—</div> -<div class="verse">Long time confined, and waiting mercy’s bail.</div> -<div class="verse">Two years amidst the horrors of a jail.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">I spare to mention what, from fact appears.</div> -<div class="verse">The boy has suffered in these fatal years;</div> -<div class="verse">Pity, at least, becomes his iron lot;</div> -<div class="verse">What ruin is there that a jail has not?</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">He is my countryman, my noble lords,</div> -<div class="verse">And room for hope your genius affords;</div> -<div class="verse">Be truly noble; hear my well-meant prayer.</div> -<div class="verse">And deign my fellow citizen to spare.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In the letter accompanying the English verses, he <span class="nowrap">says:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I have not such good hopes as I had of the young boy being set at liberty -upon whose account they were made; he has some enemies or other that -have represented him in so ill a light that I much question at present if he -will meet with the favour which has been so long expected except affairs -shall take a turn with relation to him (other) than I was told they had done. -But I am not sorry I have spoken my thoughts about him as opportunity -offered.</p></blockquote> - -<p>On “Prince Charles’s Birthday” (November 30th), he writes to -his daughter <span class="nowrap">Beppy:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Mr. Nanny, a Welsh gentleman, told me he had heard that Ch. Deacon -was set at liberty; but such a world of false reports have gone about him -that I can only wish this may prove true.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span></p> - -<p>And on the 3rd of January following, writing to his wife, he -<span class="nowrap">remarks:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I was taken ill so that I could not go into Southwark to enquire after -Charles Deacon as I thought of, nor have I had any opportunity since, nor -can I learn anything of the truth or falsehood of the report of his going -abroad.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The report was unfortunately but too true, for the <cite>Gentleman’s -Magazine</cite> (v. xix., p. 41) records that on the 11th January Charles -Deacon, with William Brettargh, also of the Manchester regiment, -were conveyed from the new gaol, Southwark, to Gravesend, for -transportation during life.</p> - -<p>With the expatriation of this hapless youth may be said to have -closed the darkest and most sorrowful page in Manchester’s -annals. In that sanguinary chronicle of ruthless savagery there -was perhaps no more melancholy episode than the misfortunes of -the nonjuring divine of Fennel Street, who lost three of his sons in -the Pretender’s cause. Thomas Theodorus, the eldest, as already -stated, was executed, and his head fixed on the Manchester -Exchange; Robert Renatus died in prison while awaiting trial, -and Charles Clement, as we have seen, was sent beyond seas. -The father passed into his rest on the 16th February, 1753. He -lies in the north-east corner of St. Ann’s Churchyard, where his -raised altar-tomb may still be seen with an inscription setting forth -that he was “the greatest of sinners and most unworthy of -primitive bishops.”</p> - -<p>There is a tradition current that the heads of Thomas Deacon -and Tom Syddal, after being exposed for some time on the -Exchange, were one night surreptitiously removed by Mr. Hall, -a son of Dr. Richard Edward Hall, who resided in a large house -at the top of King Street, and that they were secretly buried in the -garden behind his residence. This garden with the rookery in it, -which reached down to the present Chancery Lane, existed within -the recollection of the present generation, and it is said that on -the death of Mr. Hall’s last surviving sister, Miss Frances Hall, in -1828, the grim relics of mortality were by her expressed desire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span> -exhumed and buried in St. Ann’s Churchyard. It was to Dr. Hall, -the father, whilst paying his addresses to the lady whom he afterwards -married, that Byrom sent the following <span class="nowrap">epigram:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">A lady’s love is like a candle snuff,</div> -<div class="verse">That’s quite extinguished by a gentle puff;</div> -<div class="verse">But, with a hearty blast or two, the dame,</div> -<div class="verse">Just like a candle, bursts into a flame.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>It was very shortly after the event just related that Byrom -received the first intimation of his son’s having formed an attachment -for the lady who became his wife, Eleanor, daughter of -William and sister of Domville Halsted, of Lymm, the representatives -of an ancient and honourable family in Cheshire, who had -been owners of the Domville moiety of Lymm from the time of -Edward III., when it was inherited from Agnes de Legh, the -common ancestress of the Domvilles, Halsteds, and the Leghs of -Adlington and Lyme. The letter written on the occasion to Mrs. -Byrom is so thoroughly characteristic of the man that we make no -apology for reproducing <span class="nowrap">it:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="right"> - -Tuesday night, Feb. 28, 1748–9.<br /> -</p> - -<p>My dearest love: I received this afternoon the potted hare from Mr. -Wilkinson, which Tedy mentioned in his last letter, together with thy -letter concerning Miss Halsted. &c., which has thrown me into a great -but really very loving concern, for the consequence of an affair in which -the family happiness so much depends. As I am quite a stranger to the -young lady, and have no remembrance of having ever seen her, I cannot -judge how I should like her person and behaviour; but for my beloved -son’s sake, I should wish her possessed of every qualification that might -justly be agreeable to thee, his sisters, uncle, aunts, and friends, as well as -to himself. I guess by the contents of thy letter that he has made his -addresses to her, and his Aunt A. (Mrs. Byrom’s sister Anne) has given her -a good character, which does not seem to amount to any absolute approbation; -his uncle, too, seems neither for it nor against it; what his aunts -say of it, thou dost not hint at, by which I presume that they suppose that -he is determined himself, and they would not disoblige him by making any -objection to his choice. For my part, if my son be inclined to marry, I can -only wish that he may make a proper choice; but whether he has or not, -it is not in my power to determine, nor in my will to oppose his inclination, -without cause, for I love him too well not to consent with great readiness -to anything that others of his friends who heartily interest themselves in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span> -his happiness should approve of; but at present their approbation seems -only to be negative, and his uncle’s “What will his father say to it?” does -not seem to impart any great encouragement. His father would gladly -hope that his son, in a thing of this consequence, might so behave as to -please all his relations, and thereby acquire a title to his father’s approbation, -who, considering him as the only youth of the name at present, -would wish them all to assist, encourage or prevent him as their love and -judgment shall find occasion to show itself in his favour. As to fortune, -report but seldom lessens it, though it has hardly much increased it, I -suppose, in Miss H.’s case; but as to that, though it is undoubtedly a very -prudential consideration, yet the qualities which the lady herself may or -may not have, may make her a good wife with less than she has, or a bad -one with a great deal more. I am full of wishes, hopes, and fears, and can -think of nothing else at present than to refer myself to thy sentiments, -which I wish thee to give me, and my son to be so much master of himself -as to act on this occasion with all necessary discretion. I wish that whenever -he marries he may meet with one that he may have as just reason to -love, honour, and cherish as his father has his Valentine, whom he begs to -take all possible (care) of a life and health so dear to him, who is, with -hearty prayers to God for her and hers—hers and theirs.</p> -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">J. Byrom.</span><br /> -To Mrs. Eliz. Byrom, near the Old Church in Manchester, Lancashire.</p></blockquote> - -<p>With the exception of an occasional journey to London, and a -visit now and then to his <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">alma mater</i>, Cambridge, the remaining -portion of Byrom’s life was passed in comparative quietude, sometimes -at the pleasant rural retreat at Kersall, “that quiet place of -yours,” as his loving sister Phœbe, in one of her letters, styles it, -and where, as she says, she “was very glad to be a bit from the -hurry of the market place;” but oftener enjoying the society and -pleasant gossip of his friends in the snug parlour of his comfortable -dwelling at the corner of Hunter’s Lane—that quaint black and -white house with a curious raised walk in front, the outlines of -which the pencil of that industrious antiquary, Thomas Barrit, has -happily preserved to us. The struggles of his earlier years gave a -zest to the comforts of domestic life, and in his <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">otium cum dignitate</i> -he whiled away the hours, poetising on subjects grave and gay; -now and then ridiculing with good humoured banter some Presbyterian -zealot or recalcitrant Whig, though always in a spirit -calculated to soften asperity; and occasionally retaliating upon his -Hanoverian opponents in some <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jeu d’esprit</i> or sparkling epigram,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span> -to the great delight of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">beaux-esprits</i> who met in social intercourse -at the Bull’s Head—a house that still remains, and the -gruff countenance of whose ancient sign may yet be seen over the -archway leading to the inn-yard and the old-fashioned and much-frequented -parlour. The great truths of Christianity had from his -earliest years made a deep impression on his mind, and many of -his writings are characterised by strong religious feeling; indeed, -it was the spirit of piety breathed into his poems that led to his -being accounted a mystic by the mere lukewarm professors, a -reproach that was, however, undeserved. His religion was without -gloom, and by no means inconsistent with the maintenance of -habitual cheerfulness. His utterances are marked by a manly, -nervous style; his imagination was fertile, and his imagery happily -conceived, though there is sometimes a lack of smoothness that -suggests the idea that his effusions were hastily penned—the -impromptu utterances of the man of genius with the happy facility -of versification. Some of his pieces—the once popular “Three -Black Crows<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>” for example—were written for the annual speech -days at the Free Grammar School; he was, too, the first writer -who employed as a literary vehicle the broad, racy vernacular of -Lancashire, which in later times has been used with such signal -success by Bamford, and Waugh, and Brierley. One of the -happiest specimens of the playfulness of his muse was the poetical -epistle “On the Patron Saint of England,” addressed to Lord -Willoughby, the President of the Society of Antiquaries, and which -Samuel Pegge, the antiquary, was at such pains to refute; but -perhaps the one by which he will be best remembered is the ever -popular Christmas hymn, “Christians, Awake,” which John -Wainwright, the organist of the “Old Church,” at Manchester, set -to music, the tune being called after his native town, “Stockport.”</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span></p> -<p>Byrom outlived most of the friends of his youth, and maintained -the natural cheerfulness of his disposition throughout his last -lingering illness until, in the words of his obituary notice, “the -scholar, the critic, the gentleman, became absorbed in the resigned -Christian.” He died at the old house at Hanging Ditch, on the -26th September, 1763, having attained the ripe old age of 72, and -three days later his remains were interred in the Byrom Chapel, on -the south side of the “Old Church.” Strangely enough, there is -no monument or other sepulchral memorial to mark his resting -place or perpetuate his name; the register of burials is the only -record, and that is brief <span class="nowrap">indeed:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1763.—September 29. Mr. John Byrom.</p></blockquote> - -<p>A tribute to his memory in Latin verse from the pen of his -friend and correspondent, William Cowper, of Chester, M.P., -appeared in the newspapers of the time, of which the following is -a <span class="nowrap">translation:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">No, much-loved friend! this breast can never lose</div> -<div class="verse">The dear remembrance of thy pleasing form,</div> -<div class="verse">Thy gentle manners, and thy placid mien;</div> -<div class="verse">The smile of innocence, th’ unstudied grace</div> -<div class="verse">Of honest countenance, th’ high-season’d wit,</div> -<div class="verse">The copious stores of conversation sweet,</div> -<div class="verse">Which to my ravish’d ears so oft supplied</div> -<div class="verse">Luxurious banquet, whilst th’ indulgent flow</div> -<div class="verse">Of thy rich genius filled my thirsty mind.</div> -<div class="vi4">But who can tell the gifts of innate worth,</div> -<div class="verse">The bosom beating to the cries of woe,</div> -<div class="verse">The heart of soft benignity, wherein</div> -<div class="verse">True honour, piety, and faith have fix’d</div> -<div class="verse">Their everlasting mansion? Who can trace,</div> -<div class="verse">Alas! the portrait of such excellence</div> -<div class="verse">In any other mortal mind but thine?</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In violation of the “Woollen Act,” a statute made famous by -the allusions of Pope and Dryden, he was buried “in a shirt, shift, -sheet, or shroud not made of sheep’s wool,” and, consequently, a -direction was issued by “John Gore Booth, Esquire, one of his -Majesty’s Justices of the Peace,” to the constables of Manchester<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span> -to levy the sum of £6 by distress and sale of his goods and -chattels.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Byrom survived him several years, and died on the 21st -December, 1778, at the age of 78; of his children three died in -infancy, and three survived him—two daughters and a son. -Elizabeth—Beppy, as she was familiarly called—the first-born, and -the gossiping chronicler of the fatal ’45, died in 1801, her sister -Dorothy having died three years previously, both unmarried. -Edward Byrom, the eldest and only surviving son, succeeded as -heir. Of this worthy son of a worthy sire we need say little; his -biography has been undertaken by an able writer, and with such -a congenial theme as the projected “Memorials of St. John’s” we -may rest assured that the accomplished editor of the “Old Church -Clock” will do ample justice to his memory. He was born on the -13th June, 1724, and baptised at the old church on the 24th of -the same month. On the death of his uncle, Edward Byrom, in -1740, he became devisee in fee of his estates, and in the spring of -1750 he added to his worldly wealth the fortune he acquired by -his marriage with Miss Halsted, already referred to, a marriage -that, in accordance with the fashion of the times, is thus chronicled -in the <cite>Chester Courant</cite> of the 6th March in that <span class="nowrap">year:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>A few days ago, Mr. Edward Byrom, son of Dr. Byrom, was married to -Miss Halsted of Limm, co. Cest., a lady of great merit and a handsome -fortune.</p></blockquote> - -<p>He took up his abode in the large detached house in Quay Street, -now occupied by Dr. Blackmore, and which continued to be the -residence of his grand-daughter, Miss Atherton, up to the time of -her death, in 1870. Mr. Grindon, in his pleasant volume, “Manchester -Banks and Bankers,” says: “There is a legend that he -removed thither on account of the delicate health of his little Nelly, -the atmosphere of Quay Street being purer than that of the town,” -and he adds, “the house was obviously intended to be the first of -a row. Mr. Byrom preferred that it should stand alone, arranging -also for the preservation in perpetuity of the meadow in front, -which served as a playground for the children.” The house was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span> -Mr. Byrom’s own, and in all probability its erection was begun by -his uncle, Edward Byrom, shortly before his death, for in the -“Shorthand Journal” there occurs the <span class="nowrap">entry:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>1741.—Thursday, August 11th or 12th. Dined at new house in Quay -Street; ... We came from Macclesfield yesterday—Mrs. Byrom, -Beppy, Dolly, David and I.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The neighbourhood was then unbuilt, and formed a pleasant -suburb of Manchester, but with the increase of trade the tide of -population spread in that direction; new streets were laid out, -houses were built, and the locality became what might be called -the “Court-end.” The house has survived the mighty changes that -time has wrought; it stands alone, as it did in Byrom’s days; the -remnant of the old garden and orchard are there, and the -“meadow” in front still struggles to look green, but its sylvan -beauties are only a memory of the past.</p> - -<p>With the increase of the population came the necessity for a new -church, and on the 28th April, 1768, Edward Byrom laid the -foundation stone of St. John’s—so named in compliment to his -father—which was consecrated on the 7th June in the following -year. Little more than two years later he joined Messrs. Sedgwick, -Allen, and Place, in establishing the first bank in Manchester, the -doors of which were opened on the 2nd December, 1771, under -the style of Byrom, Sedgwick, Allen, and Place. It occupied the -site of Messrs. Hunt and Roskell’s shop in St. Ann’s Square, and -the name is perpetuated in Bank Street, leading from it. Less than -seventeen months after, Edward Byrom was laid to rest, his death -occurring on the 24th April, 1773, at the early age of forty-nine. -Under his will the Quay Street property passed to his daughter -Ann, who became the wife of Henry Atherton, of the Middle -Temple, the issue of the marriage being an only daughter, the -estimable and much-honoured Miss Eleanor Atherton, the foundress -of Holy Trinity Church, in Hulme, and the last representative -in a direct line of the Byrom family, who died at the old home -in Quay Street, on the 12th September, 1870, at the age of -eighty-eight. In accordance with the provisions of her will, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span> -greater portion of her property, including the Kersall estates, -passed to her godson, Mr. Edward Fox, who, in accordance with -her expressed desire, assumed the name and arms of Byrom—the -arms John Byrom was so proud of, and of which he made such -frequent mention in his <span class="nowrap">Journal:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Some sire of ours, beloved kinsfolk, chose,</div> -<div class="verse">The hedge-hog for his arms; I would suppose</div> -<div class="verse">With aim to hint instruction wise, and good,</div> -<div class="verse">To us descendants of his Byrom blood.</div> -<div class="verse">I would infer, if you be of this mind,</div> -<div class="verse">The very lesson that our sire design’d.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse"><hr class="tb" /></div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">At last the hedge-hog came into his thought,</div> -<div class="verse">And gave the perfect emblem that he sought.</div> -<div class="verse">This little creature, all offence aside,</div> -<div class="verse">Rolls up itself in its own prickly hide,</div> -<div class="verse">When danger comes; and they that will abuse,</div> -<div class="verse">Do it themselves, when their own hurt ensues.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/i_431.jpg" width="350" height="184" alt="graphic" /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_432.jpg" width="600" height="120" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /> - -<span class="f75">HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD—THE STORY OF SAMUEL CROMPTON, THE -INVENTOR OF THE SPINNING MULE.</span></h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_432a.jpg" width="75" height="158" alt="T" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">There</span> is much truth in the remark that it is more in the -lives of England’s worthies than in the lives of -England’s warriors that we may discover the true secret -of England’s greatness. Yet, of those master-spirits -who by their inventive genius, their patient industry, -and indomitable perseverance have been the greatest -benefactors to their country, and who, on that account, deserve -ever to be held in honoured remembrance, how many have had to -battle with untoward fate, to</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="vi4">Wage with fortune an eternal war,</div> -<div class="verse">Checked by the scoff of Pride, by Envy’s frown,</div> -<div class="vi4">And Poverty’s unconquered bar.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Of such men was Samuel Crompton, the inventor of the spinning -mule, whose mechanical achievement may be said to have laid -open the prospect of unbounded wealth to the industrious of his -native shire, and to have wrought in Lancashire changes well-nigh -as wondrous as any recorded in the fictions of Eastern romance.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_433.jpg" width="600" height="474" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410"></a></span></p> - -<p>Hall-in-the-Wood, or Hall-i’-th’-Wood, according to the vernacular, -the ancient dwelling-place in which Crompton spent his -toilsome days and thoughtful nights—the shrine to which our -present pilgrimage is directed, and which deserves to be hallowed -as one of our sacred temples—is situated in the midst of scenery -strangely at variance with the associations the name calls forth; for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span> -though, with Firwood, the Lower Wood, the Oaks, and other places -of similar designation immediately adjacent, it recalls the sylvan -beauty of former days, so complete has been the disafforesting that, -with the exception of the blighted and blackened relics of a sturdy -oak or stately elm here and there dotting the landscape, scarce a -remnant remains of the old forest that once formed its pleasant -environment. Yet withal, if the surroundings have lost much of -their picturesqueness and are not altogether lovely, they are under -their present aspect far more suggestive of the manufacturing -enterprise, the permanent utility, and the universal good which is -the natural outcome of Crompton’s invention, than they would have -been had they retained their pristine beauty. Nature has been -effectually displaced by industry. From the steep cliff on which -stands his ancient home a thousand tall chimneys may now be -seen, filling the atmosphere with volumes of thick dun-coloured -smoke that hang like a pall and drop down soot instead of fatness. -The once fair and fertile country is absolutely covered with mighty -factories and hives of busy industry, in which tens of thousands of -the population find employment. On every hand the ear is assailed -with the din and rattle of machinery, and wherever the eye can -reach it encounters nothing but steam and smoke and the outward -indications of active labour.