{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_41148/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_41148","id":"gutenberg_41148","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41148","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - British","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- England -- Lancashire","Lancashire (England) -- Social life and customs"],"text":"Transcriber's Note:\n\n    Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without\n    note. Archaic, dialect and variant spellings remain as printed.\n    Greek text appears as originally printed. The carat (^) precedes a\n    superscript character. Missing chapter titles have been included to\n    match the Contents listing for readers' convenience.\n\n\n\n\n                               LANCASHIRE\n                               FOLK-LORE:\n                          ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE\n                  SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES,\n                        LOCAL CUSTOMS AND USAGES\n                                   OF\n                   THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY PALATINE.\n\n                         COMPILED AND EDITED BY\n                          JOHN HARLAND, F.S.A.\n                                  AND\n                       T. T. WILKINSON, F.R.A.S.\n\n                                [Device]\n\n                                LONDON:\n                        FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.\n                     BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN.\n                       NEW YORK: SCRIBNER AND CO.\n                                 1867.\n\n\n\n\n                                LONDON:\n             SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET,\n                             COVENT GARDEN.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\n\"Folk-lore,\" though a term that will not be found in our standard\ndictionaries, from Johnson down to Webster, is nevertheless simply a\nmodern combination of two genuine old English words--_Folc_, the folk,\nthe people, \"the common people;\" and _L\u00e1r_, _Laer_, _Lora_, learning,\ndoctrine, precept, law. In the earlier days of our English tongue,\nfolk-land, folk-gemote, folk-right, &c., were terms in common use, and\namongst this class of compound words our fore-elders had _folc-lare_, by\nwhich they denoted plain, simple teaching suited for the people, what we\nshould now call \"popular instruction,\" and hence _folk-lare_ also meant\na sermon. _Folk-Lore_, in its present signification--and for its general\nacceptance we are largely indebted to the Editor of that valuable\nperiodical _Notes and Queries_,--means the notions of the folk or\npeople, from childhood upwards, especially their superstitious beliefs\nand practices, as these have been handed down from generation to\ngeneration, in popular tradition and tale, rhyme, proverb, or saying,\nand it is well termed Folk-Lore in contradistinction to book-lore or\nscholastic learning. It is the unlearned people's inheritance of\ntradition from their ancestors, the modern reflection of ancient faith\nand usage. This Folk-Lore has not been wholly without record in our\nliterature. Hone in his delightful _Every-Day Book_, _Year Book_, and\n_Table Book_, has preserved many a choice bit of England's Folk-Lore;\nand his example has been ably followed in Chambers's _Book of Days_.\nBrand's _Popular Antiquities_, Aubrey's _Miscellanies_, Allies's\n_Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire_, and other like works,\nhave noted down for the information and amusement of future generations\nthe prevalent superstitions, and popular customs and usages of the\npeople in particular districts, during a past age, and at the present\ntime. But the greatest and best depository and record of the Folk-Lore\nof various nations is that excellent periodical _Notes and Queries_,\nfrom which a charming little volume entitled \"_Choice Notes from Notes\nand Queries,--Folk-Lore_,\" was compiled and published in 1859.\n\nBut Lancashire has hitherto been without adequate record, at least in a\ncollected form, of its Folk-Lore. This has not been because of any lack\nof such lore. The North of England generally, and Lancashire in\nparticular, is remarkably rich in this respect. Possessed and peopled in\nsuccession by the Celts of ancient Britain, by the Angles and other\nTeutonic peoples, by the Scandinavian races, and by Norman and other\nforeign settlers at early periods,--the result of the respective\ncontributions of these various peoples is necessarily a large mass of\ntraditionary lore. To bring this together and present it in a collected\nform is the object of this little volume. Its editors have been long\nengaged, apart,--distinctly, and independently of each other,--in\ncollecting particulars of the superstitions in belief and practice, and\nof the peculiar customs and usages of the people of Lancashire. One of\nthem, born in one of its rural districts, still rich in these respects,\nis thus enabled to remember and to preserve many of those customs and\nusages of his childhood and youth, now rapidly passing into decay, if\nnot oblivion. The other, conversant from his earliest remembrances with\nthe Folk-Lore of East Yorkshire, and with that of Lancashire for the\nlast thirty-five years, is thus enabled to compare the customs and\nusages of both, and to recognise the same essential superstition under\nslightly different forms. Similarity of pursuit having led to personal\ncommunication, the Editors agreed to combine their respective\ncollections; and hence the present volume. They do not pretend herein to\nhave exhausted the whole range of Lancashire Folk-Lore; but simply to\nhave seized on the more salient features of its superstitious side, and\nthose of popular custom and usage. Part I. comprises notices of a great\nnumber of superstitious beliefs and practices. Part II. treats of\nvarious local customs and usages, at particular seasons of the year;\nduring the great festivals of the church; those connected with birth and\nbaptism; betrothal and wedding; dying, death-bed, and funeral customs;\nas well as manorial and feudal tenures, services, and usages.\n\nShould the present volume find favour and acceptance, its Editors may\nventure hereafter to offer another, embracing the fertile and\ninteresting subjects of popular pageants, maskings and mummings,\nrushbearings, wakes and fairs, out-door sports and games; punishments,\nlegal and popular; legends and traditions; proverbs, popular sayings and\nsimiles; folk-rhymes, &c. &c.\n\n_September, 1866._\n\n\nBut for unavoidable delay, consequent on the preparation of a\nlarge-paper edition, this volume would have been published prior to\n\"Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the\nBorders,\" by Wm. Henderson. As that work has appeared, it may be as well\nto state that, notwithstanding similarity of subject, the two books do\nnot clash. Mr. Henderson's work relates chiefly to the three\nnorth-eastern counties,--Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire,--with\nlarge notices not only of the Scottish borders, but of Scotland\ngenerally, and many details as to Devonshire folk-lore. Its notices of\nCumberland and Westmorland are fewer than of the three counties first\nnamed; and Lancashire is only two or three times incidentally mentioned.\nThe field of this county palatine is therefore left free for the present\nvolume.\n\n_January, 1867._\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                PART I.\n\n\n                  SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES.\n\n                                                                   PAGE\n Introduction                                                         1\n\n Lancashire Alchemists                                               23\n\n Lancashire Astrologers                                              33\n\n Bells                                                               41\n\n Beal-tine or Beltane Fires; Relics of Baal Worship                  45\n\n Boggarts, Ghosts, and Haunted Places                                49\n\n Boggart Hole Clough                                                 50\n\n Boggarts or Ghosts in Old Halls                                     51\n\n House Boggarts, or Labouring Goblins                                56\n\n Hornby Park Mistress and Margaret Brackin                           59\n\n Boggarts in the Nineteenth Century                                  61\n\n\n                           CHARMS AND SPELLS.\n\n Charms and Spells against Evil Beings                               62\n\n A Charm, written in Cypher, against Witchcraft and Evil Spirits     63\n\n The Crow Charm and the Lady-bird Charm                              70\n\n Pimpernel                                                           71\n\n The Mountain Ash, or Wicken or Wiggen Tree                          72\n\n Charms to Cure Sickness, Wounds, Cattle Distemper, etc.             74\n\n Charms for the Toothache                                            75\n\n Vervain, for Wounds, etc.                                           76\n\n Charms to Stop Bleeding                                             77\n\n Touching for the King's Evil                                        77\n\n Cures for Warts                                                     78\n\n Cure for Hydrocephalus in Cattle                                    79\n\n Cattle Disorders.--The Shrew Tree in Carnforth                      79\n\n Charms for Ague                                                     80\n\n Stinging of Nettles                                                 80\n\n Jaundice                                                            80\n\n To Procure Sleep by Changing the Direction of the Bed               80\n\n\n                         THE DEVIL, DEMONS, &c.\n\n The Devil                                                           81\n\n Raising the Devil                                                   83\n\n The Devil and the Schoolmaster at Cockerham                         83\n\n Old Nick                                                            84\n\n Demonology                                                          86\n\n Demon and Goblin Superstitions                                      88\n\n Dispossessing a Demoniac                                            92\n\n Demoniacal Possession in 1594                                       92\n\n Demoniacal Possession in 1689                                       98\n\n\n                              DIVINATION.\n\n Divination                                                         102\n\n Divination at Marriages                                            103\n\n Divination by Bible and Key                                        103\n\n Another Lancashire form of Divination                              104\n\n Divination by the Dying                                            104\n\n Second-sight                                                       105\n\n Spirits of the Dying and the Dead                                  105\n\n Casting Lots, &c.                                                  106\n\n\n                        MISCELLANEOUS FOLK-LORE.\n\n Druidical Rock Basins                                              106\n\n Elves and Fairies                                                  110\n\n Folk-Lore of Eccles and the Neighbourhood                          113\n\n Tree Barnacles; or, Geese hatched from Sea-shells                  116\n\n Warts from Washing in Egg-water                                    121\n\n Fortune-telling.--Wise Men and Cunning Women, &c.                  121\n\n Magic and Magicians                                                126\n\n Edward Kelly, the Seer                                             126\n\n Raising the Dead at Walton-le-Dale                                 128\n\n An Earl of Derby charged with keeping a Conjuror                   129\n\n\n                               MIRACLES.\n\n Miracles, or Miraculous Stories                                    131\n\n Miracles by a Dead Duke of Lancaster and King                      132\n\n A Miraculous Footprint in Brindle Church                           134\n\n The Footprint at Smithells of George Marsh, the Martyr             135\n\n A Legend of Cartmel Church                                         137\n\n The Prophet Elias, a Lancashire Fanatic                            138\n\n\n                        OMENS AND PREDICATIONS.\n\n Omens and Predications                                             138\n\n Cats                                                               141\n\n Dogs                                                               142\n\n Lambs                                                              142\n\n Birds                                                              142\n\n Swallows                                                           143\n\n Magpies                                                            143\n\n Dreams                                                             145\n\n The Moon                                                           149\n\n H\u00e6ver or Hiver                                                     149\n\n Deasil or Widersinnis                                              151\n\n Omens of Weather for New Year's-day                                151\n\n Death Tick or Death Watch                                          152\n\n\n               SUPERSTITIONS, GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS.\n\n Popular Superstitions                                              153\n\n Bones of St. Lawrence, at Chorley                                  157\n\n The Dead Man's Hand                                                158\n\n Nineteenth Century Superstition                                    164\n\n Pendle Forest Superstition                                         164\n\n East Lancashire Superstition                                       165\n\n Superstitious Fears and Cruelties                                  167\n\n Superstitious Beliefs in Manchester in the Sixteenth Century       168\n\n Wells and Springs                                                  169\n\n\n                        WITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT.\n\n Witchcraft in the Fifteenth Century                                174\n\n The Famous History of the Lancashire Witches                       176\n\n Dr. Dee charged with Witchcraft                                    178\n\n The Lancashire Witches                                             179\n\n Superstitious Fear of Witchcraft                                   182\n\n A Household Bewitched                                              184\n\n The Lancashire Witches of 1612                                     185\n\n The Samlesbury Witches                                             194\n\n Witchcraft at Middleton                                            195\n\n Witchcraft in 1633-34                                              195\n\n The Lancashire Witches of 1633-4                                   200\n\n Lancashire Witch-finders                                           200\n\n The Forest of Pendle--The Haunt of the Lancashire Witches          202\n\n Pendle Hill and its Witches                                        204\n\n Witchcraft about 1654                                              206\n\n A Liverpool Witch in 1667                                          206\n\n The Witch of Singleton                                             207\n\n Witchcraft at Chowbent in the Eighteenth Century                   207\n\n Killing a Witch                                                    208\n\n A Recent Witch, near Burnley                                       209\n\n \"Lating\" or \"Leeting\" Witches                                      210\n\n\n                                PART II.\n\n\n              LOCAL CUSTOMS AND USAGES AT VARIOUS SEASONS.\n\n Church and Season Festivals                                        212\n\n New Year's-day                                                     214\n\n Fire on New Year's Eve                                             214\n\n New Year's Luck                                                    214\n\n New Year's First Caller                                            215\n\n New Year's-day and Old Christmas-day                               216\n\n Auld Wife Hakes                                                    216\n\n New Year's Gifts and Wishes                                        216\n\n Shrovetide                                                         217\n\n Shrove-Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday                                 218\n\n Cock-throwing and Cock-fighting                                    218\n\n Cock-fighting about Blackburn                                      220\n\n Cock-penny at Clitheroe                                            220\n\n Cock-fighting at Burnley                                           220\n\n Shrovetide Customs in the Fylde                                    221\n\n Lent.--Ash-Wednesday                                               221\n\n Mid-Lent Sunday, or \"Mothering Sunday\"                             222\n\n Simnel Cakes                                                       223\n\n To Dianeme                                                         223\n\n Bury                                                               224\n\n Bragot-Sunday                                                      225\n\n Fag-pie Sunday                                                     226\n\n Good Friday                                                        226\n\n Easter                                                             227\n\n Pasche, Pace, or Easter Eggs                                       228\n\n Pace Egging in Blackburn                                           228\n\n Pace or Peace Egging in East Lancashire                            231\n\n Easter Sports at the Manchester Free Grammar School                231\n\n \"Lifting,\" or \"Heaving\" at Easter                                  233\n\n Easter Game of the Ring                                            234\n\n Playing \"Old Ball\"                                                 234\n\n Acting with \"Ball\"                                                 235\n\n Easter Customs in the Fylde                                        236\n\n May-day Customs                                                    238\n\n May Songs                                                          239\n\n May-day Eve                                                        239\n\n May-day Custom                                                     240\n\n Pendleton and Pendlebury May-pole and Games                        240\n\n May Custom in Spotland                                             242\n\n May-day Customs in the Fylde                                       242\n\n The May-pole of Lostock                                            243\n\n Robin Hood and May-games at Burnley, in 1579                       244\n\n May-day in Manchester                                              245\n\n Queen of the May, &c.                                              246\n\n Whitsuntide                                                        246\n\n Whit-Tuesday.--King and Queen at Downham                           248\n\n Rogations or Gang Days                                             248\n\n Oatmeal Charity at Ince                                            249\n\n Names for Moons in Autumn                                          250\n\n \"Goose-Intentos\"                                                   250\n\n All Souls'-day                                                     251\n\n Gunpowder Plot and Guy Fawkes                                      251\n\n Christmas                                                          252\n\n Creatures Worshipping on Christmas Eve                             253\n\n Christmas Mumming                                                  253\n\n The Hobby Horse, or Old Ball                                       254\n\n Christmas Customs in the Fylde                                     254\n\n Celebration of Christmas at Wycoller Hall                          256\n\n Carols, &c.                                                        257\n\n\n                      EATING AND DRINKING CUSTOMS.\n\n Various                                                            258\n\n The Havercake Lads                                                 258\n\n Wooden Shoes and Oaten Bread or Jannocks                           259\n\n Pork Pasties                                                       260\n\n\n                      BIRTH AND BAPTISMAL CUSTOMS.\n\n Presents to Women in Childbed                                      260\n\n Tea-drinking after Childbirth                                      261\n\n Turning the Bed after Childbirth                                   261\n\n An Unbaptized Child cannot die                                     262\n\n Gifts to Infants                                                   262\n\n\n               BETROTHING AND BRIDAL OR WEDDING CUSTOMS.\n\n Betrothing Customs                                                 263\n\n Curious Wedding Custom                                             263\n\n Courting and Wedding Customs in the Fylde                          264\n\n Ancient Bridal Custom.--The Bride's Chair and the Fairy Hole       265\n\n Burnley                                                            265\n\n Marriages at Manchester Parish Church                              265\n\n\n                 DYING, DEATH-BED, AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS.\n\n Dying Hardly                                                       268\n\n Burying in Woollen                                                 269\n\n Funeral Dole and Arval Cake                                        270\n\n Dalton-in-Furness                                                  271\n\n Old Funeral Customs at Warton                                      271\n\n Funeral Customs in the Fylde                                       272\n\n Mode of Burial of a Widow who had taken Religious Vows             273\n\n Funeral Customs in East Lancashire                                 273\n\n Bidding to Funerals                                                274\n\n Situation and Direction of Graves                                  275\n\n\n                           CUSTOMS OF MANORS.\n\n The Honour of Knighthood                                           277\n\n Maritagium                                                         278\n\n Peculiar Services and Tenures                                      278\n\n Manor of Cockerham--Regulations for the Sale of Ale                281\n\n Manorial Customs in Furness                                        281\n\n The Lord's Yule Feast at Ashton                                    286\n\n Riding the Black Lad at Ashton-under-Lyne                          289\n\n Boon Shearing                                                      292\n\n The Principal or Heriot                                            293\n\n Denton Rent-boons                                                  294\n\n A Saxon Constablewick                                              295\n\n Talliage or Tallage                                                296\n\n Rochdale Tithe, Easter-dues, Mortuaries, etc.                      297\n\n Farm and Agricultural Celebrations in the Fylde                    298\n\n Dalton-in-Furness                                                  299\n\n Letting Sheep Farms in Bowland                                     300\n\n Medi\u00e6val Latin Law Terms                                           300\n\n Customs [Dues] at Warrington                                       301\n\n\n\n\nLANCASHIRE FOLK-LORE.\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\n\n\n\nSUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES.\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n                    \"'Tis a history\n    Handed from ages down; a nurse's tale\n    Which children open-eyed and mouth'd devour,\n    And thus, as garrulous ignorance relates,\n    We learn it and believe.\"\n\nIn this large section of the Folk-lore of Lancashire we propose to treat\nof all the notions and practices of the people which appear to recognise\na supernatural power or powers, especially as aids to impart to man a\nknowledge of the future. An alphabetical arrangement has been adopted,\nwhich is to some extent also chronological. Beginning with the pretended\nsciences or arts of Alchemy and Astrology, the succeeding articles treat\nof Bells, Beltane fires, Boggarts, Charms, Demons, Divination, &c.\n\nMany of these superstitions are important in an ethnological point of\nview, and immediately place us _en rapport_ with those nations whose\ninhabitants have either colonized or conquered this portion of our\ncountry. In treasuring up these records of the olden times, tradition\nhas, in general, been faithful to her vocation. She has occasionally\ngrafted portions of one traditional custom, ceremony, or superstition,\nupon another; but in the majority of cases enough has been left to\nenable us to determine with considerable certainty the probable origin\nof each. So far as regards the greater portion of our local Folk-lore,\nwe may safely assert that it is rapidly becoming obsolete, and many of\nthe most curious relics must be sought in the undisturbed nooks and\ncorners of the county. It is there where popular opinions are cherished\nand preserved, long after an improved education has driven them from\nmore intelligent communities; and it is a remarkable fact that many of\nthese, although composed of such flimsy materials, and dependent upon\nthe fancies of the multitude for their very existence, have nevertheless\nsurvived shocks by which kingdoms have been overthrown, and have\npreserved their characteristic traits from the earliest times down to\nthe present.\n\nAs what are called the Indo-European, or Aryan, nations--viz., the\nCelts, Greeks, Latins, Germans (Teuton and Scandinavian), Letts, and\nSclaves--as is now generally acknowledged, have a common ancestry in the\nrace which once dwelt together in the regions of the Upper Oxus, in\nAsia; so their mythologies, however diverse in their later European\ndevelopments, may be regarded as having a common origin. Space will not\nallow us to enlarge on this great subject, which has been ably treated\nby Jacob Grimm, Dr. Adalbert Kuhn, and many other German writers, and of\nwhich an excellent _r\u00e9sum\u00e9_ is given in Kelly's _Curiosities of\nIndo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_.\n\nWhen we refer to the ancient Egyptians, and to the oldest history\nextant, we find some striking resemblances between their customs and our\nown. The rod of the magician was then as necessary to the practice of\nthe art as it still is to the \"Wizard of the North.\" The glory of the\nart of magic may be said to have departed, but _the use of the rod_ by\nthe modern conjuror remains as a connecting link between the harmless\ndeceptions of the present, and that powerful instrument of the\npriesthood in times remote. The divining rod, too, which indicates the\nexistence of a hidden spring, or treasure, or even a murdered corpse, is\nanother relic of the wand of the Oriental Magi. The divining cup, as\nnoticed in the case of Joseph and his brethren, supplies a third\ninstance of this close connexion. Both our wise men and maidens still\nwhirl the tea-cup, in order that the disposition of the floating leaves\nmay give them an intimation of their future destiny, or point out the\ndirection in which an offending party must be sought. We have yet\n\"wizards that do peep and mutter,\" and who profess to foretell future\nevents by looking \"through a glass darkly.\" The practice of \"causing\nchildren to pass through the fire to Moloch,\" so strongly reprobated by\nthe prophet of old, may be cited as an instance in which Christianity\nhas not yet been able to efface all traces of one of the oldest forms of\nheathen worship. Sir W. Betham has observed, in his _Gael and Cymbri_,\npp. 222-4, that \"we see at this day fires lighted up in Ireland, on the\neve of the summer solstice and the equinoxes, to the Ph\u0153nician god\nBaal; and they are called _Baal-tane_, or Baal's fire, though the\n_object_ of veneration be forgotten.\" Such fires are still lighted in\nLancashire, on Hallowe'en, under the names of Beltains or Teanlas; and\neven such _cakes_ as the Jews are said to have made in honour of the\nQueen of Heaven, are yet to be found at this season amongst the\ninhabitants of the banks of the Ribble. These circumstances may appear\nthe less strange when we reflect that this river is almost certainly the\nBelisama of the Romans; that it was especially dedicated to the Queen of\nHeaven, under the designation of Minerva Belisam\u00e6; and that her worship\nwas long prevalent amongst the inhabitants of Coccium, Rigodunum, and\nother Roman stations in the north of Lancashire. Both the fires and the\ncakes, however, are now connected with superstitious notions respecting\nPurgatory, &c., but their origin and perpetuation will scarcely admit of\ndoubt.\n\nA belief in astrology and in sacred numbers prevails to a considerable\nextent amongst all classes of our society. With many the stars still\n\"fight in their courses,\" and our modern fortune-tellers are yet ready\nto \"rule the planets,\" and predict good or ill fortune, on payment of\nthe customary fee. That there is \"luck in _odd_ numbers\" was known for a\nfact in Lancashire long before Mr. Lover immortalized the tradition. Our\nhousewives always take care that their hens shall sit upon an _odd_\nnumber of eggs; we always bathe _three_ times in the sea at Blackpool,\nSouthport, and elsewhere; and our names are called over _three_ times\nwhen our services are required in courts of law. _Three_ times _three_\nis the orthodox number of cheers; and we still hold that the _seventh_\nson of a _seventh_ son is destined to form an infallible physician. We\ninherit all such popular notions as these in common with the German and\nScandinavian nations; but more especially with those of the Saxons and\nthe Danes. Triads of leaders, or ships, constantly occur in their\nannals; and punishments of _three_ and _seven_ years' duration form the\nburden of many of the Anglo-Saxon and Danish laws.\n\nA full proportion of the popular stories which are perpetuated in our\nnurseries most probably date their existence amongst us from some\namalgamation of races; or, it may be, from the intercourse attendant\nupon trade and commerce. The Ph\u0153nicians, no doubt, would impart a\nportion of their Oriental Folk-lore to the southern Britons; the Roman\nlegions would leave traces of their prolific mythology amongst the\nBrigantes and the Sistuntii; and the Saxons and the Danes would add\ntheir rugged northern modifications to the common stock. The \"History of\nthe Hunchback\" is common to both England and Arabia; the \"man in the\nmoon\" has found his way into the popular literature of almost every\nnation with which we are acquainted; \"Cinderella and her slipper\" is\n\"The little golden shoe\" of the ancient Scandinavians, and was equally\nfamiliar to the Greeks and Romans; \"Jack and the bean-stalk\" is told in\nSweden and Norway as of \"The boy who stole the giant's treasure;\" whilst\nour renowned \"Jack the giant-killer\" figures in Norway, Lapland, Persia,\nand India, as the amusing story of \"The herd boy and the giant.\" The\nlabours of Tom Hickathrift are evidently a distorted version of those of\nHercules; and these again agree in the main with the journey of Thor to\nUtgard, and the more classical travels of Ulysses. In Greece the clash\nof the elements during a thunderstorm was attributed to the chariot\nwheels of Jove; the Scandinavians ascribed the sounds to the ponderous\nwagon of the mighty Thor; our Lancashire nurses _Christianize_ the\nphenomenon by assuring their young companions, poetically enough, that\nthunder \"is the noise which God makes when passing across the heavens.\"\nThe notion that the gods were wont to communicate knowledge of future\nevents to certain favoured individuals appears to have had a wide range\nin ancient times; and this curiosity regarding futurity has exerted a\npowerful influence over the minds of men in every stage of civilization.\nHence arose the consulting of oracles and the practice of divination\namongst the ancients, and to the same principles we must attribute the\ncredulity which at present exists with respect to the \"_wise men_\" who\nare to be found in almost every town and village in Lancashire. The\nmeans adopted by some of the oracles when responses were required,\nstrangely remind us of the modern feats of ventriloquism; others can be\nwell illustrated by what we now know of mesmerism and its kindred\nagencies; whilst these and clairvoyance will account for many of those\nwhere the agents are said by Eustathius to have spoken out of their\nbellies, or breasts, from oak trees, or been \"cast into trances in which\nthey lay like men dead or asleep, deprived of all sense and motion; but\nafter some time returning to themselves, gave strange relations of what\nthey had seen and heard.\"\n\nThe ancient Greeks and Romans regarded dreams as so many warnings; they\nprayed to Mercury to vouchsafe to them a night of good dreams. In this\ncounty we still hold the same opinions; but our country maidens, having\nChristianized the subject, now invoke St. Agnes and a multitude of other\nsaints to be similarly propitious. There are many other points of\nresemblance between the Folk-lore of Lancashire and that of the\nancients. Long or short life, health or disease, good luck or bad, are\nyet predicted by burning a lock of human hair; and the fire is\nfrequently poked with much anxiety when testing the disposition of an\nabsent lover. Many persons may be found who never put on the _left_ shoe\nfirst; and the appearance of a _single_ magpie has disconcerted many a\nstout Lancashire farmer when setting out on a journey of business or\npleasure. In the matter of sneezing we are just as superstitious as when\nthe Romans left us. They exclaimed, \"May Jove protect you,\" when any one\nsneezed in their presence, and an anxious \"God bless you\" is the common\nejaculation amongst our aged mothers. To the same sources we may\nprobably attribute the apprehensions which many Lancashire people\nentertain with respect to spilling the salt; sudden silence, or fear;\nlucky and unlucky days; the presence of thirteen at dinner; raising\nghosts; stopping blood by charms; spitting upon, or drawing blood from\npersons in order to avert danger; the evil eye; and a multitude of\nother minor superstitions. We possess much of all this in common with\nthe Saxons and the Danes, but the original source of a great, if not the\ngreater portion, is probably that of our earliest conquerors.\n\nDivination by means of the works of Homer and Virgil was not uncommon\namongst the ancients; the earlier Christians made use of the Psalter or\nNew Testament for such purposes. In Lancashire the Bible and a key are\nresorted to, both for deciding doubts respecting a lover, and also to\naid in detecting a thief. Divination by water affords another striking\nparallel. The ancients decided questions in dispute by means of a\ntumbler of water, into which they lowered a ring suspended by a thread,\nand having prayed to the gods to decide the question in dispute, the\nring of its own accord would strike the tumbler a certain number of\ntimes. Our \"Lancashire witches\" adopt the same means, and follow the\nChristianized formula, with a wedding-ring suspended by a hair, whenever\nthe time before marriage, the number of a family, or even the length of\nlife, becomes a matter of anxiety.\n\nMost nations, in all ages, have been accustomed to deck the graves of\ntheir dead with appropriate flowers, much as we do at present. The last\nwords of the dying have, from the earliest times, been considered of\nprophetic import; and according to Theocritus, some one of those\npresent endeavoured to receive into his mouth the last breath of a dying\nparent or friend, \"as fancying the soul to pass out with it and enter\ninto their own bodies.\" Few would expect to find this singular custom\nstill existing in Lancashire; and yet such is the fact. Witchcraft can\nboast her votaries in this county even up to the present date, and she\nnumbers this practice amongst her rites and ceremonies.\n\nA very large portion of the Lancashire Folk-lore is identical in many\nrespects with that which prevailed amongst the sturdy warriors who\nfounded the Heptarchy, or ruled Northumbria. During the Saxon and Danish\nperiods their heathendom had a real existence. Its practices were\nmaintained by an array of priests and altars, with a prescribed ritual\nand ceremonies; public worship was performed and oblations offered with\nall the pomp and power of a church establishment. The remnants of this\nancient creed are now presented to us in the form of popular\nsuperstitions, in legends and nursery tales, which have survived all\nattempts to eradicate them from the minds of the people. Christ, his\napostles, and the saints, have supplanted the old mythological\nconceptions; but many popular stories and impious incantations which now\ninvolve these sacred names were formerly told of some northern hero, or\nperhaps invoked the power of Satan himself. The great festival in honour\nof Eostre may be instanced as having been transferred to the Christian\ncelebration of the resurrection of our Lord; whilst the lighting of\nfires on St. John's eve, and the bringing in of the boar's head at\nChristmas, serve to remind us that the worship of Freja is not extinct.\nWhen Christianity became the national religion, the rooted prejudices of\nthe people were evidently respected by our early missionaries, and hence\nthe curious admixture of the sacred and the profane, which everywhere\npresents itself in our local popular forms of expression for the\npretended cure of various diseases. The powers and attributes of Woden\nand Freja are attributed to Jesus, Peter, or Mary; but in all other\nrespects the spells and incantations remain the same.\n\nOur forefathers appear to have possessed a full proportion of those\nstern characteristics which have ever marked the Northumbrian\npopulation. Whatever opinions they had acquired, they were prepared to\nhold them firmly; nor did they give up their most heathenish practices\nwithout a struggle. Both the \"law and the testimony\" had to be called\ninto requisition as occasion required; and even the terrors of these did\nnot at once suffice. In one of the Anglo-Saxon _Penitentiaries_, quoted\nby Mr. Wright in his _Essays_, we find a penalty imposed upon those\nwomen who use \"any witchcraft to their children, or who draw them\nthrough the earth at the meeting of roads, because that is great\nheathenishness.\" A Saxon _Homily_, preserved in the public library at\nCambridge, states that divinations were used, \"through the devil's\nteaching,\" in taking a wife, in going a journey, in brewing, when\nbeginning any undertaking, when any person or animal is born, and when\nchildren begin to pine away or to be unhealthy. The same _Homily_ also\nspeaks of divination by fowls, by sneezing, by horses, by dogs howling,\nand concludes by declaring that \"he is no Christian who does these\nthings.\" In a Latin _Penitentialia_ now in the British Museum, we find\nallusions to incantations for taking away stores of milk, honey, or\nother things belonging to another, and converting them to our own use.\nHe who rides with Diana and obeys her commands, he who prepares _three_\nknives in company in order to predestine happiness to those born there,\nhe who makes inquiry into the future on the first day of January, or\nbegins a work on that day in order to secure prosperity during the whole\nof the year, is pointed out for reprobation; whilst hiding charms in\ngrass, or on a tree, or in a path, for the preservation of cattle,\nplacing children in a furnace, or on the roof of a house, and using\ncharacters for curing disease, or charms for collecting medicinal herbs,\nare enumerated, for the purpose of pointing out the penances to be\nundergone by those found guilty of \"such heinous sins.\" Nearly all these\ninstances may be said to belong to the transition state of our\nFolk-lore, and relate at once both to the ancient and the modern\nportions of our subject. We have seen that much the same practices were\nused by the Greeks and Romans; and it is a curious fact that many of the\nmore important are still in vogue amongst the peasantry of Lancashire.\nMany persons will still shudder with apprehension if a dog howl during\nthe sickness of a friend: dragging a child across the earth at \"four\nlane ends\" is yet practised for the cure of whooping-cough: fern seed is\nstill said to be gathered on the Holy Bible, and is then believed to be\nable to render those invisible who will dare to take it. We still have\nprejudices respecting the first day of the new year; black-haired\nvisitors are most welcome on the morning of that day; charms for the\nprotection of families and cattle are yet to be found; and herbs for the\nuse of man and beast are still collected when their \"proper planets are\nruling\" in the heavens. More copies of Culpepper's _Herbal_ and Sibley's\n_Astrology_ are sold in Lancashire than all other works on the same\nsubjects put together, and this principally on account of the planetary\ninfluence with which each disease and its antidote are connected. Old\nMoore's _Almanac_, however, is now sadly at a discount, because it lacks\nthe table of the Moon's signs; the farmers are consequently at a loss to\nknow which will be healthy cattle, and hence they prefer a spurious\nedition which supplies the grave omission.\n\nSeveral lucky stones for the protection of cattle have, within a few\nyears past, been procured by the writer from the \"shippons\" of those\nwho, in other respects, are not counted behind the age; and it would\nhave been easy to collect an ample stock of horse-shoes and rusty\nsickles from the same sources. However, during the last forty years the\ninhabitants of Lancashire have made rapid progress both in numbers and\nintelligence. They have had the \"schoolmaster abroad\" amongst them, and\nhave consequently divested themselves of many of the grosser\nsuperstitions which formed a portion of the popular faith of their\nimmediate predecessors; but there is yet a dense substratum of popular\nopinions existing in those localities which have escaped the renovating\ninfluences of the spindle or the rail. As time progresses many of these\nwill become further modified, or perhaps totally disappear; and hence it\nmay be desirable to secure a permanent record of the customs and\nsuperstitions of the county.\n\nAs to the most ancient forms of religious belief or cult, we may surely\nassume that the _simple_ must of necessity precede the _complex_, and\nconsequently the idea of _one_ supernatural Being must be anterior in\npoint of time to that of _two_ or more. Under this view, the good and\nthe evil principles would form the second stage of development--a\nnecessary consequence of increased observation--and, accordingly, we\nfind the Great Spirit and his Adversary among the prevailing notions of\nsome of the least civilized communities. A gradual progression from one\nto many gods appears to have been the natural process by which all known\nmythologies have been formed. The tendency of observation to multiply\ncauses, real or ideal, and to personify ideas, may be ranked as one of\nthe tendencies of unassisted human nature; and the operation of this\nnatural force must have been equally efficient at all times and in all\ncountries. In the early stages of social improvement, man would be very\nforcibly affected by natural phenomena. The regular succession of day\nand night--the order of the seasons--the heat of summer--the cold of\nwinter--storms and tempests on sea and land--the sensations of pleasure\nand pain, hope and fear--would each impress him with ideas of effects\nfor which he could assign no adequate causes; but having become\nsusceptible of supernatural influences, the addition of imaginary beings\nto his mythology would keep pace with his experience, until every\nportion of the heavens, the earth, and the sea, was peopled with, and\npresided over, by its respective deity or demi-god. Thus it was that the\nrolling thunder and the \"lightning's vivid flash\" suggested the idea of\na Jupiter grasping his destructive bolts, or of a Thor wielding his\nponderous hammer. The \"raging tempest\" and the \"boiling surge\" gave\nbirth to a Neptune or Nj\u00f6rd, each endowed with attributes suited to the\naspects of the locality where the observations were made, and specially\nadapted to the intellectual condition of the community which first\ndeified the conception. As society progressed in civilization, so did\nthe study of philosophy and religion. The poets and the priests,\nhowever, did not entrust their speculations to the judgment of the\npeople; they were too sensible of the power which secrecy conferred upon\ntheir occult pursuits, and hence they allegorized their conceptions of\nsupernatural agencies, and also their ideas of the ordinary operations\nof nature and art. The elements were spoken of as persons, and the\nchanges which these underwent were regarded as the actions of\nindividuals; and these in the lapse of ages, by losing their esoteric\nmeaning, came to be considered as realities, and so passed into the\npopular belief. This is eminently the case with the northern mythology,\nrespecting which we are at present more particularly concerned; for by\nfar the greater portion of these highly poetical, though rugged myths,\nadmit of a very plausible and rational explanation on astronomical and\nphysical principles.[1] Whether this was equally the case with the Greek\nand Roman mythologies is now, perhaps, more difficult to determine.\nEnough, however, remains in the etymology of the names to prove that\nboth these and the northern systems had much in common. The fundamental\nconceptions of each possess the same leading characteristics; and both\nare probably due to the conquering tribes who migrated into Europe from\nthe fertile plains of Central Asia.[2]\n\nDuring these early ages, war was considered to be the most honourable\noccupation. Valour constituted the highest virtue; and in the absence of\nall written records, tradition, in course of time, would add\nconsiderably to the prowess of any daring chieftain. A mighty conqueror\nwould be considered by his followers as something more than human. The\nfear of his enemies would clothe him with attributes peculiar to their\nconceptions of inferior deities; and this, together with the almost\nuniversal \"longing after immortality\" which seems to pervade society in\nall its stages, sufficiently accounts for the origin of the heroes and\nheroines--the demi-gods and goddesses of every mythology. Hence\nHercules--the younger Odin--and a numerous train of minor worthies to\nwhom divine honours were decreed in the rituals of Italy and of the\nnorth.\n\nOn the introduction of Christianity, a powerful reactionary force was\nbrought into the popular belief, and many of its grosser portions were\nspeedily eliminated. The whole of the mythological creations were\ndivided into two distinct classes, according to the attributes for which\nthey were more particularly distinguished. Those whose tendencies\ninclined towards the benefit of mankind were translated to heavenly\nmansions, with God as supreme; whilst the wickedly disposed were\nconsigned to the infernal regions, under the dominion of the Devil. The\nfestivals of the gods were transformed into Christian seasons for\nrejoicing, their temples became churches, and the names of Christ, his\napostles, the Virgin Mary, and the saints, took the places of those of\nJupiter, Mercury, Thor, Freja, and Woden. All the inferior deities that\npresided over the woods, the mountains, the seas, and the rivers, were\ndegraded into demons, and were classed amongst those fallen spirits who\nare employed by the evil one to harass and deceive mankind. Our early\nmissionaries, however, had studied human nature too well to attempt too\nviolent a change. They contented themselves, for the most part, with\ndiverting the current of thought into different channels; they gave\n_new_ names to _old_ conceptions, and then left their more rational and\nmore powerful faith to produce its known effects upon the superstitions\nof the masses. But the habits and opinions of a people who have long\nbeen under the influence of any mythological system, have become too\ndeeply rooted to admit of easy eradication; and hence, in our own\ncountry, as in others, the transition from heathenism to Christianity\nwas effected by almost imperceptible steps.\n\nThere are, however, many points of resemblance between the early\nScandinavian and the Roman mythologies. Both had probably a common\norigin, but each became modified by increased civilization and the\ncharacter of the localities occupied by each succeeding wave of a\nmigratory population. \"Every country in Europe,\" says the learned editor\nof Warton's _History of Poetry_, \"has invested its popular belief with\nthe same common marvels: all acknowledge the agency of the lifeless\nproductions of nature; the intervention of the same supernatural\nmachinery; the existence of elves, fairies, dwarfs, giants, witches,\nwizards, and enchanters; the use of spells, charms, and amulets.\" The\nexplosions and rumbling sounds occasionally heard in the interior of\nEtna and Stromboli were attributed, in ancient times, to the rage of\nTyphon, or the labours of Vulcan: at this day, the popular belief\nconnects them with the suffering souls of men in the infernal regions.\n\"The marks which natural causes have impressed upon the unyielding\ngranite were produced, according to the common creed, by the powerful\nhero, the saint or the god, and large masses of stone, resembling\ndomestic implements in form, were the toys or the tools of the demi-gods\nand giants of old. The repetition of the voice among the hills of\nScandinavia is ascribed by the vulgar to the dwarfs mocking the human\nspeaker; in England the fairies are said to perform the same exploits;\nwhile the more elegant fancy of Greece gave birth to Echo, a nymph who\npined for love, and who still fondly repeats the accents that she hears.\nThe magic scenery occasionally presented on the waters of the Straits of\nMessina is ascribed by popular opinion to the power of the Fata Morgana;\nthe gossamer threads which float through the haze of an autumnal morning\nare [in Lancashire also] supposed to be woven by the ingenious dwarfs;\nthe verdant circlets in the dewy mead are traced beneath the light steps\nof the dancing elves; and St. Cuthbert is said to forge and fashion the\nbeads that bear his name, and lie scattered along the shores of\nLindisfarne.\"[3] If we draw our parallels a little closer, we shall\nfind, as has been well observed, that \"the Nereids of antiquity are\nevidently the same with the Mermaids of the British and northern shores:\nthe inhabitants of both are placed in crystal caves, or coral palaces,\nbeneath the waters of the ocean; they are alike distinguished for their\npartialities to the human race, and their prophetic powers in disclosing\nthe events of futurity. The Naiades differ only in name from the Nixens\nof Germany, the Nisses of Scandinavia, or the Water-elves of the British\nIsles. The Brownies are of the same kindred as the Lares of Latium [and\nthese agree exactly with the Portuni mentioned by Gervase of Tilbury in\nhis _Otia Imperialis_]. The English Puck [the Lancashire Boggart], the\nScotch Bogle, the French Goblin, the Gobelinus of the Middle Ages, and\nthe German Kobold, are probably only varied names for the Grecian\nKhobalus, whose sole delight consisted in perplexing the human race, and\nevoking those harmless terrors that constantly hover round the minds of\nthe timid. So, also, the German Spuck, and the Danish Spogel, correspond\nwith the more northern Spog; whilst the German Hudkin, and the Icelandic\nPuki, exactly answer to the character of the English Robin\nGoodfellow.\"[4] Our modern devil, with his horns and hoof, is derived\nfrom the Celtic Ourisk and the Roman Pan.\n\nSome of our elves and satyrs are arrayed in the costumes of Greece and\nRome; and the Fairy Queen, with her attendants, have at times too many\npoints of resemblance to escape being identified as Diana and her\nnymphs. The Roman Jupiter, by an easy transformation, becomes identical\nwith the Scandinavian Thor--the thunderbolt and chariot of the former\ncorresponding to the hammer and wagon of the latter. Odin takes the\nplace of Mercury. Loki is the same as Lucifer, for, like him, he was\nexpelled from heaven for disobedience and rebellion. Hother encountered\nThor, as Diomede did Mars. \"The Grendels of the north answer to the\nTitans of the south; they were the gods of nature to our\nforefathers--the spirits of the wood and wave.\" Jupiter's eagle, the\nwar-sign of the Romans, is similar in character to Odin's raven among\nthe Danes; both nations considered that if the bird appeared to flutter\nits wings on the banners, conquest was certain; but if they hung\nhelplessly down, defeat would surely follow. Warcock Hill, on the\nborders of Lancashire and Yorkshire, has probably derived its name from\nthe unfurling of this terrible ensign during the conflicts between the\nSaxons and the Danes for the possession of Northumbria;--the local\nnomenclature of the district attests the presence of colonists from both\nnations, and extensive traces of their fortifications still remain as\nevidence that our slopes and hill-tops formed at once the battle-fields\nand the strongholds of the country.\n\nThe power of the Devil, his personal appearance and the possibility of\nbartering the soul for temporary gain, must still be numbered among the\narticles of our popular faith. Repeating the Lord's Prayer backwards is\nsaid to be the most effectual plan for causing him to rise from beneath;\nbut when the terms of the bargain are not satisfactory, his exit can\nonly be secured by making the sign of the cross and calling on the name\nof Christ.[5]\n\nWhen we come to examine the miscellaneous customs and superstitions of\nthe county, we find many remarkable traces of a former belief. Tradition\nhas again been true to her vocation; and in several instances has been\nmost careful to preserve the _minuti\u00e6_ of the mode of operation and\nsupposed effects of each minor spell and incantation. The principal\ndifficulty now lies in the selection; for the materials are so plentiful\nthat none but the most striking can be noticed. Among these we observe\nthat, a ringing in the ears; shooting of the eyes; throwing down, or\nspilling the salt; putting on the left shoe first; lucky and unlucky\ndays; pouring melted lead into water; stopping blood by means of charms;\nthe use of waxen images; enchanted girdles; and lovers' knots, are all\nobserved and explained almost exactly as amongst the Greeks and Romans.\nThe details in many have been preserved to the very letter, whilst the\nsupposed effects are exactly the same both in the ancient and modern\ntimes. Our marriageable maidens never receive knives, or any pointed\nimplements, from their suitors, for the very same reason that such\npresents were rejected by their Scandinavian ancestors--they portend a\n\"breaking off\" in the matrimonial arrangements, and are notorious for\n\"severing love.\"\n\n    \"If you love me as I love you,\n    No knife shall cut our love in two.\"\n\nWe never return thanks for a loan of pins. A \"winding sheet\" on the\ncandle forebodes death; and dogs howling indicate a similar calamity.[6]\nAlmost every one is aware that cuttings of human hair ought always to be\nburnt; that if _thirteen_ sit down to dinner one of them will die before\nthe end of the year; that it is unlucky to meet a woman the first thing\nin the morning; and that a horse-shoe nailed or let into the step of\nthe door will prevent the entrance of any evil-disposed person. We have\nprobably derived nearly the whole of these notions from the Scandinavian\nsettlers in the North of England. They considered it quite possible too\nto raise the Devil by the same means now practised by our \"wise men;\"\nand after their conversion to Christianity they are known to have marked\ntheir dough with a cross in order to ensure its rising--a practice which\nmany of our country matrons still retain. Sodden bread is always\nconsidered to be bewitched, provided the yeast be good, and hence the\nnecessity for the protection of the cross.\n\nWe always get out of bed either on the right side, or with the right\nfoot first; we take care not to cross two knives on the table; mothers\nnever allow a child to be weighed soon after its birth; our children\nstill blow their ages at marriage from the tops of the dandelion; and\nall these for similar reasons, and with similar objects, to those of the\npeasantry of Northumbria during the period of Danish rule. They supposed\nthat the dead followed their usual occupations in the spirit-world, and\nhence, probably, the weapons of war and the implements of domestic life\nwhich we find amongst the ashes of their dead. They were also of opinion\nthat buried treasure caused the ghosts of the owners to haunt the places\nof concealment; and many of our country population retain the same\nopinions without the slightest modification.\n\nThe Folk-lore of dreams is an extensive subject, and would require a\nseries of essays for its full elucidation. The _Royal Dream Book_, and\n_Napoleon's Book of Fate_, command an extensive sale amongst our\noperatives, and may be consulted for additional information. Our country\nmaidens are well aware that _triple_ leaves plucked at hazard from the\ncommon ash, are worn in the breast for the purpose of causing prophetic\ndreams respecting a dilatory lover. The leaves of the yellow trefoil are\nsupposed to possess similar virtues; and the Bible is not unfrequently\nput under their pillows with a crooked sixpence placed on the 16th and\n17th verses of the first chapter of Ruth, in order that they may both\ndream of, and see, their future husbands. \"Opening the Bible for\ndirection\" is still practised after any troublesome dream, or when about\nto undertake any doubtful matter. To dream of the teeth falling out\nbetokens death, or the loss of a lawsuit. Other signs of death are\ndreaming of seeing the Devil; or hearing a sound like the stroke of a\nwand on any piece of furniture. The proverb that \"lawyers and asses\nalways die in their shoes,\" is invariably quoted when any sudden\ncalamity befalls one of the profession.\n\nLike the ancients, the folk of Lancashire have various superstitious\nobservances and practices connected with the moon, especially with the\nnew moon. Christmas thorns are said to blossom only on _Old_ Christmas\nDay; and persons will go considerable distances at midnight in order to\nwitness the blossoming. Oxen, too, are supposed to acknowledge the\nimportance of the Nativity of Christ, by going down on their knees at\nthe same hour; and this is often quoted as a proof that our legislators\nwere wrong in depriving our forefathers of their \"eleven days\" when the\nnew style was enforced by Act of Parliament.[7]\n\nSome of our farmers are superstitious enough to hang in the chimney a\nportion of the flesh of any animal which has died of distemper, as a\nprotection from similar afflictions; they also preserve with great care\nthe membrane which sometimes envelopes a newly born foal, in the hope\nthat it will ensure them good luck for the future. Sailors do not like\nto set sail on a Friday. Servant girls will rarely enter upon a new\nservice either on a Friday, or on a Saturday: should they do so, they\nhave an opinion that they will disagree with their mistresses and \"not\nstay long in place.\" Most females entertain strong objections against\ngiving evidence, or taking oaths, before the magistrates, when\n_enceinte_. At Burnley, not long ago, a witness in a case of felony was\nthreatened with imprisonment before she would comply with the necessary\nforms. All children that are born in the twilight of certain days are in\nconsequence supposed to be endowed with the faculty of seeing spirits;\nand some of our \"wise men\" take advantage of this, and persuade their\ndupes that they were so circumstanced at birth.\n\nSuch instances might be multiplied to an almost indefinite extent, did\nspace permit; but the preceding will suffice to prove both the probable\norigin and prevalence of many of our popular superstitions. To a greater\nor less extent their influence pervades all classes of society; and he\nwho would elevate the intellectual condition of the people must not\nneglect this thick stratum of _common notions_ which underlies the\ndeepest deposits of mental culture. As a recent writer in the _Quarterly\nReview_ reports of Cornwall, so we may state of Lancashire:--\"Pages\nmight be filled, not with mere legends wrought up for literary purposes,\nbut with serious accounts of the wild delusions which seem to have lived\non from the very birth of Pagan antiquity, and still to hold their\ninfluence among the earnest and Christian people of this portion of\nEngland.... Superstition lives on, with little abatement of vitality, in\nthe human heart. In the lower classes it wears its old fashions, with\nvery slow alterations--in the higher, it changes with the rapidity of\nmodes in fashionable circles. We read with a smile of amusement and\npity, the account of some provincial conjuror, who follows, with slight\nchanges, the trade of the Witch of Endor; and we then compose our\nfeatures to a grave expression of interest--for so society requires--to\nlisten to some enlightened person's description of the latest novelties\nin table-turning or spirit-rapping; or to some fair patient's account of\nher last conversation with her last quack-doctor.\"\n\nThe labours of Croker, Keightley, Thorpe, and Kemble, following in the\nwake of the Brothers Grimm, have added considerably to our knowledge of\nthe Folk-lore of the North of Europe; but much yet remains to be\ncollected before the subject can be examined in all its bearings.\n\nIt is hoped that in the following pages the facts collected will suffice\nto prove that the superstitious beliefs, observances, and usages of\nLancashire are by no means unworthy of the attention of the antiquary,\nthe ethnologist, or the historian.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE ALCHEMISTS.\n\nAlchemy (from _al_, Arab. the, and \u03c7\u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03af\u03b1, chemistry), the pretended\nart of transmuting the inferior metals into gold or silver, by means of\nwhat was called the Philosopher's Stone, or the powder of projection, a\nred powder possessing a peculiar smell, is supposed to have originated\namong the Arabians; Geber, an Arabian physician of the seventh century,\nbeing one of the earliest alchemists whose works are extant; but written\nso obscurely as to have led to the suggestion that his name was the\norigin of our modern term _gibberish_, for unintelligible jargon. A\nsubsequent object of alchemy was the discovery of a universal medicine,\nthe _Elixir Vit\u00e6_, which was to give perpetual life, health, and youth.\nThe Egyptians are said to have practised alchemy; and Paulus Diaconus, a\nwriter of the eighth century, asserts that Dioclesian burned the library\nof Alexandria, in order to prevent the Egyptians from becoming learned\nin the art of producing at will those precious metals which might be\nemployed as \"the sinews of war\" against himself.[8] The earliest English\nwriter on alchemy was probably St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, in\nthe tenth century. \"He who shall have the happiness to meet with St.\nDunstan's work, 'De Occulta Philosophia' [that on the 'Philosopher's\nstone' is in the Ashmole Museum], may therein read such stories as will\nmake him amazed to think what stupendous and immense things are to be\nperformed by virtue of the Philosopher's Mercury.\"[9] A John Garland is\nalso said to have written on alchemy and mineralogy prior to the\nConquest.[10] Alchemy was much studied in conventual establishments[11]\nand by the most learned doctors and schoolmen, and the highest Church\ndignitaries--nay, even by kings and popes. Albertus Magnus, a German,\nborn in 1282, wrote seven treatises on alchemy; and Thomas Aquinas \"the\nangelic doctor\" (said to have been a pupil of Albert), wrote three works\non this subject. Roger Bacon (\"Friar Bacon\"), born at Ilchester in 1214,\nthough he wrote against the folly of believing in magic, necromancy, and\ncharms, nevertheless had faith in alchemy; and his chemical and\nalchemical writings number eighteen. Of his _Myrrour of Alchemy_, Mr. J.\nJ. Conybeare observes, \"Of all the alchemical works into which I have\nbeen occasionally led to search, this appears the best calculated to\nafford the curious reader an insight into the history of the art, and of\nthe arguments by which it was usually attacked and defended. It has the\nadditional merit of being more intelligible and more entertaining than\nmost books of the same class.\"[12]\n\nRaymond Lully, born at Majorca in 1235, is said to have been a scholar\nof Roger Bacon, and to have written nineteen works on alchemy. Arnoldus\nde Villa Nova, born in 1235, amongst a number of works on this subject,\nwrote _The Rosarium_, a compendium of the alchemy of his time. He died\nin 1313, on his way to visit Pope Clement V. at Avignon. Another pope,\nJohn XXII., professed and described the art of transmuting metals, and\nboasts in the beginning of his book that he had made two hundred ingots\nof gold, each weighing one hundred pounds. Among English alchemists of\nthe fourteenth century may be mentioned Cremer, abbot of Westminster\n(the disciple and friend of Lully), John Daustein, and Richard, who both\npractised and wrote upon the \"hermetic philosophy,\" as it was termed. In\nthe fifteenth century was born George Ripley, a canon registrar of\nBridlington, who wrote the _Medulla Alchymi\u00e6_ (translated by Dr. Salmon\nin his _Clavis_), and another work in rhyme, called \"The Compound of\nAlchemie,\" which was dedicated to Edward IV. Dr. John Dee (born 1527),\nthe warden of Manchester College, and his assistant, or \"seer,\" Edward\nKelly (born 1555), were both avowed alchemists. Dee wrote a _Treatise of\nthe Rosie Crucian Secrets, their excellent methods of making Medicines\nand Metals_, &c. Ashmole says of him, that \"some time he bestowed in\nvulgar chemistry, and was therein master of divers secrets: amongst\nothers, he revealed to one Roger Cooke 'the great secret of the elixir'\n(as he called it) 'of the salt of metals, the projection whereof was\none upon a hundred.'[13]\n\n\"'Tis generally reported that Dr. Dee and Sir Edward Kelly were so\nstrangely fortunate as to find a very large quantity of the elixir in\nsome parts of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey.\" It had remained here,\nperhaps, ever since the time of the highly gifted St. Dunstan, in the\ntenth century.[14] The great Lord Bacon relates the following story in\nhis _Apothegms_:--\n\n\"Sir Edward Dyer, a grave and wise gentleman, did much believe in Kelly,\nthe alchemist, that he did indeed the work, and made gold; insomuch that\nhe went into Germany, where Kelly then was, to inform himself fully\nthereof. After his return he dined with my Lord of Canterbury, where at\nthat time was at the table Dr. Brown, the physician. They fell in talk\nof Kelly. Sir Edward Dyer, turning to the archbishop, said--'I do assure\nyour Grace that that I shall tell you is truth: I am an eye-witness\nthereof; and if I had not seen it, I should not have believed it. I saw\nMaster Kelly put of the base metal into the crucible; and after it was\nset a little upon the fire, and a very small quantity of the medicine\nput in, and stirred with a stick of wood, it came forth, in great\nproportion, perfect gold, to the touch, to the hammer, and to the test.'\nMy Lord Archbishop said, 'You had need take heed what you say, Sir\nEdward Dyer, for here is an infidel at the board.' Sir Edward Dyer said\nagain pleasantly, 'I would have looked for an infidel sooner in any\nplace than at your Grace's table.' 'What say you, Dr. Brown?' said the\narchbishop. Dr. Brown answered, after his blunt and huddling manner,\n'The gentleman hath spoken enough for me.' 'Why,' saith the archbishop,\n'what hath he said?' 'Marry,' saith Dr. Brown, 'he said he would not\nhave believed it except he had seen it; and no more will I.'\"\n\nProfessor De Morgan observes that \"Alchemy was more than a popular\ncredulity: Newton and Boyle were amongst the earnest inquirers into it.\"\nBishop Berkeley was of opinion that M. Homberg made gold by introducing\nlight into the pores of mercury. Amongst the works of the Hon. Robert\nBoyle (vol. iv. 13-19), is _An Historical Account of a Degradation of\nGold, made by an anti-Elixir: a Strange Chemical Narrative_, in which he\nsays--\"To make it more credible that other metals are capable of being\ngraduated or exalted into gold, by way of projection, I will relate to\nyou, that by the like way, gold has been degraded or imbased.... Our\nexperiment plainly shows that gold, though confessedly the most\nhomogeneous and the least mutable of metals, may be in a very short time\n(perhaps not amounting to many minutes), exceedingly changed, both as to\nmalleableness, colour, homogeneity, and (which is more) specific\ngravity; and all this by so very inconsiderable a portion of injected\npowder,\" &c.\n\n\"When Locke, as one of the executors of Boyle, was about to publish some\nof his works, Newton wished him to insert the second and third part of\nBoyle's recipes (the first part of which was to obtain 'a mercury that\nwould grow hot with gold'), and which Boyle had communicated to him on\ncondition that they should be published after his death.\"[15] \"Mangetus\nrelates a story of a stranger calling on Boyle, and leaving with him a\npowder, which he projected into the crucible, and instantly went out.\nAfter the fire had gone out, Boyle found in the crucible a\nyellow-coloured metal, possessing all the properties of pure gold, and\nonly a little lighter than the weight of the materials originally put in\nthe crucible.\"[16]\n\nFrom these proofs of the credulity of great men, let us turn to the\nencouragements vouchsafed to alchemy and its adepts by the Kings and\nParliaments of England. Raymond Lully visited England on the invitation\nof Edward I.; and he affirms in one of his works, that in the secret\nchamber of St. Katherine, in the Tower of London, he performed in the\nroyal presence the experiment of transmuting some crystal into a mass of\ndiamond, or adamant, as he calls it; on which Edward, he says, caused\nsome little pillars to be made for the tabernacle of God. It was\npopularly believed, indeed, at the time, that the English king had been\nfurnished by Lully with a great quantity of gold for defraying the\nexpense of an expedition which he intended to make to the Holy Land.\nEdward III. was not less credulous on this subject than his grandfather,\nas appears by an order which he issued in 1329, in the following\nterms:--\"Know all men that we have been assured that John of Rous, and\nMaster William of Dalby, know how to make silver by the art of alchemy;\nthat they have made it in former times, and still continue to make it;\nand considering that these men, by their art, and by making the precious\nmetal, may be profitable to us and to our kingdom, we have commanded our\nwell-beloved Thomas Cary to apprehend the aforesaid John and William\nwherever they can be found, within liberties or without, and bring them\nto us, together with all the instruments of their art, under safe and\nsure custody.\" The first considerable coinage of gold in England was\nbegun by Edward III. in 1343: and \"The alchemists did affirm, as an\nunwritten verity, that the rose nobles, which were coined soon after,\nwere made by projection or multiplication alchemical, by Raymond Lully,\nin the Tower of London.\" But Lully died in 1315; and the story only\nshows the strength of the popular faith in alchemy. That this pretended\nscience was much cultivated in the fourteenth century, and with the\nusual evil results, may be inferred from an Act passed 5 Hen. IV. cap. 4\n(1404), to make it felony \"to multiply gold or silver, or to use the\ncraft of multiplication,\" &c. It is probable, however, that this statute\nwas enacted from some apprehension that the operations of the\nmultipliers might possibly affect the value of the king's coin. Henry\nVI., a very pious, yet very weak and credulous prince, was as great a\npatron of the alchemists as Edward III. had been before him. These\nimpostors practised with admirable success upon his weakness and\ncredulity, repeatedly inducing him to advance them money wherewith to\nprosecute the operations, as well as procuring from him protections\n(which he sometimes prevailed upon the Parliament to confirm) from the\npenalties of the statute just mentioned.[17] In 1438, the king\ncommissioned three philosophers to make the precious metals; but, as\nmight be expected, he received no returns from them in gold or\nsilver.[18] His credulity, however, seems to have been unshaken by\ndisappointment, and we next find him issuing one of these protections,\nwhich is too long to print entire, granted to the \"three famous men,\"\nJohn Fauceby, John Kirkeby, and John Ragny, which was confirmed by\nParliament May 31, 1456. In this document the object of the researches\nof these \"philosophers\" is described to be \"a certain most precious\nmedicine, called by some philosophers 'the mother and empress of\nmedicines;' by some, 'the inestimable glory;' by others, 'the\nquintessence;' by others, 'the philosopher's stone;' by others, 'the\nelixir of life;' which cures all curable diseases with ease; prolongs\nhuman life in perfect vigour of faculty to its utmost natural term;\nheals all healable wounds; is a most sovereign antidote against all\npoisons; and is capable of preserving to us and our kingdom other great\nadvantages, such as the transmutation of other metals into the most real\nand finest gold and silver.\"[19] Fauceby, here mentioned, is elsewhere\ndesignated the king's physician.[20] We have not traced the position of\nthe other two adepts named. Fauceby, however, notwithstanding his power\nof gold-making, did not refuse to accept a grant from the king, in 1456,\nof a pension of 100_l._ a year for life.[21]\n\nWe come now to the two most distinguished of Lancashire alchemists, both\nknights, and at the head of the principal families of the county. They\nseem to have been actively engaged together in the delusive pursuit of\nthe transmutation of metals; and, self-deceived, to have deluded the\nweak king with promises of wealth which never could be realised. These\nLancashire adepts were Sir Edmund de Trafford, Knight, and Sir Thomas\nAshton [of Ashton], Knight. The former was the younger of two sons of\nHenry de Trafford, Esq., and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir Ralph\nRadcliffe, Knight. The elder son, Henry, dying at the early age of\ntwenty-six years, this Edmund succeeded as his heir about King Henry V.\n(1414), and he was knighted by Henry VI. at the Whitsuntide of 1426. He\nmarried Dame Alice Venables, eldest daughter and co-heir to Sir William\nVenables, of Bollyn, Knight. Their only son, Sir John Trafford, knighted\nabout 1444, in his father's life-time, married Elizabeth, daughter of\nSir Thomas Ashton, of Ashton-under-Lyne, Knight; whilst Sir Edmund's\nyoungest daughter, Dulcia, or Douce, married Sir John Ashton, a son of\nSir Thomas, in 1438; so that the two families were connected by this\ndouble alliance. Sir Thomas Ashton, the alchemist, was the eldest son of\nSir John de Ashton (Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Henry IV. in\n1399, Knight of the Shire in 1413, and Constable of Coutances in 1417),\nand of his first wife, Jane, daughter of John Savile, of Tankersley,\ncounty York. Sir Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Byron.\nThe date of his death is not known. Sir Edmund Trafford died in 1457.\nTheir supposed power of transmuting the baser metals into gold had great\nattractions for a weak king, whose treasury was low, and who was\nencumbered with debt. They were not mere adventurers, but men descended\nfrom ancient families, opulent, and of high estimation in their native\ncounty. Fuller found in the Tower of London, and copied,[22] a patent\ngranted to these two knights by Henry VI., in the twenty-fourth year of\nhis reign (1446), of which he gives the following translation:--\"The\nKing to all unto whom, &c., greeting--Know ye, that whereas our beloved\nand loyal Edmund de Trafford, Knight, and Thomas Ashton, Knight, have,\nby a certain petition shown unto us, set forth that although they were\nwilling by the art or science of philosophy to work upon certain metals,\nto translate [transmute] imperfect metals from their own kind, and then\nto transubstantiate them by their said art or science, as they say, into\nperfect gold or silver, unto all manner of proofs and trials, to be\nexpected and endured as any gold or silver growing in any mine;\nnotwithstanding certain persons ill-willing and maligning them,\nconceiving them to work by unlawful art, and so may hinder and disturb\nthem in the trial of the said art and science: WE, considering the\npremises, and willing to know the conclusion of the said work or\nscience, of our special grace have granted and given leave to the same\nEdmund and Thomas, and to their servants, that they may work and try the\naforesaid art and science lawfully and freely, without any hindrance of\nours, or of our officers, whatsoever; any statute, act, ordinance, or\nprovision made, ordained, or provided to the contrary notwithstanding.\nIn witness whereof, &c., the King at Westminster, the 7th day of April\"\n[1446.][23] Fuller leaves this curious document, which might fitly have\nbeen dated the _first_ instead of the 7th April, without a word of\ncomment. The two knightly alchemists, doubtlessly imposing on themselves\nno less than on their royal patron, kept the king's expectation wound up\nto the highest pitch; and in the following year he actually informed his\npeople that the happy hour was approaching when by means of \"the stone\"\nhe \"should be able to pay off his debts!\"[24] It is scarcely necessary\nto add that the stone failed, and the king's debts must have remained\nunpaid, if his majesty had not pawned the revenue of his Duchy of\nLancaster, to satisfy the demands of his clamorous creditors. Henry VI.\nwas deposed by Edward IV. in March, 1461, and though he was nominally\nrestored to the throne in October, 1470, he lost both crown and life in\nMay, 1471, being found dead (most probably murdered) in the Tower on the\nevening or the morrow of the day on which Edward IV. entered London\nafter his victory at Barnet. Such are some of the most notable facts in\nthe practice of alchemy as connected with Lancashire. It will naturally\nbe asked if alchemy is still practised in this county? We can only say,\nthat if it be it is in very rare instances, and with the greatest\nsecrecy. The more chemistry is known--and the extent to which it has\nbeen developed within the last twenty years is truly marvellous--the\nmore completely it takes the ground from under the feet of a believer in\nalchemy. It is not like astrology, which accepts the facts of the true\nscience of astronomy, and only draws false conclusions from true\npremisses. Alchemy could only have sprung up at a period when all the\noperations of the chemist's laboratory were of the most rude, imperfect,\nand blundering character; when the true bases of earths and minerals and\nmetals were unknown; when what was called chemistry was without\nanalysis, either quantitative or qualitative; before the law of definite\nproportions had been discovered; when, in short, chemistry was a groping\nin the dark without the help of any accurate weight or measure, or\nother knowledge of the countless substances which are now so extensively\ninvestigated, and so accurately described in the briefest formulas. A\nman, to become an alchemist in the nineteenth century, must study only\nthe hermetical writings of past ages, shutting both eyes and ears to all\nthe facts of modern chemistry. It is scarcely possible at this day to\nfind such a combination of exploded learning and scientific ignorance.\nHence we conclude that alchemy is in all probability, from the very\nnature of things, an obsolete and forgotten lore.\n\n\nLANCASHIRE ASTROLOGERS.\n\nAstrology (literally the Science of the Stars), is now understood to\nsignify the mode of discovering future events by means of the position\nof the heavenly bodies, which has been termed judicial astronomy. This\nquasi science found universal belief among all the nations of antiquity\nexcept the Greeks. Among the Romans it was eagerly cultivated from the\ntime of the conquest of Egypt. In the second century the whole world was\nastrological. All the followers of Mohammed have ever been, and still\nare, believers in it. The Church of Rome has repeatedly condemned the\nart, but popes and cardinals rank amongst its votaries. Cardinal d'Ailly\n(about 1400), calculated the horoscope of Jesus Christ; and in the\nfifteenth century Pope Calixtus III. directed prayers and anathemas\nagainst a comet which had either assisted in or predicted the success of\nthe Turks against the Christians. The establishment of the Copernican\nsystem was the death of astrology. The last of the astrologers was\nMorin, best known as the opponent of Gassendi. The latter in youth had\nstudied and believed in the art, but afterwards renounced and written\nagainst it. Morin, who worked thirty years at a book on astrology, and\nwho disbelieved in the motion of the earth, repeatedly predicted the\ndeath of Gassendi, but was always wrong, as he was in foretelling the\ndeath of Louis XIII. Since his death, in 1656, the pseudo-science has\ngradually sunk, and has not since, it is believed, been adopted by any\nreal astronomer. Roger Bacon and other early English philosophers were\nbelievers in astrology, no less than in alchemy. In Lancashire the most\nremarkable practisers of the art were Dr. John Dee, warden of Manchester\nCollege, his friend and \"seer,\" Sir Edward Kelly, and John Booker, of\nManchester. Dee was the son of a wealthy vintner, and was born in London\nin 1527. At the age of fifteen he was entered at St. John's College,\nCambridge, where he seems to have devoted himself to the study of\nmathematics, astronomy, and chemistry; displaying great assiduity and\nindustry. At twenty he made a year's tour on the Continent, chiefly in\nHolland, and on his return was made one of the fellows of Trinity\nCollege on its foundation by Henry VIII., in 1543. In 1548 he was\nstrongly suspected of being addicted to \"the black art,\" probably from\nhis astrological pursuits; and having taken his degree of A.M., he again\nwent abroad to the university of Louvaine and to Rheims, and elsewhere\nin France; returning to England in 1551, when he was presented by Cecil\nto King Edward VI., who assigned him a pension of one hundred crowns,\nwhich he subsequently relinquished for the rectory of Upton-on-Severn.\nShortly after the accession of Mary, he was accused of \"practising\nagainst the queen's life by _enchantment_;\" the charge being founded on\nsome correspondence between him and \"the servants of the Lady\nElizabeth.\" He was long imprisoned and frequently examined, but as\nnothing could be established against him he was set at liberty by an\norder of the church in 1555. On the accession of Elizabeth, Dee was\nconsulted by Lord Robert Dudley respecting \"a propitious day\" for the\ncoronation. He says, \"I wrote at large and delivered it for her\nMajesty's use, by the commandment of the Lord Robert (afterwards Earl of\nLeicester), what in my judgment the ancient astrologers would determine\non the election day of such a time as was appointed for her Majesty to\nbe crowned in.\" He was presented to the queen, who made him great\npromises (not always fulfilled); amongst others, that where her brother\nEdward \"had given him a crown, she would give him a noble\" [one-third\nmore--viz., from 5_s._ to 6_s._ 8_d._]. Nothing can better mark the\nbelief in astrology than the fact that Queen Elizabeth's nativity was\ncast, in order to ascertain whether she could marry with advantage to\nthe nation. Lilly, some eighty years later, declares[25] that he\nreceived twenty pieces of gold, in order that he might ascertain where\nCharles I. might be most safe from his enemies, and what hour would be\nmost favourable for his escape from Carisbrooke Castle.\n\nIn 1564 Dee again visited the Continent, and was presented to the\nEmperor Maximilian, probably on some secret mission; for Lilly says, \"he\nwas the Queen's intelligencer, and had a salary for his maintenance from\nthe Secretaries of State. He was a ready-witted man, quick of\napprehension, and of great judgment in the Latin and Greek tongues. He\nwas a very great investigator of the more secret hermetical learning\n(alchemy), a perfect astronomer, a curious astrologer, a serious\ngeometrician; to speak truth, he was excellent in all kinds of\nlearning.\"[26] Dee was repeatedly and urgently sent for one morning \"to\nprevent the mischief which divers of her Majesty's privy council\nsuspected to be intended against her Majesty, by means of a certain\nimage of wax, with a great pin stuck into it, about the breast of it,\nfound in Lincoln's Inn Fields.\" For some years Dee led a life of privacy\nand study at Mortlake in Surrey, collecting books and MSS., beryls and\nmagic crystals, talismans, &c. So strong was the popular belief in his\nneighbourhood that he had dealings with the devil, that in 1576 a mob\nassembled, broke into his house, and destroyed nearly all his library\nand collections; and it was with difficulty that he and his family\nescaped the fury of the rabble. In October, 1578, by the Queen's\ncommand, he had a conference with Dr. Bayley, her Majesty's physician,\n\"about her Majesty's grievous pains, by reason of toothache and the\nrheum,\" &c.; and the same year he was sent on a winter journey of about\n1500 miles by sea and land, \"to consult with the learned physicians and\nphilosophers [_i.e._, astrologers], for her Majesty's health-recovering\nand preserving.\" Passing over his more useful and valuable services to\nthe State and to the world, as we are only noting here his doings as an\nastrologer, &c., we may remark that most of his proceedings and writings\nin this pseudo-science or art were accomplished after he had passed his\nfiftieth year. It was in 1581 that he took into his service, as an\nassistant in his alchemical and astrological labours, an apothecary of\nWorcester named Edward Kelly, born in 1555, and who was called \"The\nSeer,\" because, looking into magic crystals or specul\u00e6, it was said he\nsaw many things which it was not permitted to Dee himself to behold.\nKelly also acted as Dee's amanuensis, and together they held\n\"conversations with spirits.\" They had a black speculum, it is said \"a\npolished piece of cannel coal,\" in which the angels Gabriel and Raphael\nappeared at their invocation. Hence Butler says--\n\n    \"Kelly did all his feats upon\n    The devil's looking-glass--a stone.\"\n\nIn 1583 a Polish noble, Albert Lasque, palatine of Siradia [? Sieradz]\nbeing in England, Dee and Kelly were introduced to him, and accompanied\nhim to Poland. He persuaded them to pay a visit to Rodolph, king of\nBohemia, who, though a weak and credulous man, is said to have become\ndisgusted with their pretensions. They had no better success with the\nking of Poland, but were soon after invited by a rich Bohemian noble to\nhis castle of Trebona, where they continued for some time in great\naffluence, owing, as they asserted, to their transmuting the baser\nmetals into gold. Kelly is said to have been sordid and grasping,\nwithout honour or principle. Lilly asserts that the reason of many\nfailures in the conferences with spirits was because Kelly was very\nvicious, \"unto whom the angels were not obedient, or willingly did\ndeclare [answers to] the questions propounded.\" Dee and Kelly quarrelled\nand separated in Bohemia; Dee returning to England, while Kelly remained\nat Prague. He died in 1595. In 1595 the Queen appointed Dee warden of\nManchester College, he being then sixty-eight years of age. He resided\nat Manchester nine years, quitting it in 1604 for his old abode at\nMortlake, where he died in 1608, aged eighty-one, in great poverty, and\nleaving a numerous family and a great many printed works and forty\nunpublished writings behind him. The catalogue of Dee's library at\nMortlake shows that it was rich in the works of preceding astrologers\nand alchemists, especially those of Roger Bacon, Raymond Lully, Albertus\nMagnus, Arnold de Villa Nova, &c.\n\nJohn Booker, a celebrated astrologer of the seventeenth century, was the\nson of John Bowker (commonly pronounced Booker), of Manchester, and was\nborn 23rd March, 1601. He was educated at the Manchester Grammar School,\nwhere he acquired some acquaintance with Latin. From childhood he showed\nan inclination for astrology, and amused himself with studying almanacks\nand other books on that subject. After serving some time to a\nhaberdasher in London, he practised as a writing-master at Hadley,\nMiddlesex; and was subsequently clerk for some time to the aldermen at\nGuildhall. Becoming famous by his studies, he was appointed Licenser of\nMathematical Publications, which then included all those relating to the\n\"celestial sciences.\" Lilly tells us that he once thought him the\ngreatest astrologer in the world; but he afterwards came to think\nhimself a much greater man. George Wharton, who had been one of his\nastrological acquaintances, quarrelled with him, and in consequence\npublished at Oxford in 1644, in answer to one of Booker's pamphlets,\nwhat he called \"Mercurio-C\u0153lica-Mastyx; or an Anti-caveat to all such\nas have heretofore had the misfortune to be cheated and deluded by the\ngreat and treacherous impostor, John Booker; in an answer to his\nfrivolous pamphlet, entitled 'Mercurius-C\u0153licus, or a Caveat to all\nthe People of England.'\" Booker died of dysentery in April, 1667, and\nwas buried in St. James's Church, Duke's Place, London, where the\nfollowing monument was erected to him by Ashmole, who was one of his\ngreatest admirers:--\"Ne oblivione conteretur Urna Johannis Bookeri,\nAstrologi, qui Fatis cessit 6 idus Aprilis, A.D. 1667. Hoc illi posuit\namoris Monumentum, Elias Ashmole, Armiger.\" Lilly, in his _Life and\nTimes_, gives the following character of Booker:--\n\n\"He was a great proficient in astrology, whose excellent verses upon\nthe twelve months, framed according to the configurations of each month,\nbeing blest with success according to his predictions, procured him much\nreputation all over England. He was a very honest man; abhorred any\ndeceit in the art he studied; had a curious fancy in judging of thefts;\nand was successful in resolving love questions. He was no mean\nproficient in astronomy; understood much of physic; was a great admirer\nof the antimonial cup; not unlearned in chemistry, which he loved, but\ndid not practise; and since his decease I have seen a nativity of his\nperformance, exactly directed, and judged with as much learning as from\nastrology can be expected. His library of books came short of the\nworld's approbation, and were sold by his widow to Elias Ashmole, Esq.,\nwho most generously gave far more than they were worth.\"\n\nLilly and Booker were frequently consulted during the differences\nbetween the king and the parliamentary army, and were once invited by\nGeneral Fairfax, and sent in a coach-and-four to head quarters at\nWindsor, to give their opinions on [_i.e._, their predictions as to] the\nprosecution of the war. Booker became famous for a prediction on the\nsolar eclipse of 1613, in which year both the king of Bohemia and\nGustavus, king of Sweden, died. Booker's works (chiefly tracts or\npamphlets) were about fifteen or sixteen in number. The only work now\nworth notice is his _Bloody Irish Almanack_ (London, 1646, quarto),\nwhich contains some memorable particulars relative to the war in\nIreland.[27]\n\nAnother Lancashire astrologer was Charles Leadbetter, who was born at\nCronton, near Prescot, and was the author of a _Treatise on Eclipses of\nthe Sun and Moon, commencing A.D. 1715, and ending A.D. 1749_; in which\nhe gives the horoscope of every eclipse of importance; and, from the\naspects of the stars, predicts the principal occurrences that may be\nexpected within limited periods. He failed, however, to predict the\nRebellion of 1715, or that of 1745; and though under the years 1720 and\n1721 he predicated \"Sea Fights and Death of Fish,\" no hint of the \"South\nSea Bubble,\" the great event of those years, can be found amongst his\nprophecies. He entertained no doubt of an \"eclipse of the moon, moving\nsubjects to seduction [? sedition], servants to disobedience, and wives\nto a disorder against their husbands.\" Yet Leadbetter's Works on\nAstronomy, &c., were held in able repute, and he taught the \"Arts and\nSciences Mathematical\" with much success, \"at the Hand and Pen, Cock\nLane, near Shore Ditch, London.\"\n\nIf we close here our notices of Lancashire Astrologers, it is not\nbecause we suppose the class to be wholly extinct. But those to whom we\nhave so far referred, were well acquainted with astronomy, and erred\nonly in superadding the delusions of astrology to the truths of that\nreal science. The class still remaining in Lancashire, chiefly in\ncountry districts, are (with very few exceptions) greatly inferior in\nknowledge, and, mixing up the arts of the so-called sorcerer or conjuror\nwith the deductions of the so-called \"astral science\" (of which they are\nblundering smatterers, often ignorant of the very elements of\nastronomy), they do not merit the name of astrologers, but should be\nclassed with the numerous \"wise men,\" \"cunning women,\" and other\nvarieties of fortune-tellers, who have not even the negative merit of\nbeing self-deluded by the phenomena of a supposed science; but are in\ntheir way mere charlatans and cheats, knowingly cozening their credulous\ndupes of as much money as they can extort. Some notices of this class\nwill be found in later pages.\n\n\nBELLS.\n\nIt is not with Bells generally, but only with Church Bells, and not with\nall their uses, but only such of them as are superstitious, that we are\ncalled upon to deal here. The large church bells are said to have been\ninvented by Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, in Campania (whence the low Latin\nname of Campana), about A.D. 400. Two hundred years afterwards they\nappear to have been in great use in churches. Pope John XIII., in A.D.\n968, consecrated a very large newly-cast bell in the Lateran Church at\nRome, giving it the name of John. This is the first instance known of\nwhat has since been called \"the baptising of bells,\" a Roman Catholic\nsuperstition of which vestiges remain in England in the names of great\nbells, as \"Tom of Lincoln,\" \"Great Tom of Oxford,\" &c. The priests\nanciently rung them themselves. Amongst their superstitious uses, were\nto drive away lightning and thunder; to chase evil spirits from persons\nand places; to expedite childbirth, when women were in labour; and the\noriginal use of the soul-bell or passing-bell was to drive away any\ndemon that might seek to take possession of the soul of the deceased.\nGrose says that the passing-bell was anciently rung for two purposes:\none, to bespeak the prayers of all good Christians for a soul just\ndeparting; the other, to drive away the evil spirits who stood at the\nbed's foot and about the house, ready to seize their prey, or at least\nto molest and terrify the soul in its passage. By the ringing of the\nbell they were kept aloof, and the soul, like a hunted hare, gained the\nstart, or had what sportsmen call \"law.\" Hence the high charge for\ntolling the great bell of the church, which, being louder, the evil\nspirits must go further off to be clear of its sound, by which the poor\nsoul got so much the more start of them; besides, being heard further\noff, it would likewise procure the dying man a greater number of\nprayers. Till about 1830, it was customary at Roman Catholic funerals in\nmany parts of Lancashire, to ring a merry peal on the bells, as soon as\nthe interment was over. Doubtless the greater the clang of the bells,\nthe further the flight of the fiends waiting to seize the soul of the\ndeparted. There are some monkish rhymes in Latin on the uses of church\nbells, some of which are retained in the following doggerel:--\n\n    Men's deaths I tell               By doleful knell;\n    Lightning and thunder             I break asunder;\n    On Sabbath all                    To church I call;\n    The sleepy head                   I raise from bed;\n    The winds so fierce               I do disperse;\n    Men's cruel rage                  I do assuage.\n\nThe following verses (the spelling modernized) further illustrate the\nsubject:[28]--\n\n    \"If that the thunder chance to roar, and stormy tempest shake,\n    A wonder is it for to see the wretches how they quake;\n    How that no faith at all they have, nor trust in any thing,\n    The clerk doth all the bells forthwith at once in steeple ring;\n    With wondrous sound and deeper far than he was wont before,\n    Till in the lofty heavens dark the thunders bray no more.\n    For in these christen'd bells they think doth lie much pow'r and might\n    As able is the tempest great and storm to vanquish quite.\n\n    I saw myself at Nurnberg once, a town in Toring coast,\n    A bell that with this title bold herself did proudly boast:\n    By name I 'Mary' called am, with sound I put to flight\n    The thunder-cracks and hurtful storms, and every wicked sprite.\n    Such things when as these bells can do, no wonder certainly\n    It is, if that the papists to their tolling always fly,\n    When hail, or any raging storm, or tempest comes in sight,\n    Or thunderbolts, or lightning fierce, that every place doth smite.\"\n\nWynkin de Worde[29] tells us that bells are rung during thunder-storms,\nto the end that the fiends and wicked spirits should be abashed, and\nflee, and cease the moving of the tempest.[30] Bells appear to have had\nan inherent power against evil spirits, but this power was held to be\ngreatly increased by the bells being christened. There is a custom in\nsome Lancashire parishes, in ringing the passing-bell, to conclude its\ntolling with nine knells or strokes of the clapper, for a man, six for a\nwoman, and three for a child; the vestiges of an ancient Roman Catholic\ninjunction.[31] In an Old English Homily for Trinity Sunday,[32] it is\nstated that \"the form of the Trinity was found in man; that was, Adam\nour forefather, on earth, one person, and Eve of Adam, the second\nperson; and of them both was the third person. At the death of a man\nthree bells should be rung, as his knell, in worship of the Trinity, and\nfor a woman, who was the second person of the Trinity, two bells should\nbe rung.\" Two couplets on the passing-bell may be inserted here:--\n\n    \"When the bell begins to toll,\n    Lord have mercy on the soul!\n\n    When thou dost hear a toll or knell\n    Then think upon _thy_ passing-bell.\"[33]\n\nThe great bell which used to be rung on Shrove-Tuesday to call the\npeople together for the purpose of confessing their sins, or to be\n\"shriven,\" was called the \"Pancake Bell,\" and some have regarded it\nsimply as a signal for the people to begin frying their pancakes. This\ncustom prevails still in some parts of Lancashire, and in many country\nplaces throughout the North of England. Another bell, rung in some\nplaces as the congregation quits the church on Sunday, is popularly\nknown among country people as the \"pudding-bell,\" they supposing that\nits use is to warn those at home to get the dinner ready, as, in homely\nphrase, \"pudding-time has come.\" A Lancashire clergyman[34] states that\nthis bell is still rung in some of the old Lancashire parish churches;\nbut he does not suggest any more probable reason for tolling this bell.\nThe Curfew Bell [_couvre feu_, cover-fire] is commonly believed to be of\nNorman origin; a law having been made by William the Conqueror that all\npeople should put out their fires and lights at the eight o'clock\n(evening) bell, and go to bed. In one place the sexton of a parish was\nrequired to lie in the church steeple, and at eight o'clock every night\nto ring the curfew for a quarter of an hour. The curfew-bell is still\nrung at Burnley, Colne, Blackburn, Padiham, and indeed in most of the\nolder towns and many of the villages of Lancashire. It has nearly lost\nits ancient name, and is a remarkable instance of the persistence of an\nold custom or usage, long after all its significance or value has\nceased. It is now merely called \"the eight o'clock bell.\" A morning\nbell, rung anciently at four, now more commonly at six o'clock, is also\nto be heard in Burnley and other places, and is called \"the six o'clock\nbell.