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<a name="HIWSF" id="HIWSF"></a> -<img src="images/i_436.jpg" width="600" height="447" alt="Hall-i-th-Wood: South Front" /> -</div> - -<p>The Hall, which is located in the township of Tonge, and -distant about a couple of miles from Bolton, is an interesting -specimen of the old English mansion of the earlier Tudor period; -and, though time has made sad havoc among its beauties and -peculiarities, it has happily escaped the assaults of “improvers,” -and even in its dilapidated and forlorn condition may, in an -antiquarian sense, be said to retain its original features comparatively -unimpaired. It stands near the edge of a bold rocky -steep that rises abruptly from the Eagley Brook—a tributary of the -Irwell, that separates the townships of Sharples and Tonge—and -commands an extensive view of the surrounding country. It is an -irregular pile—a house with many gables—and has evidently been -erected at two distinct periods—the older part being in the black<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span> -and white half-timbered style so frequently met with in the old -manor houses of Lancashire and Cheshire; while the more modern -portion, though also boasting considerable antiquity, is of stone, -with a two-storeyed projecting porch of the same material, erected -in 1648, as the date with the initials</p> - -<p class="center"> N<br /> - A A -</p> - -<p>over the doorway clearly indicates. The mansion does not, however, -appear ever to have made any great pretensions to stateliness, -though its possessors were a family boasting considerable ancestral -dignity, and one of them, in his pride of lineage, placed his -heraldic achievements in an elaborately ornamented panel in one -of the rooms, in order that his friends might note his honourable -descent. The earliest portion is said, with some show of authority, -to date as far back as the year 1483. For some time it was owned -by the Brownlows; and over the fireplace in one of the rooms may -still be seen the initials of Lawrence Brownlow, with the date -1591, and it is said that an ancient oak bedstead which was -removed many years ago from Hall-i’-th’-Wood to Huntroyde has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span> -the same initials carved upon it. This part of the house, as we -have said, is of timber and plaster, or “post and petrel,” as it is -locally designated; the walls being composed of a framework of -massive timber, with the interstices filled with plaster, and worked -in divers quatrefoil and diaper-like patterns. The main structure -comprises a long and lofty oblong block, with a short bay projecting -at right angles from the further end. The upper chambers -overhang the lower, and these again have an overhanging roof -springing from a coved cornice; another instance that the mediæval -architects who planned and carried out these erections were by no -means insensible to the advantage of a varied outline producing -that picturesque irregularity which, without any unnecessary -sacrifice of domestic comfort, is so favourable to external beauty, -as well as to the effect produced by a judicious combination of -light and shade—a style infinitely preferable to the dull, dreary -uniformities of brick put up in the present day, and which, were it -only revived in its original beauty, would enable us to dispense -with those Italian forms that were only introduced to satisfy the -craving for foreign importations.</p> - -<p>Time wrought changes; with the increase of refinement came -the necessity for increased accommodation, when, to give additional -elbow-room and keep pace with the requirements of the age, -the old house, instead of being demolished, as would be the case -now-a-days, was added to, a more pretentious structure of stone, -with mullioned windows and parapets with ball ornaments, being -joined up to it, and from this portion the square porch, which -exhibits the same architectural features, projects. The date and -the initials show that it was erected by Alexander Norris, son and -heir of Christopher Norris, of Tonge-with-Haulgh, whose daughter -and heiress, Alice, in 1654, conveyed the place in marriage to John -Starkie, of Huntroyde; their descendant in the sixth generation, -Le Gendre Nicholas Starkie, of Huntroyde, Esq., being the -present possessor. John Starkie must have been an old man -when he married, for his death occurred eleven years later at the -age of 77, when Alice Starkie, his widow, returned to Hall-i’-th’-Wood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span> -and spent the remainder of her days there, amid the scenes -of her childhood.</p> - -<p>After the death of Mrs. Starkie the mansion seems to have -remained unoccupied, and subsequently to have been divided into -small tenements and let to humble occupants, who attached small -import either to its antiquity or the associations connected with it, -content if only they could keep the roof over their heads; and, as -may be anticipated, during those vicissitudes, it was suffered to fall -into a state of decay, until the inroads of dilapidation became only -too painfully visible both within and without.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span> -<img src="images/i_439.jpg" width="450" height="600" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">STAIRCASE: HALL-I’-TH’-WOOD.</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416"></a></span></p> - -<p>The greater portion of the mansion is and has been for many -years in the occupancy of a farmer, Mr. James Bromiley, but a -part of the old black and white structure has been divided and subdivided -into numerous tenements that are now let to small cottagers. -The occasion of our visit was a pleasant autumn afternoon, and -proceeding, as we had been previously advised, from the Oaks -Station, a pleasant walk of a few minutes over the high ground -brought us to the picturesque and interesting old relic. The request -to view the interior was readily complied with, the good woman of -the house cheerfully accompanying us through the wainscoted -parlours and contracted passages, and thence, by a quaintly-carved -black oak staircase, with massive and highly-decorated balusters -and pendants, that leads to the upper chambers and the vacant -lofts above, giving us every facility we could desire in examining -the antiquated dwelling. The dining-hall, a well-proportioned -room, is on the ground floor, but that which most attracts -attention is the chamber above—the only one which seems to -have been treated with any degree of respect—Crompton’s room, -the one in which he worked, in which he had his rude bench -and still ruder tools, where he matured his plans and constructed -his primitive models, where for years he laboured on with -anxious hope and enduring perseverance, and where at length—just -one hundred years ago—he triumphed, giving to his country -the invention which has so largely contributed to its wealth and -prosperity. The room is now occupied as a sleeping apartment,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span> -but in other respects it is little changed since the great inventor’s -day. It has been subjected to many whitewashings, but the -old ornamental plaster cornice still remains; the old heraldic -escutcheon of the Starkies may still be seen; and there too is the -spacious window with its double row of leaded lights extending the -entire width, out of which Crompton must so often have wistfully -gazed. The attic storey possesses but comparatively little interest, -and exhibits only a labyrinth of dark and intricate passages, with -small chambers and secret hiding places leading off in every -direction. It was here that Crompton, in 1779, on the very eve -of the completion of his machine, concealed the various parts after -he had taken it to pieces for safety against the dreaded attack of -the machine-breaking rioters of Blackburn, who had driven poor -Hargreaves, the inventor of the Jenny, from his home, destroyed -nearly every machine within miles of Blackburn, and who, it was -feared, would extend their riotous proceedings to Crompton’s -invention before it had been even put in actual work. The -principal entrance to the hall is on the south side, by an arched -doorway, over which is a square panel with the initials and date -already mentioned. Above this, and separated by a bold moulding, -is a porch-chamber, lighted on three sides by square windows, -mullioned and transomed, over one of which is a lozenge-shaped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span> -sun-dial. Evil days have unhappily fallen upon the building. -Where repairs have been attempted they have been made by -slovenly hands, and unseemly patches mar the effect of its general -appearance; but even in its present condition of neglect and -approaching ruin it exhibits much that is architecturally interesting. -Apart, however, from such considerations, surely the associations -that gather round make it a public duty to protect it from further -injury, so that it may be preserved to future generations as a -memorial of one of Lancashire’s worthiest sons and one of -England’s greatest benefactors.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a name="HSHIW" id="HSHIW"></a> -<img src="images/i_441.jpg" width="300" height="341" alt="Heraldic Shield, Hall-i-th-Wood" /> -</div> - -<p>Crompton, though himself of humble parentage, could claim a -long and respectable lineage, his progenitors, who derived their -patronymic from the hamlet of Crompton in Prestwich parish, -ranking among the better class of yeomen, and the parent line -asserting its gentility by the use of armorial ensigns. His parents -resided at Firwood, a farm in the same township, and distant -about half a mile from Hall-i’-th’-Wood, that had been owned by -their family for several generations, but which Crompton’s grandfather -had mortgaged to the Starkies, and the father, unable to -redeem, had finally alienated to them, continuing the occupancy, -however, for some time as tenant, and combining with the -business of farming that of carding, spinning, and weaving on a -small scale whenever the intervals of farming and daily labour -permitted. The couple were honest, hardworking, and religious, -but fortune was unpropitious, and during the later years of the -elder Crompton’s life they appear to have been going down in the -world. It was at the farm at Firwood, on the 3rd of December, -1753, that Samuel Crompton first saw the light. Shortly after his -birth his parents forsook the old home and took up their abode at -a cottage near Lower Wood, in the immediate vicinity. Their -stay there was but short, for three or four years after, they removed -to the neighbouring mansion of Hall-in-the Wood, a part of -which had been assigned to them by Mr. Starkie, who had become -the possessor of Firwood, for the old mansion had, even at that -date, been divided into separate holdings, and confided by its -owner to the care of somewhat needy occupants.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span></p> - -<p>George Crompton, the father, died shortly after, at the comparatively -early age of thirty-seven, from, as is said, a cold -taken while helping gratuitously in his over hours to build the -organ-gallery in All Saints’ Church, Bolton, where he worshipped; -and his widow, Betty Crompton, as she was familiarly called, was -left to struggle for a livelihood for herself and three children—Samuel, -who was then a child of five years, and two girls. She -was a woman of superior attainments, industrious, managing, and, -withal, strong-minded; energetic in her action, but possessing, -with a good deal of outward austerity of manner, much innate -goodness of heart. Her good management and business-like habits -gained her the confidence and respect of her neighbours, who -manifested their appreciation of her abilities by electing her to the -office of overseer of the township, an appointment which, though -perfectly legal, was of unusual occurrence in days when “Women’s -Rights” were unthought of; one of the reasons which induced -her to accept the office being the desire to compel her son to -discharge the duties, which he disliked excessively. Mrs. Crompton -abode at the hall after her husband’s death, and continued his -business with energy and thrift, the produce of her dairy being -held in high repute in the neighbourhood, whilst the bees in her -old-fashioned garden supplied her with another marketable commodity, -added to which she had acquired local fame for her -excellent make of elderberry wine, a beverage she hospitably -dispensed among her friends and visitors. As may be supposed, -she ruled her household with a firm hand, and believing in the -wisdom of the proverb that to “spare the rod” is to “spoil the -child,” she manifested her fondness for her boy by a frequent -application of the birch to the unappreciative youngster’s breech—as -he was wont to say in after years, her practice was to chastise -him, not for any particular fault, but because she loved him so -well, a mode of training certainly not the best calculated to enable -a lad of a naturally diffident and sensitive disposition to engage in -the rough battle of life or to make his way successfully in the -world. The widow Crompton, notwithstanding, had many good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span> -qualities. She did, as she believed, her duty to her fatherless -child, and gave him the best education in her power. School -boards and board schools were then only in the womb of time, -but Lancashire had many excellent schoolmasters, and of the -number was William Barlow,<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> who kept a school at the top of Little -Bolton, a pedagogue who worthily upheld the value and dignity of -the mathematical sciences, and, on that account, was reputed -among his neighbours to be “a witch in figures.” Under his -tuition young Crompton was placed, and, being of a meditative -and retiring disposition, he took kindly to his studies, made -satisfactory progress, and was accounted well educated for his -station in life.</p> - -<p>Of his two sisters little or nothing is known, but residing under -the same roof was a lame old uncle, his father’s brother, Alexander -Crompton; a character in his way, whose peculiarities could hardly -fail to have an influence on the mind of the nephew. Like the -rest of the family, Uncle Alexander was strict in his religious -observances, but being afflicted with lameness was unable to leave -his room, in which, in fact, he lived and worked and slept, to -attend the services of the sanctuary, and so he compensated himself -for the deprivation in a manner that was as original as it was -humble and <span class="nowrap">respectful:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>On each succeeding Sunday [says Crompton’s faithful biographer, -Mr. French], when all the rest of the family had gone to service at All -Saints’ Chapel, Uncle Alexander sat in his solitary room listening for the -first sound of the bells of Bolton Parish Church. Before they ceased -ringing, he took off his ordinary working-day coat and put on that which -was reserved for Sundays. This done, he slowly read to himself the whole -of the Morning Service and a sermon, concluding about the same time that -the dismissal bell commenced ringing, when his Sunday coat was carefully -put aside,—to be resumed again, however, when the bells took up their -burthen for the evening service, which he read through with the same -solitary solemnity.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span></p> - -<p>Such was the household then occupying one of the wings of the -rambling old mansion. Mrs. Crompton found no happiness in -repose; ever doing and ever having much to do was her manner, -and that was assuredly the fate of her son. From his earliest -childhood the hours that should have been spent in harmless -pastime were occupied in rendering such assistance as he could on -the farm, or in the humble manufacturing operations carried on in -the house, whilst his mother was bargaining and fighting with the -outer world. He was put to the loom almost as soon as his legs -were “long enough to touch the treddles,” and when his day’s task -was done he was sent to a night school in Bolton to improve his -knowledge of algebra, mathematics, and trigonometry. The poor -weaver-lad had no playmates or associations with the outer world; -he lived a life of seclusion, and his only companion in his brief -moments of leisure was his fiddle. His father had been enthusiastically -fond of music, and at the time of his death had begun the -construction of an organ, leaving behind him a few oak pipes and -the few simple tools with which he had made them. The amateur -organ-builder’s son inherited the father’s taste, and made himself -a fiddle—the first achievement of his mechanical genius. This -was the companion of his solitude, and in after life his solace in -many a bitter disappointment.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>With this musical friend [says French] he on winter nights practised the -homely tunes of the time by the dim light of his mother’s kitchen fire or -thrifty lamp; and in many a summer twilight he wandered contemplatively -among the green lanes or by the margin of the pleasant brook that swept -round her romantic old residence.</p></blockquote> - -<p>And so passed the years of his adolescence—a virtuous, reserved, -and industrious youth. The help and stay of a widowed mother—who, -if a strict disciplinarian, yet devoted her best energies to -the well-being of her family—shunning society, having no companions, -and working diligently at his solitary loom, Crompton, if -he found little leisure for amusement had at least abundance of -time to think, and a thinker he became to his country’s advantage.</p> - -<p>While young Crompton was assiduously assisting his widowed -mother, labouring at his loom by day and amusing himself with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span> -his fiddle by night, some of the artisans of his own county were -exercising their inventive faculties on the rude appliances of their -handicraft, for up to that time there had been little or no improvement -on the art of Penelope in spinning and weaving—the distaff -was still in common use, every thread being spun singly by the -fingers of the spinner, and the machinery in vogue, if by such a -name it could be called, was as primitive as that used by the -Hindoo. Practical observation enabled them to elaborate their -mechanical contrivances step by step, and so a series of progressive -inventions followed each other. The invention of the fly-shuttle -by Kay, of Bury, and the spinning jenny by Hargreaves, of Blackburn, -gave a great impetus to the cotton manufacture, for by the -former the productive power of the loom was greatly increased, -whilst by the latter the supply of weft kept pace with the requirements -of the weaver, but the mule was the real pivot on which its -subsequent prosperity turned.</p> - -<p>The spinning jenny of Hargreaves is believed to have been -invented in the year 1764. It was kept a secret for some time, -but before the close of the decade it had got into pretty general -use in Lancashire, and was at that time so far perfected that a -child could work with it eight spindles at one time. In 1769, -Crompton, who was then a lad of sixteen years, spun on one of Hargreaves’s -machines the yarn which he afterwards wove into quilting, -but the machine had many palpable imperfections; the yarn which -it turned off had less tenacity than that produced by the old-fashioned -single-thread wheel, and much time was lost in piecing -the ever-breaking thread; but in Crompton’s case the appointed -task had to be got through, whatever difficulties might arise, for -Mrs. Crompton was inexorable, and to avoid the maternal -reproaches much time had to be given to the loom that might otherwise -have been spent in pleasant companionship with the fiddle. -For five long years the poor weaver lad led this lonesome, -uneventful, all work and no play sort of life; no wonder, then, -that he became reserved, shy and uncompanionable. For five -long years he struggled on, following the dull, unremitting round<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span> -of labour on his wearisome treadmill, without one single ray of -cheering hope to brighten the gloom of his monotonous existence, -when his ingenuity was driven to make such improvements in the -spinning machine as would ultimately relieve him of the annoyances -he was subjected to.</p> - -<p>The time was not propitious for inventors. Hargreaves had -been persecuted and ruined by the populace, and Arkwright had -to remove to Nottingham to escape the popular animosity. -Manufacturers were jealous lest their craft should be endangered, -and workmen, in their ignorant prejudice against the introduction -of new machines, resolved upon their destruction, while, by the -common people, those who effected improvements were accounted -“conjurors,” a name of reproach given to those who were supposed -to possess unnatural skill, and to hold commerce with the -powers of darkness.</p> - -<p>It was in 1774, when he was in his twenty-first year, that the -first faint conception of the mule floated through Crompton’s -brain. The yarn spun by Hargreaves’s jenny could only be used -for “weft,” by reason of its lacking the firmness and tenacity -required in the long threads or “warp,” while that produced from -Arkwright’s water frame was too coarse for the manufacture of -muslins and other delicate fabrics in imitation of those imported -from India. Crompton proceeded silently with the task he had -set himself, even the members of the household having little idea -of the way in which he occupied his time in the hours stolen from -sleep when his day’s work was done. Indeed, it was the system -of night work that first drew the attention of his family and -neighbours to his proceedings. “Strange and unaccountable -sounds,” says the authority we have previously quoted, “were -heard in the Old Hall at most untimely hours, lights were seen in -unusual places, and a rumour became current that the place was -haunted.” On investigation the young mechanical genius was -found to be the ghost that had caused so much trouble and alarm -to the good people of the locality.</p> - -<p>Crompton’s difficulty was increased by the fewness of his tools—those -he possessed being such as his father had used in his rude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span> -attempts at organ building, supplemented by a clasp knife, which -is said to have done excellent service; some others he purchased -with such cash as he could spare from his slender earnings, and the -money he received for his services at the Bolton Theatre, where, -during the season, he was content to fiddle for the scanty pittance -of eighteenpence a night. Five years of silent, secret, unremitting -labour were spent in the realisation of his idea. Wanting in -mechanical knowledge, destitute of proper tools, and having to -learn the use of the imperfect ones he could procure, it is matter -for surprise that in five years he succeeded in making his machine -practically useful. His experiences at this time he thus relates in -a MS. document he circulated about seventy years ago:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>The next five years had this addition added to my labour as a weaver, -occasioned by the imperfect state of cotton spinning, viz., a continual -endeavour to realise a more perfect principle of spinning; and though -often baffled, I as often renewed the attempt, and at length succeeded to -my utmost desire at the expense of every shilling I had in the world.