\" Of what maybe called \"the vocal ghosts of bells\" many stories\nmight be told. Opposite the Cross-slack, on the sands near Blackpool,\nout at sea, once stood the church and cemetery of Kilgrimol, long since\nsubmerged. Many tales are told of benighted wanderers near this spot\nbeing terrified with the sound of bells pealing dismal chimes o'er the\nmurmuring sea.[35]\n\n\nBEAL-TINE OR BELTANE FIRES; RELICS OF BAAL WORSHIP.\n\nAmong the dim traces of an extinct worship of Bel, or Baal, the ancient\nsun-god, perceptible still among Celtic peoples, especially in Ireland\nand Scotland, are the three festival periods when fires are kindled on\neminences in honour of the sun. The _Bel_, or _Belus_, the chief deity\nof the Babylonians and the Assyrians, seems to have been identical with\nthe _Baal_ of the Ph\u0153nicians and Carthaginians. The Chaldee _Bel_ and\nthe Hebrew _Baal_ alike mean \"Lord;\" and under these names worship was\npaid by the old Asiatics to the sun, whose light and heat-giving\nproperties were typified by fires kindled on the tops of high hills. In\nparts of Lancashire, especially in the Fylde, these traces of a heathen\ncult still linger. \"From the great heaps of stones on eminences, called\nCairns, from the Toot-hills (_i.e._, the hills dedicated to the worship\nof the Celtic god, Tot, or Teut, or Teutates, the same with the Egyptian\nThoth), and the Belenian eminences, whereon was worshipped Bel, or\nBelus, or Belenus, the sun-god; from these three kinds of heights the\ngrand sacred fires of the _Bel-Tine_ flamed thrice a year, at three of\nthe great festivals of the Druids, in honour of Beal, or the Sun--viz.,\non the eve of May-day, on Midsummer Eve, and on the eve of the 1st\nNovember. Two such fires were kindled by one another on May-day Eve in\nevery village of the nation, as well throughout all Gaul as in Britain,\nIreland, and the outlying lesser islands, between which fires the men\nand the beasts to be sacrificed were to pass; from whence came the\nproverb, 'Between Bel's two fires,' meaning one in a great strait, not\nknowing how to extricate himself. One of the fires was on the cairn, and\nthe other on the ground. On the eve of the 1st of November all the\npeople, out of a religious persuasion instilled into them by the Druids,\nextinguished their fires. Then every master of a family was religiously\nobliged to take home a portion of the consecrated fire, and to kindle\nthe fire anew in his house, which for the ensuing year was to be lucky\nand prosperous. Any man who had not paid all his last year's dues to the\nDruids was neither to have a spark of this holy fire from the cairns,\nnor dared any of his neighbours let him take the benefit of theirs,\nunder pain of excommunication; which, as managed by the Druids, was\nworse than death. If, therefore, he would live the winter out, he must\npay the Druids' dues by the last day of October. The Midsummer fires and\nsacrifices were to obtain a blessing on the fruits of the earth, now\nbecoming ready for gathering; as those on the 1st of May, that they\nmight prosperously grow; and those on the last of October were a\nthanksgiving for finishing their harvest. But in all of them regard was\nhad to the several degrees of increase and decrease in the heat of the\nsun. At the cairn fires it was customary for the lord of the place, or\nhis son, or some other person of distinction, to take the entrails of\nthe sacrificed animal into his hands, and walking bare-foot over the\ncoals thrice, after the flames had ceased, to carry them to the Druid,\nwho waited in a whole skin at the altar. If the fire-treader escaped\nharmless, it was reckoned a good omen, and welcomed with loud\nacclamations; but if he received any hurt, it was deemed unlucky both to\nthe community and to himself.\"[36] In Ireland, May-day is called _la na\nBeal tina_, and its eve, _neen na Beal tina_--_i.e._, the day and eve of\nBeal's fire, from its having been in heathen times consecrated to the\ngod Beal, or Belus. The ceremony practised on May-day Eve, of making the\ncows leap over lighted straw or faggots, has been generally traced to\nthe worship of this deity.[37]\n\nThe Irish have ever been worshippers of fire and of Baal, and are so to\nthis day. The chief festival in honour of the sun and fire is upon the\n21st [24th] June, when the sun arrives at the summer solstice, or rather\nbegins its retrograde motion. \"At the house where I was entertained, in\nthe summer of 1782, it was told me that we should see at midnight the\nmost singular sight in Ireland, which was _the lighting of fires in\nhonour of the sun_. Accordingly, exactly at midnight, the fires began to\nappear; and, going up to the leads of the house, which had a\nwidely-extended view, I saw, on a radius of thirty miles all around, the\nfires burning on every eminence. I learned from undoubted authority that\nthe people danced round the fires, and at the close went through these\nfires, and made their sons and daughters, together with their cattle,\npass the fire; and the whole was conducted with religious\nsolemnity.\"[38] Bonfires are still made on Midsummer Eve in the northern\nparts of England and in Wales. The 1st of November was considered among\nthe ancient Welsh as the conclusion of summer, and was celebrated with\nbonfires, accompanied with ceremonies suitable to these events, and some\nparts of Wales still retain these customs. Dr. Jamieson, in his\n_Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, mentions a festival called\n_Beltane_ or _Beltein_, annually held in Scotland on Old May Day (May\n13th). A town in Perthshire is called _Tillee Beltein_--_i.e._, the\neminence or high place of the fire of Baal. Near it are two Druidical\nTemples of upright stones, with a well adjacent to one of them, still\nheld in great veneration for its sanctity. The doctor describes the\ndrawing of bits of a cake, one part of which is made perfectly black\nwith charcoal, and he who draws the black bit is considered as \"devoted\nto Baal, and is obliged to leap three times through the flame.\" Pennant,\nin his _Tour in Scotland_, gives a like account, with other ceremonies.\nThe custom existed in the Isle of Man on the eve of the 1st of May, of\nlighting _two_ fires on a hill-top, in honour of the pagan god Baal, and\nof driving cattle between those fires, as an antidote against murrain or\nany pestilent distemper for the year following. It was also customary to\nlight these fires on St. John's Eve (June 23rd), and up to the present\ntime a stranger is surprised to see on this day, as evening approaches,\nfires springing up in all directions around him, accompanied with the\nblowing of horns and other rejoicings.[39] Macpherson notices the\n_Beltein_ ceremonies in Ireland, and adds, \"Beltein is also observed in\nLancashire.\" On Horwich Moor are two heaps of stones, or cairns, which\nare called by the country people \"The Wilder Lads.\" It is believed that\non May Day Eve the Druids made prodigious fires on cairns, situated as\nthese are, on lofty eminences, which being every one in sight of some\nother like fire, symbolized a universal celebration. These fires were in\nhonour of _Beal_, or _Bealan_, latinized into _Belenus_, by which name\nthe Gauls and their colonies denoted the sun; and to this time the\nfirst day of May is by the Irish called _La Bealtine_, or the Day of\nBelen's Fire. It bears a like name among the Highlanders of Scotland,\nand in the Isle of Man.[40]\n\nThe last evening in October was called the \"Teanlay Night,\" or \"The Fast\nof All Souls.\" At the close of that day, till of late years, the hills\nwhich encircle the Fylde shone brightly with many a bonfire; the mosses\nof Marton, &c., rivalling them with their fires, kindled for the avowed\nobject of succouring their friends, whose souls were supposed to be\ndetained in purgatory. A field near Poulton in which the mummery of the\n\"Teanlay\" was once celebrated (a circle of men standing with bundles of\nstraw, raised on high with forks), is named \"Purgatory\" by the old\ninhabitants. Formerly this custom was not confined to one village or\ntown of the Fylde district, but was generally practised as a sacred\nceremony.[41]\n\n\nBOGGARTS, GHOSTS, AND HAUNTED PLACES.\n\nWhat is a Boggart? A sort of ghost or sprite. But what is the meaning of\nthe word Boggart? Brand says that \"in the northern parts of England,\nghost is pronounced _gheist_ and _guest_. Hence _bar-guest_, or\n_bar-gheist_. Many streets are haunted by a guest, who assumes many\nstrange appearances, as a mastiff-dog, &c. It is a corruption of the\nAnglo-Saxon _gast_, spiritus, anima.\" Brand might have added that _bar_\nis a term for gate in the north, and that all the gates of York are\nnamed \"bars,\" so that a _bar-gheist_ is literally a gate-ghost; and many\nare the tales of strange appearances suddenly seen perched on the top of\na gate or fence, whence they sometimes leaped upon the shoulders of the\nscared passenger. Drake, in his _Eboracum_, says (Appendix, p. 7), \"I\nhave been so frightened with stories of the _barguest_ when I was a\nchild, that I cannot help throwing away an etymology upon it. I suppose\nit comes from Anglo-Saxon _burh_, a town, and _gast_, a ghost, and so\nsignifies a town sprite. N.B.--_Guest_ is in the Belgic and Teutonic\nsoftened into _gheist_ and _geyst_.\" The \"Boggart Hole\" therefore means\nthe hollow haunted by the bar-gheist or gate-ghost.\n\n\nBOGGART HOLE CLOUGH.\n\n\"Not far from the little snug, smoky village of Blakeley or Blackley,\nthere lies one of the most romantic of dells, rejoicing in a state of\nsingular seclusion, and in the oddest of Lancashire names, to wit, the\n'Boggart Hole.' [In the present generation, by pleonasm, the place is\nnamed 'Boggart Hole Clough.'] Rich in every requisite for picturesque\nbeauty and poetical association, it is impossible for me (who am neither\na painter nor a poet) to describe this dell as it should be described;\nand I will, therefore, only beg of thee, gentle reader, who,\nperadventure, mayst not have lingered in this classical neighbourhood,\nto fancy a deep, deep, dell, its steep sides fringed down with hazel,\nand beech, and fern, and thick undergrowth, and clothed at the bottom\nwith the richest and greenest sward in the world. You descend, clinging\nto the trees, and scrambling as best you may, and now you stand on\nhaunted ground! Tread softly, for this is the Boggart's Clough, and see,\nin yonder dark corner, and beneath the projecting mossy stone, where\nthat dusky sullen cave yawns before us, like a bit of Salvator's best,\nthere lurks that strange elf, the sly and mischievous Boggart. Bounce! I\nsee him coming; oh no, it was only a hare bounding from her form; there\nit goes--there!\"--Such is the introduction to a tale of a boggart, told\nby Crofton Croker, in Roby's _Traditions of Lancashire_; but which, if\nmemory serve us faithfully, is but a localized version of a story told\nof an Irish sprite, and also of a Scotch brownie; for in all three tales\nwhen the farmer and his family are \"flitting\" in order to get away from\nthe nocturnal disturbance, the sprite pops up his head from the cart,\nexclaiming, \"Ay, neighbour, we're flitting!\" Tradition, which has\npreserved the name of the clough selected by the Lancashire boggart for\nhis domicile, has failed to record any particular pranks of this\nindividual elf, and we can only notice this charming little clough, as\nconveying by its popular name the only remaining vestige of its lost\ntraditions. Perhaps the best story of this clough is that graphically\ntold by Bamford[42] of three friends seeking by a charm (consisting in\ngathering three grains of St. John's fern seed there), to win for one of\nthem the love of a damsel who was indifferent to him.\n\n\nBOGGARTS OR GHOSTS IN OLD HALLS.\n\nThere is scarcely an old house, or hall, of any antiquity in Lancashire,\nthat cannot boast of that proud distinction over the houses of\nyesterday, a ghost or boggart. _Radcliffe Tower_ was haunted by a black\ndog; perhaps in commemoration of the Fair Ellen of Radcliffe, who, by\norder of her stepmother, was murdered by the master cook, and cut up\nsmall, and of her flesh a venison pasty made for her father's dinner!\n\n_Smithells Hall_, near Bolton, was formerly haunted by the ghost of the\nmartyr George Marsh, whose stamped footstep indenting a flagstone, is\nstill shown there.\n\n_Ince Hall_ stands about a mile from Wigan, on the left-hand of the high\nroad to Bolton. It is a very conspicuous object, its ancient and\nwell-preserved front--one of those black and white half-timbered fa\u00e7ades\nnow almost confined to the two counties palatine of Lancashire and\nCheshire--generally attracting the notice and inquiry of travellers.\nAbout a mile to the south-east stands another place of the same name,\nonce belonging to the Gerards of Bryn. The manor is now the property of\nCharles Walmsley, Esq., of Westwood, near Wigan. The two mansions _Ince\nHall_ and _Ince Manor House_, are sometimes confounded together in\ntopographical inquiries; and it is not now certain to which of them\nproperly belongs a tradition about a forged will and a ghost, on which\nMr. Roby has founded a very graphic story, in his _Traditions of\nLancashire_. There are the Boggart of _Clegg Hall_, near Rochdale; the\n_Clayton Hall_ Boggart, Droylsden; the _Clock House_ Boggart, in the\nsame neighbourhood; the _Thackergate_ Boggart, near Alderdale; and many\nothers: indeed they are too numerous for us to attempt a full\nenumeration. Mr. Higson observes[43] that few sombre or out-of-the-way\nplaces, retired nooks and corners, or sequestered by-paths, escaped the\nreputation of being haunted. Many domiciles had their presiding boggart,\nand _feeorin'_ [fairies] swarmed at every turn of the dark old lanes,\nand arch-boggarts held revel at every \"three-road-end.\" After dusk, each\nrustle of the leaves, or sigh of the night wind through the branches, to\nthe timid wayfarer heralded the instant and unceremonious appearance of\nold wizards and witches, \"Nut Nans,\" and \"Clapcans,\" or the terrific\nexploits of headless trunks, alias \"men beawt yeds,\" or other\ntraditionary \"sperrits,\" hobgoblins, and sprites, or the startling\nsemblances of black dogs, phantoms, and other indescribable apparitions.\nAqueous nymphs or _nixies_, yclept \"Grindylow,\" and \"Jenny Green Teeth,\"\nlurked at the bottom of pits, and with their long, sinewy arms dragged\nin and drowned children who ventured too near. On autumnal evenings, the\nflickering flame (carburetted hydrogen, spontaneously ignited) of the\n\"Corpse Candle,\" \"Will-o'-th'-Wisp,\" or \"Jack\" or \"Peg-a-Lantern\" (for\nthe sex was not clearly ascertained), performed his or her fantastic and\nimpossible jumps in the plashy meadows near Edge Lane, to the terror of\nmany a simple-minded rustic. Fairies, also, were believed to commit many\ndepredations; such as eating the children's porridge, nocturnally riding\nout the horses, loosing the cows in the shippon, or churning the milk\nwhilst \"calving,\" by the fireside, and stealing the butter; and hence,\nbehind many a door, as yet observable in Clayton, both of dwelling and\nshippon, was carefully nailed a worn horse-shoe, believed to be a potent\ncounter-charm or talisman against their freaks and fancies. There were\ncertain localities in the township of Droylsden notorious as the\nrendezvous or favourite promenades of boggarts and feeorin', which after\nnightfall few persons could muster pluck sufficient to linger in, or\neven pass by, for--\n\n    \"Grey superstition's whisper dread,\n    Debarr'd the spot to vulgar tread.\"\n\nManifestly pre-eminent was \"th' owd Green Lone,\" which \"Jem Hill, th'\nking o' Dreighlesdin,\" used to assert \"swaarmt wi' fairees, witches, un'\nboggerts, un' which nob'dy could mester bur hissel'.\" The boggart\nlocated at Thackergate, near Alderdale, has well-nigh scared many a\nsober person out of his senses. Herds of four-footed boggarts used to\nissue from a pit at East End, in form resembling \"great big dhogs, wi'\ngreat glarin' een, as big as tay-cups.\" The boggart at the\ncroft-tenter's lodge (South) Clock-house, as fancy dictated, stalked\nthrough the chamber and stripped the bedclothes off the sleepers; or,\nassuming gigantic proportions and snow-white vestments, perched in the\nsolemn yew-tree, a startling object by contrast. At last, being\nexorcised by an array of divines, it was _laid_ for a time, beneath its\nfavourite tree. A field-path from Fairfield to Ashton Hill-lane was\nnightly traversed by a being of another world, mostly representing a\nshadowy lady, draped according to whim, either in a loose white robe, or\nin rustling black silk. For a certain distance she glided in advance of\nthe pedestrian, and then, by suddenly vanishing, most likely left his\nhair standing on end. At one of the Greenside farms a murder was said to\nhave been committed in the shippon; and the exact spot was supposed to\nbe indicated by the impossibility of securely fastening a cow in one\nparticular boose; for, however carefully its occupant was chained\novernight, next morning she was sure to be found at large, and once was\nactually discovered on the shippon balks. Thither, it was believed, the\ncow had been carried by supernatural agency; but, be that as it may, it\nwas necessary to lower her cautiously down, with the aid of ropes and\nblocks. At a cottage adjoining, a boggart varied its amusements by\ndrumming on the old oaken chest, still preserved; or, growing\nemboldened, shook the hangings of the bed, or rustled amongst the\nclothes; the alarmed occupants sometimes in despair rolling up the\ncoverlet, and unavailingly whirling it at their invisible tormentor. At\na neighbouring farm-house, amongst other vagaries, the boggart would\nsnatch up the infant, whilst asleep between its parents, and, without\nawakening them, would harmlessly deposit it on the hearthstone,\ndownstairs. \"Clayton Ho'\" [Hall] was of course honoured with a boggart,\nwhich at dead of night diversified its pranks by snatching the clothes\nfrom the beds, trailing heavy iron weights on the floors, or rattling\nponderous chains through the crazy apartments. These pranks becoming\ninsufferable, the help of a clergyman from the parish church was\nobtained; and fortunately, with the aid of counter-spells and\nincantations, he succeeded in _laying_ the spirit for ever, declaring\nthat,\n\n    \"Whilst ivy climbs and holly is green,\n    Clayton Hall Boggart shall no more be seen.\"\n\nEven yet one room in the mansion is named \"the Bloody Chamber,\" from\nsome supposed stains of human gore on the oaken floor planks; which,\nhowever, in reality are only natural red tinges of the wood, denoting\nthe presence of iron. Even since the formation of the new road, J.\nW----, the last of the ancient race of boggart-seers in the township,\nused to combat with feeorin' between East End and Droylsden toll-gate;\nbut as he died a few years ago without bequeathing his gift, he\n(happily) carried with him his mantle to the grave. At a period just\nwithin memory, oft, after sunset, has the weary and tardy pedestrian\nquickened his speed on approaching some lonely place, by remembering how\nits tutelar spirit or Boggart could assume at will the shape of a\nrabbit, dog, bear, or still more fearful form. On its appearance, of\ncourse, the wayfarer fled in affright, and from fear and unwonted\nexertion, often reached home utterly exhausted. Next day the story would\nbe widely circulated through the thinly populated district, detailing at\nlength (and of course gathering minuteness and improvement in its\ntransmission), how \"Owd Yethurt o' Grunsho,\" or \"Lung Tum woife,\" \"th'\nneet afore wur welly ta'en by a great black Boggart, wi' great lung\nhurms, un' a whiskin' tail, un' yure as black as soot, un' rowlin' e'en\nas big as saucers.\" The decadence of all these old superstitions is to\nbe attributed to a variety of causes. Straight, well-paved roads;\nincreased intellectual activity in useful channels, informing the minds\nof one locality with the ideas of another, the publication of scientific\nworks; and lastly, according to one aged unbeliever, the introduction of\n\"Owd Ned [the steam-engine], un' lung chimblies; fact'ry folk havin'\nsummat else t'mind nur wanderin' ghosts un' rollickin' sperrits.\" The\nsame authority archly declared as a clincher, \"There's no Boggarts neaw,\nun' iv ther' were, folk han grown so wacken, they'd soon catch 'em.\"[44]\n\n\nHOUSE BOGGARTS, OR LABOURING GOBLINS.\n\nThese humbler classes of boggarts are by turns both useful and\ntroublesome to the farmers of the district where they choose to reside.\nSyke Lumb Farm, near Blackburn, is reputed to be still visited by one\nof these anomalous beings, and many of his mad pranks are still talked\nof and believed in the neighbourhood. When in a good humour, this noted\ngoblin will milk the cows, pull the hay, fodder the cattle, harness the\nhorses, load the carts, and stack the crops. When irritated by the\nutterance of some unguarded expression or mark of disrespect, either\nfrom the farmer or his servants, the cream-mugs are smashed to atoms; no\nbutter can be obtained by churning; the horses and other cattle are\nturned loose or driven into the woods; two cows will sometimes be found\nfastened in the same stall; no hay can be pulled from the mow; and all\nthe while the wicked imp sits grinning with delight upon one of the\ncross-beams in the barn. At other times the horses are unable to draw\nthe empty carts across the farm-yard; if loaded, they are upset; whilst\nthe cattle tremble with fear, not at any visible cause. Nor do the\ninmates of the house experience any better or gentler usage. During the\nnight the clothes are said to be violently torn from off the beds of the\noffending parties, whilst invisible hands drag these individuals down\nthe stone stairs by the legs, one step at a time, after a more\nuncomfortable manner than we need describe. Hothershall Hall, near\nRibchester, was formerly the scene of similar exploits; but the goblin\nis understood to have been \"laid\" under the roots of a large laurel tree\nat the end of the house, and will not be able to molest the family so\nlong as the tree exists. It is a common opinion in that part of the\ncountry that the roots have to be moistened with milk on certain\noccasions, in order to prolong its existence, and also to preserve the\npower of the spell under which the goblin is laid. None but the Roman\nCatholic priesthood are supposed to have the power of \"laying an evil\nspirit,\" and hence they have always the honour to be cited in our local\nlegends. Sometimes, too, they have the credit of outwitting the goblins;\nand many an old farm residence has the reputation of having thus been\nfreed from these imps of darkness till they can spin a rope from the\nsands of the Ribble. The mansion at Towneley does not escape the\nimputation of having its \"_Boggart_,\" although its visits are now\nlimited to once in seven years, when its thirst for vengeance has to be\nsatisfied by the untimely death of one of the residents at the Hall. A\nSir John Towneley is supposed to have injured the poor of the district,\nnearly four hundred years ago, by \"laying-in\" a considerable portion of\ncommon to his park, and, as a punishment for this offence, his soul is\nsaid to haunt the scenes of his oppression. The peasantry still aver\n\"that the old knight's spirit, being unable to rest, wanders about the\nmansion, and may be heard over the very parts taken in, crying, in most\npiteous tones--\n\n    \"Be warned! Lay out! Be warned! Lay out!\n    Around Hore-law and Hollin-hey clough:\n    To her children give back the widow's cot,\n    For you and yours there is still enough.\"[45]\n\nThe popular story of \"The Boggart Flitting\" is common to both Lancashire\nand Yorkshire; and indeed to most of the nations in the North of Europe.\n\nOf boggarts the Rev. William Thornber observes,[46] that there were\nseveral different kinds, having their haunts in that part of the Fylde\nnear Blackpool; as, for instance, the wandering ghost of the homicide or\nthe suicide; that of the steward of injustice, or that of the victim of\na cruel murder; again, the lubber-fiends, the horse-boggarts, and the\nhouse-boggarts, or industrious, yet mischievous imps, haunting\ndwellings. He names, \"The headless Boggart of White-gate Lane,\" as a\nsample of the first class. So was \"The Boggart of Staining Hall,\" near\nBlackpool, said to be the wandering ghost of a Scotchman who was\nmurdered there near a tree, which has since marked the deed by perfuming\nthe soil around with a sweet odour of thyme. Of another kind were those\nwhose appearance was the forerunner of death in some families. The\nWalmsleys, of Poulton-le-Fylde, he adds, were haunted by a boggart of\nthis description, always making its appearance with alarming noises\nbefore the decease of one of the family.\n\nOf the lubber-fiends, house-boggarts, or brownies, so strikingly\ndescribed by Milton,[47] Mr. Thornber mentions the ancient one of\nRayscar and Inskip, which at times kindly housed the grain, collected\nthe horses, and got them ready for the market; but at other times played\nthe most mischievous pranks. The famous \"Boggart of Hackensall Hall\"\nhad the appearance of a huge horse, which was very industrious if\ntreated with kindness. Every night it was indulged with a fire, before\nwhich it was frequently seen reclining; and when deprived of this\nindulgence by neglect, it expressed its anger by fearful outcries.\n\n\nHORNBY PARK MISTRESS AND MARGARET BRACKIN.\n\nThe following story is told and believed by some persons in Hornby. The\nPark Mistress may be supposed to be the ghost of Lady Harrington, who\ncommitted murder three hundred years ago. Margaret Brackin was born in\n1745, and died in 1795. The dialect is that of the locality:--\n\n    \"In days that oud folks tell on still,\n      Meg Brackin went up Windy Bank;\n    Shou lated kinlin' on the hill,\n      Till owr t' Lake Mountains t' sun it sank.\n\n    Nat lang at efter t' sun was set,\n      And shou hed fill'd her brat wi' sticks,\n    Shou sid aside at t' Park wood yett,\n      A woman stan'in mang the wicks.\n\n    T' leaves on t' trees, they owm'ered t' land,\n      And fadin' was the summer light,\n    When Marget sid that woman stand\n      Donn'd like a ghoost o' oor i' white.\n\n    Marget was fear'd, but spak and ex'd,\n      'Hey Missis! let me gang wi' ye,\n    I hope as that ye'll nut be vext,\n      But it is gitten dark and dree.'\n\n    T' Park Mistress e'en shin'd o' wi' leet;\n      Shou whyatly cam te Marget's side;\n    T' gerss didn't bend underneath her feet;\n      Shou seem'd in t' air te float and glide.\n\n    As soon's shou cam whare Marget stood,\n      Shou gript a tight houd on her hand;\n    Shou led her first intul t' Park wood,\n      Then back and forret o' owr t' land.\n\n    They kept na road, they kept na path,\n      They went thro' brackins, scrogs, and briar,\n    Marget shou soon was out of breath,\n      But t' lady didn't seem te tire.\n\n    They baath com down te Wenning's brink,\n      And Marget's throat was dry wi' dread,\n    But shou dursn't ex te stop and drink,\n      Saa forret still that woman led.\n\n    Owr shillar and rough staans they trod,\n      Intu t' Wenning, then out fra t' stream;\n    Surlie their walkin' wasn't snod,\n      T' way they travell'd was naan saa weam.\n\n    Marget lous'd t' strings of her brat,\n      And trail'd it gerss and bushes through,\n    Till deg'd and damp and wet it gat;\n      Then suck'd it out for t' cooling dew.\n\n    Fra Weaver's Ayr they went up t' wood,\n      Now gaain' straight and then aslant,\n    They niver stopt, they niver stood,\n      But raac'd up t' brow saa rough and brant.\n\n    Marget could niver gradely say\n      Where nesht wi' t' ghoost shou went that neet;\n    On Windy Bank, when it was day,\n      They fun' her liggin, spent wi' freet.\n\n    Marget hed been stout and throddy,\n      But t' walk she tuk that summer neet,\n    Left lile fatness on her body;\n      At efter shou was thin and leet.\"\n\n\nBOGGARTS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.\n\nHaving fallen into conversation with a working man on our road to Holme\nChapel, we asked him if people in those parts were now ever annoyed by\nbeings of another world. Affecting the _esprit fort_, he boldly\nanswered, \"Noa! the country's too full o' folk;\" while his whole manner,\nand especially his countenance, as plainly said \"Yes!\" A boy who stood\nnear was more honest. \"O, yes!\" he exclaimed, turning pale; \"the Boggart\nhas driven William Clarke out of his house; he flitted last Friday.\"\n\"Why,\" I asked; \"what did the Boggart do?\" \"O, he wouldn't let 'em\nsleep; he stripp'd off the clothes.\" \"Was that all?\" \"I canna' say,\"\nanswered the lad, in a tone which showed he was afraid to repeat all he\nhad heard; \"but they're gone, and the house is empty. You can go and see\nfor yoursel', if you loike. Will's a plasterer, and the house is in\nBurnley Wood, on Brown Hills.\"[48]\n\nEdwin Waugh, in his story of \"_The Grave of Grislehurst Boggart_,\"[49]\nsays, the most notable boggart of the hilly district towards Blackstone\nEdge, was the Clegg Ho' Boggart, still the theme of many a winter's tale\namong the people of the hills above Clegg Hall. The proverb, \"Aw 'm\nheere agen, like Clegg Ho' Boggart,\" is common there, and in all the\nsurrounding villages.... Boggarts appear, however, to have been more\nnumerous than they are now upon the country side, when working people\nwove what was called \"one lamb's wool\" in a day; but when it came to\npass that they had to weave \"three lambs' wools\" in a day, and the\ncotton trade arose, boggarts, and fairies, and feeorin' of all kinds,\nbegan to flee away from the clatter of shuttles. As to the Grislehurst\nBoggart, here is part of the story as told to Waugh, or by him:--\"Whau\nit isn't aboon a fortnit sin' th' farmer's wife at the end theer yerd\nseed summat i' th' dyhed time o' th' neet; an' hoo war welly thrut eawt\no' bed, too, besides--so then\" ... \"Th' pranks 'at it's played abeawt\nthis plaze at time an' time, 'ud flay ony wick soul to yer tell on ...\nunyawkin' th' byes, an' turnin' carts an' things o'er i' th' deep neet\ntime; an' shiftin' stuff up and deawn th' heawse when folk are i' bed;\nit's rayther flaysome yo may depend.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] See Thorpe's _Northern Mythology_, vol. i. pp. 118-231.\n\n[2] See Mallet's _Northern Antiquities_, Keightley's _Mythology of\nGreece and Rome_, and Kelly's _Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_.\n\n[3] Keightley's _Fairy Mythology_, pp. 2, 3.\n\n[4] Roby's _Traditions of Lancashire_, p. xiv.\n\n[5] It may be stated that this introductory essay is abridged from two\npapers read before the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, in\n1859 and 1860, which were written long before the writer saw any of the\nalmost identical general deductions and conclusions in Dr. Dasent's\nintroduction to his _Popular Tales from the Norse_.\n\n[6] This popular opinion appears to be very ancient and wide-spread; for\nit has been noticed by Moses as prevailing in Egypt.--Exodus xi. 5-7.\n\n[7] The use of the old style in effect, is not yet extinct in\nLancashire. The writer knows an old man, R. H., of Habergham, about 77\nyears of age, who always reckons the changes of the seasons in this\nmanner. He alleges the practice of his grandfather and father in support\nof his method; and states with much confidence that--\"Perliment didn't\nchange t' seeasuns wen thay chang'd t' day o't' munth.\"\n\n[8] _Conybeare_, p. 242.\n\n[9] Charnock's _Breviary of Natural Philosophy_ in Ashmole's _Theatrum\nChemicum_, p. 297.\n\n[10] _Companion to Almanac_ for 1837, p. 22.\n\n[11] Maier's _Symbola Ame\u00e6 Mens\u00e6_.\n\n[12] Thomson's _Annals of Philosophy_, n. s., vol. vi. p. 241.\n\n[13] Ben Jonson, in his play of the _Alchemist_, has the following\nlines:--\n\n    \"But when you see th' effects of the Great Medium,\n    Of which one part projected on a hundred\n    Of Mercury, or Venus, or the Moon,\n    Shall turn it to as many of the Sun;\n    Nay to a thousand, so ad infinitum,\n    You will believe me.\"\n\n[14] Godwin's _Lives of Necromancers_, Art. Dee. Dr. Dee's _Diary_\n(Camden Soc.) contains many references to his alchemical pursuits.--See\npp. 7, 22, 25, 27, 28, 37, and 63.\n\n[15] Brewster's _Life of Sir Isaac Newton_, vol. ii. p. 376.\n\n[16] Preface to _Bibl. Chem. Curiosa_, quoted by Thomson, p. 18. For a\nlist of Boyle's works connected with alchemy, see the _Philosophical\nEpitaphs_, by W. C.\n\n[17] _Pictorial History of England_, vol. ii. p. 207.\n\n[18] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[19] _F\u0153dera_, vol. ix. p. 379.\n\n[20] _Rot. Parl._, vol. v. p. 314_a_.\n\n[21] _Rot. Parl._, vol. v. p. 314_a_.\n\n[22] _Worthies_, &c., p. 122.\n\n[23] For a copy of this patent in the original Latin, see Baines's\n_Lancashire_, vol. i. p. 406.\n\n[24] Pennant's _London_.\n\n[25] _History of his Life and Times._\n\n[26] Lilly's _Life and Times_, p. 224.\n\n[27] Whatton's _Memoir_ in Baines's _Lancashire_, vol. ii. p. 367.\n\n[28] From Barnaby Googe's Translation of the _Regnum Papisticum_ (or\nPopish Kingdom) of Naogeorgus, fol. 41 _b_.\n\n[29] _Golden Legend._\n\n[30] Hone's _Every-Day Book_, p. 141.\n\n[31] See Durand's _Rationale_.\n\n[32] Strutt's _Manners and Customs_, vol. iii. p. 176.\n\n[33] Ray's _Collection of Old English Proverbs_.\n\n[34] P. P., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. ix. p. 569.\n\n[35] Thornber's _History of Blackpool_, p. 342.\n\n[36] Toland's _History of the Druids_.\n\n[37] Hone's _Every-Day Book_, vol. i. p. 594.\n\n[38] _Gentleman's Magazine_, February, 1795.\n\n[39] Mr. William Harrison's notes on Waldron's _Description of the Isle\nof Man_, p. 125.\n\n[40] Hampson's _Medii \u00c6vi Kalendarium_, vol. i. p. 252.\n\n[41] Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.\n\n[42] _Passages in the Life of a Radical_, vol. i. p. 130.\n\n[43] _History of Droylsden_, p. 67.\n\n[44] Mr. John Higson's _Notices of Droylsden_.\n\n[45] See _Pictorial History of Lancashire_, p. 189, and Whitaker's\n_History of Whalley_, p. 342.\n\n[46] _History of Blackpool_, p. 332.\n\n[47] In his _L'Allegro_, where he\n\n    \"Tells how the drudging goblin sweat\n    To earn the cream-bowl duly set,\n    When, in one night, ere glimpse of morn,\n    His shad'wy flail had thresh'd the corn,\n    That ten day-labours could not end;\n    Then lies him down the _lubber-fiend_,\n    And stretch'd out all the chimney's length,\n    Basks at the fire his hairy strength,\n    And, cropful, out of doors he flings,\n    Ere the first cock his matin rings.\"\n\n[48] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._\n\n[49] _Sketches of Lancashire Life_, p. 192.\n\n\n\n\nCHARMS AND SPELLS.\n\n\nThese may be placed in two classes--those directed against evil beings,\nwitchcraft, &c., and those which may be termed in their object curative\nof \"all the ills that flesh is heir to.\" First as to\n\n\nCHARMS AND SPELLS AGAINST EVIL BEINGS.\n\nThese are usually supplied for a consideration by the fortune-tellers,\nastrologers, or \"wise men\" of a neighbourhood. The following is a\ncorrect copy of one of these documents which was found over the door of\na house in the neighbourhood of Burnley. Its occupier had experienced\n\"ill luck,\" and he thus sought protection from all evil-doers:--\n\n\"Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Trine, Sextile,\nDragon's Head, Dragon's Tail, I charge you all to gard this hause from\nall evils spirits whatever, and gard it from all Desorders, and from\naney thing being taken wrangasly, and give this famaly good Ealth &\nWelth.\"\n\nAnother individual, well known to the writer, was so far convinced that\ncertain casualties that happened to his cattle arose from the practice\nof witchcraft, that he unconsciously resorted to Baal-worship, and\nconsumed a live calf in the fire, in order to counteract the influences\nof his unknown enemies. At the same time, almost every door about his\nhouse had its horse-shoe nailed to it as a charm, to protect all within\nit from demons and witches.\n\n\nA CHARM, WRITTEN IN CYPHER, AGAINST WITCHCRAFT AND EVIL SPIRITS.\n\nEarly in the nineteenth century, some men engaged in pulling down a\nbarn, or shippon, at West Bradford, about two miles north of Clitheroe,\nwere attracted by seeing a small square piece of wood fall from one of\nthe beams, and from it dropped a paper, folded as a small letter, but\nmeasuring, when opened, 7\u00bc by 6 inches. A sort of superscription was in\nlarge and unknown characters, and inside the paper was nearly covered\nwith a species of hieroglyphics, mixed with strange symbols; and in the\ntop left corner a table or square of thirty-six small squares, filled\nwith characters in red ink, the great bulk of the writing being in black\nink. The charm belongs to Jeremiah Garnett, Esq., of Roefield,\nClitheroe, and it was first deciphered by his brother, the late Rev.\nRichard Garnett, of the British Museum, in May, 1825. It is this\ngentleman's explanation, with a very few additions and corrections by\nthe present writer, the substance of which is now appended:--The table\nin the top corner is a sort of magic square, called by astrologers \"The\nTable of the Sun.\" It consists of six rows of six small squares each,\nand is so arranged that the sum of the figures in every row of six\nsquares, whether counted vertically, horizontally, or diagonally,\namounts to 111, and the sum total of the table to 666--a favourite\nmagical number, being that of \"the beast.\"[50] To mystify the thing as\nmuch as possible the numerals are expressed by letters, or rather by a\nsort of cypher, chiefly formed from the Greek alphabet. Thus 1 is\nrepresented by _a_; 2 = _e_; 3 = _i_; 4 = _o_; 5 = _u_; 6 = _l_; 7 =\n_m_; 8 = _n_; 9 = _r_; and 0 = _z_. In a tablet, or space at the top of\nthe paper, flanking this table, are five mystical characters, or\nsymbols, in red ink. The first consists of the symbols of the sun, and\nof the constellation Leo, which, in astrology, is \"the sun's own house,\"\nand where, of course, he is supposed to have the greatest power. A word\nin black-ink cyphers, under these symbols, is _Machen_, the cabalistic\nname of \"the third [or fourth] heaven;\" and the Archangel Michael being\nsupposed to preside over the sphere [and to be the \"Angel of the Lord's\nDay\"], his seal, or cypher, is introduced below these symbols--a series\nof joined lines and swirls, like some long word written in one of the\nolder English shorthands. [This figure will be found under \"The Lord's\nDay,\" in the Heptameron of one Peter de Abano.] In cyphers below, in\nblack ink, is written his name, \"Michael.\" The next cabalistic character\nrepresents \"the _Intelligence_ of the Sun,\" and over it, in cypher or\nGreek letters, is written \"intelligence.\" Under this is another\ncabalistic symbol, denoting the \"Spirit of the Sun,\" the word \"spirit\"\nbeing written within it. In astrology, every planet is supposed to have\ntwo beings, or spirits, attached to it, and called its Intelligence and\nits Spirit. The last figure (which contains in a sort of quartering the\nword _sigil_, seal) is \"the seal of the Sun\" himself, in astrological\nlanguage. All these symbols show that the charm was meant to be put in\noperation on a Sunday, that being the day of the Archangel Michael, as\nwell as of the sun. These symbols and table occupy the upper third of\nthe paper, the remaining two-thirds being filled with the words of the\ncharm itself, in fourteen lines, of a sort of cypher-writing, in which\nthe five vowels are represented by a sort of arbitrary character, as are\nmost of the consonants, g, l, m, n, and p, being written as Greek\nletters. The fourteen lines may be thus rendered in ordinary letters;\nand it may be supposed that whoever pronounces the incantation, makes\nthe sign of the cross wherever it is indicated in the writing:--\n\nLine 1. \"apanton [or awanton] + hora + camab. + naadgrass + pynavet\nayias + araptenas.\n\n2. \"+ quo + signasque + payns [or pagns ? pagus] + sut gosikl +\ntetragrammaton +\n\n3. \"inverma + amo + \u03b8 [apparently an abbreviation for _Theos_, God] +\ndominus + deus + hora + [here a hole in the paper has destroyed a word]\n+ fiat + fiat + fiat +\n\n4. \"ut dicitur decimo septimo capitulo Sancti Matth\u00e6i a vigesimo carmine\n\n5. \"fide demoveatis montes, fiat secundum fidem, si sit, vel fuerit\n\n6. \"ut cunque fascinum vel d\u00e6mon habitat vel perturbat hanc\n\n7. \"personam, vel hunc locum, vel hanc bestiam, adjuro te, ab\u00ecre\n\n8. \"Sine perturbatione, molestia, vel tumultu minime, nomine\n\n9. \"Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sanctu. Amen. Pater noster qui es\n\n10. \"in c\u0153lis, sanctificetur nomen tuum, veniat regnum tuum, fiat\nvoluntas\n\n11. \"tuo, sicut in c\u0153lo etiam in terra, panem nostrum quotidianum da\n\n12. \"nobis in diem, et remitte nobis peccata nostra, etenim ipsi\n\n13. \"remittimus omnibus qui nobis debent; et ne nos inducas in tentat-\n\n14. \"-ionem, sed libera nos a malo. Fiat.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt will be seen that the first three lines of this charm are a sort of\ngibberish, with an admixture of Greek and Latin words, constituting in\nitself a charm, supposed to be efficacious in expelling or restraining\nevil spirits. With the fourth line, then, we begin our translation.\n\n\"As it is said in the seventeenth chapter of St. Matthew, at the\ntwentieth verse, 'By faith ye may remove mountains: be it according to\n[my] faith,'[51] if there is, or ever shall be, witchcraft [or\nenchantment] or evil spirit, that haunts or troubles this person, or\nthis place, or this beast [or these cattle], I adjure thee to depart,\nwithout disturbance, molestation, or trouble in the least, in the name\nof the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.\" [Then\nfollows the Lord's Prayer in Latin, ending with the word \"Fiat\" (be it\ndone), instead of Amen.] These words are endorsed or written outside the\npaper in two lines:--\n\n    \"Agla + On [or En] Tetragrammaton.\"\n\nIn a charm cited in the _Heptameron, or Mercurial Elements_ of Peter de\nAbano, these are called \"the three secret names.\" The first two are\nnames given to the Deity by the Jewish cabalists. The third (which is\nalso the last word in the second line of the charm) is one also\nfrequently in use amongst Talmudists and Jewish writers, meaning\nliterally \"four-lettered,\" as descriptive of the sacred and\nunpronounceable name (\"Jehovah,\" written in Hebrew by four letters). The\nword is here endorsed, as if to authenticate the whole charm, and to\nshow that it is the production of an artist who understood his business;\nfor \"tetragrammaton,\" and \"fiat,\" are words of such potency, that a\ncharm without them would be of no efficacy whatever. The Rev. Richard\nGarnett adds to his account of this charm (in May, 1825):--\"I should\nthink that the document is of no great antiquity, probably not more than\nthirty or forty years old. It was doubtless manufactured by some country\n'wise man,' a regular dealer in such articles. There are, I believe,\nseveral persons within twenty miles of Blackburn, who still carry on a\ntrade of this sort.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[In the _Heptameron_, already quoted, is \"The Conjuration of the Lord's\nDay,\" which runs thus:--\"I conjure and confirm upon you, ye strong and\nholy angels of God ... [here follow various names of angels, including\nthose 'who rule in the fourth heaven'], and by the name of his star,\nwhich is _Sol_, and by his sign, and by the immense name of the living\nGod, and by all the names aforesaid--I conjure thee, Michael, O! great\nangel, who art chief ruler of the Lord's Day,\" &c.].\n\nAmongst other charms against evil may be named that of our ancestors,\nwho, when eating eggs, were careful to break the shells, lest the\nwitches should use them to their disadvantage. We do the same for a\nsimilar reason; it is accounted unlucky to leave them whole. They\navoided cutting their nails on a Friday, because bad luck would follow;\nbut we have improved upon their practice, and lay down the whole theory\nas follows:--\n\n    \"Cut your nails on a Monday, cut them for news;\n    Cut them on Tuesday, a new pair of shoes;\n    Cut them on Wednesday, cut them for health;\n    Cut them on Thursday, cut them for wealth;\n    Cut them on Friday, cut them for woe;\n    Cut them on Saturday, a journey you'll go;\n    Cut them on Sunday, you cut them for evil,\n    For all the next week you'll be ruled by the Devil.\"\n\nMost grandmothers will exclaim, \"God bless you!\" when they hear a child\nsneeze, and they sum up the philosophy of the subject with the following\nlines, which used to delight the writer in days of his childhood:--\n\n    \"Sneeze on a Monday, you sneeze for danger;\n    Sneeze on a Tuesday, you kiss a stranger;\n    Sneeze on a Wednesday, you sneeze for a letter;\n    Sneeze on a Thursday, for something better;\n    Sneeze on a Friday, you sneeze for sorrow;\n    Sneeze on a Saturday, your sweetheart to-morrow;\n    Sneeze on a Sunday, your safety seek,\n    The Devil will have you the whole of the week.\"\n\nThese lines may be taken either as charms or spells to produce the\neffect predicted; or as omens or warnings of the results to follow. In\nmost parts of Lancashire it is customary for children to repeat the\nfollowing invocation every evening on retiring to bed, after saying the\nLord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed:--\n\n    \"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,\n    Bless the bed that I lie on;\n    There are four corners to my bed,\n    And four angels overspread,\n    Two at the feet, two at the head.\n\n    If any ill thing me betide,\n    Beneath your wings my body hide.\n    Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,\n    Bless the bed that I lie on. Amen.\"[52]\n\nThe influence of the \"_evil eye_\" is felt as strongly in this county as\nin any other part of the world, and various means are resorted to in\norder to prevent its effects. \"Drawing blood above the mouth\" of the\nperson suspected is the favourite antidote in the neighbourhood of\nBurnley; and in the district of Craven, a few miles within the borders\nof Yorkshire, a person who was well disposed towards his neighbours is\nbelieved to have slain a pear-tree which grew opposite his house by\ndirecting towards it \"the first morning glances\" of his evil eye.[53]\nSpitting three times in the person's face; turning a live coal on the\nfire; and exclaiming, \"The Lord be with us,\" are other means of averting\nits influence.\n\nIn Lancashire our boys spit over their fingers in order to screw up\ntheir courage to the fighting point, or to give them luck in the battle.\nSometimes they do this as a sort of asseveration, to attest their\ninnocence of some petty crime laid to their charge. Travellers and\nrecruits still spit upon a stone and then throw it away, in order to\ninsure a prosperous journey. Hucksters, market-people, &c., always spit\nupon the first money they receive in the morning, in order to insure\nready sale and \"good luck\" during the day. \"Hansell (they say) is always\nlucky when well wet.\"\n\nThe ancients performed certain rites and ceremonies at the changes of\nthe moon; and hence that luminary has added some curious items to the\npopular creed. _Old Mother Bunch's Garland_ is an authority on these\nmatters, and amongst many other things it teaches expectant females who\ndesire to pry into futurity, to cross their hands on the appearance of\nthe new moon, and exclaim--\n\n    \"All hail! new Moon; all hail to thee!\n    I pray thee, good Moon, declare to me\n    This night who my true love shall be.\"\n\nWe have noticed, in the introductory chapter, various other minor charms\nand spells to avert evil, or \"bad luck,\" and to secure \"good luck\" or\nfortune for a coming period, usually a year.\n\n\nTHE CROW CHARM AND THE LADY-BIRD CHARM.\n\nThe following charms are repeated by children throughout Lancashire and\nYorkshire:--\n\n_Crow Charm._\n\n    \"Crow, crow, get out of my sight,\n    Or else I'll eat thy liver and lights.\"\n\n_Lady-Bird Charm._\n\n    \"Lady-bird, lady-bird, eigh [hie] thy way home,\n    Thy house is on fire, thy children all roam;\n    Except little Nan, who sits in her pan,\n    Weaving gold laces as fast as she can.\"\n\nI remember as a child sitting out of doors on an evening of a warm\nsummer or autumn day, and repeating the crow charm to flights of rooks,\nas they winged home to their rookery. The charm was chanted so long as a\ncrow remained in sight, their final disappearing being to my mind strong\nproof of the efficacy of the charm. The lady-bird charm is repeated to\nthe insect (the _Coccinella septempunctata_ of Linn\u00e6us), the common\nSeven-spotted Lady-bird, to be found in every field and garden during\nsummer. The lady-bird is placed upon the child's open hand, and the\ncharm is repeated until the insect takes to flight. The warmth and\nmoisture of the hand no doubt facilitate this, although the child fully\nbelieves in the moving power of the charm. The lady-bird is also known\nas _lady-cow_, _cow-lady_, and is sometimes addressed as\n\"_Cusha-cow-lady_.\"[54]\n\nOne of the present editors has often joined in the lady-bird charm, in\nthe East Riding of Yorkshire, where it ran--\n\n    \"Cusha-coo-lady, fly away home,\n    Thy house is a-fire and all thy bairns gone,\" &c.\n\n\nPIMPERNEL.\n\nAccording to a MS. on Magic, preserved in Chetham's Library, Manchester,\n\"the herb pimpernel is good to prevent witchcraft, as Mother Bumby doth\naffirm;\" and the following lines must be used when it is gathered:--\n\n    \"Herb pimpernel I have thee found\n    Growing upon Christ Jesus' ground;\n    The same gift the Lord Jesus gave unto thee,\n    When He shed his blood upon the tree.\n    Arise up, pimpernel, and go with me,\n    And God bless me,\n    And all that shall wear thee. Amen.\"\n\nSay this fifteen days together, twice a day; morning early fasting, and\nin the evening full.--(_MS. Ibid._)\n\n\nTHE MOUNTAIN ASH, OR WICKEN OR WIGGEN TREE.\n\nThe anti-witching properties of this tree are held in very high esteem\nin the northern counties of England. No witch will come near it; and it\nis believed that its smallest twig crossing the path of a witch, will\neffectually stop her career. To prevent the churn being bewitched, so\nthat the butter will not come, the churn-staff must be made of the\nwiggen-tree. So cattle must be protected from witchery by sprigs of\nwiggen over or in the shippons. All honest people wishing to have sound\nsleep must keep the witches from their beds by having a branch of wiggen\nat their bed-heads.