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Neither poverty nor want of mechanical skill was permitted to -hinder him. After much trembling and fretting from impecuniousness -on the one hand, and the inquisitiveness of interlopers on the -other; after matchless patience and unflinching perseverance; -after many failures and disappointments, success at length crowned -his efforts; his dream had become a reality, the mule<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> was an -accomplished fact. In that same year, 1779, just as he was about -to test its merits by putting it into actual work, an outbreak -occurred among the Lancashire spinners and weavers; the riotous -proceedings which had driven Hargreaves from his home were -renewed, and while the storm was raging Crompton, fearing the -mob might wreak their vengeance upon his wheel, prudently took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span> -it to pieces and hid the parts away in the cocklofts of the old hall. -The incident is thus described by a recent <span class="nowrap">writer:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Crompton was well aware that his infant invention would be still more -obnoxious to the rioters than Hargreaves’s jenny, and appears to have -taken careful measures for its protection or concealment should they have -paid a domiciliary visit to the Hall-in-the-Wood. The ceiling of the -room in which he worked is cut through, as well as a corresponding part -of the clay floor of the room above, the aperture being covered by replacing -the part cut away. This opening was recently detected by two visitors, -who were investigating the mysteries of the old mansion; but they could -not imagine any use for a secret trap-door until, on pointing it out to Mr. -Bromiley, the present tenant, he recalled to his memory a conversation he -had had with Samuel Crompton during one of his latest visits to the Hall -many years ago. Mr. Crompton informed Mr. Bromiley that once, when -he was at work on the mule, he heard the rioters shouting at the destruction -of a building at “Folds” (an adjoining hamlet), where there was a -carding engine. Fearing that they would come to the Hall-in-the-Wood -and destroy his mule, he took it to pieces and put it into a skip which he -hoisted through the ceiling into the attic by the trap-door, which had, -doubtless, been prepared in anticipation of such a visit, and which now offers -a curious evidence of the insecurity of manufacturing inventions in their -early infancy. The various parts were concealed in a loft or garret near -the clock, and there they remained hid for many weeks ere he dared to put -them together again. But in the course of the same year the Hall-in-the-Wood -wheel was completed and the yarn spun upon it used for the manufacture -of muslins of an extremely fine and delicate texture.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Having succeeded to his utmost desire in solving the problem -on which during five eventful years of his life his mind had been -absorbed, Crompton had leisure to turn his thoughts in another -direction, and the first thing he did was to take to himself a wife. -He had made the acquaintance of an amiable and excellent -woman, Mary Pimlott, the daughter of a quondam West India -merchant, who had come down in the world and, as was said, had -died of a broken heart; and on the 16th of February, 1780, the -young couple were married in the old church at Bolton. Mary -Pimlott is described as being a handsome dark-haired woman of -middle age and erect carriage, and possessed of remarkable power -in the perception of individual character. She was, moreover, a -“spinster” in the true sense of the word. On her father’s death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span> -she had gone to reside with friends at Turton, near Bolton, where -ample and profitable employment could be obtained in spinning, -and it is said that her expertness in the art first attracted young -Crompton’s attention.</p> - -<p>The newly-married pair began housekeeping in a small cottage -attached to the old hall, Crompton at the same time retaining one -or more workrooms in the mansion where he and his young wife -pursued their humble occupation, producing from the new wheel a -yarn which both for fineness and firmness astonished the manufacturing -community. It does not seem ever to have entered the -mind of the young inventor to patent his machine. Accustomed -to a quiet, secluded life, without any expensive habits or enjoyments, -his highest ambition appears to have been to keep his -invention to himself and to work on in his own simple way in his -own home after the fashion of the time, for it was then the idyllic -period of cotton manufacturing, organised labour in huge factories -being virtually unknown. But the fame of Crompton’s yarn -spread; the new wheel was an unmistakable success, and gave -promise of realising for its inventor an ample fortune. It was at -once seen that the much-admired muslins that had been imported -from India, and for which extravagant prices were paid, could now -be produced by the English manufacturer, and at a greatly -diminished cost. Crompton had his own price, and orders for the -wonderful yarn poured in upon him; the demand was urgent and -pressing, and his house was literally besieged with manufacturers -anxious to obtain supplies of the much-coveted material, and still -more anxious to penetrate the secret of its production, for it soon -became noised abroad that he had discovered some novel mode of -spinning. People from miles round gathered about his house, -anxious to solve the mystery; all kinds of stratagems were practised -to obtain admission to his workroom; and when denied, some -actually obtained ladders, clambered up to the window of his -chamber, and peeped in to satisfy their curiosity. To protect himself -from this kind of observation Crompton set up a screen, and -then an inquisitive individual, more adventurous than the rest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span> -secreted himself in one of the cocklofts of the hall, and remained -there for days watching the operations going on through a gimlet -hole he had bored in the ceiling.</p> - -<p>There is a well-authenticated tradition that at this time Arkwright, -who a few years before had erected a cotton mill at Cromford, in -Derbyshire, the nursing place, as it has been called, of the factory -opulence and power of Great Britain, made his way to the Hall-in-the-Wood, -and contrived to gain access to the house with the -object of inspecting the machine of which such wonderful tales -were told while the inventor was away collecting rates for his mother, -who, as we have said, filled the office of overseer for the township. -Arkwright was then in the full tide of his success, and it was an -unfortunate circumstance for Crompton that they did not meet. If -they had it would probably have led to an arrangement whereby -the simple, guileless inventor might have reaped the reward of many -years of patient toil and personal sacrifice.</p> - -<p>Had Crompton possessed a tithe of the energy and resources of -the average Lancashire man he would have triumphed, but, unhappily -for himself, these were just the qualities he lacked, and his -diffidence and childlike simplicity made him an easy victim in the -hands of unscrupulous and crafty traders. Had he bestirred himself -there is no reason to doubt but that some capitalist would have -been ready to advance the means to patent his invention, but his -shyness and morbid sense of independence forbade him to ask for -help or co-operation. What Arkwright and Peel did he might have -accomplished; but, instead of his succeeding to opulence, he -allowed others to reap where he had sown. His very success was -the cause of his misfortunes. He was unable to carry on his work -in undisturbed privacy, and his moody and sensitive nature could -not bear the annoyance to which he was perpetually subjected by -prying intruders. It was the crisis in his life. Tormented, worried, -driven almost to distraction, he, in a weak moment, yielded to the -advice of a well-intentioned but unwise counsellor, and surrendered -his invention to an ungrateful community. When relating the story -to Mr. G. A. Lee, and Mr. John Kennedy, of Manchester, some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span> -years afterwards, Mr. Lee having remarked that “it was a pity he -had not kept the secret to himself,” he replied “that a man had a -very insecure tenure of property which another could carry away -with his eyes.” He says in the MS. before referred <span class="nowrap">to:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>During this time I married, and commenced spinning altogether. But a -few months reduced me to the cruel necessity either of destroying my -machine altogether or giving it up to the public. To destroy it I could not -think of; to give up that for which I had laboured so long was cruel. I -had no patent nor the means of purchasing one. In preference to destroying -it I gave it to the public.</p></blockquote> - -<p>He says he “gave it to the public,” and virtually he did; for, -though it was professedly for a consideration, he derived little or -no benefit, and only found that he had been made the victim of -the greed, and meanness, and sordid treachery of those whom, in -his simplicity, he had trusted. Yielding to the deceitful promises -of his townsmen and others, he was induced to surrender his much -coveted secret on the faith of an agreement that, as it turned out, -had no validity in law, and which some of the signatories were base -enough to repudiate. The following are the terms in which it was -drawn <span class="nowrap">up:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="right"> - -Bolton, November 20th, 1780.<br /> -</p> - -<p>We whose names are hereunto subscribed have agreed to give and do -hereby promise to pay unto Samuel Crompton, at the Hall-in-the-Wood, -near Bolton, the several sums opposite to our names as a reward for his -improvement in Spinning. Several of the principal Tradesmen in Manchester, -Bolton, &c., having seen his Machine approve of it, and are of -opinion that it would be of the greatest utility to make it generally known, -to which end a contribution is desired from every wellwisher of trade.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The total sum subscribed was £67 6s. 6d., but even of this -miserable amount only about £50 was actually paid, “as much by -subscription,” says Crompton, “as built me a new machine with -only four spindles more than the one I had given up [for he had -not only surrendered his secret but the original machine with it]—the -old one having forty-eight, the new one fifty-two spindles.” -Never, certainly, was so much got for so little, and a touch of -infamy was added to the merciless transaction by a fact which -Crompton thus <span class="nowrap">records:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Many subscribers would not pay the sums they had set opposite their -names. When I applied for them I got nothing but abusive language to -drive me from them, which was easily done; for I never till then could -think it possible that any man could pretend one thing and act the direct -opposite. I then found it was possible, having had proof positive.</p></blockquote> - -<p>These men, as has been truly said, saved their miserable guineas -at the expense of their honesty and honour. The treatment to -which he was subjected made a lasting impression on his mind. -His very integrity increased his mortification at the dishonesty of -those he had so generously trusted; his disposition—never a -buoyant or cheerful one—was soured, and during the remainder of -his life he was moody and mistrustful. While hundreds of -manufacturers were accumulating colossal fortunes out of the -results of Crompton’s skill and ingenuity, the man himself, while -so abundantly enriching them, was not able to gather even the -smallest grains of the golden harvest, and, but for his energy and -frugality, might have lapsed into absolute poverty, a martyr of -mechanical invention and another illustration of the scriptural -paradox, “Poor, yet making many rich.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429"></a></span> - -<img src="images/i_453.jpg" width="600" height="449" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">OLDHAMS.</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430"></a></span></p> - -<p>It was a bitter disappointment to Crompton to find that the -promises so pleasant to the ear were broken to the hope, that he -had, in fact, been tricked into giving up the invention that had -cost him so many years of anxious thought and toil to a host of -selfish manufacturers who were making fortunes out of his simple -trust. He became moody, suspicious, and distrustful of everything -and everybody; but if he doubted the world he never lost heart in -himself. Deprived of his just reward, he removed from the Hall-in-the-Wood -to Oldhams, a small cottage across the valley near Astley -Bridge, in Sharples, and distant about a mile and a half from Bolton. -Here he farmed a few acres, kept three or four cows, and, still -adhering to the common Lancashire custom, combined the business -of a farmer with that of a manufacturer, and in one of the -upper chambers of his house erected his newly-constructed machine. -Familiar with the principles of his mule, he was naturally more -skilful in the working of it than others; his wife, too, was an -expert in spinning, and the yarn they spun was the best and finest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span> -in the market, and brought the highest prices; it was supposed, -therefore, that he must have made some improvements in his -machine, and, as a consequence, he was again pestered with -inquisitive visitors anxious to discover the secret of his success, -when, to protect himself from the unwelcome intrusion, he is said -to have contrived a secret fastening to the door in the upper storey -where he worked at the mule.</p> - -<p>About this time Crompton invented a new carding-engine, and, -anxious to extend his operations, he set up as an employer of -labour, but the result was not satisfactory, for the people he -engaged to spin under him were continually being bribed to enter -the service of other masters, who hoped in this way to gain a -knowledge of his secrets, so that eventually he was obliged to fall -back upon the labours of his own household, and broke up the -carding-engine, remarking that “the devils should not have that.” -He <span class="nowrap">says:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I pushed on, intending to have a good share in the spinning line, yet I -found there was an evil which I had not foreseen and of much greater magnitude -than giving up the machine, viz., that I must be always teaching -green hands, employ none, or quit the country; it being believed that if I -taught them they knew the business well, so that for years I had no choice -but to give up spinning or quit my native land. I cut up my spinning -machines for other purposes.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Whilst residing at Oldhams, Crompton received a visit from Sir -(then Mr.) Robert Peel, the first baronet, his object being to offer -the inventor a lucrative appointment in his own manufactory, with -the prospect of a future partnership, but Crompton’s natural -infirmity of temper and his quickness to take offence opposed a -barrier to his own advancement. He had a prejudice against Peel -on account of some imaginary affront,<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> and so the offer that might -have led to his lasting comfort and prosperity was declined.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span></p> -<p>By this time the mule had become the machine chiefly employed -for fine spinning, not only round Bolton but in the manufacturing -districts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and its general appropriation -soon changed the neighbourhood of which Manchester -was the centre from a country of small farmers to one of small -manufacturers. Houses on the banks of streams whose currents -would drive a wheel and shaft were eagerly seized upon; sheds -were run up in similar situations; the clank of wheels and the buzz -of spindles were heard in once solitary places in the valleys running -off from the Irwell and upon the small streams that flowed down -from the barren hills. Crompton’s mules, worked by hand, “were -erected in garrets or lofts, and many a dilapidated barn or cowshed -was patched up in the walls, repaired in the roof, and provided -with windows to serve as lodging room for the new muslin wheels,” -as they were called.</p> - -<p>So great was the impetus given to manufacture by the invention -of the mule that, within less than six years of its introduction, the -number of inhabitants in Bolton had doubled; whilst in the -neighbouring town of Bury, which had “its cotton manufacture -originally brought from Bolton,” the increase was even more rapid. -In order to provide for his increasing family, and, as is said, to -escape the annoyance of his being re-elected overseer, Crompton, -in 1791, removed from his pleasant little farm at Oldhams to a -house in King Street, Bolton, where he enlarged his spinning -operations, filling the attics over his own dwelling and those of the -two adjoining houses with additional mules and machinery for -manufacturing purposes—his elder boys being now able to assist -him in his handicraft.</p> - -<p>Five years later he had the misfortune to lose the loving and -faithful partner of his joys and sorrows. She had been long ailing, -and on the 29th of May, 1796, he followed her remains to their -last resting place in the old churchyard at Bolton. It is stated -that when he returned from the funeral he sat down broken-hearted -and in utter despair; it must have been a sorrowful day -for him, for she left him with a family of eight young children.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span> -Two of them were lying sick at the time in their cradles, and one -died a short time after. The death of his wife made a deep -impression on his mind and character. From his childhood he -had been imbued with strong religious sentiments, and being of a -naturally thoughtful and dreamy disposition, his religion was of a -somewhat mystical kind; hence it is not surprising that he should -have been led to withdraw from the communion of the Church of -England and embrace the tenets of that amiable and philosophic -teacher, Emanuel Swedenborg, who at that time had many followers -in the town of Bolton. Crompton became a zealous member of the -New Jerusalem Church, “taking entire charge of the psalmody,” -and occupying his leisure hours in composing hymn-tunes for the -choir, which was wont to assemble on Sunday evenings at his -house to practise.</p> - -<p>He struggled manfully to maintain his young family in comfort -and respectability, but he was comparatively helpless in the conduct -of business, and altogether unfitted to deal with the practical affairs -of life. He wrote on one <span class="nowrap">occasion:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“I found to my sorrow I was not calculated to contend with men of the -world; neither did I know there was such a thing as protection for me on -earth! I found I was as unfit for the task that was before me as a child -of two years old to contend with a disciplined army.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>When he did attempt to transact business, to such an extent was -this weakness of character manifested that, as is said by his -<span class="nowrap">biographer—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“When he attended the Manchester Exchange to sell his yarns and -muslins, and any rough-and-ready manufacturer ventured to offer him a -less price than he had asked, he would invariably wrap up his samples, -put them into his pocket, and quietly walk away.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>His countenance was not sufficiently bronzed to enable him to -contend successfully with the chafferers on ’Change. Like Watt, -who declared he would rather face a loaded cannon than settle an -account or make a bargain, he hated that jostling with the world -inseparable from the conduct of extensive industrial or commercial -operations; but, unlike Watt, he was not fortunate enough in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span> -great crisis of his life to have met with a Boulton who had the -quickness of perception to determine when to act and the energy -of purpose to carry out the measures which his judgment approved.</p> - -<p>It was not until 1800, twenty years after the invention of the mule, -that any real attempt was made to recompense him for the sacrifices -he had made, and for the inestimable benefits he had -conferred upon the community in general and the district in which -he laboured in particular. To Manchester belongs the credit of -originating the movement. Two manufacturers there, Mr. John -Kennedy, one of the founders of the great cotton-spinning firm of -M’Connel and Kennedy, and Mr. George Lee, of the firm of -Philips and Lee, appreciating the talents of the struggling inventor, -started a subscription for the purpose of providing a comfortable -competence for him in his declining years. The time was not -opportune, and their efforts were in consequence only partially -successful. It was the year in which Napoleon’s overtures for -peace were haughtily and offensively rejected by Lord Grenville; -the war with France had imposed additional burdens upon the -people, who were already suffering from a prolonged depression of -trade; the scarcity caused by a deficiency in the harvest was commonly -regarded as a consequence of the war; the country was on -the brink of famine; mobs paraded the streets, and the Habeas -Corpus Act had to be suspended to avoid the social danger to -which a continuance of the rioting must of necessity lead. Comparatively -few subscriptions were received; the kindly effort stuck -fast, and eventually it had to be abandoned.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> Between four and -five hundred pounds was all that could be realised, and that was -handed to Crompton, who sunk it in his little manufacturing -establishment for spinning and weaving. His biographer <span class="nowrap">says—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>As a consequence of this additional capital, he soon after rented the -top storey of a neighbouring factory, one of the oldest in Bolton, in which -he had two mules—one of 360 spindles, the other of 220—with the necessary -preparatory machinery. The power to turn the machinery was -rented with the premises. Here also he was assisted by the elder branches -of his family, and it is our duty, though a melancholy one, to record that -the system of seducing his servants from his employment was still persisted -in, and that one at least of his own sons was not able to withstand the -specious and flattering inducements held out by wealthy opponents to -leave his father’s service and accept extravagant payment for a few weeks, -during which he was expected to divulge his father’s supposed secrets and -his system of manipulating upon the machine.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Aided by the mule the cotton manufacture prodigiously developed -itself. The tiny rill which issued from the Hall-i’-th’-Wood had -become swollen into a mighty river, carrying wealth and prosperity -along its course; and he who had started the stream looked not -unreasonably to obtain some small share of the riches that were -borne upon its bosom. With this hope, he was induced in 1807 to -address a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, the then president of the -Royal Society, in which he modestly set forth his grievances, and, -describing himself as “a retired man in the country, and unacquainted -with public matters,” requested the society’s advice “to -enable him to procure from Government or elsewhere a proper -recompense for his invention.” There had been some mistake in -the address of the letter. It, however, eventually found its way to -the Society of Arts, where the application was discussed; but, to -Crompton’s great disappointment, nothing more came of it.</p> - -<p>Four years later he made a survey of all the cotton districts in -England, Scotland, and Ireland, and obtained an estimate of the -number of spindles then at work on his principle. On his return -he laid the results of his inquiries before his friends, Mr. Kennedy -and Mr. Lee, with the suggestion that Parliament might “grant -him something.” It was proved that 4,600,000 spindles were at -work upon his mules, using upwards of 40,000,000 pounds of -cotton annually; that 70,000 persons were engaged in the spinning, -and 150,000 more in weaving the yarn so spun, and that a population -of full half a million derived their daily bread from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span> -machinery his skill had devised. This statement, as was afterwards -found, fell far short of the actual facts, for it did not include any -of the numerous mules used in the manufacture of woollen yarn. -The claim was indisputable. With the data before him Mr. Lee -entered fully into the case. A Manchester solicitor, Mr. George -Duckworth, of Duckworth and Chippindall, Princess Street, offered -his gratuitous help, and drew up a memorial to Parliament on his -behalf which was signed by most of the principal manufacturers in -the kingdom who were acquainted with his merits. In February, -1812, Crompton proceeded to London with this memorial, and -obtained an interview with one of the Lancashire members; and, -through the influence of powerful friends who appreciated his -merits and sympathised with his misfortunes, he was enabled to -place his memorial before Mr. Spencer Perceval, the Chancellor of -the Exchequer, who appears to have taken a favourable view of -his claim. The matter was referred to a select committee, of which -Lord Stanley, the great-grandfather of the present Earl of Derby, -was chairman. Evidence was given in favour of the inventor, and, -among other information given, it was stated by Mr. Lee that at -that time the duty paid upon cotton imported to be spun by the -mule amounted to not less than £350,000 a year. The committee -reported favourably, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was -ready to propose a vote of £20,000, when Crompton’s usual ill-luck -intervened in a very shocking manner. It was the afternoon of the -11th May, 1812, and Crompton was standing in the lobby of the -House of Commons, conversing with Sir Robert Peel and Mr. -John Blackburne, one of the members for Lancashire, when one of -them observed, “Here comes Mr. Perceval.” The group was -instantly joined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who addressed -them with the remark, “You will be glad to know I mean to -propose £20,000 for Crompton. Do you think it will be satisfactory?” -Hearing this, Crompton moved off from motives of -delicacy, and did not hear the reply. He was scarcely out of sight -when there was a great rush of people—Perceval had been shot -dead by the madman Bellingham. The frightful catastrophe had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span> -in an instant deprived the country of a valuable minister, and lost -to Crompton a patron and £15,000. When the new Government -had been formed the matter was again brought before the House, -and on the 26th of June, on the motion of Lord Stanley, it awarded -him £5,000, a sum altogether inadequate for the services he had -rendered, as well as out of all proportion to the rewards which -Parliament had previously given to other inventors. In an article -which appeared some years afterwards in the <cite>Edinburgh Review</cite><a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a>, -the paltriness of the award was severely commented upon. The -reviewer <span class="nowrap">said:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>To make a lengthened commentary on such a proceeding would be -superfluous. Had the House of Commons refused to recognise Mr. -Crompton’s claim for remuneration they would, whatever might have been -thought of their proceedings, have at least acted consistently. But to -admit the principle of the claim, to enter into an elaborate investigation -with respect to the merit and extensive application of the invention, and -then to vote so contemptible a pittance to the inventor, are proceedings -which evince the most extraordinary niggardliness on the part of those -who have never been particularly celebrated for their parsimonious disposition -towards individuals whose genius and inventions have alone -enabled Parliament to meet the immense expenses the country has had to -sustain.</p></blockquote> - -<p>With the £5,000, or rather with such portion of it as he -received—for there were considerable deductions for fees and other -charges—Crompton entered into various commercial speculations; -but the fickle goddess did not smile on any of them. Anxious to -place his sons in some business, he fixed on that of bleaching, and -rented a works at Over Darwen; his eldest and youngest sons, -George and James, being admitted as partners. But the unfavourable -state of the times, the inexperience and mismanagement of his -eldest son, a bad situation, and a tedious and expensive lawsuit -with the landlord conspired in a very short time to put an end to -this establishment. He was also engaged in cotton spinning and -manufacturing, in connection with his sons Samuel and John; but -they disagreed, Samuel withdrawing from the concern and going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span> -to Ireland, leaving his father to carry it on with such help as John -could give him. The only business in which he may be said to -have been at all successful was that of a cotton merchant, which -he carried on in conjunction with his favourite son, William, and -a Mr. Wylde. The firm eventually extended its operations to -cotton spinning; but young Crompton disliking this branch of the -business, the partnership was dissolved, the father and son retiring. -The latter afterwards began business on his own account in Oldham, -but the fate of the family followed him. He was unsuccessful; -a fire consumed his stock, a lawsuit grew out of the fire; and -finally, in 1832, he was carried off by an attack of cholera.</p> - -<p>Left almost alone in the world, with old age creeping upon him, -his sons dead or dispersed, and his only daughter—then a widow—for -his housekeeper, Crompton carried on his small original -business without assistance, “spending much of his time in -devising the mechanism proper for weaving new patterns in fancy -muslins.” But his lack of business capacity and inability to cope -with the common-place incidents of ordinary life destroyed his -chances of success, and that unhappy fatality which had -accompanied him through life still dogged his steps. To use his -own words, he was “hunted and watched with as much never-ceasing -care as if he was the most notorious villain that ever -disgraced the human form; and if he were to go to a smithy to get -a common nail made, if opportunity offered to the bystanders, they -would examine it most minutely to see if it was anything but a -nail.” His patterns were pirated by his neighbours, who reproduced -them in fabrics of inferior quality, and thus they were enabled to -undersell and beat him out of the market. As he advanced in -years his means became more and more straitened, and he was -beginning gradually to drift into a state of poverty when, in 1824, -Messrs. Hicks & Rothwell, of Bolton, his old friend, Mr. Kennedy, -of Manchester, and some other sympathisers, unasked and unknown -to Crompton, who had then reached his 72nd year, made a second -subscription to purchase a life annuity, and the sum raised yielded -a payment of £63 a year. He did not, however, live long to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span> -enjoy it. Wearied and worn out with cares and disappointments, -but to the last retaining the esteem of his friends and the respect -of all who knew him, he died by the gradual decay of nature at his -house in King-street, Great Bolton, on the 26th June, 1827, at the -age of seventy-three, and a few days later his body, followed by -many voluntary mourners, was committed to the dust in the -churchyard of Bolton, where a modest flagstone thus perpetuates -his <span class="nowrap">name:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Beneath this stone are interred the mortal remains of Samuel Crompton, -of Bolton, late of Hall-i’-th’-Wood, in the township of Tonge, inventor -of the spinning machine called the Mule; who departed this life the 26th -day of June, 1827, aged 72 years.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p></blockquote> - -<p>Such is the sad and simple story of the inventor of the spinning -mule. Though his life was passed in comparative obscurity and -neglect, and he was allowed to end his days in poverty, the name -of Samuel Crompton will be held in honoured remembrance so -long as the cotton trade endures, for it is to Crompton’s mule -more than to any other invention we owe that vast Lancashire -industrialism which has been the source of untold benefits to his -native shire, and has so greatly increased the power and wealth of -the nation at large. Looking at the splendid results which his -genius accomplished, it must ever be a cause of regret that -Lancashire men did so little for him who did so much for them. -In the various relations of life Crompton was in all things upright -and honourable; he had his failings like other men, but they were -those which arose from his simple and unsuspecting nature, and -such as should excite commiseration rather than condemnation. -The weak point in his character, and that from which nearly all -his troubles and misfortunes arose, was the absence of those -faculties which enable a man to hold equal intercourse with his -fellows. His morbid sense of independence made him averse to -the very appearance of favour or patronage, and to ask for even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span> -that which was his due was always at the cost of acute pain. His -manners and actions were at all times guided by a natural politeness -and grace, as far from servility as rudeness. By those who -knew him in the strength and fulness of his manhood he is -described as having been handsome and singularly prepossessing -in appearance, and this description is borne out by his portrait, -which displays the lineaments of a well-formed head and face -that strongly suggests the idea of the thoughtful philosopher and -the true gentleman.</p> - -<p>Though Crompton’s memory remained long neglected, a succeeding -generation has happily done something to remove the stain -of ingratitude, and to atone in some measure for the shortcomings -of his contemporaries. The late Mr. Gilbert James French, a man -of energy, intelligence, and culture, first aroused his fellow townsmen -to a better appreciation of the value of Crompton’s achievements. -In two lectures he delivered to the members of the Bolton -Mechanics’ Institute, and in the handsome volume subsequently -issued—“The Life and Times of Samuel Crompton”—a work to -which we are indebted for some of the facts here recorded, Mr. -French gave a very circumstantial account of the great inventor’s -career; not content with this tribute to his memory, he set about -obtaining subscriptions for the purpose of doing honour to Crompton’s -name. A sum of £2,000 was raised, and on the 24th Sept., -1862, a bronze statue of the inventor of the mule by Calder Marshall, -with bas reliefs of Hall-i’-th’-Wood, and Crompton at work -upon his machine, was presented with much pomp and circumstance -and many outward manifestations of rejoicing to the -Corporation of Bolton. In this tardy recognition of his services -Bolton has done something to efface the reproach which the -ingratitude of a former generation had stamped upon the town. -But Crompton has a more fitting as well as a more enduring -monument in those outward indications of active industry which -now surround his humble dwelling-place, and borrowing the oft-repeated -line from Wren’s monument in St. Paul’s, it may be said—<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Si -monumentum requiris—circumspice</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span></p> - -<p>The old dilapidated mansion in which his earlier years were -passed still remains. His name has given it an historic importance -it never before possessed. To Lancashire men it should be -as a very Mecca, and it can never be looked upon with feelings -other than those of the deepest interest, for it may be truly said -that here the prosperity of the nation hung in suspense as the -thoughts and expedients of Crompton’s mind came and went, -trembled, grew firm, and finally triumphed; and assuredly in -no corner of England is the memorable couplet more strongly -emphasised than in this now forlorn and weather-beaten <span class="nowrap">abode:—</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Peace hath her victories</div> -<div class="verse">Not less renowned than war.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/i_466.jpg" width="350" height="141" alt="graphic" /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> -<img src="images/i_467.jpg" width="600" height="105" alt="Start of chapter graphic" /> -</div> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX">INDEX.</a></h2> - - -<div> -<ul class="index"> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Abbott Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_83">83–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Adderley, Charles, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Adlington</i>, <a href="#Page_283">283–360</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Agarde, Francis, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Agecroft Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Agincourt, Battle of, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Alderley</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Alderley Edge</i>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aldford, Lucy, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Allen, Dorothy, <a href="#Page_370">370–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isaac, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Allithwaite</i>, <a href="#Page_83">83–4</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Anjou, Margaret of, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arderne, John, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Matilda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arkwright, Richard, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Arnside Knot</i>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Armstrong, Thomas, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arragon, Katharine of, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arram, William, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arthur, Prince, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arundell and Wardour, Lady, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> " "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ashley, Hamo, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ashmole, Elias, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ashton, Mr., <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Major-General, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aspinall, John, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph John, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Astley Bridge</i>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aston Thomas, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Atheling, Edgar, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Atherton, Eleanor, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Attercroft, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Audley, James, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Baggaley, William, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bagnall, Henry, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bailey, J. Eglington, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176–7</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baliol, John, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baltimore, Lord, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bamville, Amabella, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Hugh, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bancroft, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70–1</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_70">70–71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Banks, Mr., <a href="#Page_376">376</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Joseph, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barber, Dr., <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bardolf, Lord, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barlow, William, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barratt, James, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barrit, Thomas, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Barrow</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barrow, Sir John, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baxter, Richard, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bayley, Dr., <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baynton, Master, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Beaumaris Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bechton, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ellen, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Philip, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Becke, Isabel, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bedingfield, Thomas, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Beeston Brook</i>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213–241</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Beeston, George, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Beever, John F., <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Belgrave, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isabel, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bellairs, Henry, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary Ellen, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bellingham, Edward, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bennett, Mr., <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bennett, Robert, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bennison, Thomas, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bentley, Joanna, <a href="#Page_376">376–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_376">376–7</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Berkeley Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bexwyke, Hugh, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Joan, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_364">364–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Roger, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Billinge Hill</i>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Birch, George, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Birches, Robert, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Blackburn</i>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Blackburn, John, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Black Comb</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Blackmore, Dr., <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Black Prince, The, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bland, Lady, <a href="#Page_381">381–2</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Bleasdale Moor</i>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Blois, Earl of, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bloreheath, Battle of, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Blount, John, <a href="#Page_290">290–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Blundell, Henry Robert, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Blundeville, Randle, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bohemia, King of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bohun, Humphrey, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bold, Richard, <a href="#Page_254">254–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bolingbroke, Henry, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bolingbroke, Lord, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bolle, John, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bolles, Mary, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Bollin River</i>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Bolton</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bond, Mr., <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Bonishall</i>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bonner, Bishop, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bononcini, <a href="#Page_386">386–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bonville, Lord, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Booth, Ellen, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> George, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> James, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John Gore, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bostock, Adam, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bosworth, Battle of, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309–10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bowdon, George, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Anne, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Bowfell</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Bowland Forest</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brabazon, Lady, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brabin, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bradford, John, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bradshaw, Barbour, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Catherine, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Frances, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> George, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Godfrey, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30–6</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> J., <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26–7</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Joseph, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Rachel, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Sarah, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bradshawe-Isherwood, Arthur