[55]\n\nThe charms against the malevolence of witches and of evil beings were\nvery numerous. A horse-shoe nailed to the door protected the family\ndomicile; a _hag_-stone, penetrated with a hole, and attached to the key\nof the stable, preserved the horse within from being ridden by the\nwitch; and when hung up at the bed-head, was a safeguard to the master\nhimself. A hot heater, put into the churn, kept witches and evil beings\nfrom spoiling the cream or retarding the butter. The baking of dough was\nprotected by a cross, and so was the kneading-trough barred against\nfiendly visitation. Another class of charms was of those used by and\namongst the witches themselves.\n\nIn the \"Confession of James Device, prisoner at Lancaster,\" charged\nwith being a witch and practicing witchcraft, before \"William Sands,\nJames Anderton, and Thomas Cowell, Esqrs.,\" we have the following\n\"charm\" to get \"_drink_ within one hour after saying the said prayer:\"--\n\n    \"Upon Good Friday I will fast while I may,\n    Untill I heare them knell\n    Our Lord's own bell.\n    Lord in his messe\n    With his twelve Apostles good;--\n    What hath he in his hand?\n    Ligh in leath wand:\n    What hath he in his other hand?\n    Heaven's doore keys.\n    Steck, Steck Hell door,\n    Let Chrizun child\n    Goe to its mother mild.\n    What is yonder that casts a light so farrandly?\n    Mine own dear Sonne that's naild to the tree.\n    He is naild sore by the head and hand;\n    And Holy harne Panne.\n    Well is that man\n    That Friday spell can,\n    His child to learne:--\n    A cross of Blue and another of Red,\n    As Good Lord was to the Roode.\n    Gabriel laid him down to sleep\n    Upon the ground of Holy weepe:--\n    Good Lord came walking by,\n    Sleepest thou, wakest thou, Gabriel?\n    No, Lord, I am sted with stick and stake,\n    That I can neither sleepe nor wake.\n    Rise up, Gabriel, and go with me,\n    The stick nor the stake shall never deere thee.\n    Sweet Jesus. Our Lord. Amen.\"\n\nBut James Device's charm was not the only one brought to light in this\nmemorable trial;--the witches themselves were liable to be bewitched by\nothers of superior power, nor were their domestic preparations\naltogether free from the malevolent effects of an envious practitioner.\nIn these cases _counter charms_ were of frequent necessity, and none of\nthese seem to be of greater efficacy than the following one from the\n\"Examination of Anne Whittle, _alias_ Chattox [a celebrated Lancashire\nwitch], before Roger Nowell, Esq., of Read, April 2nd, 1612.\" \"A charm\nto help _drink_ that is forespoken or bewitched.\"\n\n    \"Three biters hast thou bitten.\n    The Heart, ill Eye, ill Tongue.\n    Three bitter shall be thy Boote,\n    Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghost:--a God's name.\n    Five Paternosters, five Avies and a Creede,\n    In worship of five woundes of our Lorde.\"\n\nThe Scotch appear to have held similar notions on these subjects with\nourselves, for in Sinclair's \"_Satan's Invisible World Discovered_\" we\nfind the following charm, \"To preserve the house and those in it from\ndanger at night:\"--\n\n    \"Who sains the house the night?\n    They that sains it ilk a night,\n    Saint Bryde and her brate;\n    Saint Colme and his hat;\n    Saint Michael and his spear;\n    Keep this house from the weir--\n    From running thiefe--\n    And burning thiefe--\n    And from and ill Rea:--\n    That be the gate can gae:--\n    And from an ill wight:--\n    That be the gate can light.\n    Nine reeds about the house;\n    Keep it all the night.\n    What is that what I see,\n    So red, so bright, beyond the sea?\n    'Tis he was pierced through the hands,\n    Through the feet, through the throat,\n    Through the tongue,\n    Through the liver and the lung.\n    Well is them that well may\n    Fast on Good Friday.\"\n\n\nCHARMS TO CURE SICKNESS, WOUNDS, CATTLE DISTEMPER, ETC.\n\nMany are the charms and spells which operate against disease or sickness\nin two ways--they either ward it off, if it threaten; or if too late for\nthat, they dispel its virulence, and effect a marvellous cure. No\nmedical man, we are told, will rub ointment on a wound with the\nforefinger of his right hand, because it is popularly accounted\nvenomous. A dead man's hand is said to have the power of curing wens and\nother excrescences of the neck. Three spiders, worn about the neck, will\nprevent the ague. A string with _nine_ knots tied upon it, placed about\nthe neck of a child, is reported to be an infallible remedy for the\nwhooping-cough. The same effect also follows from passing the child\n_nine_ times round the neck of a she-ass, according to the popular creed\nof the county. Formerly silver rings, made from the hinges of coffins,\nwere worn as charms for the cure of fits, or for the prevention of\ncramp, or even of rheumatism. The superstition continues, though the\nmetal is of necessity changed, few coffins having now hinges of silver.\nThe stranger in Lancashire can be nowhere, in town or country, amongst\nany considerable number of the humbler classes, without seeing on the\nfingers of women chiefly, but occasionally of men, what are called\ngalvanized rings, made of two hoops, one of zinc, the other of copper,\nsoldered together. Many wear a belt to charm away rheumatism; brimstone\ncarried about the person is regarded as a sure remedy against cramp; so\nalso is placing the shoes under the bed, the toes peeping outwards.\nThese are the modern charms or cure-alls against disease. Fried mice are\nyet given to children in some parts of Lancashire, to cure non-retention\nof urine during sleep.\n\n\nCHARMS FOR THE TOOTHACHE.\n\n\"The following,\" says the Rev. W. Thornber, of Blackpool, \"is a foolish\ncharm, yet much accredited amongst us [in the Fylde] for the\ntoothache:\"--\n\n    \"Peter sat weeping on a marble stone.\n    Jesus came near and said, 'What aileth thee, O Peter?'\n    He answer'd and said, 'My Lord and my God!'\n    He that can say this, and believeth it for my sake,\n    Never more shall have the toothache.\"\n\nOur \"wise men\" still sell the following charm for the cure of continued\ntoothache, but it must be worn inside the vest or stays, and over the\nleft breast:--\n\n\"Ass Sant Petter sat at the geats of Jerusalm our Blessed Lord and\nSevour Jesus Crist Pased by and Sead, What Eleth thee hee sead Lord my\nTeeth ecketh hee sead arise and folow mee and thy Teeth shall never Eake\nEney moor. Fiat + Fiat + Fiat.\"[56]\n\n\nVERVAIN, FOR WOUNDS, ETC.\n\nA magical MS. in Chetham's Library, Manchester, of the time of Queen\nElizabeth, supplies the following metrical prayer, to be said in\ngathering this herb:--\n\n    \"All-hele, thou holy herb, Vervin,\n      Growing on the ground;\n    In the Mount of Calvary\n      There wast thou found;\n    Thou helpest many a grief,\n      And stanchest many a wound.\n    In the name of sweet Jesus\n      I take thee from the ground.\n    O Lord, effect the same\n      That I do now go about.\"\n\nThe following lines, according to the same authority, were to be said\nwhen pulling it:--\n\n    \"In the name of God, on Mount Olivet\n      First I thee found;\n    In the name of Jesus\n      I pull thee from the ground.\"\n\n\nCHARMS TO STOP BLEEDING.\n\nIn an ancient 8vo. MS. volume, described by Dr. Whitaker, in his\n_History of Whalley_, entitled _Liber Loci Benedicti de Whalley_,\ncommencing with the translation of the convent from Stanlaw (in 1296)\nand ending about the year 1346, are the following monkish charms (in\nLatin) for stopping h\u00e6morrhage:--\n\n\"_For staunching bleeding from the Nostrils, or from Wounds, an approved\nremedy._--O God, be Thou merciful to this Thy servant N., nor allow to\nflow from his body more than one drop of blood. So may it please the Son\nof God. So his mother Mary. In the name of the Father, stop, O blood! In\nthe name of the Son, stop, O blood! In the name of the Holy Ghost, stop,\nO blood! In the name of the Holy Trinity.\n\n\"_To staunch Bleeding._--A soldier of old thrust a lance into the side\nof the Saviour: immediately there flowed thence blood and water,--the\nblood of Redemption, and the water of Baptism. In the name of the Father\n+ may the blood cease. In the name of the Son + may the blood remain. In\nthe name of the Holy Ghost + may no more blood flow from the mouth, the\nvein, or the nose.\"\n\nTo particular persons was attached the virtue of stopping bleeding by a\nword; and a woman of Marton, near Blackpool, whose maiden name was\nBamber, was so celebrated for her success, that she was sought for to\nstop h\u00e6morrhage throughout a district of twenty miles around.\n\n\nTOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.\n\nThe records of the Corporation of Preston contain two votes of money, to\nenable persons to go from Preston to be touched for the evil. Both are\nin the reign of James II. In 1682, the bailiffs were ordered to \"pay\nunto James Harrison, bricklayer, 10_s._ towards the carrying of his son\nto London, in order to the procuring of his Majesty's touch.\" And in\n1687, when James was at Chester, the council passed a vote that \"the\nbailiffs pay unto the persons undermentioned each of them 5_s._ towards\ntheir charge in going to Chester to get his Majesty's touch: Anne,\ndaughter of Abel Mope, ---- daughter of Richard Letmore.\"[57]\n\n\nCURES FOR WARTS.\n\nSteal a piece of meat from a butcher's stall or his basket, and, after\nhaving well rubbed the parts affected with the stolen morsel, bury it\nunder a gateway at four lane ends, or, in case of emergency, in any\nsecluded place. All this must be done so secretly as to escape\ndetection; and as the portion of meat decays, the warts will disappear.\nThis practice is very prevalent in Lancashire, and two of my female\nacquaintances having tried the remedy, stoutly maintain its\nefficacy.[58]\n\nThe following superstition prevails in the neighbourhood of Manchester:\nTake a piece of twine, making upon it as many knots as there are warts\nto be removed; touch each wart with the corresponding knot; then bury\nthe twine in a moist place, saying at the same time, \"There is none to\nredeem it besides thee.\" As the process of decay goes on [in the twine]\nthe warts gradually disappear.[59]\n\nA snail hung upon a thorn is another favourite spell against warts; as\nthe snail wastes away, so do the warts. Again, take a bag of stones,\nequal in number with the warts to be destroyed, and throw them over the\nleft shoulder; the warts soon quit the thrower. But whoever chances to\npick up one or more of these stones, takes with them as many of the\nwarts, which are thus transferred from the loser to the finder of the\nstones.\n\n\nCURE FOR HYDROCEPHALUS IN CATTLE.\n\nDr. Whitaker mentions what he designates as \"one practical superstition\"\nin the district about Pendle, and peculiar to that neighbourhood. \"The\nhydrocephalus (he says) is a disease incident to adolescent animals, and\nis supposed by the shepherds and herdsmen to be contagious; but in order\nto arrest the progress of the disease, whenever a young beast had died\nof this complaint, it was usual, and it has, I believe, been practised\nby farmers yet alive, to cut off the head and convey it for interment\ninto the nearest part of the adjoining county. Stiperden, a desert plain\nupon the border of Yorkshire, was the place of skulls.\" Whitaker thinks\nthe practice may have originated in some confused and fanciful analogy\nto the case of Azazel (Numbers xvi. 22), an analogy between the removal\nof sin and disease--that as the transgressions of the people were laid\nupon the head of the scape-goat, the diseases of the herd should be laid\nupon the head of the deceased animal.[60]\n\n\nCATTLE DISORDERS.--THE SHREW TREE IN CARNFORTH.\n\nOn an elevation in the township of Carnforth, in the parish of Warton,\ncalled Moothaw [? Moot Hall], the ancient Saxon courts were held. Near\nthis place stood the \"Shrew Tree\" mentioned by Lucas, which, according\nto rustic superstition, received so much virtue from plugging up a\nnumber of living shrews, or field-mice, in a cavity prepared for their\nreception in the tree, that a twig cut from it, when freely applied to\nthe backs of disordered cattle, would cure them of their maladies.[61]\n\n\nCHARMS FOR AGUE.\n\n\"Casting out the ague\" was but another name for \"casting out the devil,\"\nfor it was his possession of the sufferer that caused the body to shiver\nand shake. One man, of somewhat better education than his neighbours,\nacquired a reputation for thus removing the ague by exorcism, and was\nmuch resorted to for many years for relief.\n\n\nSTINGING OF NETTLES.\n\nThis was at once removed by the saying aloud of some charm in doggerel\nverse.\n\n\nJAUNDICE.\n\nPersons in the Fylde district suffering from this disorder were some\nyears ago cured at the rate of a shilling per head, by a person living\nat the Fold, who, by some charm or incantation, performed on the urine\nof the afflicted person, suspended in a bottle over the smoke of his\nfire, was believed to effect most wonderful cures.\n\n\nTO PROCURE SLEEP BY CHANGING THE DIRECTION OF THE BED.\n\nThere are two superstitions respecting restlessness. One is that it is\ncaused by the bed standing north and south, and that it will be cured if\nthe bedstead be so moved as to stand east and west. The other goes\nfurther, and says that to effect a perfect remedy, not only must the\nbedstead range east and west, but that the head must be towards the\neast. One informant stated that this was because the earth revolved from\nwest to east, or in an easterly course.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[50] Revelation xiii. 18.\n\n[51] This is not a literal quotation. The verse runs thus in the\nordinary version: \"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall\nsay to this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall\nremove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.\"\n\n[52] This is noticed by the Rev. W. Thornber in his _History of\nBlackpool_, p. 99; also in the _Oxford Essays_, 1858, p. 127; and the\nlate Rev. James Dugan, M.A., T.C.D., informed the writer that the Irish\nmidwives in Ulster use a very similar formula when visiting their\npatients. They first mark each corner of the house, on the outside, with\na cross, and previously to entering repeat the following words:--\n\n    \"There are four corners to her bed,\n    Four angels at her head:\n    Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,\n    God bless the bed that she lies on.\n    New Moon, new Moon, God bless me,\n    God bless this house and family.\"\n\n[53] See Carr's _Craven Glossary_, vol. i. p. 137.--\"Look, sir,\" said\nMr. Carr's informant, \"at that pear-tree, it wor some years back, sir, a\nmaast flourishin' tree. Ivvry mornin, as soon as he first oppans the\ndoor, that he may not cast his ee on onny yan passin' by, he fixes his\neen o' that pear-tree, and ye plainly see how it's deed away.\"\n\n[54] Mr. Robert Rawlinson in _Notes and Queries_, vol. iv. p. 55.\n\n[55] See Hone's _Table Book_, vol. i. p. 674.\n\n[56] Carr's _Glossary_, vol. ii. p. 264.\n\n[57] Wm. Dobson, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 287.\n\n[58] T. T. W., ibid., vol. ii. p. 68.\n\n[59] H., ibid.\n\n[60] _History of Whalley._\n\n[61] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEVIL, DEMONS, &c.\n\n\nTHE DEVIL.\n\nThe power of the devil, his personal appearance, and the possibility of\nbartering the soul for temporary gain, must still be numbered among the\narticles of our popular faith. Repeating the Lord's Prayer backwards is\nsaid to be the most effectual plan for \"raising the devil;\" but when\nthe terms of the bargain are not satisfactory, his exit can only be\nsecured by making the sign of the cross and calling on the name of\nChrist. In the neighbourhood of Blackburn a story prevails that two\nthreshers once succeeded in raising him through the barn floor; but on\ntheir becoming alarmed at their success, he was summarily dismissed by\nmeans of a vigorous thrashing on the head with the flails. His\npartiality for playing at cards has long been proverbial, both in\nLancashire and elsewhere. A near relative of the writer firmly believed\nthat the devil had once visited their company when they had prolonged\ntheir play into Sunday. How he joined them they never rightly knew, but\n(as in the Danish legend respecting a similar visit) his presence was\nfirst suspected in consequence of his extraordinary \"run of good luck;\"\nand a casual detection of his _cloven foot_ completed the dispersion of\nthe players. It is not always, however, that he obtains the advantage;\nfor he has more than once been outwitted by a crafty woman or a cunning\npriest. In the Lancashire tradition we find the poor tailor of Chatburn\nstipulating for _three_ wishes, and, on the advice of his wife,\nconsulting the \"holy father of Salley\" in his extremity. When the fatal\nday arrived, he freed himself from the bond by expressing as his last\nwish, that his tormentor \"were riding back to his quarters on a dun\nhorse, never to plague him more.\" The devil, it is said, gave a yell\nwhich was heard to Colne, on finding that he had lost his man. Mr. Roby\nin his _Traditions_, and the author of the _Pictorial History of\nLancashire_, give humorous engravings of this noted ride; and the sign\nof \"The Dule upo' Dun,\" over the door of the wayside inn, attests the\npopular belief in the local tradition. From these and many other\ninstances it is evident that we have derived many of these superstitions\nfrom the Saxon and Danish settlers in Northumbria. The essential parts\nof each are identical, and as regards these particular bargains, it may\nbe added as a curious circumstance, that in no case is the bond held to\nbe binding unless it be signed with the blood of the person\ncontracting.[62]\n\nOffering fowls to evil spirits appears to have been an ancient and\nwide-spread practice. It was common to sacrifice a cock to the devil.\nBurns, in his \"Address to the Deil,\" says--\"Some cock or cat your rage\nmust stop.\" Music and dancing are also associated in our popular\nsuperstitions with witches, evil spirits, and the devil. The devils, it\nis said, love music, but dread bells, and have a very delicate sense of\nsmells. In the _True and Faithful Relation of what passed between Dr.\nDee and some Spirits_, we learn that the devil appeared to the doctor\n\"as an angel in a white robe, holding a bloody cross in his right hand,\nthe same hand being also bloody,\" and in this guise he prayed, and\n\"anabaptistically bewailed the wickedness of the world.\"[63]\n\n\nRAISING THE DEVIL.\n\nThe boys at the Burnley Grammar-school are said to have succeeded on one\noccasion in raising the devil. They repeated the Lord's Prayer\nbackwards, and performed some incantations by which, as it is said,\nSatan was induced to make his appearance through a stone flag on the\nfloor of the school-house. After he had got his head and shoulders well\nout, the boys became alarmed, and began to hammer him down with the\npoker and tongs. With much ado they drove him back; but the _black mark_\nhe had left on the flag was shown in proof of his appearance until the\nschool-house was repaired, a few years ago, when the floor was boarded\nover, and the flagstone disappeared.\n\n\nTHE DEVIL & THE SCHOOLMASTER AT COCKERHAM.\n\nIt is said that the arch Spirit of Evil once took up his abode in\nCockerham, and so scared and disturbed the inhabitants of that quiet\nplace, that at length in public meeting, to consider how to free\nthemselves from this fiendish persecution, they appointed the\nschoolmaster, as the wisest and cleverest man in the place, to do his\nbest to drive the devil away. Using the prescribed incantation at\nmidnight, the pedagogue succeeded in raising Satan; but when he saw his\nlarge horns and tail, saucer eyes, and long claws, he became almost\nspeechless. According to the recognised procedure in such cases, the\ndevil granted him the privilege of setting three tasks, which if he\n(Satan) accomplished, the schoolmaster became his prey; if he failed, it\nwould compel the flight of the demon from Cockerham. The first task, to\ncount the number of dewdrops on certain hedges, was soon accomplished;\nand so was the second, to count the number of stalks in a field of\ngrain. The third task was then proposed in the following words,\naccording to a doggerel version of the tradition:--\n\n    \"Now make me, dear sir, a rope of yon sand,\n    Which will bear washing in Cocker, and not lose a strand.\"\n\nSpeedily the rope was twisted of fine sand, but it would not stand\nwashing; so the devil was foiled, and at one stride he stepped over the\nbridge over Broadfleet, at Pilling Moss. The metrical version of the\nlegend is scarcely worth printing.\n\n\nOLD NICK.\n\nAccording to Scandinavian mythology, the supreme god Odin assumes the\nname of Nick, Neck, Nikkar, Nikur, or Hnikar, when he acts as the evil\nor destructive principle. In the character of Nikur, or Hnikudur, a\nProtean water-sprite, he inhabits the lakes and rivers of Scandinavia,\nwhere he raises sudden storms and tempests, and leads mankind into\ndestruction. Nick, or Nickar, being an object of dread to the\nScandinavians, propitiatory worship was offered to him; and hence it has\nbeen imagined that the Scandinavian spirit of the waters became, in the\nmiddle ages, St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, who invoke his aid in\nstorms and tempests. This supposition (which has a degree of probability\nalmost amounting to certainty) receives countenance from the great\ndevotion still felt by the Gothic nations towards St. Nicholas, to whom\nmany churches on the sea-shore are dedicated. The church of St.\nNicholas, in this situation at Liverpool, was consecrated in 1361; and,\nsays Mr. Baines,[64] \"in the vicinity there formerly stood a statue of\nSt. Nicholas; and when the faith in the intercession of saints was more\noperative than at present, the mariners were wont to present a\npeace-offering for a prosperous voyage on their going out to sea, and a\nwave-offering on their return; but the saint, having lost his votaries,\nhas long since disappeared.\" The Danish Vikings called the Scandinavian\nsea-god _Hold Nickar_, which in time degenerated into the ludicrous\nexpression, \"Old Nick.\"[65]\n\nAnother writer on this subject says:--We derive the familiar epithet of\n\"_Old Nick_\" from the Norwegian N\u00f6k, the Norse Nikr, or the Swedish\nNeck; and no further proof of their identity is required than a\ncomparison between the attributes possessed in common by all these\nsupernatural beings. The _N\u00f6k_ is said to require a human sacrifice once\na year, and some one is therefore annually missing in the vicinity of\nthe pond or river where this sprite has taken up its abode. The males\nare said to be very partial to young maidens, whom they seize and drag\nunder the water; whilst those of the opposite sex are quite as\nattractive and dangerous to the young fishermen who frequent the rivers.\nThe German _Nixes_ possess the same attributes. Both sexes have large\ngreen teeth; and the male wears a green hat, which is frequently\nmistaken by his victims for a tuft of beautiful vegetation. He is said\nto kill without mercy whenever he drags a person down; and a fountain of\nblood, which shoots up from the surface of the water, announces the\ncompletion of the deed. A perfect identification of this with our own\npopular belief is now easy. Nothing is more common at present than for\nchildren who reside in the country to be cautioned against venturing too\nnear the water's brink, lest \"_Green Teeth_\" or \"_Bloody Bones_\" should\npull them in. \"_Old Nick_\" is said to lurk under the shady willows which\noverhang the deep water; and the bubbles of gas which may be observed\nescaping from the bottoms of quiet pools are attributed to the movements\nof the water-sprites which lurk beneath.\n\n\nDEMONOLOGY.\n\nA recent writer in _Blackwood's Magazine_ asks if Demonology \"was not a\nvague spirit-worship, the ancient religion of the bulk of mankind?\"\n\"This Demonology\" (he continues) \"may be said to have been imported into\nChristianity in its early days. It was the universal belief of the Pagan\nworld, and not easily to be eradicated; as the early Church accepted\nthings pretty much as it found them, and turned them to account;\nteaching that these objects of heathen awe and reverence were fallen\nangels, whose power for evil had been permitted to exist uncontrolled\ntill the advent of our Saviour. The early Roman Church elaborately\nimitated, if it did not exceed, the Greeks and Romans in their\ndemonology. Every class of men had their guardians, who practically\nrepresented the _Dii minores_ or _minorum gentium_; the hills and dales\nand woods had their patrons, the successors of the Orcades, Nap\u00e6\u00e6, and\nthe Dryades; every kind of disease, from the toothache to the gout, had\nits special healer, and even birds and beasts their spiritual\nprotectors.\" No one who has paid the most passing attention to the\nfolk-lore of this country can have failed to note amongst us, even yet,\nthe remnants of this curious superstition. In 1531, John Cousell, of\nCambridge, and John Clarke, of Oxford, two learned clerks, applied for\nand obtained from Henry VIII. a formal license to practise sorcery, and\nto build churches, a quaint combination of evil and antidote. They\nprofessed power to summon \"the sprytes of the ayre,\" and to make use of\nthem generally, and particularly in the discovery of treasure and stolen\nproperty. Their seventh petition is to build churches, bridges, and\nchapels, and to have cognizance of all sciences. One of their petitions\nrefers to a certain \"noyntment\" to see the sprytes, and to speak with\nthem dayly. Strange that Henry VIII. should have granted this license,\nseeing that a statute was passed in his reign, making \"witchcraft and\nsorcery felony, without benefit of clergy.\"[66] Bishop Jewell, preaching\nbefore Queen Anne, on the marvellous increase of witches and sorcerers,\nafter describing how the victims pined away, even unto death, loyally\nconcluded his sermon thus, \"I pray God they never practise further than\nupon the subject.\" The following charm or spell against St. Vitus's\nDance was, and very likely is still, in use in Devonshire. It was\nwritten on parchment, and carried about by an old woman so afflicted:--\n\n    \"Shake her, good Devil,\n    Shake her once well;\n    Then shake her no more,\n    Till you shake her in hell.\"\n\nSome of our laws against sorcery remained unrepealed a little more than\nforty years ago. The Irish law against sorcery was only repealed in\n1831. So late as August, 1863, an old man of eighty was flung into a\nmill-stream in the parish of Little Hedingham, being what is called\n\"swimming for a wizard,\" and he died of his maltreatment. One curious\nbook on Demonology is entitled \"An Account of Demoniacs, and the power\nof casting out Demons, both in the New Testament, and the four first\nCenturies,\" by William Whiston, M.A. (London, 1737, 8vo). He observes\nthat \"The symptoms of these demoniacal distresses were very different\nfrom the symptoms of other diseases, and even included wild raving,\nirregular convulsions of the body, unnatural contortions of the limbs,\nor dismal malady of the mind, and came upon the unhappy patients by\nterrible fits of paroxysms, to the amazement of the spectators, and the\nhorrible affection of the possessed, and included the sorest illness and\nmadness in the world.\" The same symptoms revived in the extraordinary\nepidemic called the _hystero-demonopathy_, which visited Morzine, in\nSavoy, in 1857. The persons afflicted were violently and unnaturally\nconvulsed; now rushed phrenetically into the woods, or to the river, now\nwere subject to fits of coma; were insensible to pain; believed\nthemselves to be haunted by evil spirits; were violent, but in their\nviolence injured no one; and exhibited generally symptoms not observed\nin any known disorder.[67] The people of Morzine believed themselves\npossessed by spirits of dead persons, a peculiarity which appears to\nhave occurred in many cases during the prevalence of the epidemic.\n\n\nDEMON AND GOBLIN SUPERSTITIONS.\n\nAmong the more prominent of the demon superstitions prevalent in\nLancashire, we may instance that of the _Spectre Huntsman_, which\noccupies so conspicuous a place in the folk-lore of Germany and the\nNorth. This superstition is still extant in the Gorge of Cliviger, where\nhe is believed to hunt a milk-white doe round the Eagle's Crag in the\nVale of Todmorden, on All-Hallows' Eve. His hounds are said to fly\nyelping through the air on many other occasions, and under the local\nname of \"_Gabriel Ratchets_,\" are supposed to predict death or\nmisfortune to all who hear the sounds.[68] The \"_Lubber Fiend_,\" or\nstupid demon, still stretches his hairy length across the hearth-stones\nof the farm-houses in the same district, and the feats of the \"_Goblin\nBuilders_\" form a portion of the popular literature of almost every\nlocality. They are said to have removed the foundations of Rochdale\nChurch from the banks of the river Roach, up to their present elevated\nposition. Samlesbury Church, near Preston, possesses a similar\ntradition. The \"_Demon Pig_\" not only determined the site of St.\nOswald's Church, at Warwick, but gave a name to the parish. The\nparochial church at Burnley, it is said, was originally intended to be\nbuilt on the site occupied by the old Saxon Cross in Godly Lane; but,\nhowever much the masons might have built during the day, both the stones\nand the scaffolding were invariably found where the church now stands,\non their coming to work next morning. The local legend states that on\nthis occasion, also, the goblins took the form of _pigs_, and a rude\nsculpture of such an animal, on the south side of the steeple, lends its\naid to confirm and perpetuate the story.\n\nOur peasantry retain the notion so prevalent in North Germany, that the\n_Night-mare_ is a demon, which sometimes takes the form of a cat or a\ndog, and they seek to counteract its influence by placing their shoes\nunder the bed with the toes outwards, on retiring to rest.\n\nThe _Water Sprites_, believed in by our ancestors in the north of\nEngland, still form a portion of the folk-lore of Lancashire and\nYorkshire. There is scarcely a stream of any magnitude in either county\nwhich does not possess a presiding spirit in some part of its course.\nThe stepping-stones at Bungerley, near Clitheroe, are said to be haunted\nby a malevolent sprite, who assumes almost as many shapes as Proteus of\nold. He is not known by any particular designation, nor are there any\ntraditions to account for his first appearance; but at least _one_ life\nin every _seven_ years is required to appease the anger of the spirit\nof the Ribble at this place. It was at these stepping-stones that King\nHenry VI. was treacherously betrayed by a Talbot of Bashall and others;\nwhence may have arisen a tradition of a malevolent spirit at that place.\n\nOur local literature possesses Roby's traditions of \"The _Mermaid_ of\nMartin Mere,\" which has given permanence to the popular notions\nrespecting mermen and mermaids. The _Schrat_, or _Schritel_, of the\nGerman nations, is identical with the more ancient _Skrat_ of the\nScandinavians. He is noted for making game of persons who are out late\nat night. Occasionally he places himself on a cart, or other vehicle,\nwhich then becomes so heavy that the horses are unable to move the load.\nThey begin to tremble and perspire, as if sensible of the presence of\nsomething diabolical; but after a short time \"_Old Scrat_\" slips off\nbehind, and disappears with a malicious laugh. In Lancashire we are no\nstrangers to Old Scrat and his doings. With many the name is merely a\nsynonyme for that of the devil; but our city carters are able to mark\nthe distinction, and have besides a goodly store of anecdotes respecting\nthe heavy loads which their horses have sometimes been compelled to\ndraw, when nothing could be seen except the empty cart. One of them\nassured me that on such occasions his horses reared, and became almost\nfrantic; their manes stood erect; and he himself could see the wicked\nimp actually dancing with delight between their ears. Another very\nrespectable person affirms that, not many years ago, as a funeral was\nproceeding to church, the coffin became so heavy that it could not be\ncarried. On this being made known to a clergyman, who was present, he\noffered up a short prayer, and commanded Old Scrat to take his own. This\nwas no sooner done than the excessive weight was felt no more, and the\ncorpse was carried forward to the place of interment. Similar\nsuperstitions prevail in the more northern cities with but slight\nvariations; and hence sufficiently indicate their common origin. The\n_Barguest_, or _Barn-ghaist_ of the Teutons, is also reported to be a\nfrequent visitor in Lancashire. The appearance of this sprite is\nconsidered as a certain death-sign, and has obtained the local names of\n\"_Trash_\" and \"_Skriker_.\" He generally appears to one of the family\nfrom whom Death is about to select his victim, and is more or less\nvisible, according to the distance of the event. I have met with persons\nto whom the barguest [bar-ghaist, _i.e._, gate-ghost] has assumed the\nform of a white cow, or a horse; but on most occasions \"Trash\" is\ndescribed as having the appearance of a very large dog, with very broad\nfeet, shaggy hair, drooping ears, and eyes \"as large as saucers.\" When\nwalking, his feet make a loud splashing noise, like old shoes in a miry\nroad, and hence the name of \"Trash.\" The appellation \"_Skriker_\" has\nreference to the screams uttered by the sprite, which are frequently\nheard when the animal is invisible. When followed by any individual he\nbegins to walk backwards with his eyes fixed full on his pursuer, and\nvanishes on the slightest momentary inattention. Occasionally he plunges\ninto a pool of water, and at times he sinks at the feet of the persons\nto whom he appears with a loud splashing noise, as if a heavy stone were\nthrown into the miry road. Some are reported to have attempted to strike\nhim with any weapon they had at hand, but there was no substance to\nreceive the blows, although the Skriker kept his ground. He is said to\nfrequent the neighbourhood of Burnley at present, and is mostly seen in\nGodly Lane, and about the parish church. But he by no means confines his\nvisits to the churchyard, as similar sprites are said to do in other\nparts of England and Wales.[69]\n\n\nDISPOSSESSING A DEMONIAC.\n\nRichard Rothwell, a native of Bolton-le-Moors, born about 1563, a\nminister of the Gospel, ordained by Dr. Whitgift, Archbishop of\nCanterbury, who was called by his biographer, the Rev. Stanley Gower,\nminister of Dorchester--\"_Orbis terrarum Anglicarum oculus_\" (the eye of\nour English world), is said to have dispossessed one John Fox, near\nNottingham, of a devil; with whom he had a discourse, by way of question\nand answer, a good while. Such dialogues are said to be frequent amongst\nthe Popish exorcists, but being rare amongst Protestants, is the more to\nbe observed, and not disbelieved, because vouched by so good a man. Mr.\nRothwell died at Mansfield, Notts, in 1627, aged sixty-four.[70]\n\n[There is a long account of this contest with the devil in Rothwell's\n_Life_, by Gower, pp. 178-183. After the devil had been driven out of\nhim, John Fox was dumb for three years, but afterwards had speech\nrestored to him, and wrote a book about the temptations the devil\nhaunted him with.]\n\n\nDEMONIACAL POSSESSION IN 1594.\n\nTowards the close of the sixteenth century, seven persons in Lancashire\nwere alleged to be \"possessed by evil spirits.\" According to the\nnarrative of the Rev. John Darrell, himself a principal actor in the\nscene, there lived in 1594 at Cleworth (now called Clayworth), in the\nparish of Leigh, one Nicholas Starkie, who had only two children, John\nand Ann; the former ten and the latter nine years of age. These\nchildren, according to Mr. Darrell, became possessed with an evil\nspirit; and John Hartlay, a reputed conjuror, was applied to, at the end\nof from two to three months, to give them relief, which he effected by\nvarious charms, and the use of a magical circle with four crosses, drawn\nnear Mr. Starkie's seat, at Huntroyd, in the parish of Whalley. Hartlay\nwas conjuror enough to discover the difference between Mr. Starkie's\ntable and his own, and he contrived to fix himself as a constant inmate\nin his benefactor's family for two or three years. Being considered so\nessential to their peace, he advanced in his demands, till Mr. Starkie\ndemurred, and a separation took place; but not till five other persons,\nthree of them the female wards of Mr. Starkie, and two other females,\nhad become \"possessed,\" through the agency of Hartlay, \"and it was\njudged in the house that whomsoever he kissed, on them he breathed the\ndevil.\" According to the narrative, all the seven demoniacs sent forth a\nstrange and supernatural voice of loud shouting. In this extremity Dr.\nDee, the Warden of Manchester College, was applied to, to exorcise the\nevil spirits; but he refused to interfere, advising that they should\ncall in some godly preachers, with whom he would, if they thought\nproper, consult concerning a public or private fast; at the same time he\nsharply reproved Hartlay for his fraudulent practices. Some remission of\nviolence followed, but the evil spirits soon returned, and Mr.\nStarkie's house became a perfect bedlam. John Starkie, the son, was \"as\nfierce as a madman, or a mad dog;\" his sister Anne was little better;\nMargaret Hardman, a gay, sprightly girl, was also troubled, and aspired\nafter all the splendid attire of fashionable life, calling for one gay\nthing after another, and repeatedly telling her \"lad,\" as she called her\nunseen familiar, that she would be finer than him. Ellinor, her younger\nsister, and Ellen Holland, another of Mr. Starkie's wards, were also\n\"troubled;\" and Margaret Byrom, of Salford, a woman of thirty-three, who\nwas on a visit at Cleworth, became giddy, and partook of the general\nmalady. The young ladies fell down, as if dead, while they were dancing\nand singing, and \"playing the minstrel,\" and talked at such a rate that\nnobody could be heard but themselves. The preachers being called in,\naccording to the advice of Dr. Dee, they inquired how the demoniacs were\nhandled. The \"possessed\" replied that an angel, like a dove, came from\nGod, and said that they must follow him to heaven, which way soever he\nwould lead them. Margaret Hardman then ran under a bed, and began to\nmake a hole, as she said, that her \"lad\" (or familiar) might get through\nthe wall to her; and, amongst other of her feats, she would have leaped\nout of the window. The others were equally extravagant in their\nproceedings, but when they had the use of their feet, the use of their\ntongues was taken away. The girls were so sagacious that they foretold\nwhen their fits would come on. When they were about any game or sport,\nthey seemed quite happy; but any godly exercise was a trouble to them.\nMargaret Byrom was grievously troubled. She thought in her fits that\nsomething rolled in her inside like a calf, and lay ever on her left\nside; and when it rose up towards her heart, she thought the head and\nnose thereof had been full of nails, wherewith being pricked, she was\ncompelled to shriek aloud, with very pain and fear; sometimes she barked\nand howled, and at others she so much quaked that her teeth chattered in\nher head. At the sight of Hartlay she fell down speechless, and saw a\ngreat black dog, with a monstrous tail and a long chain, running at her\nopen-mouthed. Six times within six weeks the spirit would not suffer her\nto eat or drink, and afterwards her senses were taken away, and she was\nas stiff as iron. Two nights before the day of her examination against\nHartlay, who was committed to Lancaster Castle, the devil appeared to\nher in his likeness, and told her to speak the truth! On the 16th of\nMarch, Maister George More, pastor of Cawlke, in Derbyshire, and Maister\nJohn Darrell, afterwards preacher at St. Mary's, in Nottingham, came to\nCleworth, when they saw the girls grievously tormented. Jane Ashton, the\nservant of Mr. Starkie, howled in a supernatural manner--Hartlay had\ngiven her kisses, and promised her marriage. The ministers having got\nall the seven into one chamber, gave them spiritual advice; but, on the\nBible being brought up to them, three or four of them began to scoff,\nand called it--\"Bib-le, Bab-le; Bible, Bable.\" The next morning they\nwere got into a large parlour, and laid on couches, when Maister More\nand Maister Dickens, a preacher (and their pastor), along with Maister\nDarrell and thirty other persons, spent the day with them in prayer and\nfasting, and hearing the word of God. All the parties afflicted remained\nin their fits the whole of the day. Towards evening every one of them,\nwith voice and hands lifted up, cried to God for mercy, and He was\npleased to hear them, so that six of them were shortly dispossessed, and\nJane Ashton in the course of the next day experienced the same\ndeliverance. At the moment of dispossession, some of them were miserably\nrent, and the blood gushed out both at the nose and mouth. Margaret\nByrom said that she felt the spirit come up her throat, when it gave her\n\"a sore lug\" at the time of quitting her, and went out of the window\nwith a flash of fire, she only seeing it. John Starkie said his spirit\nleft him, in appearance like a man with a hunch on his back, very\nill-favoured; Ellinor Hardman's was like an urchin; Margaret Byrom's\nlike an ugly black man, with shoulders higher than his head. Two or\nthree days afterwards the unclean spirits returned, and would have\nre-entered had they not been resisted. When they could not succeed\neither by bribes or entreaties, they threw some of them [the\ndispossessed] violently down, and deprived others of the use of their\nlegs and other members; but the victory was finally obtained by the\npreachers, and all the devils banished from Mr. Starkie's household.\nMeanwhile Hartlay the conjuror, who seems to have been a designing\nknave, after undergoing an examination before two magistrates, was\ncommitted to Lancaster Castle, where, on the evidence of Mr. Starkie and\nhis family, he was convicted of witchcraft, and sentenced to death,\nprincipally, as it is stated, for drawing the magic circle, which seems\nto have been the least part of his offence, though the most obnoxious to\nthe law. In this trial _spectral evidence_ was adduced against the\nprisoner, and the experiment was tried of saying the Lord's Prayer. When\nit no longer served his purpose he endeavoured to divest himself of the\ncharacter of a conjuror, and declared that he was not guilty of the\ncrime for which he was doomed to suffer; the law, however, was\ninexorable, and he was brought to execution. On the scaffold he\npersisted in declaring his innocence, but to no purpose; the executioner\ndid his duty, and the criminal was suspended. While hanging, the rope\nbroke, when Hartlay confessed his guilt; being again tied up, he died,\nthe victim of his own craft, and of the infatuation of the age in which\nhe lived. On the appearance of Mr. Darrell's book, the _Narrative_ of\nthese remarkable events, a long controversy arose on the doctrine of\nDemonology, and it was charged upon him by the Rev. Samuel Harsnet,\nafterwards Bishop of Chichester and Norwich, and Archbishop of York,\nthat he made a trade of casting out devils, and that he instructed the\n\"possessed\" how to conduct themselves, in order to aid him in carrying\non the imposition. Mr. Darrell was afterwards examined by the Queen's\nCommissioners; and by the full agreement of the whole court, he was\ncondemned as a counterfeit, deposed from the ministry, and committed to\nclose confinement, there to remain for further punishment. The clergy,\nin order to prevent the scandal brought upon the Church by false\npretensions to the power of dispossessing demons, soon afterwards\nintroduced a new canon into the ecclesiastical law, in these\nterms:--\"That no minister or ministers, without license and direction of\nthe bishop, under his hand and seal obtained, attempt, upon any pretence\nwhatever, either of possession or obsession, by fasting and prayer, to\ncast out any devil or devils, under pain of the imputation of imposture,\nor cozenage, and deposition from the ministry.\" Some light is cast upon\nthe case of Mr. Starkie's household by \"A Discourse Concerning the\nPossession and Dispossession of Seven Persons in one Family in\nLancashire,\" written by George More, a puritanical minister, who had\nengaged in exorcising devils. This discourse agrees substantially with\nDarrell's narrative, but adds some noteworthy facts: amongst others,\nthat he (Mr. More) was a prisoner in the Clinke for nearly two years,\nfor justifying and bearing witness to the facts stated by Darrell. He\nalso states that Mr. Nicholas Starkie having married a gentlewoman that\nwas an inheritrix [Ann, widow of Thurstan Barton, Esq., of Smithells,\nand daughter and sole heiress of John Parr, Esq., of Kempnough, and\nCleworth, Lancashire], and of whose kindred some were Papists;\nthese--partly for religion, and partly because the estate descended but\nto heirs male--prayed for the perishing of her issue, and that four sons\npined away in a strange manner; but that Mrs. Starkie, learning this\ncircumstance, estated her lands on her husband, and _his_ heirs, failing\nissue of her own body; after which a son and daughter were born, who\nprospered _well till_ they became \"possessed.\"[71]\n\n\nDEMONIACAL POSSESSION IN 1689.\n\nRichard Dugdale, called \"The Surey Demoniac,\" was a youth just rising\ninto manhood, a gardener, living with his parents at Surey, in the\nparish of Whalley, addicted to posture, and distinguished even at school\nas a posture-master and ventriloquist. During his \"possession\" he was\nattended by six Dissenting ministers--the Revs. Thomas Jolly, Charles\nSagar, Nicholas Kershaw, Robert Waddington, Thomas Whalley, and John\nCarrington, who were occasionally assisted at the meetings held to\nexorcise the demon by the Rev. Messrs. Frankland, Pendlebury, and Oliver\nHeywood. According to the narrative, under their sanction, entitled _An\nAccount of Satan's entering in and about the Body of Richard Dugdale,\nand of Satan's removal thence through the Lord's blessing of the\nwithin-mentioned Ministers and People_, when Dugdale was about nineteen\nyears of age he was seized with an affliction early in 1689; and from\nthe strange fits which violently seized him, he was supposed to be\npossessed by the devil. When the fit was upon him \"he shewed great\ndespite [says the narrative], against the ordinary of God, and raged as\nif he had been nothing but a devil in Richard's bodily shape; though\nwhen he was not in his fits he manifested great inclination to the word\nof God and prayer; for the exercise of which in his behalf he desired\nthat a day of fasting might be set apart, as the only means from which\nhe could expect help, seeing that he had tried all other means, lawful\nand unlawful.\" Meetings were accordingly appointed of the ministers, to\nwhich the people crowded in vast numbers. These meetings began on the\n8th May, 1689, and were continued about twice a month till the February\nfollowing. At the first meeting the parents of the demoniac were\nexamined by the ministers, and they represented that \"at Whalley\nrush-bearing, on the James's tide, in July, 1688, there was a great\ndancing and drinking, when Richard offered himself to the devil, on\ncondition that he would make him the best dancer in Lancashire.\" After\nbecoming extremely drunk he went home, where several apparitions\nappeared to him, and presented to him all kinds of dainties and fine\nclothing, with gold and precious things, inviting him at the same time\nto \"take his fill of pleasure.\" In the course of the day some compact,\nor bond, was entered into between him and the devil, after which his\nfits grew frequent and violent. While in these fits his body was often\nhurled about very desperately, and he abused the minister and blasphemed\nhis Maker. Sometimes he would fall into dreadful fits; at others he\nwould talk Greek and Latin, though untaught; sometimes his voice was\nsmall and shrill, at others hollow and hideous. Now he was as light as a\nbag of feathers, then as heavy as lead. At one time he upbraided the\nministers for their neglect, at others he said they had saved him from\nhell. He was weather-wise and money-wise by turns; he could tell when\nthere would be rain, and when he should receive presents. Sometimes he\nwould vomit stones an inch and a half square, and in others of his\ntrances there was a noise in his throat, as if he was singing psalms\ninwardly. But the strongest mark of demoniacal possession consisted in a\nlump, which rose from the thick of his leg, about the size of a mole,\nand did work up like such a creature towards the chest of his body, till\nit reached his breast, when it was as big as a man's fist, and uttered\nstrange voices. He opened his mouth at the beginning of his fits so\noften, that it was thought spirits went in and out of him. In agility he\nwas unequalled, \"especially in dancing, wherein he excelled all that the\nspectators had seen, and all that mere mortals could perform. The\ndemoniac would for six or seven times together leap up, so as that part\nof his legs might be seen shaking and quivering above the heads of the\npeople, from which heights he oft fell down on his knees, which he long\nshivered and traversed on the ground, at least as nimbly as other men\ncan twinkle or sparkle their fingers; thence springing up into his high\nleaps again, and then falling on his feet, which seemed to reach the\nearth but with the gentlest and scarce perceivable touches when he made\nhis highest leaps.\" And yet the divines by whom he was attended most\nunjustly rallied the devil for the want of skill in his pupil. The Rev.\nMr. Carrington, addressing himself to the devil, says, \"Cease dancing,\nSatan, and begone from him. Canst thou dance no better, Satan? Ransack\nthe old record of all past times and places in thy memory: canst thou\nnot there find out some other way of finer trampling? Pump thine\ninvention dry! Cannot that universal seed-plot of subtle wiles and\nstratagems spring up one new method of cutting capers? Is this the top\nof skill and pride, to shuffle feet and brandish knees thus, and to trip\nlike a doe, and skip like a squirrel? And wherein differs thy leapings\nfrom the hoppings of a frog, or bounces of a goat, or friskings of a\ndog, or gesticulations of a monkey? And cannot a palsy shake such a\nloose leg as that? Dost thou not twirl like a calf that has the turn,\nand twitch up thy houghs just like a spring-hault [? spring-galled]\ntit?