Salusbury, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bradshawe-Isherwood, Henry, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> " " </span> John, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> " "</span> John Henry, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> " "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brandon, Lord, <a href="#Page_128">128–129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brearcliffe, Sarah, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brereton, Andrew, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ellen, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mrs.,</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Peter, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Sybil, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Urian, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brett, Ann, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Colonel, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brettargh, Mr., <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bridge, Major-General, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bridgeman, Bishop, <a href="#Page_41">41–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Orlando, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brofield, Mr., <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brogden, Alexander, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bromiley, James, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brooke, Charles, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Brooks, William, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Broster, Richard, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brownlow, Lawrence, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brownswerd, John, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Broxton Hills</i>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bruce, Robert, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bruerton, Mrs., <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Brungerley Hipping Stones</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brunlees, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Buckingham, Duke of, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Buckler, C. A., <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Bunbury</i>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Burghall, Edward, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Buron, Hugh, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Butley Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Byrom, Adam, <a href="#Page_363">363–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ann, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Dorothy, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edward, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366–378</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Eleanor, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384–5</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393–4</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401–2</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ellen, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> George, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_364">364–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lawrence, <a href="#Page_365">365–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Martin, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_151">151–2</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372–401</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Joseph, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Phœbe, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Samuel, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Byrom Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Byrom, Sedgewick, Allen and Place, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Byron, John, <a href="#Page_200">200–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Cadiz, Siege of, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Caernarvon Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Calder River</i>, <a href="#Page_250">250–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Valley</i>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Calveley, George, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Camden, William, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Campbell, James, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Canterbury, Archbishop of, <a href="#Page_187">187–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cark</i>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carlisle, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carmichael, Captain, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Carnforth</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carnwath, Earl, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caroline, Queen, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carpenter, General, <a href="#Page_342">342–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carter, Dorothy, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Oliver, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cartleche, John, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cartmel</i>, <a href="#Page_76">76–8</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cartmel Fells</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Priory</i>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caryl, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Castlemaine, Lady, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cat and Fiddle</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cattel, Mr., <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Catterall, Thos., <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cavendish, Henry, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caxton, John, <a href="#Page_113">113–14</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cecil, Secretary, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chadderton, Dr., <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chaddock, Tom, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chadwick, J. Oldfield, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Challener, John, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mrs., <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Chapel Island</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Chapeltown</i>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Charles I., <a href="#Page_44">44–45</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Charles Edward, Prince, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396–7</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Charleton, Edward, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Chartley Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cheanie, Alan, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Chester</i>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239–40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chester, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Chester Cathedral</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chester, Earl of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chesterfield, Lord, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chetham, Edmund, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Humphrey, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chisnall, Colonel, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Chipping</i>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cholmondeley, Earl, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Hugh, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cibber, Colley, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clarke, Peter, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clayton, Mr., <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clifford, George Lambert, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lady Ann, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Matilda, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Roger, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Rosamond, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> The Black-faced, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Clitheroe Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cloud End</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Clowes, Mr., <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clyderhow, Thomas, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clyve, Mr., <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cobham, Lord, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cockersand Abbey</i>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cogan, Dr., <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cole, Lettice, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Colydon, Mrs., <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Compton, Captain, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Conishead</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Coniston Old Man</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constable, Mr., <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Conway Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Conway, Lady, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Conway, River</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cook, Mr., <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cooper’s Hill</i>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cope, John, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cophurst</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Coppock, James, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Corona, Agnes, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ellen, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Hugh, <a href="#Page_290">290–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isabel, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lucy, <a href="#Page_290">290–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Sarah, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cottington, Lord, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cotterel, P., <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cotton, George, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Coventry, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Coventry, Grey Friars Abbey</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cowper, Edward, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lady Mary, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Crewe</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crocker, John, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Cromford</i>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crompton, Alexander, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Betty, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Dr., <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ellen, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> George, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> James, <a href="#Page_438">438</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Samuel, <a href="#Page_408">408–442</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cromwell, Oliver, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53–58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crosse, Richard, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard Townley, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Croxton, Mr., <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cumberland, Countess of, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Denison, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Duke of, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cyveliock, Hugh, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Daa, Alina, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Reginald, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dalston, Sir William, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Daniel, Samuel, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Danyers, Thomas, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Darnel, Sargeant, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Darwen</i>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Darwen, Over</i>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>River</i>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Davenport, Amabella, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Christopher, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Hugh, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Nicholas, <a href="#Page_310">310–11</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Peter, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dawson, Dr., <a href="#Page_390">390–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> James, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Deacon, Christopher, <a href="#Page_398">398–400</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Christopher Clemens, <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Dr., <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert Renatus, <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas Theodorus, <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dee, Arthur, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Jane, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_157">157–210</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Katharine, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Michael, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Dee, River</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dee, Rowland, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Deganwy Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Delamere Forest</i>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Delves, Lady, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Denbigh, Lord of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Dent Fells</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Derby, Countess of, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Earl of, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Derwentwater, Earl of, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Desborough, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Despenser, Hugh, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Devereux, Robert, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Devonshire, Duke of, <a href="#Page_383">383</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Dicconson, Richard, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dickinson, Mr., <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dickson, Sergeant, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Dieu-la-cresse Abbey</i>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Digby, Kenelm, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Disraeli, Isaac, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dodd, Dr., <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Doddington Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dokenfield, Robert, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Done, John, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lady, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Dorfold Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dounes, Reginald, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Downes, Edward, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Roger, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Downham, Bishop, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Drake, Madam, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Drayton, Michael, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dublin, Archbishop of, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Duckworth, George, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Duckworth and Chippindall, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dudley, Robert, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dugdale, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dukinfield, Colonel, <a href="#Page_31">31–2</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Duncalf, William, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dunsany, Lord, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dunstan, Mr., <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dutton, Hugh, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dytton, Mr., <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mrs., <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Eagley Brook</i>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Earwaker, John P., <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Eddisbury</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edge, Oliver, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward III., <a href="#Page_228">228–231</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward IV., <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward VI., <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edwards, Mr., <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Messrs., <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Egerton, Lady, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elcho, Lord, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eleanor, Queen, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elizabeth, Princess, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Queen, <a href="#Page_172">172–5</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183–8</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ellenborough, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ellis, Mr., <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ely, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Erskine, Lord, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Espinasse, Mr., <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Essex, Earl of, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Evans, John, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Evelyn, Lindon, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Evesham, Battle of, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Exton, Piers, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Fairfax, General, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lady, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Fairies’ Cave</i>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fair Rosamond, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fauconberg, Mr., <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fauconbridge, Mr., <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fell, Thomas, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ferrers, Earl, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fiennes, Nathaniel, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Finney, John, <a href="#Page_342">342–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Samuel, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Firwood</i>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fishwick, Colonel, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fitton, Alexander, <a href="#Page_128">128–30</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ann, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Colonel, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edmund, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edward, <a href="#Page_110">110–11</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119–30</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Felicia, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Frances, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Francis, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Jane, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lady, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Laurence, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116–119</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_110">110–11</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Penelope, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_112">112–13</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117–19</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fitzherbert, Mrs., <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fitz Ivon, Maud, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Wlofaith, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flame, Lord, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fletcher, Mr., <a href="#Page_394">394–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Flint Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Flookborough</i>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flower, William, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Folkes, Mr., <a href="#Page_397">397–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Fonthill</i>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Forest Chapel</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Foster, General, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fountain, Serjeant, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fox, Edward, <a href="#Page_407">407</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span>George, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Frank, Ann, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> - -<li class="indx">French, Gilbert J., <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Frodsham</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fromonds, Bartholomew, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Nicholas, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fulden, Mr., <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Furness</i>, <a href="#Page_76">76–7</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Abbey</i>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Gaunt, John o’, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Gawsworth</i>, <a href="#Page_102">102–154</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gawsworth, Lord, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gerard, Charles, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Christopher, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Fitton, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_129">129–131</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gibbons, Grinling, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glendower, Owen, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gloucester, Duke of, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gobert, John, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lucy, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Godiva, Lady, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Goodgroom, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Goodier, Mr., <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Goyt, Valley of</i>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Grange</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82–3</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Granger, Abraham, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gray, Thomas, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grenville, Lord, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Griffith, Ann, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grindon, Leo H., <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grosvenor, Gilbert, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_318">318–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_316">316–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_303">303–4</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gwinne, Peter, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Haddon, John, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hall, Francis, <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard Edward, <a href="#Page_400">400–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hall-i’-th’-Wood</i>, <a href="#Page_408">408–442</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Halley, Dr., <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Halliwell, J. Orchard, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Halton</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Halton, Baron of, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Halstead, Dumville, <a href="#Page_401">401</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Eleanor, <a href="#Page_401">401–2</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_401">401</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hamilton, Charles, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Colonel, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Duke of, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132–5</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hammond, Colonel, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Dr., <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hancock, Joseph, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Handel, Geo. F., <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348–9</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harbottle, Guiscard, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hardwicke, Bess of, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hardy, Henry, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Harfleur</i>, <a href="#Page_304">304–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hargreaves, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harland, John, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harper, Francis, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harrington, Ann, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> James, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_91">91–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_135">135–6</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Matilda, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Michael, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_91">91–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_90">90–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harrison, John, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Major-General, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hartington, Lord, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hartley, John, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hastings, Henry, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hatton, Christopher, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hawarden Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hawghton, Master, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hawkshee, Mr., <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hazlewood, Katharine, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hemans, Mr., <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henedge, Thomas, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henry III., <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224–5</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> V., <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> VI., <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> VII., <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> VIII., <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hereford, Countess of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Duke of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hesketh, Agnes, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Heton, Isold de, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hexham, Battle of, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Heyricke, Richard, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Heysham</i>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hibbert, Dr., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_25">25–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hick, John, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hickman, Bartholomew, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hicks & Rothwell, <a href="#Page_439">439</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Hill, Edward, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hood, The</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hodder Place</i>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>River</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hodgson, Captain, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hoghton, Richard, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Holcroft, Alice, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Holker</i>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Holland, Mr., <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hollin Old Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hollinshed, Raphael, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hollinworth, Richard, <a href="#Page_146">146–7</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hollinworth, Smithy</i>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Holme Island</i>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Holt, Alice, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> James, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Holy Well</i>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Honford, Henry, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isabella, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Katharine, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hooper, Francis</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hotspur, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Houghton, Thomas, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Howard, Lady, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Howitt, William, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hulme Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hulme, Ralph, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Humphrey Head</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96–101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hunte, Richard, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hunter, Mr., <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hurleston, Richard, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hurst Green</i>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hurst, James, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Hyde Park</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hyde, Edward, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Iken, Anne Mary, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas Bright, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ingleby, Isabel, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ireton, Colonel, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Irwell Valley</i>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Isherwood, Nathaniel, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">James I., <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jefferson, Mr., <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jeffries, Judge, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jermyn, Serjeant, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">John, King, <a href="#Page_220">220–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Johnson, Samuel, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jones, Thomas, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Kay, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kelly, Edward, <a href="#Page_117">117–182</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mistress, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Kemple End</i>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kennedy, John, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435–6</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Kent Estuary</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kent, Fair Maid of, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Kent’s Bank</i>, <a href="#Page_84">84–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kenyon, Ralph, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Kerridge</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Kersall Cell</i>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kighley, Ann, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kinderton, Baron of, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Kirkhead</i>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Lacy, Roger, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lambert, Colonel, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> General, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Lancaster</i>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lancaster, Earl of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Langdale, Marmaduke, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Langdale Pikes</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Langley, Mr., <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Larke, Joan, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Peter, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lasque, Albert, <a href="#Page_179">179–81</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Latimer, Lord, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lauderdale, Lord, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Launcelyn, William, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Laurenson, Mrs., <a href="#Page_380">380</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Law, Edmund, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">La Warre, Thomas, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Laurence, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lee, Clegg, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> G. A., <a href="#Page_427">427–8</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Hester, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Legh, Agnes, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Anne, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Charles, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345–50</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Charles Richard Banastre, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Dulcia, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edward, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth Hester, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth Rowlls, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ellen, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> George, <a href="#Page_313">313–15</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Hester, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isabel, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291–2</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296–300</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335–6</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342–3</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Katharine, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lucy, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lucy Frances, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margery, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Maria, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Matilda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Maud, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Peter, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295–300</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Piers, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Reginald, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard Crosse, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295–308</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Sybil, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_309">309–13</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318–22</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326–7</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329–32</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334–6</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338–40</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346–7</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351–2</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas Crosse, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Urian, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321–3</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325–8</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leicester, Earl of, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179–80</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leigh, Katharine, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leland, John, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lenthall, William, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leofric, Earl, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Leven Estuary</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Sands</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lever, Mr., <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leveson, Richard, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ley, Mr., <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leycester, Peter, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lichfield, Earl of, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lilburn, Colonel, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lilly, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Lindale</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lichfield and Coventry, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llewellyn, Prince, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>London, Tower of</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Longridge Fell</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Lower Wood</i>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Luce, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Ludgate</i>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ludlow, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lupus, Hugh, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Lyme Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Chapel</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lymme, Richard, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lynch, Mr., <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Macartney, General, <a href="#Page_133">133–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Macclesfield</i>, <a href="#Page_105">105–287</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macclesfield, Countess of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Macclesfield Church</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macclesfield, Earl of, <a href="#Page_132">132–133</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Macclesfield Forest</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macclesfield, Roger, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macguire, Lord, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Machin, John, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mackenzie, Peter, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macmahon, Lord, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macworth, Humphrey, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Madan, Mrs., <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mainwaring, Charlotte, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Colonel, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Dr., <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ellen, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lady, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Peter, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Randle, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Roger, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Malpas, Lady, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Malyn, Dr., <a href="#Page_381">381–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Massey, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mrs., <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Manners, John, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marbury, Mary, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">March, Earl of, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maresha, William, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marlborough, Duke of, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Marple Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_21">21–75</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marsh, George, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marshall, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Calder, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Martindale, Adam, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Martyn, Thomas, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Massey, Hamnet, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Massie, William, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maurice, Prince, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maximilian, Emperor, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mayer, Mr., <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maynard, Johanna, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_338">338–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">McConnell and Kennedy, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Methe, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Meeke, Mr., <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Melling, Mr., <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Merbury, Lawrence, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mercia, Earl of, <a href="#Page_288">288–9</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mere, Matthew, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Mersey, River</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> - -<li class="indx">de Meschines, Randle, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Middlewich</i>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Milbey, Mr., <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mildmay, Henry, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Milne House</i>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Milnthorpe Sands</i>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Milton, John, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Minshull, Thomas, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Mitton</i>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250–2</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Church</i>, <a href="#Page_252">252–263</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Little</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Modburly, John, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Moel Fammau</i>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mohun, Lady, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Molyneux, Richard, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Monk, Bishop, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Colonel, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Monmouth, Duke of, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339–40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Montford, Guy, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Henry, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Simon, <a href="#Page_225">225–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Moorfields</i>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Morecambe Bay</i>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Moreland, Mr., <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mortimer, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edward, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Mortlake</i>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Morton, Lord, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edward, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mosley, Edward, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Nicholas, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Oswald, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mostyn, Thomas, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mountague, Duke of, <a href="#Page_397">397</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mounteagle, Lord, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mountford, William, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Nairne, Lord, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nanny, Mr., <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Nantwich</i>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nelson, Mrs., <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Neville, Margaret, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newby, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newby-Wilson, Thomas, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newcastle, Duke of, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newcome, Henry, <a href="#Page_140">140–151</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Stephen, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newdegate, Mr., <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Newgate</i>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newnham, George Lewis, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Louisa, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newton, Alice, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Dorothy, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isaac, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Peter, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nichols, Serjeant, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nithsdale, Lord, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Norfolk, Duchess Dowager of, <a href="#Page_258">258–9</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Duke of, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Norley, Adam, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Norris, Alexander, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Alice, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Christopher, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Northumberland, Countess Dowager of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Duke of, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Earl of, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Northumbria, King of, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nottingham, Earl of, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nowell, Dean, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Roger, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nugent, Richard, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nuthall, John, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Oaks, The</i>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Offerton Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Okey, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Oldham</i>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oldham, Hugh, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Oldhams</i>, <a