\" In some of his last fits he announced that he must be either\nkilled or cured before the 25th March. This, says the deposition of his\nfather and mother, and two of his sisters, proved true; for on the 24th\nof that month he had his last fit, the devil being no longer able to\nwithstand the means used with so much vigour and perseverance to expel\nhim; one of the most effectual of which was a medicine, prescribed, in\nthe way of his profession, by Dr. Chew, a medical practitioner in the\nneighbourhood. Mr. Zachary Taylor asserts that the preachers,\ndisappointed and mortified at their ill success in Dugdale's case, gave\nit out that some of his connexions were witches, and in contract with\nthe devil, and that, they supposed, was the cause why they had not been\nable to relieve him. Under this impression they procured some of the\nfamily to be searched, that they might see if they had not teats, or the\ndevil's mark; and they tried them by the test of saying the Lord's\nPrayer. Some remains of the evil spirit, however, seem still to have\npossessed Richard; for, though after this he had no fits, yet once, when\nhe had got too much drink, he was after another manner than drunken\npersons usually are. In confirmation of which feats, not only the eight\nministers, but twenty respectable inhabitants, affixed their\nattestations to a document prepared for the purpose; and three of the\nmagistrates of the district--Hugh, Lord Willoughby [of Parham], Ralph\nEgerton, Esq., and Thos. Braddyll, Esq.--received depositions from the\nattesting parties. This monstrous mass of absurdity, superstition, and\nfraud--for it was beyond doubt a compound of them all--was exposed with\nsuccess by the Rev. Zachary Taylor, the Bishop of Chester's curate at\nWigan, one of the King's preachers in Lancashire; but the reverend\ndivine mixed with his censures too much party asperity, insisting that\nthe whole was an artifice of the Nonconformist ministers, in imitation\nof the pretended miracles of the Roman Catholic priests, and likening it\nto the fictions of John Darrell, B.A., which had been practised a\ncentury before upon the family of Mr. Starkie, in the same county. Of\nthe resemblance in many of its parts there can be no doubt; but the\nnames of the venerable Oliver Heywood and Thomas Jolly form a sufficient\nguarantee against imposition on their part; and the probability is that\nthe ministers were the dupes of a popular superstition in the hands of a\ndissolute and artful family.[72]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[62] See _Transactions of Historical Society of Lancashire and\nCheshire_.\n\n[63] Casaubon, extracted from Dee's MSS., P. I., p. 22, fol. 1659.\n\n[64] _History of Lancashire_, vol. iv. p. 63.\n\n[65] Hampson's _Medii \u00c6vi Kal._, vol. i. p. 74.\n\n[66] 33 Henry VIII., cap. 8.\n\n[67] \"The Devils of Morzine,\" in the _Cornhill Magazine_, April, 1865.\n\n[68] See Roby's _Traditions of Lancashire_; Homerton's _Isles of Loch\nAwe_ and _Choice Notes: Folk-Lore_, pp. 247-8.\n\n[69] See _Transactions of Lancashire and Cheshire Historical Society_.\n\n[70] _Magna Britannica_, by Rev. M. S. Cox, p. 1303.\n\n[71] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[72] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n\n\n\nDIVINATION.\n\n\nThis word, derived from _divinare_, to foretell, denotes a mode of\nforetelling future events, and which, among the ancients, was divided\ninto two kinds, natural and artificial. Natural divination was prophecy\nor prediction, the result of supposed inspiration or the divine\nafflatus; artificial divination was effected by certain rites,\nexperiments, or observations, as by sacrifices, cakes, flour, wine,\nobservation of entrails, flight of birds, lots, verses, omens, position\nof the stars, &c. In modern divination, two modes are in popular\nfavour--thrusting a pin or a key between the leaves of a closed Bible,\nand taking the verse the pin or key touches as a direction or omen; and\nthe divining-rod, a long forked branch or twig of hazel, which being\nheld between the finger and thumb in a particular way, is said to turn\nof itself when held near the earth over any hidden treasure, precious\nmetals, or over a spring of water. It has also been used to discover a\nburied body of one murdered.\n\n\nDIVINATION AT MARRIAGES.\n\nThe following practices are very prevalent at marriages in the districts\naround Burnley, and they are not noticed in the last edition of Brand's\n_Popular Antiquities_:--1. Put a wedding-ring into the _posset_, and\nafter serving it out, the unmarried person whose cup contains the ring\nwill be the first of the company to be married. 2. Make a common flat\ncake of flour, water, currants, &c., and put therein a wedding-ring and\na sixpence. When the company are about to retire on the wedding-day the\ncake must be broken, and distributed amongst the unmarried females. She\nwho gets the ring in her portion of the cake will shortly be married,\nand the one who gets the sixpence will die an old maid.[73]\n\n\nDIVINATION BY BIBLE AND KEY.\n\nWhen some choice specimen of the \"Lancashire Witches\" thinks it\nnecessary to decide upon selecting a suitor from among the number of her\nadmirers, she not unfrequently calls in the aid of the Bible and a key\nto assist in deciding her choice. Having opened the Bible at the passage\nin Ruth: \"Whither thou goest will I go,\" &c., and having carefully\nplaced the wards of the key upon the verses, she ties the book firmly\nwith a piece of cord, and having mentioned the name of an admirer, she\nvery solemnly repeats the passage in question, at the same time holding\nthe Bible suspended _by joining the ends of her little fingers_ inserted\nunder the handle of the key. If the key retain its position during the\nrepetition the person whose name has been mentioned is considered to be\nrejected; and so another name is tried, till the book turns round and\nfalls through the fingers, which is held to be a sure token the name\njust mentioned is that of an individual who will certainly marry her. I\nhave a Bible in my possession which bears evidence of having seen much\nservice of this description.[74]\n\n\nANOTHER LANCASHIRE FORM OF DIVINATION.\n\nWhen a Lancashire damsel desires to know what sort of a husband she will\nhave, on New Year's Eve she pours some melted lead into a glass of\nwater, and observes what forms the drops assume. When they resemble\nscissors, she concludes that she must rest satisfied with a tailor; if\nthey appear in the form of a hammer, he will be a smith or a carpenter,\nand so on of others. The writer has met with many instances of this\nclass, in which the examples given did not admit of easy contradiction.\n\n\nDIVINATION BY THE DYING.\n\nDying persons, especially if they have been distinguished for piety when\nin health, are considered to possess, for a short time, the spirit of\nprophecy. Hence many persons are then anxious to see them, in order that\nthey may divine the _future_ by means of their oracular words. They also\n_know_ persons who have died before them. This is a curious remnant of\nthe old Greek and Roman belief. Homer makes Hector foretell the death of\nAchilles, _Iliad_, v. 355. Virgil causes Orodes to foretell the death\nof Mezentius, _\u00c6neid_, x. 739. Cicero also furnishes another instance,\n_De Divin._ lib. ii.\n\n\nSECOND-SIGHT.\n\nThough this faculty of seeing into the future has usually been regarded\nas limited to Scotland, and there chiefly possessed by natives of the\nHighlands, there have been individuals in Lancashire who have laid claim\nto the possession of this species of foresight. Amongst those in the\nFylde district was a man named Cardwell, of Marton, near Blackpool, who\nforetold deaths and evil events from his vision of things to come. Men\nof superior ability were credulous enough to visit him, and to give\nimplicit faith to his marvellous stories. The real form of second-sight\nis the seeing of the wraith, spirit, or ghost of one about to die; and\nin one notable instance Cardwell's second-sight failed him utterly. On\nseeing something in a vision, he concluded that his own child was about\nto die, and so strong was his own faith in this delusion that he carried\nsand to the churchyard to be ready for its grave. The death, however,\ndid not happen: the child grew to maturity, and retaining robust health,\nlived for many years afterwards.\n\n\nSPIRITS OF THE DYING AND THE DEAD.\n\n1. Persons born during twilight are supposed to be able to _see_\nspirits, and to know who of their acquaintance will die next.\n\n2. Some say that this property also belongs to those who happen to be\nborn _exactly_ at twelve o'clock at night.\n\n3. The spirits of persons about to die, especially if the persons be in\ndistant lands, are supposed to return to their friends, and thus predict\nthe calamity. While the spirit is thus _away_, the person is supposed to\nbe in a _swoon_, and unaware of what is passing. His _desire_ to see his\nfriends is also necessary; he must have been _thinking_ of them. I am\nnot aware that these spirits ever _speak_.\n\n4. If no one in a family can _see_ a spirit, most can hear them, and\nhence strange noises are supposed to indicate death or misfortune to\ndistant friends.\n\n\nCASTING LOTS, ETC.\n\nThis is a species of divination or consulting of fate by omen. Great\nfaith is placed by most in casting lots. Putting numbers in a box or bag\nis the common practice, and then drawing them out at random. Scripture\nwas once quoted to the writer in proof that this mode of deciding\ndoubtful matters was of God's appointment, and therefore could not\nfail. \"The lot is cast into the bag, but the _disposal_ thereof is the\nLord's.\" (Prov. xvi. 33; 1. Sam. xiv. 41.) When boys do not wish to\ndivide anything they decide \"who must take all\" by drawing \"short-cuts.\"\nA number of straws, pieces of twine, &c., of different lengths, are held\nby one not interested; each boy draws one, and he who gets the _longest_\nis entitled to the whole.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[73] T. T. W., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. ii. p. 117.\n\n[74] T. T. W., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. ii. p. 5.\n\n\n\n\nMISCELLANEOUS FOLK-LORE.\n\n\nDRUIDICAL ROCK BASINS.\n\nDr. Borlase, in his _Antiquities of Cornwall_, notices the existence of\nDruidical Rock Basins, which appear to have been scooped out of the\ngranite rocks and boulders which lie on the tops of the hills in the\ncounty. Several such cavities in stones are found on Brimham Rocks,\nnear Knaresborough, and they have also been found at Plumpton and\nRigton, in Yorkshire,[75] and on Stanton Moor, in Derbyshire. The writer\nfirst drew attention to the fact of similar Druidical remains existing\nin Lancashire in a paper read before the Historical Society of\nLancashire and Cheshire, in December, 1864. They are found in\nconsiderable numbers around Boulsworth, Gorple, Todmorden, and on the\nhills which separate Lancashire from Yorkshire between these places.\nCommencing the enumeration of the groups of boulders, &c., containing\nrock basins, with the slopes of Boulsworth, about seven miles from\nBurnley, we have first the Standing Stones, mostly single blocks of\nmillstone grit, at short distances from each other on the north-western\nside of the hill. One is locally termed the Buttock Stone, and near it\nis a block which has a circular cavity scooped out on its flat upper\nsurface. Not far from these are the Joiner Stones, the Abbot Stone, the\nWeather Stones, and the Law Lad Stones [? from _llad_, British,\nsacrifices]. Next come the Great and Little Saucer Stones, so named from\nthe cavities scooped out upon them. The Little Chair Stones, the Fox\nStones, and the Broad Head Stones lie at no great distance, each group\ncontaining numerous like cavities. Several of these groups are locally\nnamed from resemblance to animals or other objects, as the Grey Stones\nand the Steeple Stones on Barn Hill, and one spur of Boulsworth is\ncalled Wycoller Ark, as resembling a farmer's chest or ark. On Warcock\nHill several groups of natural rocks and boulders are locally named\nDave or Dew Stones. On the surface of one immense Dave Stone boulder is\na perfect hemispherical cavity, ten inches in diameter. The surface of\nanother contains an oblong basin of larger dimensions, with a long\ngrooved channel leading from its curved contour towards the edge of the\nstone. On a third there are four circular cavities of varying\ndimensions, the largest in the centre, and three others surrounding it,\nbut none of these is more than a few inches in diameter. At the Bride\nStones, near Todmorden, thirteen cavities were counted on one block, and\neleven on another. All the basins here and elsewhere are formed on the\n_flat_ surfaces of the blocks; their upper surfaces being always\nparallel to the lamination of the stone. Along Widdop Moor we find the\nGrey Stones, the Fold Hole Stones, the Clattering Stones, and the\nRigging Stones; the last named from occupying the rig or ridge of the\nhills in this locality. Amongst the Bride Stones is an immense mass of\nrock which might almost be classed among the rocking stones. It is about\ntwenty-five feet in height, at least twelve feet across its broadest\npart, and rests on a base only about two feet in diameter. The Todmorden\ngroup contains the Hawk Stones, on Stansfield Moor, not far from\nStiperden Cross, on the line of the Long Causeway (a Roman road); the\nBride Stones, near Windy Harbour; the Chisley Stones, near Keelham; and\nHoar Law, not far from Ashenhurst Royd and Todmorden. The rock basins on\nthese boulders are very numerous, and of all sizes, from a few inches in\ndiameter and depth to upwards of two feet. The elliptical axes of some\nof these basins did not appear to the writer to have been caused by the\naction of wind or water, or to follow any regular law. Lastly, taking\nfor a centre, Gorple,[76] about five miles south-east of Burnley is\nanother extensive group of naked rocks and boulders. Close to the\nsolitary farm-house there are the Gorple Stones; and at a short distance\nthe Hanging Stones form conspicuous objects in the sombre landscape. On\nThistleden Dean are the Upper, Middle, and Lower Whinberry Stones, so\nnamed from the \"whinberry\" shrubs, with which this moor abounds. The\nHigher and Lower Boggart Stones come next, and these are followed by the\nWicken Clough, and other minor groups of stones. Above Gorple Bottom is\nanother set of grey stones; and these are followed by the Upper, Middle,\nand Lower Hanging Stones, on Shuttleworth Moor.[77] The rock basins here\nare very numerous, and mostly well defined. There are forty-three\ncavities in these Gorple, Gorple Gate, and Hanging Stones, ranging from\nfour to forty inches in length, from four to twenty-five in breadth, and\nfrom two to thirteen inches in depth.\n\nDr. Borlase confidently asserts that the ancient Druids used these rock\nbasins for baptismal and sacrificial purposes--a conjecture which the\nauthors of the _Beauties of Derbyshire_ admit to be probable; and so\ndoes Higgins in his elaborate work on the _Celtic Druids_. The\nsupposition is supported by the fact of their occurring in such numbers\nmostly _on the tops of hills_, in so many counties, and in such\ndifferent materials as the granite and the millstone-grit\nformations.[78] Whether they have been formed by natural or artificial\nmeans is still a matter of dispute. On the whole the writer's opinion\nis, that the rock basins of Scilly, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and\nEast Lancashire are partly natural, and partly artificial; the former\nbeing comparatively few, and easily distinguished by their varying\ndepths and forms.[79] Whether wholly or partially natural or artificial,\nhe thinks it safe to conclude that they have been appropriated by the\nDruids to their religious worship, as furnishing the means by which they\ncould offer their sacrifices and perform their ablutions. They would\nalso suffice for baptism, and preserve the rain or the dew from being\npolluted by touching the earth. The Tolmen on the neighbouring hills[80]\nmay be taken as an additional reason for associating Druidical worship\nwith such remains. These contain small basins on the summits, which\ndiffer in no respect from those here enumerated. They have, therefore,\nmost probably been used for similar purposes. Those above described form\na curious chapter in the oldest folk-lore of Lancashire.\n\n\nELVES AND FAIRIES.\n\n    \"Like elves and fairies in a ring.\"--_Macbeth._\n\nEngland has ever been full of the favourite haunts of those pleasantest\nof all the supernatural sprites of childhood and superstition--elves and\nfairies. Volumes might be filled with the stories of their feats and\npranks in all parts of England; and our greatest poet has for ever\nembalmed this superstition in the richest hues of poetic imagery and\nfancy--especially in his _Midsummer Night's Dream_. The _Fairies_, or\n\"Hill Folk,\" yet live amongst the rural people of Lancashire. Antique\ntobacco-pipes, \"formerly belonging to the fairies,\" are still\noccasionally found in the corners of newly-ploughed fields. They\nthemselves still gambol on the grassy meads at dewy eve, and their\nrevels are yet believed to be witnessed at times by some privileged\ninhabitants of our \"calm sequestered vales.\" It is generally stated\nthat, in order to see one of these diminutive beings, the use of\nointments, four-leaved clover, or other specific preparations, is\nnecessary; but a near relative of the writer, not more imbued with\nsuperstition than the majority, firmly believed that he once saw a real\ndwarf or fairy, without the use of any incantation. He had been amusing\nhimself one summer evening on the top of Mellor Moor, near Blackburn,\nclose to the remains of the Roman encampment, when his attention was\narrested by the appearance of a dwarf-like man, attired in full hunting\ncostume, with top-boots and spurs, a green jacket, red hairy cap, and a\nthick hunting whip in his hand. He ran briskly along the moor for a\nconsiderable distance, when, leaping over a low stone wall, he darted\ndown a steep declivity, and was lost to sight. The popular opinion of\nthe neighbourhood is, that an underground city exists at this place;\nthat an earthquake swallowed up the encampment, and that on certain days\nin the year the hill folk may be heard ringing their bells, and\nindulging in various festivities. Considerable quantities of stone,\nwhich still remain around the ditches of this rectangular place, may\nhave suggested the ideas of a city and an earthquake. On other occasions\nthe fairies are supposed to exhibit themselves in military array on the\nmountain sides; their evolutions conforming in every respect to the\nmovements of modern troops. Such appearances are believed to portend the\napproach of civil commotions, and are said to have been more than\nusually common about the time of the rebellion in 1745-6. This would\nsuggest an explanation of a more rational character. [Doubtless the\nmirage, Fata Morgana, or Spectral appearances of the Hartz mountains.]\n\nOne Lancashire Fairy tale runs thus:--\n\nTwo men went poaching, and having placed nets, or rather sacks, over\nwhat they supposed to be rabbit holes, but which were in reality\nfairies' houses, the fairies rushed into the sacks, and the poachers\n(believing them to be rabbits), content with their prey, marched\nhomewards again. One fairy missing another in the sack, called out (the\nstory was told in the broad Lancashire dialect)--\"Dick\" (dignified name\nfor a fairy), \"where art thou?\" To which fairy Dick replied,--\n\n          \"In a sack,\n          On a back,\n    Riding up Barley Brow.\"\n\nThe story has a good moral ending; for the men were so frightened that\nthey never poached again.[81]\n\nThe Rev. William Thornber[82] characterizes the elves and fairies as\nkind, good-natured creatures, at times seeking the assistance of\nmortals, and in return, liberally rewarding them. They have a favourite\nspot between Hardhorn and Staining, at a cold spring of water called\n\"Fairies' Well\" to this day. Most amusing stories of fairies are told\naround that district. A poor woman, when filling her pitcher at the well\njust named, in order to bathe the weak eyes of her infant child, was\nmildly accosted by a handsome man, who presented her with a box of\nointment, and told her it would be a specific remedy. She was grateful\nfor the gift, but love for her child made her somewhat mistrustful; so\nshe first applied the ointment to one of her own eyes. Shortly\nafterwards, she saw her benefactor at Preston, stealing corn from the\nmouths of the sacks open for sale, and, much to his amazement, accosted\nhim. On his inquiry how she could recognise him, since he was invisible\nto all else around, she told him how she had used his ointment, and\npointed to the powerful eye; when he immediately struck it out. A\nmilkmaid, observing a jug and a sixpence placed at her side by some\ninvisible being, filled the jug with milk, and took the money; this was\nrepeated for weeks, till, overjoyed with her good fortune, she could not\nrefrain from imparting it to her lover; but the jug and sixpence never\nappeared again. A ploughman when engaged in his daily labour, heard a\nplaintive cry, \"I have broken my _speet_.\"[83] Hastily turning round,\nthe ploughman beheld a lady, holding in her hand a broken _spittle_, a\nhammer, and nails, and beckoning him to repair it. He did so, and\ninstantly received a handsome reward; and then the lady vanished,\napparently sinking into the earth.\n\n\nFOLK-LORE.\n\nUnder this general head we bring together a few scattered notices not\nnaturally falling under any precise classification, but all showing the\nnature and character of common and popular notions, beliefs, and\nsuperstitions. Where, however, the subject will admit of it, many\nexamples of this Folk-lore will be found in later pages, under the\ngeneral head of \"Superstitions.\"\n\n\nFOLK-LORE OF ECCLES AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.\n\nA very curious book exhibits some of the usages of our ancestors in this\npart of the county, early in the reign of James I., entitled _The Way to\nthe True Church ... directed to all that seek for Resolution; and\nespecially to all his loving Countrymen of Lancashire, by John White,\nMinister of God's Word at Eccles_. [White was vicar of Eccles only a few\nmonths--from May, 1609.] The fifth edition or \"impression\" is a folio,\nprinted at London, 1624, but the Preface is dated Oct. 29th, 1608. White\ncomplains of \"the prodigious ignorance\" which he found among his\nparishioners when he entered upon his ministrations, and he proceeds\nthus to tell his own tale:--\"I will only mention what I saw and learned,\ndwelling among them, concerning the saying of their prayers; for what\nman is he whose heart trembles not to simple people so far seduced [or\nso ill-taught] that they know not how to pronounce or say their daily\nprayers; or so to pray that all that hear them shall be filled with\nlaughter? And while, superstitiously, they refuse to pray in their own\nlanguage with understanding, they speak that which their leaders [Roman\nCatholic priests] may blush to hear. These examples I have observed from\nthe common people:\n\n\"'_The Creed._\n\n\"'Creezum zuum patrum onitentem Creatorum ejus anicum, Dominum nostrum\nqui sum sops, virgini Mari\u00e6, crixus fixus, Ponchi Pilati audubitiers,\nmorti by Sonday, father a fernes, scelerest unjudicarum, finis a\nmortibus. Creezum spirituum sanctum, eccli Catholi, remissurum\npeccaturum, communiorum obliviorum, bitam et turnam again.'\n\n\"'_The Little Creed._\n\n    \"'Little creed, can I need\n    Kneele before our Ladies' knee;\n    Candlelight, candles burne,\n    Our Ladie pray'd to her dear Sonne\n    That we all to heaven might come.\n        Little creed. Amen.'\n\n\"This that followeth they call--\n\n\"'_The White Paternoster._\n\n    \"'White Paternoster, Saint Peter's brother,\n    What hast i' th' t' one hand? White book leaves.\n    What hast i' th' t' other hand? Heaven yate keys.\n    Open heaven yates, and steyk [shut] hell yates:\n    And let every crysome child creep to it own mother.\n        White Paternoster, Amen.'\n\n\"'_Another Prayer._\n\n    \"'I bless me with God and the rood,\n    With his sweet flesh and precious blood;\n    With his cross and his creed,\n    With his length and his breed,\n    From my toe to my crown,\n    And all my body up and down,\n    From my back to my breast,\n    My five wits be my rest;\n    God let never ill come at ill,\n    But through Jesus' own will,\n    Sweet Jesus, Lord, Amen.'\n\n\"Many also use to wear vervain against blasts; and, when they gather it\nfor this purpose, first they cross the herb with their hand, and then\nthey bless it thus:--\n\n    \"'Hallowed be thou, Vervain,\n    As thou growest on the ground,\n    For in the Mount of Calvary,\n    There thou wast first found.\n    Thou healedst our Saviour Jesus Christ,\n    And staunchedst his bleeding wound;\n    In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,\n    I take thee from the ground.'\n\n\"And so they pluck it up and wear it. Their prayers and traditions of\nthis sort are infinite, and the ceremonies they use in their actions are\nnothing inferior to the Gentiles in number and strangeness. Which any\nman may easily observe that converseth with them.\"[84]\n\n\nTREE BARNACLES; OR, GEESE HATCHED FROM SEA-SHELLS.\n\nThe learned and venerable John Gerarde, author or translator of _A\nHistory of Plants, or Herball_; first published in folio in 1597, has\nthe following marvellous story respecting barnacle-shells growing on\ntrees, and giving birth to young geese; not as a thing which some\nwonder-monger had related to him, but as what he had seen with his own\neyes, and the truth of which he could, therefore, and does, most\nsolemnly avouch.\n\n\"There are found in the north parts of Scotland, and the isles adjacent\ncalled Orcades, certain trees, whereon do grow certain shell-fishes, of\na white colour, tending to russet; wherein are contained little living\ncreatures; which shells in time of maturity do open, and out of them\ngrow those little living things; which, falling into the water, do\nbecome fowls, whom we call barnacles, in the North of England brant\ngeese, and in Lancashire tree geese; but the others that do fall upon\nthe land perish and do come to nothing. Thus much by the writings of\nothers, and also from the mouths of people of those parts, which may\nvery well accord with truth. But _what our eyes have seen and hands have\ntouched, we shall declare_. There is a small island in Lancashire called\nThe Pile of Foulders [or Peel of Fouldrey] wherein are found the broken\npieces of old and bruised ships, some whereof have been cast thither by\nshipwreck, and also the trunks or bodies, with the branches, of old\nrotten trees, cast up there likewise; whereon is found a certain spume\nor froth, that in time breedeth unto certain shells, in shape like those\nof the mussel, but sharper pointed, and of a whitish colour; wherein is\ncontained a thing in form like a lace of silk, finely woven as it were\ntogether, as of a whitish colour, one end whereof is fastened unto the\ninside of the shell, even as the fish of oysters and mussels are. The\nother end is made fast unto the belly of a rude masse or lump, which in\ntime cometh to the shape and form of a bird; when it is perfectly formed\nthe shell gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the\nforesaid lace or string; next come the legs of the bird hanging out; and\nas it groweth greater it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it\nis all come forth and hangeth only by the bill. In short space after it\ncometh to full maturity and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth\nfeathers and groweth to a fowl, bigger than a mallard and lesser than a\ngoose; and black legs and bill, or beak, and feathers black and white,\nspotted in such a manner as is our magpie (called in some places a\npie-annet), which [not the magpie, but the barnacle-hatched fowl] the\npeople of Lancashire call by no other name than a tree goose; which\nplace aforesaid, and all those parts adjoining, do so much abound\ntherewith, that one of the best is bought for 3_d._; For the truth\nhereof, if any doubt, may it please them to repair to me, and I shall\nsatisfy them by the testimony of good witnesses(!).... They spawn as it\nwere in March and April; the geese are formed in May and June, and come\nto fulness of feathers in the month after.\" \"There is another sort\nhereof, the history of which is _true, and of mine own knowledge_; for\ntravelling upon the shores of our English coast between Dover and\nRomney, I found the trunk of an old rotten tree, which (with some help\nthat I procured by fishermen's wives, that were there attending their\nhusbands' return from the sea) we drew out of the water upon dry land.\nOn this rotten tree I found growing many thousands of long crimson\nbladders, in shape like unto puddings newly filled, before they be\nsodden, which were very clear and shining; at the nether end whereof did\ngrow a shell-fish, fashioned somewhat like a small mussel, but much\nwhiter, resembling a shell-fish that groweth upon the rocks about\nGuernsey and Jersey, called a limpet. Many of these shells I brought\nwith me to London, which, after I had opened, I found in them living\nthings, without form or shape; in others, which were nearer come to\nripeness, I found living things that were very naked, in shape like a\nbird; in others, the birds covered with soft down, the shell half open,\nand the bird ready to fall out, which no doubt were the fowls called\nbarnacles.... That which I have seen with my eyes and handled with my\nhands, I dare confidently avouch and boldly put down for verity.... We\nconclude and end our present volume with this wonder of God. For which\nGod's name be ever honoured and praised.\" This author figures the\n_Britannica Conch\u00e6 Anatifera_, or the breed of barnacles; the woodcut\nrepresenting a tree growing by the sea, with leaves like mussel shells,\nopening, and living creatures emerging; while others, swimming about in\nthe sea beneath, are perfect goslings! Well may the old herbalist call\nthis \"one of the marvels of this land; we may say of the world.\" Dr.\nCharles Leigh, in his _Natural History of Lancashire_, gravely labours\nto refute the notion that barnacles grow into geese, as had been\nasserted by Speed and others.\n\nSir J. Emerson Tennent, writing in _Notes and Queries_ (vol. viii. p.\n223), referring to Porta's _Natural Magic_ for the vulgar error that not\nonly in Scotland, but in the river Thames, \"there is a kind of\nshell-fish which get out of their shells and grow to be ducks, or\nsuch-like birds,\" observes that this tradition is very ancient, Porta,\nthe author, having died in 1515. In _Hudibras_ is an allusion to those--\n\n    \"Who from the most refin'd of saints,\n    As naturally grow miscreants,\n    As _barnacles_ turn Soland geese,\n    In th' islands of the Orcades.\"\n\nThe story (says Sir James) has its origin in the peculiar formation of\nthe little mollusc which inhabits the multivalve shell, the _Pentalasmi\nAnatifera_, which by a fleshy peduncle attaches itself by one end to the\nbottoms of ships or floating timber, whilst from the other there\nprotrudes a bunch of curling and fringe-like cirrhi, by the agitation of\nwhich it attracts and collects its food. These cirrhi so much resemble\nfeathers, as to have suggested the leading idea of a bird's tail; and\nhence the construction of the remainder of the fable, which is given\nwith grave minuteness in _The Herball, or General Historie of Plants_,\ngathered by John Gerarde, Master in Chirurgie (London, 1597). After\nquoting the account, Sir James adds, that Gerarde, who is doubtless\nButler's authority, says elsewhere, \"that in the north parts of\nScotland, and the islands called Orcades, there are certain trees\nwhereon these tree geese and barnacles abound.\" The conversion of the\nfish into a bird, however fabulous, would be scarcely more astounding\nthan the metamorphosis which it actually undergoes, the young of the\nlittle animal having no feature to identify it with its final\ndevelopment. In its early stage (see Carpenter's _Physiology_, i. 52) it\nhas a form not unlike that of the crab, \"possessing eyes and powers of\nfree motion: but afterwards becoming fixed to one spot for the remainder\nof its life, it loses its eyes, and forms a shell, which, though\ncomposed of various pieces, has nothing in common with the jointed shell\nof the crab.\" Mr. T. J. Buckton (_Notes and Queries_, vol. viii. p.\n224) says that Drayton (1613), in his _Polyolbion_, p. iii., in\nconnexion with the river Dee, speaks of--\n\n    \"Th' anatomised fish, and fowls from planchers sprung,\"\n\nto which a note is appended in Southey's edition (p. 609), that such\nfowls were \"_barnacles_, a bird breeding upon old ships.\" In the\n_Entertaining Library_, \"Habits of Birds,\" (pp. 363-379), the whole\nstory of this extraordinary ignorance of natural history is amply\ndeveloped. The barnacle-shells which I once saw in a sea-port attached\nto a vessel just arrived from the Mediterranean had the brilliant\nappearance at a distance of flowers in bloom. (See _Penny Cyclop\u00e6dia_,\narticle \"Cirripeda,\" vii. 206, reversing the woodcut). The foot of the\n_Lepas Anatifera_ (Linn.), appeared to me like the stalk of a plant\ngrowing from the ship's side. The shell had the semblance of a calyx,\nand the flower consisted of the fingers (_tentacula_) of the shell-fish,\n\"of which twelve project in an elegant curve, and are used by it for\nmaking prey of small fish.\" The very ancient error was to mistake the\nfoot of the shell-fish for the neck of a goose, the shell for its head,\nand the _tentacula_ for a tuft of feathers. As to the body, _non est\ninventus_. The Barnacle Goose is a well-known bird; and these shell-fish\nbearing, as seen out of the water, resemblance to the goose's neck,\nwere ignorantly, and without investigation, confounded with geese\nthemselves. In France, the barnacle goose may be eaten on fast-days, by\nvirtue of this old belief in its fishy origin. From a passage in the\n_Memoirs of Lady Fanshaw_, it appears that Sir Kenelm Digby, at the\ntable of the Governor of Calais, declared that barnacles, a bird in\nJersey, was first a shell-fish to appearance, and from that, sticking\nupon old wood, became in time a goose! An advertisement of June, 1807,\nsets forth that the \"Wonderful curiosity called the Goose Tree, Barnacle\nTree, or Tree bearing geese, taken up at sea on the 12th January, 1807,\nby Captain Bytheway, and was more than twenty men could raise out of the\nwater--may be seen at the Exhibition Rooms, Spring Gardens, from ten\no'clock in the morning till ten at night, every day. The Barnacles which\nform the present exhibition possess a neck upwards of two feet in\nlength, resembling the windpipe of a chicken; each shell contains five\npieces, and notwithstanding the many thousands which hang to eight\ninches of the tree, part of the fowl may be seen from each shell. Sir\nRobert Moxay, in the _Wonders of Nature and Art_, speaking of this\nsingularly curious production, says, that in every shell he opened he\nfound a perfect sea-fowl[!], with a bill like that of a goose, feet like\nthose of water-fowl, and the feathers all plainly formed.\" (_Ibid._, p.\n300.)\n\n\nWARTS FROM WASHING IN EGG-WATER.\n\nIt is commonly held that washing the hands in water in which eggs have\nbeen boiled will produce a plentiful crop of warts. Not long ago two\nyoung and intelligent ladies stated that they had inadvertently washed\ntheir hands and arms in egg-water, and in each case this had been\nfollowed by large numbers of warts. This sequence they affirmed to be a\nconsequence, and the warts were shown as an ocular demonstration of the\nunpleasant results of such lavation.\n\n\nFORTUNE-TELLING.--WISE MEN AND CUNNING WOMEN, ETC.\n\nThere is scarcely a town of any magnitude in Lancashire, or in one or\ntwo adjacent counties, which does not possess its local \"fortune-teller\"\nor pretender to a knowledge of astrology, and to a power of predicting\nthe future events of life, under the talismanic name of \"fortune,\" to a\nlarge and credulous number of applicants. The fortune-teller of the\nnineteenth century professes to be able to \"cast nativities\" and to\n\"rule the planets.\" If, as is not unfrequently the case, he be a medical\nbotanist, he gathers his herbs when the proper planet is \"in the\nascendant.\" Some of these impostors also profess to \"charge the crystal\"\n(_i.e._, to look into a globular or egg-shaped glass), and thereby to\nsolve the gravest questions respecting the future fortunes of those who\nconsult them. Nor is this by any means an unprofitable pursuit. The\nwriter is aware of several instances in which \"casting nativities,\" &c.,\nhas proved a golden harvest to the professor. One individual gave up a\nwell-paid occupation in order that he might devote himself wholly to the\nstill more lucrative practice of astrology and fortune-telling. He not\nonly predicted future events by means of the stars, but he gave heads of\nfamilies advice as to the recovery of stolen property and the detection\nof the thief; while impatient maidens he counselled how to bring shy or\ndilatory lovers to the point. Another practitioner added to these\npractices the construction of sun-dials, in which he was very\ningenious, and thereby amassed considerable property after a long and\nsuccessful career. Instances are very common that credulity is not\nconfined to the ignorant or uneducated classes. An intelligent and\nwell-meaning lady once very seriously cautioned the writer against\ndiving into the secrets of astrology, as, she said, that pursuit had\n\"turned the head\" of one of her acquaintance. She not only had a firm\nfaith in the truth of all astrological predictions, but (from\napprehension engendered by this faith) she would not on any account\nsuffer any of these practitioners to predict her fortune, nor would she\non any account consult them. It seems that on one occasion she did\ncommit herself so far as to go to \"a wise man,\" whom we will call Mr.\nI., in company with Miss J., whose marriage with Mr. K. was then\nsomewhat doubtful; and she afterwards solemnly affirmed that the\nastrologer told her all her fortune. She described him as first\ncarefully drawing the requisite diagram, showing the state of the\nheavens at the hour of Miss J.'s birth; and after \"charging his glass\"\nhe declared that the marriage would take place within a few months;\n\"but,\" he added, \"he was also very sorry to inform her that she would\ndie young.\" Both these events did really happen within a limited period;\nand of course the lady's belief in the truth of astrological prediction\nwas very powerfully strengthened and confirmed. Some time after these\nevents, this identical Mr. I. was brought before the magistrates in\npetty sessions, charged with obtaining money under false pretences; with\npractising astrology, palmistry, &c., and he only narrowly escaped\nimprisonment through some technical error in the charge or summons. It\nwas said that the charge was a vindictive one--hence there was great\nrejoicing amongst his friends when it was dismissed; but the inspector\nof police who had charge of the case did not hesitate to declare that\nthere were many persons then present who had paid Mr. I. money for his\npredictions.\n\nAnother specimen of the fortune-teller we may notice from a rural\ndistrict. In the hamlet of Roe Green, in the township of Worsley, in a\nhumble cottage, a few years ago lived a man who held the position of\noverseer or head of one class of workmen in the employ of the\nBridgewater Trust. In the language of the locality, \"Owd Rollison\n[Rawlinson] was a _gaffer_.\" But to this regular avocation he added the\nprofession of fortune-telling, and in the evenings many were the\napplicants for a little knowledge of future events from the villages and\nhamlets for miles around. His stock-in-trade consisted of various books\non astrology, &c., and of two magic glasses or crystals, one a small\nglobular mass of common white glass, with a short stem by which to hold\nit; the other was about the size and shape of a large hen's egg, but\nwithout any stem or handle. His whole apparatus was for some months in\nthe possession of the writer, and a list of his books may serve to show\nthe sort of literature held in esteem amongst this class of planet\nrulers. 1. _The Three Books of Occult Philosophy_ of Henry Cornelius\nAgrippa, translated by J. Freake (London, 1651, pp. 583).[85] 2. Lilly's\n_Christian Astrology_, in three books (London, 1659, pp. 832). 3. John\nGadbury's _Thesaurus Astrologi\u00e6_ (Westminster, 1674, pp. 272). 4. _The\nStar_, by Ebn Shemaya (London, 1839, pp. 203). Zadkiel's _Grammar of\nAstrology_ (London, 1849, pp. 178): in this volume were also bound up\n\"Tables for Calculating Nativities,\" by Zadkiel (London, 1850, pp. 64).\n6. _A Plea for Urania_ (London, 1854, pp. 387).\n\nOne or two MS. books, apparently blank copy-books, which had been used\nto draw diagrams, or, as the phrase goes, to \"construct horoscopes,\" or\n\"erect schemes,\" or \"cast nativities,\" showed that \"Owd Rollison\" had\ndabbled a little in a sort of Astrology; but the rudeness of these\nattempts betrayed him to be but a mere tyro in the \"celestial science.\"\nHe had also a reputation for selling \"charms\" against the various ills\nthat flesh is heir to; amongst others, one to stop h\u00e6morrhage. One\ncountryman told the writer that he remembered, when a boy, that his\nuncle having a very severe h\u00e6morrhage, so that he was believed to be\nbleeding to death, this boy was told to run off as hard as he could to\nOwd Rollison to get something to stop the bleeding. He soon received a\nsmall piece of parchment containing sundry unintelligible characters\nupon it, which was to be sewed up in a small bag and worn continually,\nso that the bag should rest on the skin just over the heart. This was\ndone, the bleeding stopped, and the man recovered. Another person, who\nhad been a sort of confidant of the wise man, told the writer that at\none period Rawlinson went at regular intervals, and on stated days, to\nManchester, where at a quiet public-house he met other \"wise men,\" and\nthey assembled in an upper chamber, with locked door, and sometimes\nremained for hours in deliberation. Of the subject of such deliberations\nthe informant said he knew nothing, for he was never admitted; he had\nthe honour of remaining outside the door as watchman, guard, or\nsentinel, to prevent any prying listeners from approaching. He\nconjectured that what they were about was \"magic and such like;\" but\nmore he knew not. \"Owd Rollison\" kept his situation under the\nBridgewater Trust until his death, at a ripe old age; and though he left\nseveral sons and a daughter, the mantle of his astrological or\nfortune-telling wisdom does not seem to have fallen on any of them.\n\nMuch might be stated respecting the practice of the art of\nfortune-telling by wandering gipsies, especially in that branch of it\ntermed palmistry--predicting the future from an examination of the\n\"lines\" of the palm of the left hand, each of which, in the jargon of\npalmists, has its own peculiar character and name, as the line of life,\nof fortune, &c.; but as these wanderers are not indigenous to\nLancashire, but may be found in every county in England, it may suffice\nthus to name them. Of the old women who tell fortunes by cards chiefly,\nto silly women who are always wanting to know whether their future\nhusband is to be denoted by the King of Hearts (a true-loving swain) or\nby the Monarch of Diamonds (as indicative of great wealth), it is enough\nto say that they may be found by scores or hundreds in every town in\nLancashire.\n\n\nMAGIC AND MAGICIANS.\n\nOur forefathers had a strong faith in the power of magic, and even\ndivided the knowledge of it into two opposite kinds--viz., \"white\nmagic,\" which was acquired from the communications of the archangels and\nangels, or at least from some of the good spirits who were allowed to\naid human beings by their supernatural power in deeds of beneficence;\nand black magic, or \"the black art,\" also termed \"necromancy,\" which was\nderived from dealings with the devil, or at least from commerce with\nhis imps, or the evil spirits of wicked dead men. At one period the\nterms magician and conjuror had the same meaning--one who conjured, by\nmagical power, spirits and demons to appear and do his bidding. Conjuror\nhas since become a name for a professor of _legerdemain_ or\nsleight-of-hand.\n\n\nEDWARD KELLY, THE SEER.\n\nEdward Kelly, whose dealings in the Black Art, it is said, would fill a\nvolume, was born at Worcester, and had been an apothecary. We have\nelsewhere noticed his doings as an alchemist. He was for a considerable\ntime the companion and associate of \"Dr.\" John Dee, performing for him\nthe office of \"Seer,\" by looking into the doctor's crystal or stone, a\nfaculty not possessed by Dee, who in consequence was obliged to have\nrecourse to Kelly for the revelations he has published respecting the\nworld of spirits. These curious transactions may be found in Casaubon's\nwork, entitled, _A True and Faithful Relation of what Passed for many\nyears between Dr. John Dee and some Spirits_--opening out another dark\npage in the history of imposture and credulity. Dee says that he was\nbrought into unison with Kelly by the mediation of the angel Uriel.\nAfterwards he found himself deceived by him, in his opinion that these\nspirits which ministered unto him were messengers of the Deity. They had\nhad several quarrels before; but when Dee found Kelly degenerating into\nthe worst species of the magic art, for the purposes of avarice and\nfraud, he broke off all connexion with him, and would never afterwards\nbe seen in his company. Kelly, being discountenanced by the doctor,\nbetook himself to the meanest practices of magic, in all which money and\nthe works of the devil appear to have been his chief aim. Many wicked\nand abominable transactions are recorded of him.\n\nIn Lilly's Memoirs are the following passages relating to this\nSeer:--\"Kelly outwent the Doctor, viz., about the Elixir and the\nPhilosopher's Stone, which neither he nor his master attained by their\nown labour and industry. It was in this manner that Kelly obtained it,\nas I had it related from an ancient minister, who knew the certainty\nthereof from an old English merchant, resident in Germany, at what time\nboth Kelly and Dee were there. Dee and Kelly, being on the confines of\nthe Emperor's dominions, in a city where resided many English merchants,\nwith whom they had much familiarity, there happened an old friar to come\nto Dr. Dee's lodgings, knocking at the door. Dee peeped down stairs:\n'Kelly,' says he, 'tell the old man I am not at home.' Kelly did so. The\nfriar said, 'I will take another time to wait upon him.' Some few days\nafter, he came again. Dee ordered Kelly, if it were the same person, to\ndeny him again. He did so; at which the friar was very angry. 'Tell thy\nmaster I came to speak with him, and to do him good; because he is a\ngreat scholar, and famous: but now tell him, he put forth a book, and\ndedicated it to the Emperor. It is called _Monas Hieroglyphicas_. He\nunderstands it not. I wrote it myself. I came to instruct him therein,\nand in some other more profound things. Do thou, Kelly, come along with\nme. I will make thee more famous than thy master Dee.' Kelly was very\napprehensive of what the friar delivered, and thereupon suddenly\nretired from Dr. Dee, and wholly applied unto the friar, and of him\neither had the Elixir ready made, or the perfect method of its\npreparation and making. The poor friar lived a very short time after:\nwhether he died a natural death, or was otherwise poisoned or made away\nby Kelly, the merchant who related this, did not certainly know.\" \"It\nwas vulgarly reported that he [Kelly] had a compact with the devil,\nwhich he out-lived, and was seized at midnight by infernal spirits, who\ncarried him off in sight of his family, at the instant he was meditating\na mischievous design against the minister of the parish, with whom he\nwas greatly at enmity.\"[86]\n\n\nRAISING THE DEAD AT WALTON-LE-DALE.\n\nIn the reign of Queen Elizabeth and the year 1560, three judicial\nastrologers met in Preston, for the purpose of raising a corpse by\nincantations. They were Dr. Dee, Warden of Manchester, Edward Kelly, his\nassistant, and \"seer,\" and Paul Wareing, of Dove Cotes, near Clayton\nBrook. Casaubon, in his \"True and faithful Account of what passed for\nmany years between John Dee and some Spirits,\" (apparently quoting from\nWeever's _Funeral Monuments_) states that \"The aforesaid Master Edward\nKelly, a person well skilled in judicial astrology, with one Paul\nWareing (who acted with him in these incantations and all these\nconjurations) and Dr. Dee, went to the churchyard of St. Leonard's, in\nWalton-le-Dale, near Preston, and entered the burial ground exactly at\nmidnight, the moon shining brightly, for the purpose of raising the body\nof a person who had been interred there, and who had during his life\nhidden a quantity of money without disclosing the fact previous to his\ndeath. Having had the grave pointed out to them on the preceding day,\nthey opened it, removed the coffin lid, and set to work by various\nexorcisms, until the body became animated, by the spirit entering it\nagain. The body then rose out of the grave and stood upright before\nthem. It not only satisfied their wicked desires, it is said, but\ndelivered several strange predictions concerning persons in the\nneighbourhood, which were literally and exactly fulfilled. Sibley, in\nhis _Occult Sciences_, relates a similar account of this transaction,\nand also gives an engraving representing the scene, which took place at\nthe midnight hour in the church of Walton. Another account states that\nDr. Dee was engaged with Kelly in this enterprise, August 12th, 1560,\nand that Paul Wareing, of Clayton Brook, was the other who gave\nassistance in endeavouring to obtain an intercourse with familiar\nspirits.\"--(_Whittle's Preston._)\n\n\nAN EARL OF DERBY CHARGED WITH KEEPING A CONJUROR.