href="#Page_431">431–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">O’Neill, Hugh, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Shane, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ord, Robert, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Orreby, Fulco, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isabel, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Orrell, Mary, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Oswestry Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Over Darwen</i>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Owen, Joseph, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oxford, Lord, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Paris, Matthew, <a href="#Page_225">225</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Parker, Dorothy, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parkinson, Canon, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parnell, Thomas, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parr, Mr., <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paslew, John, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paulet, George, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paulinus, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Peak of Derbyshire</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Peckforton</i>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pedder, William, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Peel, Messrs., <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pelton, Robert, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pembroke, Earl, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pembroke and Montgomery, Countess of, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Pendle Hill</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244–6</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Pendleton</i>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pendleton, Henry, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pennant, Thomas, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pepys, Roger, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Perceval, Spencer, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Percy, Henry, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Peters, Hugh, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Petersham, Lord, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Phillips, Richard, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Phillips and Lee, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Phœnix Tower</i>, <a href="#Page_239">239–40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pilgrimage of Grace, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pimlott, Mary, <a href="#Page_70">70–1</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_70">70–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plantagenet, Constance, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Geoffrey, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plunkett, John, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Randal, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Pontefract Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pope, Alexander, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Potts, Master, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Poulton Abbey</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Powell, William, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Prestwich Church</i>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prestwich, Edmund, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isabella, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prince, John C., <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prydyn, William, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prynne, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pygot, John, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Radcliffe, Alexander, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Raines, Canon, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Raleigh, Walter, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ratcliffe, John, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Ravenspurg</i>, <a href="#Page_232">232–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Renaud, Dr., <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Reynolds, Frances, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Rhuddlan Castle</i>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Ribblesdale</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Ribchester</i>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9–18</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Bridge</i>, <a href="#Page_6">6–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Ribble River</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251–2</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rich, Robert, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Richard I., <a href="#Page_220">220–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> II., <a href="#Page_115">115–6</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231–2</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299–300</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> III., <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rivers, Earl, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Richmond, Duchess of, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Duke of, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Earl of, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Ridley Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rigby, Alexander, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Robartes, Isabella, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Roberts, Mr., <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Rochdale</i>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rochford, Countess of, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Roe, Samuel, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rokeley, Robert, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rosenberg, Count, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rosworm, John, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Row, Mr., <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rowlls, John, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Rowton Moor</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Runnymede</i>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rupert, Prince, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Russell, Lady, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rutland, Earl of, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rydings, Francis, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Salesbury Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Salghall, Roger, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Salisbury, Bishop of, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Earl of, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sanford, Captain, <a href="#Page_238">238–9</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Savage, Catharine, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edmund, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Isabella, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309–10</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Savill, Harry, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Sawrey Pass</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Saxton, Christopher, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Schoelcher, Victor, <a href="#Page_386">386</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Scoles, Mr., <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scot, John, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scotland, James III. of, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scott, Sir Gilbert, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sedgewick, Allen and Place, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Serleby, John de, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shallcross, Edmund, <a href="#Page_42">42–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shaw, John, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sherburn, Dorothy, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Hugh, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Katharine, <a href="#Page_256">256–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lady, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Maud, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Nicholas, <a href="#Page_258">258–61</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard Francis, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sherd, William, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shore, William, <a href="#Page_298">298–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shrewsbury, Battle of, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mayor of, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shrigley, Mr., <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Shutling’s Low</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Siddal, George, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Siddington, Emmota, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sidney, Henry, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Philip, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Simnel, Lambert, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sinclair, James, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Skiddaw</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Slaidburn, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sloane, Hans, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Smith, John, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Madam, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Smyth, Mary Ann, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sneyd, Felicia, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sorrocold, John, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Katharine, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Ralph, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Southwell, Thomas, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Spanish Armada, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Spenser, Edmund, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Albans, Earl of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. George, Chevalier de, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. John, Mr. Solicitor, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Pierre, Urian, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Werburg’s, Abbot of, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stamford, William, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stanhope, Charles Augustus, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Christopher, <a href="#Page_397">397–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stanley, <a href="#Page_437">437–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edward, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93–4</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margaret, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314–16</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Stanmore Church</i>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Stanner Nab</i>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stansfield, John, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Starke, Alice, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Starkey, Mr., <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Nicholas, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Starkie, Alice, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Le Gendre Nicholas, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Steel, Mr., <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Captain, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stern, Bishop, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stockdale, Mr., <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stockport, Margaret, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Robert, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stokefield, Battle of, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Stormy Point</i>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Stonyhurst</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264–80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stourton, Lord, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Strafford, Earl of, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Strange, Lord, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stringer, Hugh, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Strong, Mr., <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Sunderland Point</i>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sutton, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Richard, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Swarthmoor</i>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Swedenborg, Emanuel, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Syddal, Tom, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sydenham, Colonel, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sydney, Lady, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Tabley, William de, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Talbot, Lord, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tanai, Lucas de, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tankerville, Count de, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tatton, Mr., <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Taylor, John, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Teg’s Nose</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Thorncliffe</i>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thurloe, Secretary, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thyer, Robert, <a href="#Page_387">387</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Tilsey, Mr., <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Timbs, John, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Tiverton</i>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tollemache, Lord, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tounley, Robert de, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Townley, Colonel, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Townshend, Edward, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lady, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Trafford, Edmund, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Treasurer, Lord, <a href="#Page_174">174–5</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Trevor, Jane, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tryket, John, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Turton</i>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Tower</i>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tyldesley, Thomas, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tyrconnell, Lord, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tyrrel, Serjeant, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Ulster King of Arms, <a href="#Page_123">123–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Ulverston</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Sands</i>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Utkinton</i>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Valet, Captain, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Varley, John, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Venables, Gilbert, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Hugh, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Margery, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_293">293–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vernon, Dorothy, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> George, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vigor, Mr., <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Voil, Thomas, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><i>Waddington Fell</i>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wainwright, John, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wakefield, Battle of, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Edward Gibbon, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wales, Prince of, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225–7</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Waller, James, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Walls, Robert, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Walney</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Walpole, Horace, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Walsingham, Francis, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wandesford, Rowland, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Warbeck, Perkin, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Warburton, Anne, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Eleanor, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Harriet, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Peter, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ward, Joseph, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wareing, Paul, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Warren, Edward, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Warwick, Countess of, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Earl of, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Waterpark, Lord, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Watt, James, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Waugh, Edwin, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Weever, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Weld, Edmund, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> William, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wells, Bernard, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mary, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Welshman, Robert, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Werden, Joseph, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Weston, James, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Whalley</i>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Abbey</i>, <a href="#Page_247">247–250</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Church</i>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Nab</i>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitaker, Dr., <a href="#Page_90">90–92</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> John, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitby, Dr., <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>White Nancy</i>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Whiteley Green</i>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Hay</i>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitelock, <a href="#Page_44">44–5</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Whitewell</i>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitfield, George, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitgift, Archbishop, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitmore, William, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitworth, Mr., <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Widderington, Edward, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Peregrine, <a href="#Page_259">259–61</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Widdrington, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wigan, Mr., <a href="#Page_159">159–60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wilbraham, Thomas, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Wildboarclough</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wilkinson, T. T., <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Willemots, Master, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Willes, General, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">William III., <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Williamson, Mr., <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Willoughby, Baldwin, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Lord, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Wilpshire</i>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wilson, “Alick,” <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wilson, N., <a href="#Page_65">65</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Winchester, Marquis of, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Winnington, Catherine, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Bridge</i>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wintoun, Lord, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Wiswall</i>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> <i>Hall</i>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wolsey, Cardinal, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Wolfscote</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wood, Anthony à, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Woodstock, Thomas of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Worcester, Dean of, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Worsley, Ellen, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Major-General, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Mr., <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Thomas, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wordsworth, William, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wortley, Mr., <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Wraysholme Tower</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wright, Mrs., <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Wyberslegh</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Wyke, The</i>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wylde, Mr., <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Wythenshawe</i>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Yates & Dawson, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Yates, Joseph, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Yewbarrow</i>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">York, Archbishop of, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="wide"> "</span> Duke of, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -</ul> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<img src="images/i_479.jpg" width="350" height="125" alt="graphic" /> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John Heywood</span>, Excelsior Steam Printing and Bookbinding Works, - Hulme Hall Road, Manchester. -</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - - -</div> -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Wilpshire is the name now given to the station.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Camden’s Britannia, Ed. 1586, p. 431.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Itinerary IV., fol. 39.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The name, anciently written Mer-pull, seems to be a corruption of -Mere-pool. A little lower down the river is Otters-pool, and these two -point to the conclusion that the Goyt had at one time a much greater -breadth here than it has now.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Thomas Hibbert was the direct ancestor of the Hibberts of Birtles, -and (until recently) of Hare Hill, near Alderley.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Whilst the head of the Cheshire Bradshaws risked the displeasure of -the Herald by neglecting his summons, his kinsmen in Lancashire, who -were steady and decided Royalists, with more regard for constituted -authority, attended the Court, entered their descents, and, in further proof -of his right to the honourable distinction of arms, John Bradshaw, of -Bradshaw, produced a precious letter from Henry Percy, the first Earl -of Northumberland, K.G., the father of Hotspur, to his “well-beloved -friende” John Bradshaw, a progenitor who had probably served and -fought at Chevy Chase and elsewhere in the reign of the second Richard.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> This marriage is recorded on a brass to the memory of Bernard Wells, -affixed to the north wall of the chancel in Bakewell Church.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Oliver Edge, to whom Lord Derby surrendered, resided at Birch Hall -Houses, in Rusholme. To his credit it should be said that, whilst strictly -faithful to his oath, he treated his illustrious captive with the respect due -to fallen greatness when conducting him and his friends as prisoners to -Chester. In one of his letters to his Countess, the Earl speaks of Captain -Edge as “one that was so civil to me that I, and all that love me, are -beholden to him.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> If so, this must have been in 1640, when the Earl, who was at that -time Chamberlain, gave the appointment (27 July, 14 Car. I.) to Orlando -Bridgeman, son of the Bishop of Chester, in succession to Roger Downes, -of Wardley Hall, near Manchester.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> vii.—27.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> This extraordinary outrage, perpetrated in the name of freedom and -justice, has ever since been familiarly known as “Pride’s Purge.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Though now closed in by humbler dwellings, the house must have -been in Bradshaw’s time far away from any other building of equal size -and pretensions. There is a common belief in the neighbourhood that an -underground passage led from it to Ashley Park, where Cromwell, it is -said, at that time resided.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Sir Thomas Armstrong, who had taken part in the Duke of Monmouth’s -rebellion, was executed on the judgment of the notorious Jefferies, as an -outlaw without trial, though his year had not expired.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> At Bradshaw Hall, in Chapel-en-le-Frith, the ancient patrimonial seat -of the stock from which the Marple Bradshaws sprang, there is on the -landing of one of the staircases a similar <span class="nowrap">inscription:—</span> -</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">Love God and not gould.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">He that loves not mercy</div> -<div class="vi4">Of mercy shall miss;</div> -<div class="verse">But he shall have mercy</div> -<div class="vi4">That merciful is.</div> -</div></div></div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Upon the Abbot Hall estate are some lands which still bear the name -of Chapel Fields, in which, at three feet from the surface, human skeletons -have been exhumed. The spot may therefore with much probability be -assumed to have been the site of an oratory, where a monk of the abbey -officiated in offering up prayers for the safety of such as crossed the sands, -Kent’s Bank being the point from which they would start upon their -journey towards Lancaster.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> “Wyke” signifies a bay with a low shore; and the now fertile plain, -which includes some hundreds of acres, protected with deep embankments -and valve gates for the land streams, was reclaimed many years ago through -the enterprise of Mr. Towers, of Dudden Grove, and the late Mr. Stockdale, -of Cark.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> This is an error on the part of the learned historian, for Sir William -Harrington’s death did not occur until 1450.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> By a curious error, which has been repeated in many of the published -pedigrees, this Sir John Stanley is represented as a base son of James Stanley, -Warden of Manchester, and afterwards Bishop of Ely. Bishop Stanley’s -son, who was also distinguished for his valour on the field of Flodden, was -Sir John Stanley, of Honford (Handforth), in Cheadle parish. Cheshire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Stour, <i>i.e</i>., fight.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> In a tavern brawl, in 1727, Savage had the misfortune to kill a Mr. -James Sinclair, for which he was tried and condemned to death. His -relentless mother, it is said, endeavoured to intercept the royal mercy; but -he was pardoned through the influence of Queen Caroline, and set at -liberty. He afterwards addressed a birthday ode to the Queen, in acknowledgment -of which she sent him £60, and continued the same sum to him -every year.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> John Machin was then minister of Astbury, and an intimate friend as -well as neighbour of Newcome’s.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> In the church of Mont Mijour there is a bracket on which is carved a -head devouring a child, closely resembling the one in the warden’s room of -the College, and supposed to be intended for a caricature of Saturn.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Dee’s magic crystal, or show stone, was preserved at Strawberry Hill -until that famous collection was dispersed. A correspondent in <i>Notes and -Queries</i> (2nd S., No. 201) says that John Varley, the painter, well known to -have been attached to astrology, used to relate a tradition that the Gunpowder -Plot was discovered by Dr. Dee with his magic mirror; and he -urged the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of interpreting Lord -Mounteagle’s letter without some other clue or information than hitherto -gained. In a Common Prayer Book, printed by Baskett in 1737, is an -engraving of the following scene: In the centre is a circular mirror on a -stand, in which is the reflection of the Houses of Parliament by night, and -a person entering carrying a dark lantern. Next, on the left side are two -men in the costume of James’s time, looking into the mirror—one evidently -the King, the other evidently, from his secular habit, not the doctor (Dee), -but probably Sir Kenelm Digby. On the right side, at the top, is the eye -of Providence darting a ray on the mirror; and below are some legs and -hoofs, as if evil spirits were flying out of the picture. The plate is inserted -before the service for the 5th November, and would seem to represent the -method by which, under Providence (as is evidenced by the eye), the discovery -of the Gunpowder Plot was at that time seriously believed to have -been effected. The tradition must have been generally and seriously -believed, or it never could have found its way into a Prayer Book printed -by the King’s printer.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Ashmole, in his MS., 1790, fol. 58, says, “Mr. Lilly told me that John -Evans informed him that he was acquainted with Kelly’s sister in Worcester, -that she showed him some of the gold her brother had transmuted, -and that Kelly was first an apothecary at Worcester.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> “As fair as Lady Done” is a well-known Cheshire proverb. Pennant -(“Tour from Chester to London, 4 ed., p. 8”), referring to this lady, who -was the daughter of Sir Thomas Wilbraham, of Woodhey, says that “when -a Cheshire man would express super-eminent excellency in one of the fair -sex he will say, ‘There is a Lady Done for you.’”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> In his despatch to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Cromwell -says: “That night quartered the whole army in the field by Stonyhurst -Hall, being Mr. Sherburn’s house, a place nine miles distant from -Preston;” and Captain Hodgson, an officer who accompanied him, writes: -“We pitched our camp at Stanyhares Hall, a Papist’s house, one Sherburn’s.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> The mutilated effigy of Sir William Baggaley, after being discarded -from the church at Bowdon and lost for several generations, was, some -years ago, discovered by Mr. John Leigh, of Manchester, and the author, -affixed to a wall in the garden of a house at Mill Bank, Partington, -near Warrington. It was subsequently acquired by Mr. T. W. Tatton, -and removed by him to its present position in the hall at Baguley. An -account of it was given in the <i>Manchester Courier</i>, March 13, 1866.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> The “Sword of Chester” is now preserved in the British Museum. -The last instance of the exercise of the Earl’s privileges was in 1597 when -the Baron of Kinderton’s Court tried and executed Hugh Stringer for -murder.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> The Venables, Barons of Kinderton, bore for their crest a wivern (<i>i.e.</i>, -dragon), with wings endorsed, gules, standing on a fish weir, or trap, devour-a -child, and pierced through the neck with an arrow, all ppr.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> It has been frequently stated that Peter Legh, the first of Lyme, also -fought at Crescy; but he was not born until fifteen years after that famous -victory.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> It is somewhat remarkable that though the Leghs have been settled in -the parish for more than five centuries, and have been patrons of the -church for many generations, there is not a single monumental inscription -or other memorial of them in the church, excepting that of Reginald Legh, -of an earlier date than the one of Charles Legh, who died in 1781.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Lady Egerton, who remained a firm adherent of the ancient faith, is -frequently named in the prosecutions for recusancy under the severe statutes -of Elizabeth, but appeals for mitigation were often and successfully made -through, as would seem, the influence of the Lord Keeper Egerton.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Thomas Newton, before his removal into Essex, resided at Park House, -in Butley, little more than a mile distant from Adlington. His mother, -Alice Newton, in her will, dated December 22, 1597, leaves “one spurill -ryall or XVs. in money to each of the right worshipful Thomas Legh, of -Adlington, and Sybell, his wife,” the testatrix’s “worshipful good frendes;” -and she also appoints “the right worshipful Thomas Legh, of Adlington -aforesaid, Esquire,” overseer, earnestly entreating him to assist and direct -her executors.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> A recent writer says (<i>Contributions towards a History of Prestbury, p. -102</i>): “Clumber appears to have been sequestrated from the Leghs -during the Civil War, and never restored.” This is not quite accurate, -for Thomas Legh, who died in 1687, by his will, dated 20th August, 1686, -bequeathed to his younger son, Richard Legh, and his heirs for ever, “all -that mannour or capitall messuage called Clumber, in the county of -Nottingham, and all buildings, tenements, and hereditaments in Clumber -aforesaid.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> According to Colonel Fishwick it was Urian Legh, the uncle of -Thomas, who was exchanged for Alexander Rigby the younger.—<i>History of -Goosnargh</i>, p. 148.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> It is said that in the cellar at Old Hollin Hall there is a stone bench -with this inscription graven upon <span class="nowrap">it:—</span>“This must stand here for ever—Richard -Broster, 1757.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> In the Chetham Library there is a curious MS. folio volume purchased -at the sale of the Adlington Library in 1846, and now known as the -“Adlington MS.” On the fifth page from the end is written, “<i>Finis, Quod -sum non curo quod ero spero Thomas Leyghe</i>.” Thomas Legh, it would seem -being the compiler. Among other interesting matters relating to Cheshire -which it contains are “The Armes of Gentlemen as they be placed over the -Chimney in Adlington Hall, 1611.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> A story is told respecting the great composer which, as it associates -his name with Cheshire, we may be excused for repeating. As is well -known, his masterpiece, the <i>Messiah</i>, was first performed in Dublin, in -1741. While on his way there he was detained for a time at Chester, the -wind being unfavourable for his embarkation at Parkgate. Wishing to -employ the time in trying some pieces in his new oratorio, he inquired for -some one who could read music at sight, and a printer, named Janson, who -had a good bass voice, was recommended to him as one of the best -musicians attached to the cathedral. A time was fixed for a private -rehearsal at the Golden Falcon, where Handel was staying; but, alas! on -trial of the chorus in the <i>Messiah</i>, “And with His stripes we are healed,” -poor Janson after repeated attempts, failed so egregiously that Handel let -loose his great bear upon him; and, after swearing in four or five different -languages, cried out, in broken English, “You schauntrel! Tit not you -dell me dat you could sing at soite?” “Yes, sir,” replies the printer, “and -so I can; but not at <i>first sight</i>!” Handel on this burst out laughing, and -the rehearsal, it is said, proceeded no further.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> According to another version, it was at Edgeware, and not at Adlington, -that Handel heard the anvil sounds which suggested the “Harmonious -Blacksmith.” The great composer dwelt at Canons, the guest of the Duke -of Chandos, within three quarters of a mile of Edgeware, and was for three -years the organist of Little Stanmore Church. The authority for the -Edgeware or Little Stanmore version rests mainly on local tradition and -the following <span class="nowrap">inscriptions:—</span>On the organ of Little Stanmore Church: -“Handel was organist of this church from the year 1718 to 1721, and -composed his oratorio of ‘Esther’ on this organ.” On a tombstone in the -churchyard: “In memory of William Powell, the ‘Harmonious Blacksmith,’ -who was buried 27th February, 1780, aged 78 years. He was parish -clerk during the time the Immortal Handel was organist of this church.” -Powell was a blacksmith at Edgeware smithy. [Information obligingly -communicated by J. Oldfield Chadwick, Esq.]</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Gibbons, of whom Horace Walpole said “there was no instance of a -man before who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers, and -chained together the various productions of the elements with a freer disorder -natural to each species,” died in 1721, and, while there is good reason -for supposing that the reconstruction of the dining and drawing rooms was -affected at a later date, Sephton was certainly employed by Charles Legh, -and it is more than probable that the carvings at Adlington were his work. -Possibly, the close resemblance which these productions of the chisel bear -to the well-known works of the great artist led to their being attributed to -Gibbons.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Local Gleanings (Lancashire and Cheshire), V. ii. p. iii.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Ormerod’s Civil War Tracts, p. 238.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Lancashire’s Valley of Achor, p. 123.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Byrom was of unusual stature; on one occasion he records having met -with a Mr. Jefferson, who was “taller than I by measuring,” the only -instance, it would seem, of his having met with such a person.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> “John Shaw’s” eventually assumed the character of an organised -club, and after an uninterrupted career of a century and a half it still -remains in a flourishing state, and is as convivial in its “green old age” as -in the days when John Shaw cracked his whip, and with loud voice and -imperative tone exclaimed, “Eight o’clock, gentlemen, eight o’clock,” and -his serving maid, Molly, followed with her mop and bucket ready to -expedite the movements of the loiterer, should the cracking of the whip -have failed to “speed the parting guest.” The club has an official staff -elected annually and with much mock formality, and what Dr. Johnson -calls “obstreperous merriment,” and the members, who are true “Church -and Queen” men, assemble once a month under the shadow of the “Mitre” -to discuss punch and politics, and drink old wine, and the traditional old -toasts, omitting, however, the very suggestive one of the King “over the -water.” Among the most treasured relics in the possession of the club, -and which now adorn the room where the members assemble, are the -original portraits in oil of the autocratic and inflexible John and Molly -Owen, his prime minister, and factotum—the Hebe of the house, and the -veritable china bowl in which John brewed his seductive compound.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> In the accounts of the Constables of Manchester occurs this entry—1745. -Sept. 18: Expenses tending the sheriff this morn, Syddal’s and -Deacon’s heads put up, £00, 01, 06.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> The Duke of Richmond was at the time one of the Lords Justices for -the administration of the Government during the absence of George II.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> It has been frequently stated that the story of the “Three Black -Crows” was inspired by the London edition, but in a recent communication -to the Manchester Literary Club, Mr. John Evans has proved -conclusively, from a letter in Byrom’s own handwriting, that it was -founded on a story related to him by Dr. John Taylor.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> The author is informed by Dr. Crompton, the grandson of the Inventor -of the Mule, that Barlow engraved the plate for Arkwright’s bill-heads. -The plate itself was found a few years ago amongst a heap of old brass at -Messrs. Peel’s foundry in Ancoats, and some impressions were then taken -from it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> The machine was at first, from the place of its birth, called the “Hall-i’-th’-Wood -Wheel,” and sometimes, from the fineness of the yarn it produced, -the “Muslin Wheel,” but subsequently it became more generally -known as the “Mule,” from the circumstance of its combining the principles -of the two inventions of Hargreaves and Arkwright to produce a third -much more efficient than either.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Peel had bought one of the machines with the intention of causing -drawings of it to be made. The affront was that on the occasion of his -(Peel’s) visit to Crompton’s house, he had tendered the Inventor sixpence -in consideration of his trouble in showing him the machine.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> It is pleasant to note that while so many of those in his own locality -who had so largely profited by Crompton’s labour either refused to help -or gave only very grudgingly, the one who had suffered most by the -success of the mule, Richard Arkwright, of Cromford (the second of the -name), whose water frame had in a great measure been superseded by it, -contributed £30, at the same time generously acknowledging the merits -of the invention.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Vol. xlvi., p. 16, 1827.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> The age recorded on his gravestone is clearly an error, Crompton -having been born on the 3rd December, 1753, so that he must have been in -his 74th year.</p> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="chapter" /> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph2">Transcriber's notes:</p> - -<p>In the text version, italics are represented by _underscores_, and -bold and black letter text by =equals= symbols.</p> - -<p>Missing or incorrect punctuation has been repaired.<br /> -Inconsistant spelling and hyphenation have been left, -e.g. in subscribers list, Brasenose Street and Brazenose Street are both used.</p> - -<p>The following mistakes have been noted:</p> -<ul class="index"> -<li>p. xvii. Marsden, The Kev changed to Rev.</li> -<li>p. xx. Warnirgton changed to Warrington.</li> -<li>p. 26. text reads "dated 7th July, 4", the 4 seems incorrect but has been left.</li> -<li>p. 40. "13 Car. I., June 7. "Appointment of John Bradshawe, -the extra opening quote has been removed.</li> -<li>p. 42. bran new pulpit changed to brand new pulpit.</li> -<li>p. 51. salutory changed to salutary.</li> -<li>p. 65. thanfull acknowledgement, has been left as it appears to be a quote.</li> -<li>p. 104. Wildboa. Clough changed to Wildboar Clough. </li> -<li>p. 108. Enjoy the sunny world, so fresh and fair, added closing quote.</li> -<li>p. 123. "The order, added the opening quote.</li> -<li>p. 141. Batchelor in Arts, left.</li> -<li>p. 169. £2 000 changed to £2,000.</li> -<li>p. 222. pa sed, corrected to passed.</li> -<li>p. 238. He confessed all his sins, opening quote added.</li> -<li>p. 240. suurrender changed to surrender.</li> -<li>p. 258. Maria Winifred Francesca is spelt Maria Winnifred Francesca on p. 261.</li> -<li>p. 259. alloted changed to allotted.</li> -<li>p. 274. tranferred changed to transferred.</li> -<li>p. 301. Thursday then next, then changed to the.</li> -<li>p. 325. a n heirloom changed to an heirloom.</li> -</ul> - -<p>Index</p> - -<ul class="index"> -<li>p. 444. Bradshawe-Isherwood, Arthur Salusbury, 71 changed to 72<br /> -and Bradshawe-Isherwood, John, 72 changed to 71.</li> -<li>Brereton, Mrs. is missing a page number. Several Brereton wifes are mentioned -in the text and it is not clear which one referenced.</li> -<li>p. 445. Chetham, Mr., 582 changed to p. 382.</li> -<li>p. 447. Dieulacresse Abbey changed to Dieu-la-cresse to match text.</li> -<li>p. 449. Hooper, Francis is missing a page number. -Several Hoopers are mentioned but no Francis Hooper, though there is a -Francis Harper on p. 373.</li> -<li>p. 449. Jeffreys, Judge, changed to Jeffries.</li> -<li>p. 450. Lenthal, William, changed to Lenthall.</li> -<li>p. 450. Mareschall, William, changed Mareshal.</li> -<li>p. 451. Meath, Bishop of, changed to Methe.</li> -<li>p. 451. Meschines, Rundle, changed to Randle de Meschines</li> -<li>p. 451. Molyneux, Richard, is spelt Molynox in the text, but this is in a -quote from an older document and has been left. </li> -<li>p. 452. Rosenburg, Count, changed to Rosenberg.</li> -<li>p. 453. Schoelscher, Victor, changed to Schoelcher.</li> -<li>p. 453. Shutlings Low, 107, is on p. 104 and the index entry has been changed.</li> -<li>p. 454. Tyrconnel, Lord, changed to Tyrconnell.</li> -<li>p. 478. Tilsley, Mr., changed to Tilsey.</li> -<li>p. 478. Townshead, Edward,changed to Townsend.</li> -</ul> -</div> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Nooks and Corners of Lancashire and -Cheshire., by James Croston - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOOKS, CORNERS OF LANCASHIRE *** - -***** This file should be named 51191-h.htm or 51191-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/1/9/51191/ - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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