\n\nThe loyal and munificent Edward (third) Earl of Derby, notwithstanding\nhis great services to Queen Elizabeth, and his long-proved loyalty, was\nmaligned and accused of traitorous intentions. The Earl of Huntingdon\nwrote to Sir William Cecil, then the Queen's Secretary of State\n(afterwards Lord Burghley, her Treasurer), a letter, communicating\nsuspicions of the Earl of Derby, which the writer asked should be burned\nas soon as read, but which has been preserved (and printed) amongst Lord\nBurghley's _State Papers_ (I. 603.) Modernising the spelling, the letter\nruns thus:--\n\n    Sir,--I am bolder to write to you on weighty matters, than I dare be\n    to some others; the cause I leave to your consideration, and so to\n    you only I am bold to impart that I hear. The matter in short is\n    this:--Among the Papists of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Cosynes\n    (?), great hope and expectation there is, that Derby will play as\n    foul a part this year as the two Earls did the last year. [See the\n    Rising in the North.] I hope better of him for my part, and for my\n    respects, both general and particular, I wish him to do better. I\n    know he hath hitherto been loyal, and even the last year, as you\n    know, gave good testimony of his fidelity, and of his own\n    disposition, I think, will do so still; but he may be drawn by evil\n    counsel, God knoweth to what. I fear he hath even at this time many\n    wicked counsellors, and some too near him. _There is one Browne, a\n    conjuror, in his house, kept secretly._ There is also one Uphalle,\n    who was a pirate, and had lately his pardon, that could tell\n    somewhat, as I hear, if you could get him. He that carried my Lord\n    Morley over, was also there within this se'ennight, kept secretly.\n    He with his whole family never raged so much against religion as\n    they do now, he never came to common prayer for this quarter or this\n    year, as I hear, neither doth any of the family, except five or six\n    persons. I dare not write what more I hear, because I cannot justify\n    and prove it; but this may suffice for you in time to look to it.\n    And surely, in my simple opinion, if you send some faithful and wise\n    spy, that would dissemble to come from D'Alva, and dissemble popery,\n    you might understand all; for if all be true that is said, there is\n    a very fond company in the house at this present. I doubt not but\n    you can and will use this matter better than I can advise you. Yet\n    let me wish you to take heed to which of your companions (though you\n    be now but five together) you utter this matter _ne fort\u00e8_ it be in\n    Lathom sooner than you would have it; for some of you have men about\n    you and friends attending on you, &c., that deal not always well. I\n    pray God save our Elizabeth and confound all her enemies; and thus I\n    take my leave, committing you to God his tuition.\n\n                                        Your assured poor friend,\n                                                          H. HUNTYNGDON.\n    From Ashby, 24 Aug., 1570.\n\n    P.S.--Because none there should know of my letter, I would not send\n    it by my servant, but have desired Mr. Ad to deliver it to you in\n    secret. When you have read it, I pray you to burn it and forget the\n    name of the writer. I pray God I may not hear any more of your\n    coming to ----.\n\nThere seems to have been no substantial ground for suspecting the\nloyalty of the Earl of Derby, which remained unshaken through another\nordeal, the conspiracy of the Duke of Norfolk to marry the Queen of\nScots, and place her on the English throne. But the Bishop of Ross gave\nevidence, that in Mary's design, in 1571, to escape from Sheffield\nCastle to the Continent, she was aided by several Lancashire gentlemen;\nand adds, that she wrote a letter by a little priest of Rolleston's to\nSir Thomas Stanley. Sir Thomas Gerrard and Rolleston devised a cypher\nfor her; and they offered to convey her away, and willed the Bishop to\nask the Duke of Norfolk's opinion therein. The prelate further stated\nthat Hall told him that if the Queen [Mary] would get two men landed in\nLancashire, Sir Thomas Stanley, and Sir Edward Stanley, along with Sir\nThomas Gerrard, and Rolleston, would effect her escape to France or\nFlanders, &c. Upon this evidence Sir Thomas Stanley, Sir Thomas Gerrard,\nand Rolleston, were apprehended, and committed to the Tower as state\nprisoners.[87]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[75] Allen's _History of Yorkshire_, vol. iii. pp. 421-425.\n\n[76] _Gort_, narrow; _gor_, upper, Brit.; _g\u00f3r_, blood, A.-S. _Gorple_\nmay mean the bloody pile, or the upper pile.\n\n[77] From _Sceot-hull_, afterwards _Scout_ or _Shoot-hill_, and\n_worth_--_i.e._, the farm or hamlet of the projecting ledge or hill.\n\n[78] Dr. Borlase's argument is cumulative. He observes that rock basins\nare always on the _top_, never on the _sides_ of the stones; that the\nancients sacrificed on rocks; that water was used by them for lustration\nand purification; that snow, rain, or dew, was preferred by them to\nrunning water; that it was not permitted to touch the earth; that the\nDruids practised similar rites, and held rain or snow-water to be holy;\nand they attributed a healing virtue to the gods inhabiting rocks; that\ntheir priests stood upon rocks to wash, sprinkle, and drink, &c. All\nthese considerations, he conceives, favour his opinion that rock basins\nwere _used_, if not _formed_, by the Druids.\n\n[79] See Watson's _History of Halifax_, pp. 27-36.\n\n[80] Professor Hunt is of the same opinion. See his recent work on the\n_Drolls of Cornwall_, vol. i. pp. 186-228.\n\n[81] T. G. C., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. vii. p. 177.\n\n[82] In his _History of Blackpool_, pp. 333-4.\n\n[83] Speet, spit, or spittle, are names in Lancashire for a spade.\n\n[84] L. B., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. viii. p. 613.--_Bibliographical\nNotice of the Works of the Learned and Rev. Divine, John White, D.D.,\n&c._ London, 1624; in _Chet. Soc. Books_, vol. xxxviii. p. 52.\n\n[85] There is another curious volume, which professes to contain a\nfourth book of Agrippa; but it is spurious. It includes five\ntreatises--viz., 1. Henry Cornelius Agrippa's Fourth Book on Occult\nPhilosophy and Geomancy; 2. The Magical Elements of Peter de Abano; 3.\nThe Astronomical Geomancy of Gerard Cremonensis; 4. Isagoge, or the\nNature of Spirits, by Geo. Victorius Villinganus, M.D.; and 5. Arbatel\nof Magick. Translated into English by Robert Turner, Philomath\u00e9es.\n(London, 1665, 8vo, pp. 266.) Another version of this book appeared in\n1783, 8vo. It would lead us too far to describe the strange contents of\nthis book, which contains long lists of the names of good and evil\nspirits, and symbols representing their characters; also symbols of the\narchangels and angels, their sigils, planets, signs, &c.\n\n[86] See Roby's _Traditions of Lancashire_.\n\n[87] (_Lord Burghley's Papers_, vol. ii., p. 771.) The death of Edward\nEarl of Derby, \"with whom (says Camden) the glory of hospitality hath in\na manner been laid asleep,\" took place on the 24th October, 1572.\n\n\n\n\nMIRACLES, OR MIRACULOUS STORIES.\n\n\nAn age of credulity is naturally rich in miracles. Superstition is ever\nprone to explain the mysterious, or to account for the questionable, by\nhunting for some supernatural cause; and hence the popular love for and\nstrong faith in the miraculous. No church erected before the Reformation\nbut had its miraculous legend; no well or spring of a remote antiquity\nbut had its tradition, either connected with its origin or with its\nmarvellous and miraculous powers of healing. The miracle of a past age,\npreserved to the present in the form of a legend, is equally entitled to\na place in our Folk-Lore.\n\n\nMIRACLES BY A DEAD DUKE OF LANCASTER AND KING.\n\nOne of the Harleian Manuscripts (Cod. 423), found amongst the papers of\nFox the Martyrologist, and entitled \"De Miraculis Beatissimi Militis Xpi\nHenrici Vj.\" (Of the Miracles of the Most blessed Knight of Christ,\nHenry VI.), consisting of about 150 closely written pages, contains an\naccount of a vast number of reputed miracles performed by this weak and\ncredulous monarch (who long hoped to pay his large debts by the aid of\ntwo alchemists!) and of which the following specimens will doubtless\nsuffice for our readers:--How Richard Whytby, priest of St. Michael's,\nwas long ill of a fever, and at last miraculously cured by journeying to\nthe tomb of Henry VI. John, called Robynson, who had been blind ten\nyears, recovered his sight by visiting Henry's tomb. How Henry\nLancaster, afflicted in fever, was miraculously cured in three days by\nthe appearance of the blessed prince Henry VI. in the sky. How a girl\ncalled Joan Knyght, who was nearly killed with a bone sticking in her\nthroat, and considered dead, on the bystanders invoking Henry VI.,\nvomited the bone and was restored to health. If these superstitions\nwanted a crowning absurdity, that is not wanting in the fact that Henry\nVII. actually sent an embassy to Rome, to importune the newly-elected\nPope Julius II. to canonize Henry VI. as a saint! His holiness referred\nthe matter to certain cardinals, to take the verification of the\ndeceased monarch's holy acts and miracles; but these were not\nsufficiently obvious to entitle him to the dignity of the calendar, and\nthe negotiation was abandoned in despair.[88]\n\nMr. Monckton Milnes, M.P. (now Lord Houghton), in an interesting letter\nin _Notes and Queries_, I. 181, asks for information respecting this\npopular \"saint,\" to whom the Church, however, denied canonization. He\nrefers to Brady for an account of the miracle performed at the tomb of\nThomas Earl of Lancaster, and of the picture or image of the Earl\nexhibited in St. Paul's, London, and the object of many offerings. Brady\ncites the opinion of an ecclesiastic, who doubted the propriety of this\ndevotion being encouraged by the Church; the Earl, besides his political\noffences, having been a notorious evil-liver. In June 1327, a \"King's\nletter\" (of Edward III.) was given to Robert de Weryngton, authorizing\nhim and his agents to collect alms throughout the Kingdom for the\npurpose of building a chapel on the hill where the Earl was beheaded;\nand praying all prelates and authorities to give him aid and heed. This\nsanction gave rise to imposture; and in the following December a\nproclamation appeared, ordering the arrest and punishment of\nunauthorized persons collecting money under this pretence and taking it\nfor their own use. The chapel was constructed, and officiated in till\nthe dissolution of the monasteries; the image in St. Paul's was always\nregarded with especial affection, and the cognomen of \"_Saint_ Thomas of\nLancaster\" was generally accepted and understood. Five hundred years\nafter the execution of the Earl of Lancaster [in 1822], a large stone\ncoffin, massive and roughly hewn, was found in a field that belonged of\nold to the Priory of Pomfret, but at least a quarter of a mile distant\nfrom the hill where the chapel stood. Within was the skeleton of a\nfull-grown man, partially preserved; the skull lay between the thighs.\nThere is no record of the decapitation of any person at Pontefract of\nsufficient dignity to have been interred in a manner showing so much\ncare for the preservation of the body, except the Earl of Lancaster. The\ncoffin may have been removed here at the time the opposite party forbade\nits veneration, from motives of precaution for its safety.--R. M.\nM.--[The Editor of _Notes and Queries_ adds, that \"The Office of St.\nThomas of Lancaster,\" which begins \"_Gaude, Thoma, ducum decus, lucerna\nLancastri\u00e6_,\" is printed in the volume of \"_Political Songs_\" edited by\nMr. Wright for the Camden Society, from a royal MS. in the British\nMuseum, _MS. Reg. 12_. Another correspondent, we believe Mr. James\nThompson of Leicester, states that at the dissolution of the monasteries\nin that town, several relics of St. Thomas (who was Earl of Leicester,\nas well as of Lancaster) were exhibited; amongst others his felt hat,\nwhich was considered a great remedy for the headache!]\n\n\nA MIRACULOUS FOOTPRINT IN BRINDLE CHURCH.\n\nBeneath the eastern gable of the chancel lies a huge stone coffin, with\na cavity for the head, but its history is unknown. In the wall just\nabove it is a small indentation, resembling the form of a foot, which,\naccording to tradition, was made by the high-heeled shoe of a Popish\ndisputant, who, in the ardour of debate, wished, if the doctrine he\nadvanced was not true, that his foot might sink into the stone, \"upon\nwhich the reforming stone instantly softened, and buried the papistical\nfoot;\" much in the same way, no doubt, as the flag in Smithells Hall\nreceived the print of the foot of George Marsh, the martyr.[89]\n\n\nTHE FOOTPRINT AT SMITHELLS OF GEORGE MARSH, THE MARTYR.\n\nGeorge Marsh, one of the three Lancashire martyrs in the reign of Queen\nMary, was the son of Mr. George Marsh, a yeoman of Dean, and was born\nabout 1575. He was educated at the Bolton Free Grammar School, and for a\ntime followed farming, and, marrying at twenty-five, settled there till\nthe death of his wife; when, placing his children with his father, he\nbecame a student at Cambridge University, was ordained, and was\nappointed curate of All-Hallows, Bread-street, London. He continued for\nsome time preaching the reformed doctrines, and zealously supporting the\nProtestant faith, both in London and Lancashire; and while in his native\ncounty, in March 1555, he learned that he had been sought after by the\nservants of Mr. Barton of Smithells Hall, a magistrate; on which he went\nthither voluntarily, and was examined before Mr. Barton. In a passage\nnear the door of the dining-room is a cavity in a flag, bearing some\nresemblance to the print of a man's foot, and this cavity is said by\ntradition to have been caused by the martyr stamping his foot to confirm\nhis testimony, and it is shown to this day as a miraculous memorial of\nthe holy man. The story goes, that \"being provoked by the taunts and\npersecutions of his examiners, he stamped with his foot upon a stone,\nand, looking up to Heaven, appealed to God for the justness of his\ncause; and prayed that there might remain in that place a constant\nmemorial of the wickedness and injustice of his enemies.\" It is said\nthat about the beginning of the eighteenth century this stone was\nremoved by two or three young men, of the family of Barton, then living\nat the hall, during the absence of their parents; that they cast it into\nthe clough behind the hall; but all the inmates of the house were so\nmuch disturbed that same night by alarming noises, that they could not\nrest. Inquiry led to confession, the stone was replaced, and the noises\nceased. It is also stated that in 1732, a guest (John Butterworth, of\nManchester,) sleeping alone in the Green Chamber at Smithells Hall, saw\nan apparition, in the dress of a minister with bands, and a book in his\nhand. The ghost of Marsh (for so it was pronounced to be) disappeared\nthrough the door-way, and on the owner of Smithells hearing the story,\nhe directed that divine service (long discontinued) should be resumed at\nthe hall chapel every Sunday. Such are some of the stories told about\nSmithells Hall; and there is hardly an old hall in the country that has\nnot one or more such traditions floating about its neighbourhood. It is\nas if ghostly visitants scorned to honour with their presence any house\nbelow the dignity of a hall. In this case, it may be observed that\nneither in Marsh's own account of what passed at Smithells, nor in Mr.\nWhatton's Biographical notice of him in Baines's _History of\nLancashire_, is any mention made of the miraculous footprint. But in a\nvolume of four or five tracts printed at Bolton (no year stated) the\nthird tract is \"The Life and Martyrdom of George Marshe,\" &c. \"Also, the\nparticulars respecting the print of a foot on the flag shewn at\nSmithills Hall, near Bolton;\" which latter is signed \"W. D.,\" and dated\n\"August 22, 1787.\" Amongst other discrepancies, it may be observed that\nW. D. makes Marsh's interrogator \"Sir Roger Barton;\" while Marsh, a\nnative of the immediate neighbourhood invariably writes of him as \"Mr.\nBarton.\"\n\n\nA LEGEND OF CARTMEL CHURCH.\n\nBetter than six hundred years ago (runs the story) some monks came over\nto Lancashire from another country; and, finding all this part of the\nkingdom covered with wood, they resolved to build a monastery in some\npart of Cartmel Forest. In their rambles, they found a hill which\ncommanded a prospect so beautiful and extensive that they were quite\ncharmed with it. They marked out a piece of ground on the summit, and\nwere preparing to build the church, when a voice spoke to them out of\nthe air, saying \"Not there, but in a valley, between two rivers, where\nthe one runs north, and the other south.\" Astonished at this strange\ncommand, they marvelled where the valley could be, for they had never\nseen a valley where two rivers ran in contrary directions. They set out\nto seek this singular valley, and travelled throughout the North of\nEngland, but in vain. Wearied with their fruitless search, they were\nreturning to the hill where they had heard the strange voice. In passing\nthrough a valley covered with wood, they came to a small river, the\nstream of which ran north. They waded through it, and shortly after\nfound another, the stream of which ran south. They placed the church\nmidway between the two streams, upon a little island, of hard ground, in\nthe midst of a morass; dedicating it to St. Mary. They also built a\nsmall chapel on the hill where they had heard the voice, which they\ndedicated to St. Bernard. The chapel has long since disappeared, but the\nhill is still called Mount Bernard.[90]\n\n\nTHE PROPHET ELIAS, A LANCASHIRE FANATIC.\n\nIn 1562, a native of Manchester who called himself Elias, but whose real\nname was Ellys, pretended to possess the spirit of prophecy. He went to\nLondon, where he made some proselytes, uttering his \"warning voice\" in\nthe public places. James Pilkington, D.D., a native of Rivington, in\nLancashire, and an eminent Protestant divine, who was raised by Queen\nElizabeth in 1560 to the See of Durham, preached before the Queen at\nGreenwich, against the supposed mission of this Manchester fanatic. The\nBishop of London, three days afterwards, ordered the northern prophet to\nbe put in the pillory in Cheapside. He was thence committed to\nBridewell, where he died in or about 1565.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[88] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[89] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[90] See _Lonsdale Magazine_, February, 1821.\n\n\n\n\nOMENS AND PREDICATIONS.\n\n\nAn intense desire to know future events, besides being the great\nencouragement of astrologers, sorcerers, and magicians, wise men,\ncunning women, fortune-tellers, &c., has given rise to a large class of\nsmall circumstances which are regarded as indicative of coming good or\nbad luck, of good or evil fortune, to the observer or the person\nexperiencing their influence. Hence, nothing is more common than to hear\namongst uneducated and credulous people predications from the most\ntrivial occurrences of daily life. A winding-sheet in the candle,\nspilling the salt, crossing knives, and various other trifles, are omens\nof evil to thousands of lore-folk to this day. Should one of your\nchildren fall sick when on a visit at a friend's house, it is held to be\nsure to entail bad luck on that family for the rest of the year, if you\nstay over New Year's-day. Persons have been known to travel sixty miles\nwith a sick child rather than run the risk. A flake of soot on the bars\nof the grate is said to indicate the approach of a stranger; a bright\nspark on the wick of a candle, or a long piece of stalk in the tea-cup,\nbetokens a similar event. When the fire burns briskly, some lover smirks\nor is good-humoured. A cinder thrown out of the fire by a jet of gas\nfrom burning coals, is looked upon as a coffin, if its hollow be long;\nas a purse of gold, if the cavity be roundish. Crickets in a house are\nsaid to indicate good fortune; but should they forsake the chimney\ncorner, it is a sure sign of coming misfortunes.\n\nIn the neighbourhood of Lancaster I know ladies who consider it \"lucky\"\nto find _old iron_: a horse-shoe or rusty nail is carefully conveyed\nhome and hoarded up. It is also considered lucky if you see the _head_\nof the first lamb in spring; to present his _tail_ is the certain\nharbinger of misfortune. It is also said that if you have money in your\npocket the first time you hear the cuckoo, you will never be without all\nthe year.[91]\n\nIn Lancashire we still dislike the moaning or hooting of owls and the\ncroaking of ravens, as much as the Romans did of old. In a large class\nof our population few would yet defy evil fate, by beginning a journey\nor any important undertaking, or marrying, on a Friday; on which day\nLancashire, like other sailors, have a strong repugnance to beginning a\nvoyage. This day of the week is regarded as of evil augury, because it\nwas the day (Good Friday) when our Saviour's blood was shed. The\nauguries of dreams are so numerous, that a large class of chap-books are\nstill to be found circulating in country places, from _Mother Shipton_\nto _Napoleon's Book of Fate_. Few young women in the country, farmers'\ndaughters and servants, were without a favourite \"Dream-Book.\" Again,\nthe farmer or cottager deems it necessary, in order to secure a crop of\nonions, to sow the seed on St. Gregory's-day [March 12] named\n\"Gregory-gret-Onion,\" (_i.e._, Gregory the Great). Amongst the more\npardonable longings to raise the veil of futurity are those of village\nmaidens (and not a few of those in towns too, and of all ranks) to get a\npeep at the figure of the husband whom the future has in store for her.\nOn All-Hallows' Eve she strews the ashes which are to take the form of\none or more letters of her lover's name; she throws hemp-seed over her\nshoulder and timidly glances to see who follows her. On the fast of St.\nAgnes she watches a small candle called a \"pig-tail,\" to see the passing\nimage of her future husband. The up-turned tea-cup, for its leaves, or\nthe coffee-cup for its \"grounds;\" the pack of cards, with the desired\nKing of Hearts or Diamonds, the sputterings and spurtings of a\ntallow-candle, all furnished to the omen-instructed damsel some sign by\nwhich to read the future, and to arrive at a knowledge of her lot in\nlife, as to husband, children, fortune, &c. When leaving home to begin a\njourney, or to commence any future enterprise, it is deemed an\nimportant observance, necessary to insure good luck, to walk\n\"withershins\" (_i.e._, as the weather or sun shines). In many country\nplaces this is always observed by a bridal party when advancing to the\naltar to have the marriage solemnized, and, of course, one particular\naisle of the church is the only fortunate or lucky one to proceed by.\nSome, however, say that to walk \"widdershins\" is to take a direction\ncontrary to the course of the sun, _i.e._, from right to left.[92] Some\npersons more credulous than humane, will shut up a poor cat in the oven,\nto ensure their own good luck. Days have long been parcelled out between\nlucky and unlucky, for any important undertaking, as a journey, taking a\npartner in business or for life, buying land, or even for such trivial\nmatters as blood-letting, taking physic, cutting the hair, or paring\nnails. Again, the moon's age is an important element in securing future\nweal or woe. For the first year of an infant's life many mothers will\nnot have its hair or nails cut, and when the year is gone these\noperations must be performed when the moon is so many days old, to\nensure good results. A tooth, as soon as it has been drawn, should be\nsprinkled with salt, and thrown into the fire; if it be lost, no rest or\npeace will be enjoyed till it is found again. The following are a few\nomens drawn from observing peculiarities about animals:--\n\n\nCATS.\n\n1. If a cat tear at the cushions, carpets, &c., with its claws, it is\nconsidered to be a sign of wind. Hence we say, \"the cat is raising the\nwind.\" 2. If a cat in washing its face draw its paw quite over its\nforehead, it is a sign of fair weather. If not so, it betokens speedy\nrain. 3. Allowing cats to sleep with you is considered very unhealthy.\nThey are said to \"draw your health away.\" 4. Those who play much with\ncats have never good health. A cat's hair is said to be indigestible,\nand you will die if one get into your stomach. 5. It is counted unlucky\nto allow cats to die in a house. Hence when they begin to be ill they\nare usually drowned. A case of this kind occurred in Burnley a short\ntime ago. 6. If a kitten come to a house, it is counted a lucky omen.\n\n\nDOGS.\n\n1. Dogs are said to sit down and howl before the door when any one is\nabout to be sick, or die. A death is considered _certain_ if the dog\nreturn as often as driven away. 2. Dogs are hence considered to be\nsomehow acquainted with the spirit world, \"or else,\" as one said, \"how\nshould they know when a person is going to die?\" This is firmly\nbelieved in about Mellor and Blackburn. In Burnley and neighbourhood\nequally so at present. 3. The _life_ of a dog is sometimes said to be\n_bound up_ with that of its master or mistress. When either _dies_ the\nother cannot _live_. Is this a remnant of the old belief in the\ntransmigration of souls? 4. The whining of a favourite dog is considered\nby many to betoken calamity to the family to which it belongs.\n\n\nLAMBS.\n\nIt is very lucky for lambs to have their faces towards you when you\nfirst see them in Spring. The omen is much more favourable when they are\nlooking towards the east.\n\n\nBIRDS.\n\nTo kill or ill-use swallows, wrens, redbreasts, &c., is accounted\nunfortunate; for these all frequent our houses for good. There is a\nstanza common among us which declares that\n\n    \"A Cock Robin and a Jenny Wren\n    Are God Almighty's cock and hen;\n    A Spink and a Sparrow\n    Are the Devil's bow and arrow.\"\n\nBirds are supposed by some to be somehow cognizant of what is about to\nhappen. A _jackdaw_ is always an unwelcome visitor, if it alight on the\nwindow-sill of a sick chamber. A _white dove_ is thought to be a\nfavourable omen; its presence betokens recovery to the person within, or\nit is _an angel in that form_ ready to convey the soul of a dying person\nto heaven. I once knew a Wesleyan Methodist who was of opinion that\n\"forgiveness of sins\" was assured to her by a small bird, which flew\nacross her path when she had long been praying for a token of this kind.\nWhen a _Canary-bird_ sings cheerfully, all is well with the family that\nkeeps it; when it becomes silent, and remains so, there is calamity in\nstore for that household. If you hear the _cuckoo_ shout towards the\neast, for the first time in any year, and have gold, silver, and copper\ncoin in your pockets, you will never want money during that year.\n\n\nSWALLOWS.\n\n1. If swallows, or martins, begin to build their nests about a house or\nbarn, it is looked upon as predicating good luck to the occupier. \"The\n_more_ birds the _better_ luck.\" 2. On the contrary, when they forsake a\nhaunt, the occupiers become apprehensive of misfortune. Hence farmers\nwill always protect such birds, and often ill-use boys who may be\nstoning them, or attempting to rob their nests.\n\n\nMAGPIES.\n\nThere are, at least in Lancashire and Yorkshire, many curious\nsuperstitions connected with this bird. Its appearance _singly_ is still\nregarded in both these counties by many even of the educated\nrepresentatives of the last generation, as an evil omen, and some of the\ncustoms supposed to break the charm are curious. One is simply to raise\nthe hat as in salutation, another to sign the cross on the breast, and\nto make the same sign by crossing the thumbs. This last custom is\nconfined to Yorkshire, and I know one elderly gentleman who not only\ncrosses his thumbs, but spits over them when in that position, a\npractice which was, he says, common in his youth. The superstition\napplies only to a single magpie, according to the old nursery legend:--\n\n    \"One for sorrow,\n    Two for mirth,\n    Three for a wedding,\n    And four for a birth.\"[93]\n\nI met a person the other day who solemnly assured me that he had seen a\n'pynot' as he came along the road; but he had made the figure of a cross\non the mire in the road, in order to avert the evil omen.[94]\n\nIn Lancashire they say:--\n\n    \"One for anger,\n    Two for mirth,\n    Three for a wedding,\n    Four for a birth,\n    Five for rich,\n    Six for poor,\n    Seven for a witch:\n    I can tell you no more.\"[95]\n\nBut in Tim Bobbin it is expressly said that two magpies are indicative\nof ill-fortune:--\"I saigh two rott'n pynots, hong 'um, that wur a sign\nof bad fashin; for I heerd my gronny say hoo'd as leef o' seen two Owd\nHarries os two pynots.\"[96] \"I shall catch none to-day,\" we heard a man\nadvanced in life, exclaim in a melancholy tone, who was angling in the\nriver Ribble. \"Why?\" we asked, \"the day is not inauspicious.\" \"No; but\ndo you not see that magpie?\" In fact _pynots_, that is, magpies,\naccording to an old Lancashire superstition, are considered birds of\nill-omen. In spring it is considered by old-fashioned anglers unlucky to\nsee a single magpie; but two are a favourable auspice, because in cold\nweather one bird only leaves the nest in search of food, the other\nremaining to keep the eggs or the young ones warm; but when both are out\ntogether, the weather is warm, mild, and favourable for fishing.[97]\n\n\nDREAMS.\n\nThis might well form a great division of itself, in any work on\nFolk-lore. Yet a little reflection will serve to show that it is only\none branch, though a very large one, of the general subject of \"Omens.\"\nDreams are regarded by the superstitious simply for what they predicate\nas about to happen; in other words, they are important to the credulous\nonly as _omens_ of coming events. Itinerant hawkers and small village\nshops drive a considerable trade in \"Dream Books,\" or \"Books of Fate,\"\nwhich profess to interpret every dream and to explain every omen,\nwhether of good or evil import. Of the great variety and extent of\n\"Dream-Book literature\" we cannot treat, for want of space. Hawkers and\nsmall shops sell a vast quantity of penny dream-books in Lancashire. One\nof the oldest specimens of these chap-books we have met with is a little\n32mo. volume, entitled \"_Mother Shipton's Legacy_, or a favourite\nFortune-book, in which is given a pleasing interpretation of dreams, and\na collection of prophetic verses, moral and entertaining.\" (York, 1797,\nprice 4_d._) Cap. I. treats of Lucky and Unlucky Days; II. of Moles on\nthe Person; III. Miscellaneous; IV. Dreams; and V. a Magical Table. A\nfew specimens of the dream portion may suffice:--To dream of joy denotes\ngrief; of fine clothes, poverty; of sweetmeats, a whipping; of flying,\nfalling down; of fire, anger; of serpents, private enemies; of money,\nloss; of weeping, joy; of bathing, ease from pain; of kissing, strife;\nof feasting, want; of many people, affliction; of singing, sorrow; of\nchanging abode, sudden news; of fishing, good luck; of death, marriage;\nof finding money, bad luck; of gold, death; of embracing, death; of\nbeing bald, misfortune; of a long nose, death; of growing fat, wealth;\nof drinking water, good entertainment; of the sun rising, preferment; of\nflashes of fire, sudden death; of being among tombs, riches by the death\nof relations; of your teeth falling out, losses; of a lean ox, famine;\nof a fine garden, much pleasure.\n\n    [_Moral._]\n\n    Though plain and palpable each subject seems,\n    Yet do not put your trust too much in dreams;\n    Events may happen, which in dreams you see,\n    And yet as often quite contrary be:\n    This learned hint observe, for Shipton's sake--\n    Dreams are but interludes which fancies make.\n\nMany persons persuade themselves into the belief that events are\nrevealed to them in dreams. Those who can neither _see_ nor _hear_\nspirits generally presume to have this faculty. _One_ dream is not taken\nmuch notice of, but if the dream be repeated substantially _three_\ntimes, the events of the dreams are supposed to be sure to come to pass.\nSome _see_ all the circumstances as _realities_ in their dreams, others\nonly have dim recollections; they _hear_ all but do not _see_ the\npersons. This agrees with the supposed _prophetical_ dreams of the\nancient Greeks and Romans. (_Homer_, _Virgil_, _Ovid_, &c.) Morning\ndreams are more to be relied on than those of any other time. Those of\nthe morning twilight are most valued. Horrid dreams, or those in which\nthe dreamer feels very uneasy, are supposed to predict bad luck, or\nmisfortune to the family. \"Dreams,\" they say, \"always go by contraries.\"\nThere is a very general belief in dreams among the people of Lancashire.\nThe following are a few not hitherto noticed by the writer:--1. Dreaming\nof _misfortune_ betokens _prosperity_.\n\n    \"Content and happy may they be\n    Who dream of cold adversity;\n    To married man and married wife\n    It promises a happy life.\"\n\n2. To dream of sickness betokens _marriage_ to young persons. 3.\nDreaming of being before an altar indicates sorrow and misfortune. 4. To\nsee angels is a sure sign of coming happiness. 5. When you dream of\nbeing angry with any one, you may count that person amongst your best\nfriends. 6. To dream of catching fish is very unfortunate; every fish\nyou take betokens the death of some valued friend. 7. Dreaming about\nballs, dances, &c., indicates coming good fortune. To the young we may\nsay:--\n\n    \"Who dreams of being at a ball,\n      No cause have they for fear;\n    For soon they will united be\n      To those they hold most dear.\"\n\n8. When persons dream of losing their hair, it is a sign of loss of\nhealth, friends, or property. 9. If a person dream of losing _one_, or\n_more_, of his teeth, it is a sign that he will lose _one_, or _more_,\nlawsuits which he may happen to be engaged in. I knew a person who had a\ncase in our county court. The case was to come on on the Thursday; but\non Wednesday night he dreamt he had lost a tooth. On the case being\ndecided against him, he appealed to his dream as a sure indication of\nhis non-success. 10. Dreaming of bees is counted lucky, because they are\nindustrious.\n\n    \"Happy the man who dreaming sees\n    The little humble busy bees\n      Fly humming round their hive.\"\n\nIf the bees sting you, it is a sign of bad luck, crosses and\ndifficulties. 11. Dreaming of marriage, brides, &c., is a sign of death,\nor long sickness. 12. To dream of a candle burning _brightly_ betokens\nhealth, prosperity; and _vice vers\u00e2_. 13. Dreaming of cats betokens\ntreachery; but if you kill the cat you will have revenge. 14. To dream\nof seeing a _coffin_ is unlucky; but to dream of seeing a _corpse_\nbetokens a speedy marriage. 15. Dreaming of _death_ betokens long life\nand happiness. 16. To dream that you are _dirty_ implies sickness for a\nlonger or shorter period. 17. If you dream of being _drowned_ you will\nexperience some loss. 18. To dream of _falling_ indicates loss. 19. To\ndream of _flying_ implies that you will not succeed in accomplishing\nhigh things. 20. If you dream of the water in a river being very _clear_\nyou will have good luck; if the water be _muddy_ you will have\nmisfortune. 21. When a widow dreams of seeing her husband, it is a sure\nsign that she will soon have an eligible offer. 22. If you dream that\nyou are daubed with ink, you may be sure that some one is _writing_ evil\nof you. 23. Dreaming of going on a journey indicates a change in your\ncircumstances. 24. To dream of flying kites, or playing with bunches of\nkeys, betokens prosperity and advancement in business. 25. To dream of\ncutting yourself, or of being infested with lice, indicates misfortune\nor disease. 26. It is very fortunate to dream of milk. 27. To dream of\nbeing naked indicates shame and misfortune. 28. To dream of the nose\nbleeding is a very sure sign of misfortune and loss. 29. Dreaming of\nseeing the ocean in a calm state betokens steadiness of circumstances;\nand _vice vers\u00e2_. 30. To dream of rats indicates difficulties; of snow,\nprosperity and success; of a wedding, death; and of a widow, that your\nhusband, wife, or lover, will desert you.\n\nAll the preceding, and many more, are well-known to every Lancashire lad\nand lass.\n\n\nTHE MOON.\n\nOur farmers predict fair weather, or the reverse, according as the new\nmoon \"lies on her back,\" or \"stands upright.\" It is also very unlucky\nfor anyone to look at the new moon, for the first time, through the\nwindow.\n\n\nH\u00c6VER OR HIVER.\n\nA \"quarter\" of the heavens, or compass, or direction; \"a lucky h\u00e6ver\" is\na fortunate or desirable direction. The origin of this word is somewhat\ndifficult of explanation; nor is it certain whether its proper etymon\nhas yet been ascertained. It is still in common use among some of the\nfarmers in East Lancashire, and was much more frequently used some\nthirty or forty years ago. \"What _h\u00e6ver_ is the wind in this morning?\"\nwas a common inquiry when any prediction respecting the weather for the\nday was about to be hazarded. \"I don't expect much rain,\" would probably\nbe the reply, \"the wind is in a good _h\u00e6ver_.\" There is generally most\nrain in these parts of Lancashire when the wind blows from the south or\nsouth-west; and hence if the wind came from the eastward continued rain\nwas not to be expected.\n\nMost persons have a notion that the East is the most sacred point of the\ncompass. The Star of the Nativity was seen in the east; the chancel, or\nmost holy portion of a church is placed at the east; and the dead are\nburied so as to rise with their faces towards the east on the morning of\nthe resurrection. These considerations have been applied to the _h\u00e6ver_\nfrom which the wind may blow; and hence the proverb occasionally met\nwith among those who live in the neighbourhood of Mellor and Ramsgreave,\nnear Blackburn, to the effect that \"the East is a lucky _h\u00e6ver_.\"\n\nA writer who signs himself \"F. C. H.\" in _Notes and Queries_, 3rd\nseries, vol. vii. p. 310, asks whether _h\u00e6ver_ is not \"a peculiar\npronunciation of ever, so that the above inquiry would be in plain\nEnglish, _whatever_ is the wind in this morning?\" This derivation\nappears both too fanciful and insufficient; for when we consider that\nLancashire formed part of the Danelagh, and was long a Danish kingdom,\nand that its dialect contains a large admixture of Danish words; we are\nnaturally led to examine whether such a term may not be found in the\nDanish language. On examination this proves to be the fact, for \"Hive,\"\n(pronounced \"heeve,\" as \"high\" is pronounced \"hee,\") is the verb \"to\nblow;\" and hence \"hiver\" or \"h\u00e6ver,\" as applied to the place whence the\nwind is blowing. This derivation appears to be both natural and\nsufficient, since it fully accounts for the use of this peculiar term;\nwhich, by the way, is not found in Halliwell's _Dictionary of Archaic\nWords_, or in Wright's more recent work on the same subject.\n\n\nDEASIL OR WIDERSINNIS.\n\nThese are Celtic names for going round by way of ensuring good fortune.\nThe former name is derived from the Gaelic _deas_ or _des_, the right\nhand, and _Syl_, the sun, and denotes a motion from east to west, or\naccording to the apparent motion of the sun; and is a custom of high\nantiquity in religious ceremonies. In the western isles fire was carried\nin the right hand in this course, about the house, corn, cattle, &c.,\nabout women before they were churched, and children before they were\nbaptized. So the fishermen rowed the boat about first sun-wise to ensure\na lucky voyage. On the other hand, the Highland _Wider-sinnis_ (whence\nthe Lancashire _Wither-shins_) was from left to right or west to east,\nor opposed to the course of the sun, a course used in magical\nceremonies, and said to be the mode of salutation given by witches and\nwarlocks to the devil.[98]--(See page 140 _supr\u00e2_.)\n\n\nOMENS OF WEATHER FOR NEW YEAR'S-DAY.\n\nIn a Saxon MS. we find that \"If the Kalends, or first of January, fall\non the Lord's-day, then will the winter be good, pleasant and warm.\"[99]\nAnother Saxon MS. in the Cotton Library contains the omens to the\nfollowing effect:--\"If the Kalends of January be on the moon's day\n(Monday) then there will be a severe and confused winter, a good spring,\nwindy summer, and a rueful year, in which there will be much sickness.\nIf the Kalends fall on Tuesday, then the winter will be dreary and\nsevere, a windy heat and rainy summer, and many women will die; ships\nwill voyage in danger, and kings and princes will die. If on Wednesday,\nthere will be a hard winter and bad spring; but a good summer. The\nfruits of the earth will be much beaten down, honey will be scarce, and\nyoung men will die. If on Thursday, there will be a good winter, windy\nspring, good summer, and abundance of the fruits of the earth, and the\nplough will be over the earth; but sheep and children will die. If on\nFriday, there will be a variable winter, good spring and summer, with\ngreat abundance, and sheep's eyes will be tender in the year. If on\nSaturday, there will be a snowy winter, blowing spring, and rainy\nsummer; earth fruits will labour, sheep perish, old men die, and other\nmen be sick; the eyes of many will be tender, and fires will be\nprevalent in the course of the year. If the Kalends fall on Sunday,\nthere will be a good winter, windy spring, and dry summer; and a very\ngood year this year will be; sheep will increase, there will be much\nhoney, and plenty and peace will be upon the earth.\"[100]\n\n\nDEATH TICK OR DEATH WATCH.\n\nThe death tick is not yet forgotten in the district around Burnley. Very\nrecently the insect has disturbed the imagination of a young lady, and\nits ticks have led to more than one gloomy conjecture. It is a curious\ncircumstance that the _real_ death tick must only tick _three_ times on\neach occasion.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[91] T. D., in _Notes and Queries_.\n\n[92] See Halliwell's _Archaic Dictionary_, in voce.\n\n[93] E. B., (Liverpool) in _Notes and Queries_, 3rd series, vol. ix. p.\n187.\n\n[94] T. T. W.\n\n[95] Another version has the last four lines thus:--\n\n    \"Five for a fiddle,\n    Six for a dance,\n    Seven for England,\n    Eight for France.\"\n\n[96] J. O. Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_.\n\n[97] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._\n\n[98] Hampson's _Medii \u00c6vi Kalend._, vol. I. 255.\n\n[99] Hickes's _Thesaurus_, II. 194.\n\n[100] _Bibl. Cott. MSS. Tiberius, A._ III., fol. 39 b., and 40.\n\n\n\n\nSUPERSTITIONS, GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS.\n\n\nThere are great numbers of small superstitions, beliefs, and practices\nwhich we must place under this general head. Before entering on these at\nlength, we may briefly notice the fact in many cases, the probability in\na still greater number, that the origin of superstitions still held to\nthe popular heart, is to be found in other countries and in remote\ntimes. Indeed Folk-lore superstitions may be said to be the _d\u00e9bris_ of\nancient mythologies; it may be of Egypt or India, Greece or Rome,\nGermany or Scandinavia. Many of the following superstitions have been\nalready glanced at or briefly referred to in the introductory chapter.\n\n\nPOPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.\n\nLancashire, like all other counties, has its own peculiar superstitions,\nmanners, and customs, which find no parallels in those of other\nlocalities. It has also, no doubt, many local observances, current\nopinions, old proverbs, and vulgar ditties, which are held and taken in\ncommon with the inhabitants of a greater extent of country, and differ\nmerely in minor particulars,--the necessary result of imperfect oral\ntransmission. The following are a few of these local superstitions:--\n\n1. If a person's hair, when thrown into the fire, burns brightly, it is\na sure sign that the individual will live long. The brighter the flame,\nthe longer life; and _vice vers\u00e2_.\n\n2. A young person lightly stirs the fire with the poker to test the\nhumour of a lover. If the fire blaze brightly, the lover is\ngood-humoured; and _vice vers\u00e2_.\n\n3. A crooked sixpence, or a copper coin with a hole through, is\naccounted a _lucky_ coin.\n\n4. Cutting or paring the nails of the hands or feet, on a Friday or\nSunday, is very unlucky.\n\n5. If a person's _left_ ear burn, or feel hot, somebody is praising the\nparty; if the _right_ ear burn, then it is a sure sign that some one is\nspeaking evil of the person.\n\n6. Children are frequently cautioned by their parents not to walk\n_backwards_ when going an errand; it is a sure sign that they will be\nunfortunate in their objects.\n\n7. Belief in witchcraft is still strong in many of the rural districts.\nMany believe that others have the power to bewitch cows, sheep, horses,\nand even persons to whom the witch has an antipathy. One respectable\nfarmer assured me that his horse was bewitched into a stable through a\nloophole twelve inches by three! The fact, he said, was beyond doubt,\nfor he had locked the stable-door himself when the horse was in the\nfield, and had kept the key in his pocket. Soon afterwards a party of\nfarmers went through the process known as \"burning the witch out,\" or\n\"killing the witch\" as some express it; the person suspected soon died,\nand the neighbourhood became free from his evil doings.\n\n8. A horse-shoe is still nailed behind many doors to counteract the\neffects of witchcraft. A _hagstone_ with a hole through, tied to the key\nof the stable-door, protects the horses, and, if hung up at the bed's\nhead, the farmer also.\n\n9. A hot iron put into the cream during the process of churning, expels\nthe witch from the churn. Dough in preparation for the baker is\nprotected by being marked with the figure of a cross.\n\n10. Warts are cured by being rubbed over with a black snail; but the\nsnail must afterwards be impaled upon a hawthorn. If a bag, containing\nas many pebbles as a person has warts, be tossed over the _left_\nshoulder, it will transfer the warts to whomsoever is unfortunate enough\nto pick up the bag.\n\n11. If black snails are seized by the horns and tossed over the _left_\nshoulder, the process will ensure good luck to the person who performs\nit.\n\n12. Profuse bleeding is said to be instantly stopped by certain persons,\nwho pretend to possess the secret of a certain form of words or charm.\n\n13. The power of bewitching, producing evil to persons by _wishing_ it,\n&c., is supposed to be transmitted from one possessor to another when\none of the parties is about to die.\n\n14. Cramp is effectually prevented by placing the shoes with the toes\njust peeping from beneath the coverlet; or by tying the garter round the\n_left_ leg, below the knee.\n\n15. Charmed rings are worn by many for the cure of dyspepsia; and so\nalso are charmed belts for the cure of rheumatism.\n\n16. A red-haired person is supposed to bring ill-luck, if he be the\nfirst to enter a house on New Year's Day. Black-haired persons [are on\nthe contrary deemed so lucky that they] are rewarded with liquor or\nsmall gratuities for \"taking in the New Year\" to the principal houses in\ntheir respective neighbourhoods.\n\n17. If any householder's fire does not burn _through_ the night of New\nYear's Eve, it betokens bad luck through the ensuing year. If any one\nallow another to take a live coal, or to light a candle, on that eve,\nthe bad luck extends to the grantor.[101]\n\nAmongst other Lancashire popular superstitions are the following:--\n\nThat a man must never \"go a courting\" on a Friday. If an unlucky fellow\nis caught with his lady-love on that day, he is followed home by a band\nof musicians, playing on pokers, tongs, pan-lids, &c., unless he can rid\nhimself of his tormentors by giving them money for drink.\n\nThat whooping-cough will never be taken by any child that has ridden\nupon a bear. The old bearward's profits arose in great part from the\nmoney given by parents whose children had had a ride. The writer knows\nof cases in which the charm is said to have been effectual.\n\nThat whooping-cough may be cured by tying a hairy caterpillar in a small\nbag round the child's neck, and as the caterpillar dies the cough goes.\n\nThat Good Friday is the best day of all the year to begin weaning\nchildren, which ought, if possible, to be put off till that day.\n\nThat May cats are unlucky, and will suck the breath of infants.\n\nThat crickets are lucky about a house, and will do no harm to those who\nuse them well; but that they eat holes in the worsted stockings of such\nmembers of the family as kill them. I was assured of this on the\nexperience of a respectable farmer's family.\n\nThat ghosts or boggarts haunt certain neighbourhoods. There is scarcely\na dell in my vicinity where a running stream crosses a road by a small\nbridge or stone plat, where such may not be seen. Wells, ponds, gates,\n&c., have often this bad repute. I have heard of a calf with \"eyes like\nsaucers,\" a woman without a head, a white greyhound, a column of white\nfoam like a large sugar loaf in the midst of a pond, or group of little\ncats, &c., as the shape of the boggart; and sometimes it took that of a\nlady, who jumped behind hapless passengers on horseback. It is supposed\nthat a Romish priest can lay them, and that it is best to cheat them to\nconsent to being laid \"while hollies are green.\" Hollies being\nevergreens, the ghosts can reappear no more.[102]\n\nMr. J. Eastwood, of Ecclesfield, adds to T. T. W.'s seventeen\nsuperstitions the following six:--\n\n1. If a cock near the door crows with his face towards it, it is a sure\nprediction of the arrival of a stranger.\n\n2. If the cat frisk about the house in an unusually lively manner, windy\nor stormy weather is approaching.\n\n3. If a dog howl under the window at night, a death will shortly happen\nin the house.\n\n4. If a _female_ be the first to enter a house on Christmas or New\nYear's Day, she brings ill-luck to the house for the coming year.\n\n5. For whooping-cough, pass the child nine times over the back and under\nthe belly of an ass. (This ceremony I once witnessed, but cannot vouch\nfor its having had the desired effect.)\n\n6. For warts, rub them with a cinder, and this tied up in paper, and\ndropped where four roads meet [_i.e._, where two roads cross] will\ntransfer the warts to whoever opens the parcel.[103]\n\n\nBONES OF ST. LAWRENCE, AT CHORLEY.\n\nIn the parish church of Chorley, within the porch of the chancel, which\nbelongs to the Standish family of Duxbury, _four_ bones were shown,\napparently thigh bones, said to have belonged to Saint Lawrence, the\npatron saint, which were brought over from Normandy by Sir Rowland\nStandish, in 1442, along with the head of that saint, which skull has,\namongst the _Harl. MSS._,[104] a certificate of a vicar of Croston, to\nwhich Chorley was then subject, preserved with the arms of the knight\n(azure, 3 plates) rudely tricked:--\"Be it known to all men that I,\nThomas Tarlton [or Talbot] vicar of the church of Croston, beareth\nwitness and certify, that Mr. James Standish, of Duxbury, hath delivered\na relique of St. Laurence's head unto the church of Chorley, the which\nSir Rowland of Standish, knight, brother of the said James, and Jane his\nwife, brought out of Normandy, to the worship of God and St. Lawrence,\nfor the profit and avail of the said church; to the intent that the\nforesaid Sir Rowland Standish, and Dame Jane his wife, with their\npredecessors and successors, may be in the said church perpetually\nprayed for. And in witness of the which to this my present writing I\nhave set my seal. Written at Croston aforesaid, the 2nd day of March, in\nthe year of our Lord God, 1442.\" [20 Hen. VI.][105] St. Lawrence's Day\nis August 10. As his martyrdom was said to be roasting alive upon a\ngridiron, it is not clear how his thigh bones should be preserved. But\nwhen we find there are _four_ of them, the miraculous character of the\nrelics is at once exhibited.\n\n\nTHE DEAD MAN'S HAND.\n\nAt Bryn Hall, now demolished, once the seat of the Gerards, was a Roman\nCatholic Chapel and a priest, who continued long after the family had\ndeparted, having in his custody \"The Dead Man's Hand,\" which is still\nkept by the same or another priest, now residing at Garswood. Preserved\nwith great care, in a white silk bag, it is still resorted to by many\ndiseased persons, and wonderful cures are said to have been wrought by\nthis saintly relic. It is said to be the hand of Father Arrowsmith,--a\npriest who is stated to have been put to death at Lancaster for his\nreligion, in the time of William III. The story goes, that when about to\nsuffer, he desired his spiritual attendant to cut off his right hand,\nwhich should then have the power to work miraculous cures on those who\nhad faith to believe in its efficacy. Not many years ago, a female sick\nof the small-pox had this dead hand lying in bed with her every night\nfor six weeks, in order to effect her recovery, which took place.[106] A\npoor lad, living in Withy Grove, Manchester, afflicted with scrofulous\nsores, was rubbed with it; and though it had been said he was\nmiraculously restored, on inquiry the assertion was found incorrect,\ninasmuch as he died in about a fortnight after the operation.[107] Not\nless devoid of truth is the tradition that Arrowsmith was hanged for\n\"witnessing a good confession.\"\n\nHaving been found guilty of a rape (says Mr. Roby), in all probability\nthis story of his martyrdom, and of the miraculous attestation to the\ntruth of the cause for which he suffered, were contrived for the purpose\nof preventing the scandal that would have come upon the church through\nthe delinquency of an unworthy member. A subordinate tradition\naccompanies that already related. It is said that one of the family of\nthe Kenyons attended as under-sheriff at the execution, and that he\nrefused the culprit some trifling favour at the gallows; whereupon\nArrowsmith denounced a curse upon him,--to wit, that whilst the family\ncould boast of an heir, so long they should never want a cripple; which\nprediction was supposed by the credulous to have been literally\nfulfilled.[108] Mr. Roby, professing to give the _fact_ upon which he\nfounded one of his tales, accuses the unfortunate priest of rape, and\nstates that he was executed for that crime in the reign of William III.\nAll this Mr. Roby gives as from himself, and mentions a curse pronounced\nby Father Arrowsmith upon the under-sheriff who executed him, in the\nreign of William III. Now Arrowsmith was hung, under sanction of an\natrocious law, for no other reason but because he had taken orders as a\nCatholic priest, and had endeavoured to prevail upon others to be of his\nown faith. For this offence, and for this offence alone, in 1628,--in\nthe reign not of William III., but of Charles I.,--he was tried at\nLancashire Assizes, and hanged, drawn, and quartered, in the same year\nthat Edmund Ashton, Esq., was sheriff. Mr. Roby must have seen what was\nthe real state of the case in the same history of Lancashire[109] as\nthat which he repeatedly quotes.[110]\n\nThe hand of Arrowsmith, having been cut off after his death, was brought\nto Bryn Hall, where it was used by the superstitious to heal the sick,\nsometimes by the touch, and at others by friction: faith, however, is\nessential to success, and a lack of the necessary quality in the\npatient, rather than any decrease in the healing emission from the\nrelic, is made to account for the disappointment which awaits the\nsuperstitious votaries of this fanatical operation. The \"dead man's\nhand,\" or, as the Irish harvestmen are accustomed to call it, \"the holy\nhand,\" was removed from Bryn to Garswood, and subsequently to the\npriest's house at Ashton, near Lancaster, where it remains in possession\nof the priest, if the light and knowledge of the present age have not\nconsigned it to the earth.[111] A Roman Catholic publication, issued in\n1737, signed by nineteen witnesses, seventeen of whom were Protestants\n(the names being withheld, however, as it is alleged, for prudential\nreasons), attest, that in 1736, a boy of twelve years, the son of Caryl\nHawarden, of Appleton-within-Widness, county of Lancaster, was cured of\nwhat appeared to be a fatal malady by the application of Father\nArrowsmith's hand, which, according to the narrative, was effected in\nthe following manner:--The boy had been ill fifteen months, and was at\nlength deprived of the use of his limbs, with loss of his memory, and\nimpaired sight. In this condition, which the physicians had declared\nhopeless, it was suggested to his parents, that as wonderful cures had\nbeen effected by the hand of \"the martyred saint,\" it was advisable to\ntry its effects upon their afflicted child. The \"holy hand\" was\naccordingly procured from Bryn, packed in a box, and wrapped in linen.\nMrs. Hawarden having explained to the invalid her hopes and intentions,\napplied the back part of the dead hand to his back, stroking it down\neach side the backbone, and making the sign of the cross, which she\naccompanied with a fervent prayer that Jesus Christ would aid it with\nhis blessing. Having twice repeated this operation, the patient, who had\nbefore been utterly helpless, rose from his seat, and walked about the\nhouse, to the surprise of seven persons who had witnessed the \"miracle.\"\nFrom that day the boy's pains left him, his memory was restored, and his\nhealth became re-established! The witnesses add, that the boy, on being\nafterwards interrogated, said that he _believed_ the hand would do him\ngood, and that upon its first touch he felt something give a short or\nsudden motion from his back to the end of his toes![112]\n\nAnother account states that Father Edmund Arrowsmith, of the Society of\nJesus, was a native of Haydock, in the parish of Winwick, and was born\nin 1585. In 1605 he entered the Roman Catholic College of Douay, where\nhe was educated, and in 1612 he was ordained priest. His father's name\nwas Robert Arrowsmith, and his mother, Margery, was a lady of the\nancient family of the Gerards. In 1613 Father Arrowsmith was sent upon\nthe English mission, and in 1628 (4th Charles I.) was apprehended and\nbrought to Lancaster on the charge of being a priest, contrary to the\nlaws of the realm. He was tried, sentenced to death, and executed on the\n28th of August, 1628, his last words being \"Bone Jesu!\" He was\nafterwards cut down, embowelled, and quartered. His head was set upon a\npole or stake amongst the pinnacles of Lancaster Castle, and his\nquarters were hung upon four separate places of the same building. The\nhand of the martyr, having been cut off after his death, was brought to\nBryn Hall [amongst his maternal relatives], where it was preserved as a\nprecious relic, and by the application of which numerous miraculous\ncures are said to have been effected. \"The holy hand\" was removed from\nBryn to Garswood [in Ashton, a seat of the Gerards], and subsequently to\nthe priest's house at Ashton-in-Makerfield, where it still remains.[113]\nWhile the relic remained at Garswood, it was under the care of the\nGerards' family-chaplain for the time being, and a fee was charged for\nits application to all who were able to pay, and this money was bestowed\nin charity on the needy or distressed. It is believed that no fee is now\ncharged. The late Sir John Gerard had no faith in its efficacy, and many\nludicrous anecdotes are current in the neighbourhood of pilgrims having\nbeen rather roughly handled by some of his servants, who were as\nincredulous as himself;--such as getting a good beating with a wooden\nhand (used for stretching gloves), and other heavy weapons; so that the\npatients rapidly retraced their steps, without having had the\napplication of the \"holy hand.\" The applicants usually provide\nthemselves with a quantity of calico or flannel, which the priest of St.\nOswald's, Ashton, causes to come in contact with the \"dead hand;\" the\ncloth is then applied to the part affected. Many instances are recorded\nof persons coming upon crutches or with sticks, having been suddenly so\nfar restored as to be able to leave behind them these helps, as\nmemorials, and return home, walking and leaping; praising the priest for\nhis charity; the holy hand, for being the means of obtaining a cure; and\nGod for giving such power to the dead hand. Persons have been known to\ncome from Ireland, and other distant parts, to be cured. Some of these\nreturn home with a large piece of the cloth which has been in contact\nwith the hand. This they tear into shreds, and dispose of them to the\ncredulous neighbours who have not the means of undertaking so long a\npilgrimage. About four years ago (writes our informant), I saw a poor\nmaniac being dragged along by two or three of her relatives, and howling\nmost piteously. I asked what they were going to do with her, when one of\nthem (apparently her mother) replied: \"And sure enough, master, we're\ntaking her to the priest, to be rubbed with the holy hand, that the\ndevil may leave her.\" A short time afterwards I saw them returning, but\nthe rubbing had not been effectual. A policeman assisted to remove the\nstruggling maniac to a neighbouring house, till a conveyance could be\ngot to take her to Newton Bridge railway station.[114]\n\n\nNINETEENTH CENTURY SUPERSTITION.\n\nWill it be credited that thousands of people have, during the past week,\ncrowded a certain road in the village of Melling, near Ormskirk, to\ninspect a sycamore tree, which has burst its bark, and the sap protrudes\nin a shape resembling a man's head? Rumour spread abroad that it was the\nre-appearance of Palmer, who \"had come again, because he was buried\nwithout a coffin!\" Some inns in the neighbourhood of this singular tree\nreaped a rich harvest.[115]\n\n\nPENDLE FOREST SUPERSTITION.\n\nPendle Forest, in the neighbourhood of Burnley, has long been notorious\nfor its witches. [After referring to the cases of alleged witchcraft in\nthe beginning of the 17th century, the writer continues:] Two hundred\nyears have since passed away, and yet the old opinions survive; for it\nis notorious that throughout the Forest the farmers still endeavour to\n\n    \"Chase the evil spirits away by dint\n    Of sickle, horse-shoe, and hollow flint.\"\n\nClay or wax images, pierced through with pins and needles, are\noccasionally met with in churchyards and gardens, where they have been\nplaced for the purpose of causing the death of the persons they\nrepresent. Consumptive patients and paralytics are frequently said to be\nbewitched; and the common Lancashire proverb, \"Draw blood of a witch,\nand she cannot harm you,\" has been many times practically verified upon\nquarrelsome females within my own experience. In extreme cases the\n\"witch-killer\" is resorted to, and implicit faith in his powers is not a\nrare item in the popular creed. Such a person usually combines the\npractice of Astrology with his other avocations. He casts nativities;\ngives advice respecting stolen property; tells fortunes; and writes out\n\"charms\" for the protection of those who may consult him.... Even the\nwives of clergymen have been known to consult \"wise men\" on doubtful\nmatters respecting which they desired more satisfactory\ninformation.--_T. T. W._\n\n\nEAST LANCASHIRE SUPERSTITION.\n\nStrong minds often are unable to escape the thraldom of tradition and\ncustom, with the help of liberal education and social intercourse. How\nthen are the solitary farmers on the skirts of moorland wastes, to free\nthemselves from hereditary superstition? The strength of such traditions\nis often secret and unacknowledged. It nevertheless influences the life;\nit lurks out of sight, ready to assert its power in any great crisis of\nour being. It is a homage to the unseen and the unknown, in fearful\ncontradiction with the teaching of Christianity, for it creates, like\nthe religion of the Jezzidies, a ritual of propitiation to malignant\npowers, instead of the prayer of faith to the All-merciful. The solitude\nof the life in the moorland farm-houses does not, however, foster the\ninfluence of superstitious madness, perhaps, so much as the wild, stormy\nclimate, which holds its blustering reign through six months of every\nyear, in this region of morass and fog, dark clough, and craggy chasm.\nNight shuts in early. The sun has gone down through a portentous gulf of\nclouds which have seemed to swallow up the day in a pit of darkness. The\ngreat sycamores stagger in the blast which rushes from the distant sea.\nThe wind moans through the night like a troubled spirit, shakes the\nhouse as though it demanded admittance from the storm, and rushes down\nthe huge chimney (built two centuries ago for the log fires, and large,\nhot heap of wood ashes), driving down a cloud of smoke and soot, as\nthough by some wicked cantrip the witches careering in the storm would\nscatter the embers and fire the building. The lone watcher by some sick\nbed, shudders as the casements are battered by the tempest; or the bough\nof some tree, or a branch of ivy, strikes the panes like the hand of\nsome unseen thing fumbling at the casement latch; or, awake from pain or\ncare, restless with fever or fatigue, or troubled with superstitious\nhorror, the lone shepherd waits for the day, as for a reprieve to\nconscious guilt, and even trembles while he mutters some charm to\nexorcise the evil that rides exulting on the storm. A year of ill-luck\ncomes. The ewes are barren; the cows drop their untimely calves, though\ncrooked sickles and lucky stones have been hung in the shippons. The\nmilk is \"bynged,\" or will not churn, though a hot poker has been used to\nspoil the witchery. The horses escape from the stable at night, though\nthere is a horse-shoe over the door, and the hinds say they were\ncarefully \"heawsed an' fettled, and t'dooers o weel latched, bur\nt'feeorin (fairies) han 'ticed 'em eawt o' t' leawphooles, an' flown wi'\nem' o'er t'stone dykes, wi' o t'yates tynt (gates shut), an' clapp'd 'em\nreet i' t' meadow, or t' corn, just wheer tey shudna be.\" As the year\nadvances, with such misadventures, apprehension grows. Is there some\nevil eye on the house? Will the hay be spoiled in the field? Will the\noats ripen, or must they be cut green and given to the cattle? Or, if\nthey ripen, will the stormy autumn wrap its mantle of mist and rain so\nclosely about them, that they cannot be housed before they have\nsprouted, or have spoiled? The cold, bitter damp benumbs the strength of\nthe feeble. Appetite and health fail; a fear creeps into the life. Fate\nseems to have dragged the sufferer into a vault of gloom, to whisper\nforeboding and inspire dread. These traditions of mischief wrought by\nmalignant men inheriting the wicked craft and vindictive spite of the\nsorcerers, are uttered at the fireside, or if not so uttered, are\nbrooded upon by a disturbed fancy.[116]\n\n\nSUPERSTITIOUS FEARS AND CRUELTIES.\n\nJohn Webster, the great exposer of shams and denouncer of superstitions\nin his day, and author of the \"_Discovery of pretended Witchcraft_,\"\nspeaking of a clear head and sound judgment as necessary to competent\nwitnesses, says:--\"They ought to be of a sound judgment, and not of a\nvitiated and distempered phantasy, nor of a melancholic constitution;\nfor these will take a bush to be a bugbear, and a black sheep to be a\ndemon; the noise of the wild swans flying high in the night, to be\nspirits; or, as they call them here in the north, 'Gabriel Ratchets;'\nthe calling of a daker hen in the meadow, to be the Whistlers; the\nhowlings of the female fox in a gill or clough for the male, to be the\ncry of fairies.\" The Gabriel Ratchets seem to be the same with the\nGerman Rachtvogel or Rachtraven. The word and the superstition are still\nknown in Lancashire, though in a sense somewhat different; for the\nGabriel Ratchets are supposed to be something like litters of puppies\nyelping in the air. Ratch is certainly a name for a dog in general (see\n_Junius, in voce_). The whistlers are supposed to be the green or\nwhistling plovers, which fly very high in the night, uttering their\ncharacteristic note. Speaking of the practices of witch-finders, Webster\nsays:--\"By such wicked means and unchristian practices, divers innocent\npersons have lost their lives; and these wicked rogues wanted not\ngreater persons (even of the ministry too) that did authorize and\nencourage them in their diabolical courses. And the like in my time\nhappened here in Lancashire, where divers, both men and women, were\naccused of supposed witchcraft, and were so unchristianly and inhumanly\nhandled, as to be stripped stark naked and laid upon tables and beds to\nbe searched for their supposed witch-marks; so barbarous and cruel acts\ndoth diabolical instigation, working upon ignorance and superstition,\nproduce.\"[117]\n\n\nSUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS IN MANCHESTER IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.\n\nAt no period in the history of Manchester was there a greater\ndisposition to believe in witchcraft, demoniacal possession, and the\noccult sciences, than at the close of the sixteenth century. The seer,\nEdward Kelly, was ranging through the country, practising the black art.\nDr. Dee, the friend and associate of this impostor, had recently\nobtained the appointment of warden of the Collegiate Church of\nManchester, by favour of his royal patroness, Queen Elizabeth, herself a\nbeliever in his astrological calculations; and the fame of the strange\ndoings [the alleged demoniacal possession of seven persons] in the\nfamily of Mr. Starkie, had spread far and wide. The new warden was\nreally a learned man, of the most inquisitive mind, addicted to chemical\npursuits, not wholly unconnected with those of alchemy, and not\naltogether detached from the practice of necromancy and magic,\nnotwithstanding his positive asseverations to the contrary, in his\npetition to King James. His life was full of vicissitudes; though\nenjoying the patronage of princes, he was always involved in\nembarrassments, and was at length obliged to relinquish his church\npreferment at Manchester, owing to the differences that existed between\nhimself and his ecclesiastical brethren. It does not appear that during\nhis residence in Lancashire he encouraged the deceptions of the\nexorcists. On the contrary he refused to become a party in the pretended\nattempt to cast out devils at Cleworth, and he strongly rebuked Hartlay,\nthe conjuror, who was afterwards executed at Lancaster for his\ndisgraceful practices.\n\n\nWELLS AND SPRINGS.\n\nWater, everywhere a prime necessity of life, is pre-eminently so in the\nhot and arid plains and stony deserts of Asia and Africa. We need not be\nsurprised, therefore, to find that in all the ancient Eastern cults and\nmythologies, springs and wells were held in reverence, as holy and\nsacred gifts to man from the Great Spirit of the universe. The great\nIndo-European tide of migration, rolling ever westward, bore on its\nbosom these graceful superstitions, which were eagerly adopted by the\nold church of Christendom; and there is scarcely an ancient well of any\nconsequence in the United Kingdom which has not been solemnly dedicated\nto some saint in the Roman Catholic calendar.\n\nWELLS NEAR LIVERPOOL.--At Wavertree, near Liverpool, is a well bearing\nthe following inscription, \"Qui non dat quod habet, d\u00e6mon infra videt:\n1414\" (Who giveth not what he hath, the devil below, seeth--or, if the\nlast word be not _videt_ but _ridet_--laughs). Tradition says that at\none period there was a cross above it, inscribed \"Deus dedit, homo\nbibit\" (God gave it, man drinks it); and that all travellers gave alms\non drinking. If they omitted to do so, a devil who was chained at the\nbottom of the well, laughed. A monastic building stood near, and the\noccupants received the contributions.[118] A well at Everton, near\nLiverpool, has the reputation of being haunted, a fratricide having been\ncommitted there; but it is not mentioned in the local history of Syer,\nwhich merely says,--\"The water for this well is procured by direct\naccess to the liquid itself, through the medium of a few stone steps: it\nis free to the public, and seldom dry.\" Being formerly in a lonely\nsituation, it was a haunt of pickpockets and other disorderly\ncharacters. It is now built over, and in a few years the short\nsubterranean passage leading to the well will be forgotten.[119]\n\nPEGGY'S WELL.--Peggy's Well is near the Ribble, in a field below Waddow\nHall, not far from Brunckerley stepping-stones, in attempting to cross\nby which several lives have been lost, when the river was swollen by a\nrapid rise, which even a day's rain will produce. These calamities, as\nwell as any other fatal accidents that occur in the neighbourhood, are\nusually attributed to Peggy, the evil spirit of the well. There is a\nmutilated stone figure by the well, which has been the subject of many\nstrange tales and apprehensions. It was placed there when turned out of\nthe house at Waddow, to allay the terrors of the domestics, who durst\nnot continue under the same roof with this mis-shapen figure. It was\nthen broken, either from accident or design, and the head, some time\nago, as is understood, was in one of the attic chambers at Waddow. Who\nPeggy of the Well was, tradition doth not inform us.\n\nThe writer of the _Pictorial History of Lancashire_ states that going to\nWaddow Hall he inquired after the headless stone statue known as \"Peg o'\nth' Well;\" and a neat, intelligent young woman, one of the domestics,\nshowed him Peggy's head on the pantry table, and the trunk by a well in\nan adjacent field. He gives the following as the substance of the\ntradition:--The old religion had been supplanted in most parts of the\ncountry, yet had left memorials of itself and its rites in no few\nplaces, nor least in those which were in the vicinity of an old Catholic\nfamily, or a monastic institution. Some such relic may Peggy have\noriginally been. The scrupulous proprietors of Waddow Hall regarded the\ninnocuous image with distrust and aversion; nor did they think\nthemselves otherwise than justified in ascribing to Peggy all the evils\nand mischances that befel in the house. If a storm struck and damaged\nthe house, Peggy was the author of the damage. If the wind whistled or\nmoaned through the ill-fitting doors and casements, it was \"Peggy at her\nwork,\" requiring to be appeased, else some sad accident was sure to\ncome. On one occasion Master Starkie--so was the host named--returned\nhome very late with a broken leg. He had been hunting that day, and,\nreport said, made too free with the ale afterwards. But, as usual, Peggy\nbore the blame: for some dissatisfaction she had waylaid the master of\nthe house and caused his horse to fall. Even this was forgiven. A short\ntime afterwards a Puritan preacher was overtaken by a fresh in the\nriver, in attempting to cross over on the stepping-stones which lay just\nabove the Hall, the very stones on which poor King Henry (VI.) was\ncaptured. Now, Mrs. Starkie had a great attachment to those preachers,\nand had indeed sent for the one in question, for him to exorcise and\ndispossess her youngest son, a boy of ten years of age, who was\ngrievously afflicted with a demon, or, as was suspected, tormented by\nPeggy. \"Why does he not come?\" asked the lady, as she sat that night in\nher best apparel, before a blazing fire and near a well-furnished table.\n\"The storm seems to get worse. Hark! heard ye no cry? Yes! there again.\nOh, if the dear man be in the river! Run all of ye to his rescue.\" In a\nfew minutes two trusty men-servants returned, panting under the huge\nweight of the dripping parson. He told his tale. \"'Tis Peg,\" she\nsuddenly exclaimed, \"at her old tricks! This way, all!\" She hurried from\nthe apartment, rushed into the garden, where Peggy stood quiet enough\nnear a spring, and with one blow of an axe, which she had seized in her\npassage, severed Peggy's head from her body.\n\nST. HELEN'S WELL IN BRINDLE.--Dr. Kuerden in one of his MSS., describing\nthe parish of Brindle in Leyland, states that \"Over against Swansey\nHouse, a little towards the hill, standeth an ancient fabric, once the\nmanor-house of Brindle, where hath been a chapel belonging to the same;\nand a little above it, a spring of very clear water, rushing straight\nupwards into the midst of a fair fountain, walled square about in stone\nand flagged in the bottom, very transparent to be seen, and a strong\nstream issuing out of the same. This fountain is called St. Ellen's\nWell, to which place the vulgar neighbouring people of the Red Letter\n[_i.e._, Roman Catholics] do much resort with pretended devotion on each\nyear upon St. Ellins-day--[St. Helen's-day is either on May 21, August\n18, or September 3, the two first being days of a queen, and the last of\nan empress saint]--where and when, out of a foolish ceremony, they offer\nor throw into the well, pins, which there being left, may be seen a long\ntime after by any visitor of the fountain.\"[120]\n\nST. HELEN'S WELL, NEAR SEFTON.--Mr. Hampson[121] notices the\nsuperstition of casting pins or pebbles into wells, and observing the\ncircles formed thereby on the surface of the agitated water, and also\nwhether the water were troubled or preserved its clearness and\ntransparency; from which appearances they drew omens or inferences as to\nfuture events. He adds: \"I have frequently seen the bottom of St.\nHelen's Well, near Sefton, Lancashire, almost covered with pins, which,\nI suppose, must have been thrown in for the like purposes.\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[101] T. T. W., in _Notes and Queries_, iii. 55.\n\n[102] P. P., in _Notes and Queries_, iii. 516.\n\n[103] _Notes and Queries_, iii. p. 516.\n\n[104] Harl. MSS. Cod. 2042, fol. 239 a.\n\n[105] Harl. MSS. Cod. 2042, fol. 239.\n\n[106] Mr. Roby derived this statement from Thomas Barritt, the\nantiquary, who in one of his MSS. writes--\"I was in company with a woman\nwho had lain with a relation of hers sick of the small-pox. During all\nthe time they had this hand lying with them every night, on purpose to\neffect a safe recovery of the afflicted person.\" Barritt does not say,\nhowever, that the recovery took place.\n\n[107] This story Mr. Roby derived from the same MSS. of Barritt, and\nalso the statement of the real crime for which Arrowsmith was executed,\nand his alleged prophecy as to the Kenyons. Barritt says the dead hand\nwas brought to Manchester about the time of the troubles in 1745, to\ncure a poor Papist lad, who came with Hill.\n\n[108] See Roby's _Traditions of Lancashire_.\n\n[109] Baines's _Lancashire_, vol. iii. p. 638.\n\n[110] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._\n\n[111] Mannex's _Hist. and Topog. of Lancashire_.\n\n[112] Baines's _History of Lancashire_, vol. iii. pp. 638-9.\n\n[113] Mannex's _History and Topography of Lancashire_.\n\n[114] From a Correspondent.\n\n[115] The _Tablet_, July 26, 1856.\n\n[116] Scarsdale.\n\n[117] Dr. Whitaker's _History of Whalley_.\n\n[118] Mr. Baines, in his _History of Lancashire_ (vol. iii. p. 760),\nsays that in Wavertree is an ancient well with a rude, unintelligible\ninscription, of the date of 1414, which is thus _charitably_ rendered by\nthe villagers:--\n\n    \"He that hath, and won't bestow,\n    The Devil will reckon with him below.\"\n\nOr,\n\n    \"He who here does not bestow,\n    The Devil laughs at him below.\"\n\n[119] \"Agmond,\" in _Notes and Queries_, vol. vi. p. 305.\n\n[120] Baines's _History of Lancashire_, vol. iii. p. 497.\n\n[121] _Medii \u00c6vi Kalendarium._\n\n\n\n\nWITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT.\n\n\nIn the lore of these subjects no county in England is richer than\nLancashire. The subject is a large one, and may even be said to include\nall the cases of demoniacal possession described in the earlier pages of\nthis volume, since all these alleged possessions were the result of\nmalice and (so-called) witchcraft. Indeed it is not easy to separate\nthese two superstitious beliefs in their practical operation; witchcraft\nbeing the supposed cause, and demoniacal possession the imagined effect.\nThe reader will find much, bearing on both branches of the subject,\nunder both titles.\n\n\nWITCHCRAFT IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.\n\nThe first distinct charge of witchcraft in any way connected with this\ncounty, is that of the wife of the good Duke Humphrey, Eleanor, Duchess\nof Gloucester, the associate of Roger Bolingbroke, the priest and\nnecromancer, and Margery Jourdain, the witch of Eye. The Duke of\nGloucester, uncle and protector to the king, having become obnoxious to\nthe predominant party, they got up in 1441 a strange prosecution. The\nDuchess of Gloucester, Eleanor, the daughter of Lord Cobham, a lady of\nhaughty carriage and ambitious mind, being attached to the prevailing\nsuperstitions of the day, was accused of the crime of witchcraft \"for\nthat she, by sorcery and enchantment, intended to destroy the king, to\nthe intent to advance and promote her husband to the crown.\"[122] It was\nalleged against her and her associates, Sir Roger Bolingbroke, a priest,\nand chaplain to the Duke, (who was addicted to astrology,) and Margery\nJourdain, the witch of Eye, that they had in their possession a wax\nfigure of the king, which they melted by a magical device before a slow\nfire, with the intention of wasting away his force and vigour by\ninsensible degrees. The imbecile mind of Henry was sensibly affected by\nthis wicked invention; and the Duchess of Gloucester, on being brought\nto trial (in St. Stephen's Chapel, before the Archbishop of Canterbury)\nand found guilty of the design to destroy the king and his ministers by\nthe agency of witchcraft, was sentenced to do public penance in three\nplaces within the city of London, and to suffer perpetual imprisonment.\nHer confederates were condemned to death and executed, Margery Jourdain\nbeing burnt to death in Smithfield. The duchess, after enduring the\nignominy of her public penance, rendered peculiarly severe by the\nexalted state from which she had fallen, was banished to the Isle of\nMan, where she was placed under the ward of Sir Thomas Stanley. On the\nway to her place of exile, she was confined for some time, first in\nLeeds Castle, and afterwards in the Castle of Liverpool;[123] the\nearliest and the noblest witch on record within the county of Lancaster.\nAnother account states that amongst those arrested as accomplices of the\nduchess were a priest and canon of St. Stephen's, Westminster, named\nSouthwell, and another priest named John Hum or Hume. Roger Bolingbroke,\nthe learned astronomer and astrologer (who died protesting his ignorance\nof all evil intentions), was drawn and quartered at Tyburn; Southwell\ndied in prison before the time of execution; and John Hum received the\nroyal pardon. The worst thing proved against the duchess was that she\nhad sought for love-philters to secure the constancy of her\nhusband.[124] Shakspere, in the _Second Part of King Henry VI._, Act 1,\nScene 4, represents the duchess, Margery Jourdain, Hume, Southwell, and\nBolingbroke, as engaged in raising an evil spirit in the Duke of\nGloucester's garden, when they are surprised and seized by the Dukes of\nYork and Buckingham and their guards. The duchess, after remaining in\nthe Isle of Man some years, was transferred to Calais, under the ward of\nSir John Steward, knight, and there died.\n\n\nTHE FAMOUS HISTORY OF THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES:\n\n    Containing the manner of their becoming such; their enchantments,\n    spells, revels, merry pranks, raising of storms and tempests, riding\n    on winds, &c. The entertainments and frolics which have happened\n    among them. With the loves and humours of Roger and Dorothy. Also, a\n    Treatise of Witches in general, conducive to mirth and recreation.\n    The like never before published.[125]\n\n    CHAPTER I.--_The Lancashire Witch's Tentation, and of the Devil's\n    appearing to her in sundry shapes, and giving her money._\n\n    Lancashire is a famous and noted place, abounding with rivers,\n    hills, woods, pastures, and pleasant towns, many of which are of\n    great antiquity. It has also been famous for witches, and the\n    strange pranks they played. Therefore, since the name of Lancashire\n    Witches has been so frequent in the mouths of old and young, and\n    many imperfect stories have been rumoured abroad, it would\n    doubtless tend to the satisfaction of the reader, to give some\n    account of them in their merry sports and pastimes.\n\n    Some time since lived one Mother Cuthbert, in a little hovel at the\n    bottom of a hill, called Wood-and-Mountain Hill, in Lancashire.\n    This woman had two lusty daughters, who both carded and spun for\n    their living, yet was very poor; which made them often repine at\n    and lament their want. One day, as Mother Cuthbert was sauntering\n    about the hill-side, picking the wool off the bushes, out started a\n    thing like a rabbit, which ran about two or three times, and then\n    changed into a hound, and afterwards into a man, which made the old\n    beldame to tremble, yet she had no power to run away. So, putting a\n    purse of money in her hand, and charging her to be there the next\n    day, he immediately vanished away, and old Mother Cuthbert returned\n    home, being somewhat disturbed between jealousy and fear.\n\nSuch is the first chapter of this marvellous story, which, it is clear,\nis a fiction based upon real narratives. It relates the witcheries of\nMother Cuthbert and her two daughters, Margery and Cicely, under the\nauspices of an arch-witch, \"Mother Grady, the Witch of Penmure\n[Penmaen-mawr] a great mountain of Wales.\" Here is \"_The Description of\na Spell._--A spell is a piece of paper written with magical characters,\nfixed in a critical season of the moon, and conjunction of the planets;\nor sometimes by repeating mystical words. Of these there are many\nsorts.\" As showing what was the popular notion as to witches, take the\nfollowing:--\"About this time great search was made after witches and\nmany were apprehended, but most of them gave the hangman and the gaoler\nthe slip; though some hold that when a witch is taken she hath no power\nto avoid justice. It happened, as some of them were going in a cart to\nbe tried, a coach passed by, in which appeared a person like a judge,\nwho, calling to one, bid her be of good comfort, for neither she nor any\nof her companions should be harmed. In that night all the prison locks\nflew open, and they made their escape; and many, when they had been cast\ninto the water for a trial, have swam like a cork. One of them boasted\nshe could go over the sea in an egg-shell. It is held on all hands they\nadore the devil, and become his bond-slaves, to have for a term of years\ntheir pleasure and revenge. And indeed many of them are more mischievous\nthan others in laming and destroying cattle, and in drowning ships at\nsea, by raising storms. But the Lancashire witches, we see, chiefly\ndivert themselves in merriment, and are therefore found to be more\nsociable than the rest.\" The closing chapter in this chap-book, contains\n\"A short description of the famous Lapland Witches.\"\n\n\nDR. DEE CHARGED WITH WITCHCRAFT.\n\nOn the usual proclamation of a general pardon, on the accession of James\nI., the crime of witchcraft was specially excepted from the general\namnesty; and the credulous King's belief in this superstition encouraged\nwitch-finders and numerous accusations in all parts of the country.\nAmongst others, it was remembered that Dr. Dee, then warden of the\nCollegiate Church of Manchester, had in the preceding reign predicted a\nfortunate day for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and had also\nundertaken to render innocuous the waxen effigy of that Queen, found in\nLincoln's Inn-fields. He was also known to have made various\npredictions, to be the possessor of a magic crystal or stone,[126] and\nto have held a close intimacy with Edward Kelly, _alias_ Talbot, a noted\nseer, conjuror and necromancer of the time. Accordingly Dr. Dee was\nformally accused of practising witchcraft, and a petition from him,\ndated 5th January, 1604, (preserved in the _Lansdowne MSS._, Cod. 161,)\npraying to be freed from this revolting imputation, even at the risk of\na trial for his life, sufficiently indicates the horror excited by the\ncharge. The doctor's petition sets forth that \"It has been affirmed that\nyour Majesty's supplicant was the conjuror belonging to the most\nhonourable privy council of your Majesty's predecessor of famous memory,\nQueen Elizabeth, and that he is, or hath been, a caller or invocator of\ndevils or damned spirits. These slanders, which have tended to his utter\nundoing, can no longer be endured; and if, on trial, he is found guilty\nof the offence imputed to him, he offers himself willingly to the\npunishment of death, yea, either to be stoned to death, or to be buried\nquick, or to be burned unmercifully.\" He seems to have escaped\nscatheless, save in reputation; and in 1594, when applied to for the\npurpose of exorcising seven demons who held possession of five females\nand two of the children of Mr. Nicholas Starkie, of Leigh, he refused to\ninterfere; advising they should call in some godly preachers, with whom\nhe would, if they thought proper, consult concerning a public or private\nfast. He also sharply reproved Hartlay, a conjuror, for his practices in\nthis case.\n\n\nTHE LANCASHIRE WITCHES.\n\n    Come, gallant sisters, come along,\n    Let's meet the devil ten thousand strong;\n    Upon the whales' and dolphins' backs,\n    Let's try to choak the sea with wracks,\n    Spring leaks, and sink them down to rights.\n              [_Line wanting._]\n    And then we'll scud away to shour,\n    And try what tricks we can play more.\n\n    Blow houses down, ye jolly dames,\n    Or burn them up in fiery flames;\n    Let's rowse up mortals from their sleep,\n    And send them packing to the deep,\n    Let's strike them dead with thunder-stones,\n    With lightning search [? scorch] to skin and bones;\n    For winds and storms, by sea and land,\n    You may dispose, you may command.\n\n    Sometimes in dismal caves we lie,\n    Or in the air aloft we flie;\n    Sometimes we caper o'er the main,\n    Thunders and lightnings we disdain;\n    Sometimes we tumble churches down,\n    And level castles with the ground;\n    We fire whole cities, and destroy\n    Whole armies, if they us annoy.\n\n    We strangle infants in the womb,\n    And raise the dead out of their tomb;\n    We haunt the palaces of kings,\n    And play such pranks and pretty things\n    And this is all our chief delight,\n    To do all mischief in despight;\n    And when we've done, to shift away,\n    Untoucht, unseen, by night or day.\n\n    When imps do * * *\n    We make them act unlucky feats;\n    In puppets' wax, sharp needles' points\n    We stick, to torture limbs and joints.\n    With frogs' and toads' most poys'nous gore\n    Our grizly limbs we 'noint all o'er,\n    And straight away, away we go,\n    Sparing no mortal, friend or foe.\n\n    We'll sell you winds, and ev'ry charm\n    Or venomous drug that may do harm;\n    For beasts or fowls we have our spells\n    Laid up in store in our dark cells;\n    For there the devils used to meet,\n    And dance with horns and cloven feet;\n    And when we've done, we frisk about,\n    And through the world play revel-rout.\n\n    We ride on cows' and horses' backs,\n    O'er lakes and rivers play nice knacks;\n    We grasp the moon and scale the sun,\n    And stop the planets as they run.\n    We kindle comets' whizzing flames,\n    And whistle for the winds by names;\n    And for our pastimes and mad freaks,\n    'Mongst stars we play at barley-breaks.[127]\n\n    We are ambassadors of state,\n    And know the mysteries of fate;\n    In Pluto's bosom there we ly,\n    To learn each mortal's destiny.\n    As oracles their fortunes show,\n    If they be born to wealth or wo,\n    The spinning Sisters' hands we guide,\n    And in all this we take a pride.\n\n    To Lapland, Finland, we do skice,\n    Sliding on seas and rocks of ice,\n    T' old beldames there, our sisters kind,\n    We do impart our hellish mind;\n    We take their seals and hands in blood\n    For ever to renounce all good.\n    And then, as they in dens do lurk,\n    We set the ugly jades a-work.\n\n    We know the treasures and the stores\n    Lock'd up in caves with brazen doors;\n    Gold and silver, sparkling stones,\n    We pile on heaps, like dead men's bones.\n    There the devils brood and hover,\n    Keep guards, that none should them discover;\n    Put upon all the coasts of hell,\n    'Tis we, 'tis we, stand sentinel.\n\n\nSUPERSTITIOUS FEAR OF WITCHCRAFT.\n\nDuring the sixteenth century whole districts in some parts of Lancashire\nseemed contaminated with the presence of witches; men and beasts were\nsupposed to languish under their charm, and the delusion which preyed\nalike on the learned and the vulgar did not allow any family to suppose\nthat they were beyond the reach of the witch's power. Was the family\nvisited by sickness? It was believed to be the work of an invisible\nagency, which in secret wasted the image made in clay before the fire,\nor crumbled its various parts into dust. Did the cattle sicken and die?\nThe witch and the wizard were the authors of the calamity. Did the yeast\nrefuse to ferment, either in the bread or the beer? It was the\nconsequence of a \"bad wish.\" Did the butter refuse to _come_? The\n\"familiar\" was in the churn. Did the ship founder at sea? The gale or\nhurricane was blown by the lungless hag who had scarcely sufficient\nbreath to cool her own pottage. Did the Ribble overflow its banks? The\nfloods descended from the congregated sisterhood at Malkin tower. The\nblight of the season, which consigned the crops of the farmer to\ndestruction, was the saliva of the enchantress, or distillations from\nthe blear-eyed dame who flew by night over the field on mischief bent.\nTo refuse an alms to a haggard mendicant, was to incur maledictions soon\nmanifest in afflictions of body, mind, and estate, in loss of cattle and\nother property, of health, and sometimes even of life itself. To escape\nfrom evils like these no sacrifice was thought too great. Superstitions\nbegat cruelty and injustice; the poor and the rich were equally\ninterested in obtaining a deliverance; and the magistrate in his\nmansion, no less than the peasant in his cot, was deeply interested in\nabating the universal affliction. The Lancashire witches were\nprincipally fortune-tellers and conjurors. The alleged securities\nagainst witchcraft were numerous, the most popular being the horse-shoe;\nhence we see in Lancashire so many thresholds ornamented with this\ncounter-charm. Under these circumstances the situation of the reputed\nwitch was not more enviable than that of the individuals or families\nover whom she exerted her influence. Linked by a species of infernal\ncompact to an imaginary imp, she was shunned as a common pest, or\ncaressed only on the same principle which leads some Indian tribes to\npay homage to the devil. The reputed witches themselves were frequently\ndisowned by their families, feared and detested by their neighbours, and\nhunted by the dogs as pernicious monsters. When apprehended they were\ncast into ponds in the belief that witches swim; so that to sink or swim\nwas almost equally perilous to them; they were punctured by bodkins to\ndiscover the witch imp or devil marks; they were subjected to hunger and\nkept in perpetual motion till confessions were obtained from a\ndistracted mind. On their trials they were listened to with incredulity\nand horror, and consigned to the gallows with as little pity as the\nbasest of malefactors. Their imaginary crimes created a thirst for their\nblood; and people of all stations, from the highest to the lowest,\nattended their trials at Lancaster with an intensity of interest that\nsuch mischievous persons, now divested of their sting, naturally\nexcited. It has been said that witchcraft and kingcraft in England came\nin and went out with the Stuarts. This is not true. The doctrine of\nnecromancy was in universal belief in the fourteenth and fifteenth\ncenturies, and there was not perhaps a man in Lancashire who doubted its\nexistence. The belief in witchcraft and in demoniacal possession was\nconfined to no particular sect or persuasion; the Roman Catholics, the\nmembers of the Church of England, the Presbyterians, Independents, and\neven the Methodists (though a sect of more recent standing) have all\nfallen into this delusion; and yet each denomination has upbraided the\nother with gross superstition, and not unfrequently with wilful fraud.\nIt is due, however, to the ministers of the Established Church to say\nthat they were among the first of our public writers to denounce the\nbelief in witchcraft with all its attendant mischiefs; and the names of\nDr. Harsnett, afterwards Archbishop of York, of Dr. John Webster (who\ndetected Robinson, the Lancashire witch-hunter), of Zach. Taylor, one of\nthe king's preachers for Lancashire, and of Dr. Hutchinson, the chaplain\nin ordinary to George I., are all entitled to the public gratitude for\ntheir efforts to explode these pernicious superstitions. For upwards of\na century the sanguinary and superstitious laws of James I. disgraced\nthe English statute-book; but in the ninth year of George II. (1735) a\nlaw was enacted repealing the statute of James I., and prohibiting any\nprosecution, suit, or proceeding against any person for witchcraft,\nsorcery, enchantment, or conjuration. In this way the doctrine of\nwitchcraft, with all its attendant errors, was finally exploded, except\namong the most ignorant of the vulgar.[128]\n\n\nA HOUSEHOLD BEWITCHED.\n\n(From the _Late Lancashire Witches_, a comedy, by Thomas Heywood.)\n\n    My Uncle has of late become the sole\n    Discourse of all the country; for a man respected\n    As master of a govern'd family;\n    The house (as if the ridge were fix'd below,\n    And groundsills lifted up to make the roof),\n    All now's turn'd topsy turvy\n    In such a retrograde, preposterous way\n    As seldom hath been heard of, I think never.\n    The good man\n    In all obedience kneels unto his Son;\n    He, with an austere brow, commands his Father.\n    The Wife presumes not in the Daughter's sight\n    Without a prepared curtsey; the Girl, she\n    Expects it as a duty, chides her mother,\n    Who quakes and trembles at each word she speaks;\n    And what's as strange, the Maid, she domineers\n    O'er her young Mistress, who is awed by her.\n    The Son, to whom the Father creeps and bends,\n    Stands in as much fear of the groom, his Man!\n    All in such rare disorder, that in some\n    As it breeds pity, and in others wonder,\n    So in the most part laughter. It is thought\n    This comes by WITCHCRAFT!\n\n\nTHE LANCASHIRE WITCHES OF 1612.\n\nKing James VI. of Scotland, in 1594 (nine years before he ascended the\nEnglish throne as James I.), wrote and published his disgracefully\ncredulous and cruel treatise, entitled \"D\u00e6monologie,\" containing\nstatements as to the making of witches, and their practice of\nwitchcraft, which, _if true_, would only prove their revealer to be deep\nin the councils of Satan, and a regular member or attendant of\nassemblages of witches. The royal witch-hater held that, as witchcraft\nis an act of treason against the prince, the evidence of barnes\n[children] or wives [weak women], or ever so defamed persons [_i.e._, of\ncharacter however infamous], may serve for sufficient witnesses against\nthem; for [he asks], who but witches can be provers, and so witnesses of\nthe doings of witches? Besides evidence, \"there are two other good helps\nthat may be used for their trial; the one is the finding of their\n_mark_, and then trying the insensibleness thereof; the other is\nfloating on the water\" [or drowning], &c. Having thus opened the door by\nadmitting the loosest evidence and the most absurd tests for the most\nunjust convictions, the royal fanatic adds, that all witches [_i.e._,\npersons thus convicted] ought to be put to death, without distinction of\nage, sex, or rank. This \"British Solomon\" ascended the English throne in\n1603, and, as might have been expected, witch-finders soon plied their\ninfamous vocation with success. The wild and desolate parts of the\nparish of Whalley furnished a fitting scene for witch assemblies, and it\nwas alleged that such meetings were held at Malkin Tower, in Pendle\nForest, within that parish. At the assizes at Lancaster in the autumn of\n1612, twenty persons, of whom sixteen were women of various ages, were\ncommitted for trial, and most of them tried for witchcraft. Their names\nwere--1. Elizabeth Southerne, widow, _alias_ \"Old Demdike\" (aged eighty\nor more); 2. Elizabeth Device [probably Davies], _alias_ \"Young\nDemdike,\" her daughter; 3. James Device, son of No. 2; 4. Alizon Device,\ndaughter of No. 2; 5. Anne Whittle, widow, _alias_ \"Chattox,\" _alias_\nChatterbox [more probably Chadwicks], the rival witch of \"Old Demdike\"\n(and, like her, eighty or more years of age); 6. Anne Redferne, daughter\nof No. 5; 7. Alice Nutter; 8. Katherine Hewytt, _alias_ \"Mould-heels;\"\n9. Jane Bulcock, of the Moss End; 10. John Bulcock, her son; 11. Isabel\nRobey; and 12. Margaret Pearson, of Padiham. No. 12 was tried first for\nmurder by witchcraft; 2nd for bewitching a neighbour; 3rd for bewitching\na horse; and, being acquitted of the two former charges, was sentenced\nfor the last to stand upon the pillory in the markets of Clitheroe,\nPadiham, Colne, and Lancaster for four successive market days, with a\nprinted paper upon her head, stating her offence. The twelve persons\nalready named were styled \"Witches of Pendle Forest.\" The following\neight were called \"Witches of Samlesbury:\"--13. Jennet Bierley; 14.\nEllen Bierley; 15. Jane Southworth; 16. John Ramsden; 17. Elizabeth\nAstley; 18. Alice Gray; 19. Isabel Sidegraves; and 20. Lawrence Haye.\nThe last four were all discharged without trial. The sensation produced\nby these trials was immense, not only in this, but throughout\nneighbouring counties, and Thomas Potts, Esq., the clerk of the court,\nwas directed by the judges of assize, Sir Edward Bromley, Knt., and Sir\nJames Altham, Knt., to collect and publish the evidence and other\ndocuments connected with the trial, under the revision of the judges\nthemselves; and Potts's \"Discovery of Witches,\" originally published in\n1613, has been reprinted by the Chetham Society (vol. vi.), under the\neditorship of its president, Mr. James Crossley, F.S.A. According to\nPotts, Old Mother Demdike, the principal actress in the tragedy, was a\ngeneral agent for the devil in all these parts; no man escaping her or\nher furies that ever gave them occasion of offence, or denied them\nanything they stood in need of. The justices of the peace in this part\nof the country, Roger Nowell and Nicholas Bannister, having learned that\nMalkin Tower [Malkin is a north-country name for a hare], in the Forest\nof Pendle, the residence of Old Demdike and her daughter, was the resort\nof the witches, ventured to arrest their head and another of her\nfollowers, and to commit them to Lancaster Castle. Amongst the rest of\nthe voluntary confessions made by the witches, that of Dame Demdike is\npreserved. She confessed that, about twenty years ago, as she was coming\nhome from begging, she was met near Gould's Hey, in the forest of\nPendle, by a spirit or devil in the shape of a boy, the one half of his\ncoat black and the other brown, who told her to stop, and said that if\nshe would give him her soul, she should have anything she wished for.\nShe asked his name, and was told _Tib_. She consented, from the hope of\ngain, to give him her soul. For several years she had no occasion to\nmake any application to her evil spirit; but one Sunday morning, having\na little child upon her knee, and she being in a slumber, the spirit\nappeared to her in the likeness of a brown dog, and forced himself upon\nher knee, and begun to suck her blood under her left arm, on which she\nexclaimed, \"Jesus! save me!\" and the brown dog vanished, leaving her\nalmost stark mad for eight weeks. On another occasion she was led, being\nblind, to the house of Richard Baldwyn, to obtain payment for the\nservices her daughter had performed at his mill, when Baldwyn fell into\na passion, and bid them to get off his ground, calling them w----s and\nwitches, and saying he would burn the one and hang the other. On this,\n_Tib_ appeared, and they concerted matters to revenge themselves on\nBaldwyn; how, is not stated. This poor mendicant pretender to the powers\nof witchcraft, in her examination stated that the surest way of taking a\nman's life by witchcraft is to make a picture of clay, like unto the\nshape of the person meant to be killed, and when they would have the\nobject of their vengeance suffer in any particular part of his body, to\ntake a thorn or pin and prick it into that part of the effigy; and when\nthey would have any of the body to consume away, then to burn that part\nof the figure; and when they would have the whole body to consume, then\nto burn the clay image; by which means the afflicted will die. The\nsubstance of the examinations of the so-called witches and others, may\nbe given as follows:--Old Demdike persuaded her daughter, Elizabeth\nDevice, to sell herself to the devil, which she did, and in turn\ninitiated her daughter, Alizon Device, in these infernal arts. When the\nold witch had been sent to Lancaster Castle, a grand convocation of\nseventeen witches and three wizards was held at Malkin Tower on Good\nFriday, at which it was determined to kill Mr. M'Covell, the governor of\nthe castle, and to blow up the building, to enable the witches to make\ntheir escape. The other two objects of this convocation were to christen\nthe familiar of Alizon Device, one of the witches in the castle, and\nalso to bewitch and murder Mr. Lister, a gentleman of Westby-in-Craven,\nYorkshire. The business being ended, the witches, in quitting the\nmeeting, walked out of the barn, named Malkin Tower, in their proper\nshapes, but on reaching the door, each mounted his or her spirit, which\nwas in the form of a young horse, and quickly vanished. Before the\nassizes, Old Demdike, worn out by age and trouble, died in prison. The\nothers were brought to trial. The first person arraigned before Sir\nEdward Bromley, who presided in the criminal court, was Ann Whittle,\n_alias_ \"Chattox,\" who is described by Potts as a very old, withered,\nspent, and decrepit creature, eighty years of age, and nearly blind, a\ndangerous witch, of very long countenance, always opposed to Old\nDemdike, for whom the one favoured, the other hated deadly, and they\naccused each other in their examinations. This witch was more\nmischievous to men's goods than to themselves; her lips ever chattered\nas she walked (hence, probably, her name of Chattox or Chatterbox), but\nno one knew what she said. Her abode was in the Forest of Pendle,\namongst the company of other witches, where the woollen trade was\ncarried on, she having been in her younger days a wool-carder. She was\nindicted for having exercised various wicked and devilish arts called\nwitchcrafts, enchantments, charms and sorceries, upon one Robert Nutter,\nof Greenhead, in the Forest of Pendle, and with having, by force\nthereof, feloniously killed him. To establish this charge her own\nexamination was read, from which it appeared that fourteen or fifteen\nyears ago, a thing like \"a Christian man\" had importuned her to sell her\nsoul to the devil, and that she had done so, giving to her familiar the\nname of _Fancy_. On account of an insult offered to her daughter,\nRedfern, by Robert Nutter, they two conspired to place a bad wish upon\nNutter, of which he died. It was further deposed against her that John\nDevice had agreed to give Old Chattox a dole of meal yearly if she would\nnot hurt him, and that when he ceased to make this annual tribute, he\ntook to his bed and died. She was further charged with having bewitched\nthe drink of John Moore, and also with having, without using the churn,\nproduced a quantity of butter from a dish of skimmed milk! In the face\nof this evidence, and no longer anxious about her own life, she\nacknowledged her guilt, but humbly prayed the judges to be merciful to\nher daughter, Anne Redfern; but her prayer was in vain. Against\nElizabeth Device, the testimony of her own daughter, a child nine years\nof age, was received; and the way in which her evidence was given,\ninstead of filling the court with horror, seems to have excited their\napplause and admiration. Her familiar had the form of a dog and was\ncalled _Bull_, and by his agency she bewitched to death John and James\nRobinson and James Mitton; the first having called her a strumpet, and\nthe last having refused to give Old Demdike a penny when she asked him\nfor charity. To render her daughter proficient in the art, the prisoner\ntaught her two prayers, by one of which she cured the bewitched, and by\nthe other procured drink. The person of Elizabeth Device, as described\nby Potts, seems witch-like. \"She was branded (says he) with a\npreposterous mark in nature; her left eye standing lower than her right;\nthe one looking down and the other up at the same time.\" Her process of\ndestruction was by modelling clay or marl figures, and wasting her\nvictims away along with them. James Device was convicted principally on\nthe evidence of his child-sister, of bewitching and killing Mrs. Ann\nTowneley, the wife of Mr. Henry Towneley, of the Carr, by means of a\npicture of clay; and both he and his sister were witnesses against their\nmother. This wizard (James Device), whose spirit was called _Dandy_, is\ndescribed as a poor, decrepit boy, apparently of weak intellect, and so\ninfirm, that it was found necessary to hold him up in court on his\ntrial.\n\nUpon evidence of this kind no fewer than ten of these unfortunate people\nwere found guilty at Lancaster, and sentenced to suffer death. Eight\nothers were acquitted; why, it is not easy to see, for the evidence\nappears to have been equally strong, or rather equally weak and absurd,\nagainst all. The ten persons sentenced were--Ann Whittle _alias_\n\"Chattox,\" Elizabeth Device, James Device, Anne Redfern, Alice Nutter,\nCatherine Hewytt, John Bulcock, Jane Bulcock, Alizon Device, and Isabel\nRobey.\n\nThe judge, Sir Edward Bromley, in passing sentence on the convicted\nprisoners, said, \"You, of all people, have the least cause of complaint;\nsince on the trial for your lives there hath been much care and pains\ntaken; and what persons of your nature and condition were ever arraigned\nand tried with so much solemnity? The court hath had great care to\nreceive nothing in evidence against you but matter of fact(!)[129] As\nyou stand simply (your offence and bloody practices not considered)\nyour fate would rather move compassion than exasperate any man; for whom\nwould not the ruin of so many poor creatures at one time touch, as in\nappearance simple, and of little understanding? But the blood of these\ninnocent children, and others his Majesty's subjects whom cruelly and\nbarbarously you have murdered and cut off, cries unto the Lord for\nvengeance. It is impossible that you, who are stained with so much\ninnocent blood, should either prosper or continue in this world, or\nreceive reward in the next.\" Having thus shut the door of hope, both as\nto this life and the future, the judge proceeded to urge the wretched\nvictims of superstition to repentance! and concluded by sentencing them\nall to be hanged. They were executed at Lancaster on the 20th of August,\n1612, for having bewitched to death \"by devilish practices and hellish\nmeans\" no fewer than sixteen inhabitants of the Forest of Pendle. These\nwere, 1. Robert Nutter, of Greenhead. 2. Richard Assheton, son of\nRichard Assheton, Esq., of Downham. 3. A child of Richard Baldwin, of\nWesthead, in the Forest of Pendle. 4. John Device, or Davies, of Pendle.\n5. Ann Nutter, daughter of Anthony Nutter, of Pendle. 6. A child of John\nMoor, of Higham. 7. Hugh Moor, of Pendle. 8. John Robinson, _alias_\nSwyer. 9. James Robinson. 10. Henry Mytton, of Rough Lee. 11. Ann\nTowneley, wife of Henry Towneley, of Carr Hall, gentleman. 12. John\nDuckworth. 13. John Hargreaves, of Goldshaw Booth. 14. Blaize\nHargreaves, of Higham. 15. Christopher Nutter. 16. Ann Folds, near\nColne. John Law, a pedlar, was also bewitched, so as to lose the use of\nhis limbs, by Alizon Device, because he refused to give her some pins\nwithout money, when requested to do so by her on his way from Colne.\nAlizon Device herself _was a beggar by profession_, and the evidence\nsufficiently proved that Law's affliction was nothing more than what\nwould now be termed paralysis of the lower extremities.\n\nIn his _Introduction_ to _Potts's Discovery of Witches_, Mr. Crossley\nobserves that \"the main interest in reviewing this miserable band of\nvictims will be felt to centre in Alice Nutter. Wealthy, well conducted,\nwell connected, and placed probably on an equality with most of the\nneighbouring families, and the magistrate before whom she was brought\nand by whom she was committed, she deserves to be distinguished from the\ncompanions with whom she suffered, and to attract an attention which has\nnever yet been directed to her. That James Device, on whose evidence she\nwas convicted, was instructed to accuse her by her own nearest\nrelatives, and that the magistrate, Roger Nowell, entered actively as a\nconfederate into the conspiracy, from a grudge entertained against her\non account of a long-disputed boundary, are allegations which tradition\nhas preserved, but the truth or falsehood of which, at this distance of\ntime, it is scarcely possible satisfactorily to examine. Her mansion,\nRough Lee, is still standing, a very substantial and rather fine\nspecimen of the houses of the inferior gentry, _temp._ James I., but now\ndivided into cottages.\"\n\n\nTHE SAMLESBURY WITCHES.\n\nThe trials of these persons took place at the same assizes, and before\nthe same judge. Against Jane and Ellen Bierley and Jane Southworth, all\nof Samlesbury, charged with having bewitched Grace Sowerbutts there, the\nonly material evidence was that of Grace Sowerbutts herself, a girl of\nlicentious and vagrant habits, who swore that these women (one of them\nbeing her grandmother), did draw her by the hair of the head and lay her\nupon the top of a hay-mow, and did take her senses and memory from her;\nthat they appeared to her sometimes in their own likeness, and sometimes\nlike a black dog. She declared that they by their arts had induced her\nto join their sisterhood; and that they were met from time to time by\n\"four black things going upright and yet not like men in the face,\" who\nconveyed them across the Ribble, where they danced with them, &c. The\nprisoners were also charged with bewitching and slaying a child of\nThomas Walshman's, by placing a nail in its navel; and after its burial,\nthey took up the corpse, when they ate part of the flesh, and made an\n\"_unxious_ ointment\" by boiling the bones. This was more than even the\ncapacious credulity of the judge and jury could digest. The Samlesbury\nwitches were, therefore, acquitted, and a seminary priest named Thompson\n_alias_ Southworth, was suspected by two of the county magistrates [the\nRev. William Leigh and Edward Chisnall, Esq.,] to whom the affair was\nafterwards referred, of having instigated Sowerbutts to make the charge;\nbut this imputation was not supported by any satisfactory evidence.\n\n\nWITCHCRAFT AT MIDDLETON.\n\nAbout 1630, a man named Utley, a reputed wizard, was tried, found\nguilty, and hanged, at Lancaster, for having bewitched to death,\nRichard, the son of Ralph Assheton, Esq., of Downham, and Lord of\nMiddleton.[130]\n\n\nWITCHCRAFT IN 1633-34.\n\nIn 1633, a number of poor and ignorant people, inhabitants of Pendle\nForest, or the neighbourhood, were apprehended, upon the information of\na boy named Edmund Robinson, and charged with witchcraft. The following\nis a copy of Robinson's deposition:--\n\n    \"The examination of Edmund Robinson, son of Edmund Robinson, of\n    Pendle Forest, mason, taken at Padiham, before Richard Shuttleworth\n    [of Gawthorpe, Esq., then forty-seven or forty-eight] and John\n    Starkie, Esq. [one of the seven demoniacs of Cleworth, in 1595] two\n    of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, within the county of\n    Lancaster, 10th of February, A.D. 1633 [1634]. Who informeth upon\n    oath (being examined concerning the great outrages of the witches),\n    and saith, that upon All Saints' Day last past [Nov. 1, 1633], he,\n    this informer, being with one Henry Parker, a next door neighbour to\n    him, in Wheatley-lane, desired the said Parker to give him leave to\n    get some bulloes [? bullace], which he did. In which time of getting\n    bulloes, he saw two greyhounds, viz., a black and a brown one, come\n    running over the next field towards him; he verily thinking the one\n    of them to be Mr. Nutter's, and the other to be Mr. Robinson's, the\n    said Mr. Nutter and Mr. Robinson having then such like. And the said\n    greyhounds came to him and fawned on him, they having about their\n    necks either of them a collar, and to either of which collars was\n    tied a string, which collars, as this informant affirmeth, did shine\n    like gold; and he thinking that some either of Mr. Nutter's or Mr.\n    Robinson's family should have followed them, but seeing nobody to\n    follow them, he took the said greyhounds, thinking to hunt with\n    them, and presently a hare rise [rose] very near before him, at the\n    sight of which he cried 'Loo! loo!' but the dogs would not run.\n    Whereupon being very angry he took them, and with the strings that\n    were at their collars, tied either of them to a little bush on the\n    next hedge, and with a rod that he had in his hand he beat them. And\n    instead of the black greyhound, one Dickonson wife stood up (a\n    neighbour), whom this informer knoweth; and instead of the brown\n    greyhound a little boy, whom this informer knoweth not. At which\n    sight this informer being afraid, endeavoured to run away, but being\n    stayed by the woman, viz., by Dickonson's wife, she put her hand\n    into her pocket and pulled out a piece of silver much like to a fair\n    shilling, and offered to give him to hold his tongue, and not to\n    tell, which he refused, saying, 'Nay, thou art a witch.' Whereupon\n    she put her hand into her pocket again, and pulled out a string like\n    unto a bridle, that jingled, which she put upon the little boy's\n    head that stood up in the brown greyhound's stead; whereupon the\n    said boy stood up a white horse. Then immediately the said\n    Dickonson's wife took this informer before her upon the said horse\n    and carried him to a new house called Hoare-stones, being about a\n    quarter of a mile off; whither when they were come there were divers\n    persons about the door, and he saw divers others come riding upon\n    horses of several colours towards the said house, which tied their\n    horses to a hedge near to the said house, and which persons went\n    into the said house, to the number of three score or thereabouts, as\n    this informer thinketh, where they had a fire and meat roasting,\n    and some other meat stirring in the house, whereof a young woman,\n    whom he, this informer, knoweth not, gave him flesh and bread upon a\n    trencher, and drink in a glass, which, after the first taste, he\n    refused, and would have no more, and said it was nought. And\n    presently after, seeing divers of the company going to a barn\n    adjoining, he followed after, and there he saw six of them kneeling,\n    and pulling at six several ropes, which were fastened or tied to the\n    top of the house, at or with which pulling came then in this\n    informer's sight flesh smoking, butter in lumps, and milk as it were\n    syling [skimming or straining] from the said ropes, all which fell\n    into basins which were placed under the said ropes. And after that\n    these six had done, there came other six, which did likewise; and\n    during all the time of their so pulling, they made such foul faces\n    that feared this informer, so as he was glad to steal out and run\n    home; whom, when they wanted, some of their company came running\n    after him, near to a place in a highway called Boggard-hole, where\n    this informer met two horsemen, at the sight whereof the said\n    persons left following him; and the foremost of which persons that\n    followed him, he knoweth to be one Loynd wife, which said wife,\n    together with one Dickonson wife, and one Janet Davies, he hath seen\n    at several times in a croft or close adjoining to his father's\n    house, which put him in a great fear. And further this informer\n    saith, upon Thursday after New Year's Day last past, he saw the said\n    Loynd wife sitting upon a cross piece of wood being near the chimney\n    of his father's dwelling-house: and he, calling to her, said, 'Come\n    down, thou Loynd wife,' and immediately the said Loynd wife went up\n    out of his sight. And further, this informer saith, that after he\n    was come from the company aforesaid to his father's house, being\n    towards evening, his father bade him go fetch home two kine to seal\n    [cows to yoke], and in the way, in a field called the Ollers\n    [_i.e._, Alders,] he chanced to hap upon a boy who began to quarrel\n    with him, and they fought so together till this informer had his\n    ears made very bloody by fighting; and looking down, he saw the boy\n    had a cloven foot, at which sight he was afraid, and ran away from\n    him to seek the kine. And in the way he saw a light like a lantern,\n    towards which he made haste, supposing it to be carried by some of\n    Mr. Robinson's people; but when he came to the place he only found a\n    woman standing on a bridge, whom, when he saw her, he knew to be\n    Loynd wife, and knowing her he turned back again, and immediately he\n    met with the aforesaid boy, from whom he offered to run; which boy\n    gave him a blow on the back, which caused him to cry. And he further\n    saith, that when he was in the barn, he saw three women take three\n    pictures from off the beam, in the which pictures many thorns, or\n    such like things, sticked; and that Loynd wife took one of the said\n    pictures down; but the other two women that took the other two\n    pictures down he knoweth not. And being further asked what persons\n    were at the meeting aforesaid, he nominated these persons hereafter\n    mentioned; viz., Dickonson wife, Henry Priestly wife and her son,\n    Alice Hargreaves, widow, Jennet Davies, William Davies, the wife of\n    Henry Jacks and her son John, James Hargreaves of Marsden, Miles\n    wife of Dicks, James wife, Saunders as he believes, Lawrence wife of\n    Saunders, Loynd wife, Boys wife of Barrowford, one Holgate and his\n    wife as he believes, Little Robin wife of Leonards of the West\n    Close.\n\n    \"Edmund Robinson of Pendle, father of the said Edmund Robinson, the\n    aforesaid informer, upon oath saith, that upon All Saints' Day he\n    sent his son, the aforesaid informer, to fetch home two kine to\n    seal, and saith that he thought his son stayed longer than he\n    should have done, and went to seek him; and in seeking him heard\n    him cry very pitifully, and found him so afraid and distracted,\n    that he neither knew his father, nor did know where he was, and so\n    continued very near a quarter of an hour before he came to himself;\n    and he told this informer his father all the particular passages\n    that are before declared in the said Edmund Robinson his son's\n    information.\"\n\nUpon such evidence as the above, these poor creatures, chiefly women and\nchildren, were committed by the two magistrates named, to Lancaster\nCastle, for trial. On their trials at the assizes, a jury, doubtless\nfull of prejudice and superstitious fear, found seventeen of them\nguilty. The judge respited the convicts and reported the case to the\nking in council. They were next remitted to the Bishop of Chester (Dr.\nBridgeman), who certified his opinion of the case, which, however, does\nnot appear. Subsequently, four of these poor women, Margaret Johnson,\nFrances Dickonson, Mary Spencer, and the wife of one of the\nHargreaveses, were sent for to London, and examined, first by the king's\nphysicians and surgeons, and afterwards by Charles I. in person. The\nstrangest part of this sad story of superstition is that one of the\nfour, who underwent examination before the magistrates, trial before \"my\nlords the king's justices,\" a sifting question by the Right Rev. the\nLord Bishop of Chester, aided, probably, by his chancellor, archdeacons,\nchaplains, proctors, &c., next before the lords of his majesty's privy\ncouncil, and lastly, before his sacred majesty the king himself, whose\nvery touch would remove the king's evil,--one of these four women,\ndoubtless after much badgering, bullying, and artful questioning,\nactually made a confession of her guilt as a witch. When this was made\nit does not appear; but here is the confession as preserved in\nDodsworth's Collection of MSS., vol. lxi. p. 47:--\n\n    \"THE CONFESSION OF MARGARET JOHNSON.--That betwixt seven and eight\n    years since, she being in her own house in Marsden in a great\n    passion of anger and discontent, and withal pressed with some want,\n    there appeared unto her a spirit or devil in the proportion or\n    similitude of a man, apparelled in a suit of black, tied about with\n    silk points; who offered that if she would give him her soul he\n    would supply all her wants, and bring to her whatsoever she did\n    need; and at her appointment would in revenge either kill or hurt\n    whom or what she desired, were it man or beast. And saith, that\n    after a solicitation or two, she contracted and covenanted with the\n    said devil for her soul. And that the said devil or spirit bade her\n    call him by the name of Mamilian; and when she would have him do\n    anything for her, call in 'Mamilian,' and he would be ready to do\n    her will. And saith, that in all her talk and confidence she calleth\n    her said devil, 'Mamil, my God.' She further saith that the said\n    Mamilian, her devil (by her consent) did abuse and defile * * * And\n    saith that she was not at the great meeting at Hoare-stones, at the\n    Forest of Pendle, upon All Saints' Day, where * * * But saith she\n    was at a second meeting the Sunday next after All Saints' Day, at\n    the place aforesaid, where there was at the time between thirty and\n    forty witches, who did all ride to the said meeting, and the end of\n    the meeting was to consult for the killing and hurting of men and\n    beasts. And that besides their private familiars or spirits, there\n    was one great or grand devil or spirit, more eminent than the rest.\n    And if any desire to have a great and more wonderful devil, whereby\n    they may have more power to hurt, they may have one such. And saith\n    that such witches as have sharp bones given them by the devil to\n    prick them, have no paps or dugs whereon the devil may suck; but the\n    devil receiveth blood from the place pricked with the bone; and they\n    are more grand witches than any that have marks. She also saith,\n    that if a witch had but one mark, she hath but one spirit; if two,\n    then two spirits; if three, yet but two spirits. And saith that\n    their spirits usually have keeping of their bodies. And being\n    desired to name such as she knew to be witches, she named, &c. And\n    if they would torment a man, they bid their spirit go and torment\n    him in any particular place. And that Good Friday is one constant\n    day for a yearly general meeting of witches, and that on Good Friday\n    last they had a meeting near Pendle water-side. She also saith that\n    men witches usually have women spirits, and women witches men\n    spirits. And their devil or spirit gives them notice of their\n    meeting, and tells them the place where it must be. And saith, if\n    they desire to be in any place upon a sudden their devil or spirit\n    will, upon a rod, dog, or anything else, presently convey them\n    thither; yea, into any room of a man's house. But she saith, it is\n    not the substance of their bodies, but their spirit [that] assumeth\n    such form and shape as go into such rooms. She also saith that the\n    devil (after he begins to suck) will make a pap or dug in a short\n    time, and the matter which he sucks is blood. And saith that their\n    devils can cause foul weather and storms, and so did at their\n    meetings. She also saith that when her devil did come to suck her\n    pap, he usually came to her in the likeness of a cat, sometimes of\n    one colour and sometimes of another. And that since this trouble\n    befel her, her spirit hath left her, and she never saw him since.\"\n\nOne cannot read this farrago of revolting absurdities without\ninstinctively feeling that no uneducated woman could have dictated it;\nthat it must have been prepared and dressed up for her to attach her\nmark, and that all she did was to make the cross to it, in fear,\nperadventure, of impending tortures. It is at least satisfactory to know\nthat all these examinations of the poor women by legal, ecclesiastic,\nand regal authorities had a beneficial result. Strong presumption was\nafforded that the chief witness, the boy Robinson, had been suborned to\naccuse the prisoners falsely; and they were accordingly discharged. The\nboy afterwards confessed that he was suborned. The story excited, at the\ntime, so much interest in the public, that in the following year, 1634,\nwas acted and published a play entitled \"The Witches of Lancashire,\"\nwhich Steevens cites in illustration of Shakspeare's witches. _Dr.\nWhitaker's Whalley._ [Reference is probably made here to Heywood and\nBroome's play of \"The late Lancashire Witches\" (London, 1634, quarto).\nThere was a much later play entitled \"The Lancashire Witches,\" by\nShadwell (London, 1682)].\n\n\nTHE LANCASHIRE WITCHES OF 1633-4.\n\nSir Wm. Pelham writes, May 16, 1634, to Lord Conway:--\"The greatest news\nfrom the country is of a huge pack of witches, which are lately\ndiscovered in Lancashire, whereof, 'tis said, 19 are condemned, and that\nthere are at least 60 already discovered, and yet daily there are more\nrevealed: there are divers of them of good ability, and they have done\nmuch harm. I hear it is suspected that they had a hand in raising the\ngreat storm, wherein his Majesty [Charles I.] was in so great danger at\nsea in Scotland.\" The original is in the State Paper Office.[131]\n\n\nLANCASHIRE WITCH-FINDERS.\n\nDr. Webster, in his \"Display of Witchcraft,\" depicts the consternation\nand alarm amongst the old and decrepit, from the machinations of the\nwitch-finders. Of the boy Robinson, who was a witness on several trials\nof witches, he says--\"This said boy was brought into the church at\nKildwick [in Yorkshire, on the confines of Lancashire], a large parish\nchurch, where I, being then curate there, was preaching in the\nafternoon, and was set upon a stool to look about him, which moved some\nlittle disturbance in the congregation for a while. After prayers, I\nenquired what the matter was: the people told me that it was the boy\nthat discovered witches; upon which I went to the house where he was to\nstay all night, and here I found him and two very unlikely persons, that\ndid conduct him and manage the business. I desired to have some\ndiscourse with the boy in private, but that they utterly refused. Then,\nin the presence of a great many people, I took the boy near me and said:\n'Good boy, tell me truly and in earnest, didst thou see and hear such\nstrange things at the meeting of witches as is reported by many thou\ndidst relate?' But the two men, not giving the boy leave to answer, did\npluck him from me, and said he had been examined by two _able_ justices\nof the peace, and _they did never ask him such a question_. To whom I\nreplied, the persons accused had therefore the more wrong.\" Dr. Webster\nsubsequently adds, that \"The boy Robinson, in more mature years,\nacknowledged that he had been instructed and suborned to make these\naccusations against the accused persons, by his father and others, and\nthat, of course, the whole was a fraud. By such wicked means and\nunchristian practices, divers innocent persons lost their lives; and\nthese wicked rogues wanted not greater persons (even of the ministry\ntoo) that did authorise and encourage them in their diabolical courses;\nand the like in my time happened here in Lancashire, where divers, both\nmen and women, were accused of supposed witchcraft, and were so\nunchristianly and inhumanly handled, as to be stript stark naked, and\nlaid upon tables and beds to be searched for their supposed witch-marks;\nso barbarous and cruel acts doth diabolical instigation, working upon\nignorance and superstition, produce.\"\n\n\nTHE FOREST OF PENDLE--THE HAUNT OF THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES.\n\nThe Forest of Pendle is a portion of the greater one of\n\"Blackburnshire,\" and is so called from the celebrated mountain of that\nname, over the declivity of which it extends, and stretches in a long\nbut interrupted descent of five miles to the Water of Pendle, a barren\nand dreary tract. Dr. Whitaker observes of this and the neighbouring\nforests, and the remark even yet holds good, \"that they still bear the\nmarks of original barrenness and recent cultivation; that they are still\ndistinguished from the ancient freehold tracts around them, by want of\nold houses, old woods, high fences (for these were forbidden by the\nforest laws); by peculiarities of dialect and manners in their\ninhabitants; and lastly, by a general air of poverty which all the\nopulence of manufactures cannot remove.\" He considers that \"at an\nuncertain period during the occupancy of the Lacies, the first principle\nof population (in these forests) commenced;\" it was found that these\nwilds, bleak and barren as they were, might be occupied to some\nadvantage in breeding young and depasturing lean \"cattle, which were\nafterwards fattened in the lower domain. _Vaccaries_, or great upland\npastures, were laid out for this purpose; _booths_ or mansions erected\nupon them for the residence of herdsmen; and at the same time that herds\nof deer were permitted to range at large as heretofore, _lawnds_, by\nwhich are meant parks within a forest, were enclosed, in order to chase\nthem with greater facility, or by confinement to produce fatter venison.\nOf these lawnds Pendle had New and Old Lawnd, with the contiguous Park\nof Ightenhill.\" In the early part of the 17th century the inhabitants of\nthis district must have been, with few exceptions, a wretchedly poor and\nuncultivated race, having little communication with the occupants of the\nmore fertile regions around them, and in whose minds superstition, even\nyet unextinguished, must have had absolute and uncontrollable\ndomination. Under the disenchanting influence of steam, still much of\nthe old character of its population remains. The \"parting genius\" of\nsuperstition still clings to the hoary hill tops and rugged slopes and\nmossy water sides, along which the old forest stretched its length, and\nthe voices of ancestral tradition are still heard to speak from the\ndepth of its quiet hollows, and along the course of its gurgling\nstreams. He who visits Pendle will find that charms are yet generally\nresorted to amongst the lower classes; that there are hares which, in\ntheir persuasion, never can be caught, and which survive only to baffle\nand confound the huntsman; that each small hamlet has its peculiar and\ngifted personage, whom it is dangerous to offend; that the wise man and\nwoman (the white witches of our ancestors) still continue their\ninvestigations of truth, undisturbed by the rural police or the progress\nof the schoolmaster; that each locality has its haunted house; that\napparitions still walk their ghostly rounds,--and little would his\nreputation for piety avail that clergyman in the eyes of his\nparishioners, who should refuse to lay those \"extravagant and erring\nspirits,\" when requested, by those liturgic ceremonies which the\northodoxy of tradition requires. In the early part of the reign of James\nI., and at the period when his execrable statute against witchcraft\nmight have been sharpening its appetite by a temporary fast for the full\nmeal of blood by which it was eventually glutted--for as yet it could\ncount no recorded victims--two wretched old women with their families\nresided in the Forest of Pendle. Their names were Elizabeth Southernes\nand Ann Whittle, better known, perhaps, in the chronicles of witchcraft\nby the appellations of Old Demdike and Old Chattox [perhaps, Chadwick].\nBoth had attained, or reached the verge of the advanced age of eighty,\nand were evidently in a state of extreme poverty, subsisting with their\nfamilies by occasional employment, by mendicancy, but principally,\nperhaps, by the assumption of that unlawful power which commerce with\nspirits of evil was supposed to procure, and of which their sex, life,\nappearance, and peculiarities might seem to the prejudiced neighbourhood\nin the Forest to render them not unsuitable depositaries.[132]\n\n[For the details of the witchcraft alleged to be practised by these old\ncrones and their families, with their trials and fate, see an article\n(page 185 _supr\u00e2_) in the present volume, entitled \"The Lancashire\nWitches of 1612.\"]\n\n\nPENDLE HILL AND ITS WITCHES.\n\n(From Rev. Richard James's _Iter Lancastrense_.)\n\n            \"Penigent, Pendle Hill, and Ingleborough,\n    Three such hills be not in all England thorough.\"[133]\n\n    I long to climb up Pendle[134]: Pendle stands\n    Round cop, surveying all the wild moor lands,\n    And Malkin's Tower,[135] a little cottage, where\n    Report makes caitiff witches meet, to swear\n    Their homage to the devil, and contrive\n    The deaths of men and beasts. Let who will dive\n    Into this baneful search, I wonder much\n    If judges' sentence with belief on such\n    Doth pass: then sure, they would not for lewd gain\n    Bad clients favour, or put good to pain\n    Of long pursuit; for terror of the fiend\n    Or love of God, they would give causes end\n    With equal justice. Yet I do confess\n    Needs must strange fancies poor old wives possess,\n    Who in those desert, misty moors do live,\n    Hungry and cold, and scarce see priest to give\n    Them ghostly counsel. Churches far do stand\n    In laymen's hands, and chapels have no land\n    To cherish learned curates,[136] though Sir John\n    Do preach for four pounds unto Haslingden.\n    Such yearly rent, with right of begging corn,\n    Makes John a sharer in my Lady's horn:\n    He drinks and prays, and forty years this life\n    Leading at home, keeps children and a wife.[137]\n    These are the wonders of our careless days:\n    Small store serves him who for the people prays.\n\n\nWITCHCRAFT ABOUT 1654.\n\nDr. Webster, in his _Display of Witchcraft_, dated February 23, 1673,\nmentions two cases somewhat vaguely, in the following terms:--\"I myself\nhave known two supposed witches to be put to death at Lancaster, within\nthese eighteen years [_i.e._, between 1654 and 1673] that did utterly\ndeny any league or covenant with the devil, or even to have seen any\nvisible devil at all; and may not the confessions of those (who both\ndied penitent) be as well credited as the confessions of those that were\nbrought to such confessions by force, fraud, or cunning persuasion and\nallurement?\"\n\n\nA LIVERPOOL WITCH IN 1667.\n\nIn the MS. _Rental of Sir Edward More_ (p. 62), dated in the year 1667,\nit is gravely recorded that one of his tenants residing in\nCastle-street, Liverpool, was a witch, descended from a witch, and\ninheriting the faculty of witchcraft in common with her maiden\nsister:--\"Widow Bridge, a poor old woman, her own sister Margaret Ley,\nbeing arraigned for a witch, confessed she was one, and when she was\nasked how long she had so been, replied, since the death of her mother,\nwho died thirty years agone, and at her decease she had nothing to leave\nher and this widow Bridge, that were sisters, but her two spirits, and\nnamed then the elder spirit to this widow, and the other spirit to her,\nthe said Margaret Ley. God bless me and all mine from such legacies.\nAmen.\"[138]\n\n\nTHE WITCH OF SINGLETON.\n\nThe village of Singleton [in the Fylde] is remarkable only for having\nbeen the residence of \"Mag Shelton,\" a famous witch in her day. Her\nfood, we are told, was _haggis_ (at that time commonly used in the\ndistrict) made of boiled groats, mixed with thyme or parsley. Many are\nthe wild tales related of her dealings in the black art. The cows of her\nneighbours were constantly milked by her; the pitcher in which she\nconveyed the stolen milk away, walking before her in the shape of a\ngoose. Under this disguise her depredations were carried on till a\nneighbour, suspecting the trick, struck the seeming goose, and lo!\nimmediately it was changed into a broken pitcher, and the vaccine liquor\nflowed. Once only was this witch foiled by a powerful spell, the\ncontrivance of a maiden, who, having seated her in a chair, before a\nlarge fire, and stuck a bodkin, crossed with two weaver's healds, about\nher person, thus fixed her irremovably to her seat.[139]\n\n\nWITCHCRAFT AT CHOWBENT IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.\n\nIn the beginning of this [the eighteenth] century, one Katherine\nWalkden, an old woman of the township of Atherton, Chowbent, was\ncommitted to Lancaster as a witch. She was examined at Hulton Hall,\nwhere the magistrate then resided, by a jury of matrons, by whom a\nprivate teat was discovered, and upon this and other evidence (I suppose\nof equal importance) her _mittimus_ was made out, but she died in gaol\nbefore the ensuing assizes.[140]\n\n\nKILLING A WITCH.\n\nSome years ago I formed the acquaintance of an elderly gentleman who had\nretired from business, after amassing an ample fortune by the\nmanufacture of cotton. He was possessed of a considerable amount of\ngeneral information--had studied the world by which he was\nsurrounded--and was a leading member of the Wesleyan connexion. The\nfaith element, however, predominated amongst his religious principles,\nand hence both he and his family were firm believers in witchcraft. On\none occasion, according to my informant, both he and the neighbouring\nfarmers suffered much from loss of cattle, and from the unproductiveness\nof their sheep. The cream was _bynged_ [soured] in the churn, and would\nbring forth no butter. Their cows died mad in the shippons, and no\nfarrier could be found who was able to fix upon the diseases which\nafflicted them. Horses were bewitched out of their stables through the\nloopholes, after the doors had been safely locked, and were frequently\nfound strayed to a considerable distance when they ought to have been\nsafe in their stalls. Lucky-stones had lost their virtues; horse-shoes\nnailed behind the doors were of little use; and sickles hung across the\nbeams had no effect in averting the malevolence of the evil-doer. At\nlength suspicion rested upon an old man, a noted astrologer and\nfortune-teller, who resided near New Church, in Rossendale, and it was\ndetermined to put an end both to their ill-fortune and his career, by\nperforming the requisite ceremonials for \"killing a witch.\" It was a\ncold November evening when the process commenced. A thick fog covered\nthe valleys, and the wild winds whistled across the dreary moors. The\nfarmers, however, were not deterred. They met at the house of one of\ntheir number, whose cattle were then supposed to be under the influence\nof the wizard; and having procured a live cock-chicken, they stuck him\nfull of pins and burnt him alive, whilst repeating some magical\nincantation. A cake was also made of oatmeal, mixed with the urine of\nthose bewitched, and, after having been marked with the name of the\nperson suspected, was then burnt in a similar manner.... The wind\nsuddenly rose to a tempest and threatened the destruction of the house.\nDreadful moanings as of some one in intense agony, were heard without,\nwhilst a sense of horror seized upon all within. At the moment when the\nstorm was at the wildest, the wizard knocked at the door, and in piteous\ntones desired admittance. They had previously been warned by the \"wise\nman\" whom they had consulted, that such would be the case, and had been\ncharged not to yield to their feelings of humanity by allowing him to\nenter. Had they done so, he would have regained all his influence, for\nthe virtue of the spell would have been dissolved. Again and again did\nhe implore them to open the door, and pleaded the bitterness of the\nwintry blast, but no one answered from within. They were deaf to all his\nentreaties, and at last the wizard wended his way across the moors as\nbest he could. The spell, therefore, was enabled to have its full\neffect, and within a week the Rossendale wizard was locked in the cold\nembrace of death.[141]\n\n\nA RECENT WITCH, NEAR BURNLEY.\n\nNot many years ago there resided in the neighbourhood of Burnley an old\nwoman, whose malevolent practices were supposed to render themselves\nmanifest by the injuries she inflicted on her neighbours' cattle; and\nmany a lucky-stone, many a stout horse-shoe and rusty sickle may now be\nfound behind the doors or hung from the beams in the cow-houses and\nstables belonging to the farmers in that locality, which date their\nsuspension from the time when this \"witch\" in reputation held the\ncountry-side in awe. Not one of her neighbours ever dared to offend her\nopenly; and if she at any time preferred a request, it was granted at\nall hazards, regardless of inconvenience and expense. If, in some\nthoughtless moment, any one spoke slightingly, either of her or her\npowers, a corresponding penalty was threatened as soon as it reached her\nears, and the loss of cattle, personal health, or a general \"run of bad\nluck\" soon led the offending party to think seriously of making peace\nwith his powerful tormentor. As time wore on, she herself sickened and\ndied; but before she could \"shuffle off this mortal coil\" she must needs\n_transfer her familiar spirit_ to some trusty successor. An intimate\nacquaintance from a neighbouring township was consequently sent for in\nall haste, and on her arrival was immediately closeted with her dying\nfriend. What passed between them has never fully transpired, but it is\nconfidently affirmed that at the close of the interview this associate\n_received the witch's last breath into her mouth, and with it the\nfamiliar spirit_. The dreaded woman thus ceased to exist, but her powers\nfor good or evil were transferred to her companion; and on passing along\nthe road from Burnley to Blackburn, we can point out a farm-house at no\ngreat distance, with whose thrifty matron no one will yet dare to\nquarrel.\n\n\n\"LATING\" OR \"LEETING\" WITCHES.\n\nAll-Hallows' Eve, Hallowe'en, &c. (from the old English _halwen_,\nsaints), denote the vigil and day of All Saints, October 31 and November\n1, a season abounding in superstitious observances. It was firmly\nbelieved in Lancashire that the witches assembled on this night at their\ngeneral rendezvous in the Forest of Pendle,--a ruined and desolate\nfarm-house, called the _Malkin Tower_ (_Malkin_ being the name of a\nfamiliar demon in Middleton's old play of _The Witch_; derived from\n_maca_, an equal, a companion). This superstition led to another, that\nof _lighting_, _lating_, or _leeting_ the witches (from _leoht_, A.-S.\nlight). It was believed that if a lighted candle were carried about the\nfells or hills from eleven to twelve o'clock at night, and burned all\nthat time steadily, it had so far triumphed over the evil power of the\nwitches, who, as they passed to the Malkin Tower, would employ their\nutmost efforts to extinguish the light, and the person whom it\nrepresented might safely defy their malice during the season; but if, by\nany accident the candle went out, it was an omen of evil to the luckless\nwight for whom the experiment was made. It was also deemed inauspicious\nto cross the threshold of that person until after the return from\n_leeting_, and not then unless the candle had preserved its light. Mr.\nMilner describes this ceremony as having been recently performed.[142]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[122] Hall's _Chronicle_.\n\n[123] William of Worcester's _Annales Rerum Anglicarum_, pp. 460-61.\n\n[124] _Pictorial History of England_, vol. ii. p. 81; also Hall's\n_Chronicle_.\n\n[125] This is the title-page of an old 12mo chap-book, the date of\npublication of which is not shown.\n\n[126] This was sold by auction only a few years ago.\n\n[127] For Sir Philip Sidney's poetical description of this old game, see\nhis _Arcadia_, or Brand's _Popular Antiquities_ (Ed. 1841, vol. ii. p.\n236).\n\n[128] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[129] To prove the guilt of one of the prisoners, evidence was received\nthat it was the opinion of a man not in court, that she had turned his\nbeer sour. To prove the charge of murder, it was thought sufficient to\nattest that the sick person had declared his belief that he owed his\napproaching death to the maledictions of the prisoner. The bleeding of\nthe corpse on the touch of Jennet Preston, was received as an\nincontrovertible evidence of guilt. It would be nearer the truth to say\nthat nothing but fiction was received in evidence.\n\n[130] Dr. Whitaker's _Whalley_, p. 528.\n\n[131] W. N. S., in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 365.\n\n[132] Mr. James Crossley's introduction to _Potts's Discovery of\nWitches_.\n\n[133] This is an old local proverb, amongst the Yorkshire proverbs in\nGrose's _Provincial Glossary_. Ray gives it thus:--\n\n    \"Ingleborough, Pendle, and Penigent,\n    Are the highest hills between Scotland and Trent.\"\n\n[134] Pendle Hill, or _Pen hull_ (_i.e._, the head hill) is situated on\nthe borders of Lancashire, in the northern part of Whalley, and rises\nabout 1800 feet above the level of the sea. The views from the summit\nare very extensive, including the Irish sea on one side, and York\nMinster (at a distance of nearly sixty miles) on the other.\nNotwithstanding the boast of the old proverb above, there are several\nhills round it of higher elevation.\n\n[135] Malkin Tower, in the Forest of Pendle, and on the declivity of\nPendle Hill, was the place where, according to vulgar belief, a sort of\nassembly or convention of reputed witches took place on Good Friday in\n1612, which was attended by seventeen pretended witches and three\nwizards, who were afterwards brought to trial at Lancaster Assizes, and\nten of these unfortunate creatures being found guilty, were executed.\n\n[136] The laymen here referred to were not the patrons, but the persons\nofficiating, who were called readers, and had no orders. Nearly every\nchapel in the parish of Whalley was destitute of land in 1636.\n\n[137] The Sir John was probably John Butterworth, clerk, curate of\nHaslingden about this period. \"Sir John\" was a designation frequently\napplied to an illiterate priest. The old allowance to the priest in\nHaslingden, according to Bishop Gastrell, was 4_l._ Formerly parish\nclerks (and perhaps the priests of poor cures also) claimed once a year\na bowl of corn from each parishioner of substance.\n\n[138] The _Moore Rental_, p. 62.\n\n[139] Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_, p. 308.\n\n[140] _MS. Description of Atherton and Chowbent in 1787_, by Dorning\nRasbotham, Esq.\n\n[141] See _Transactions of Lancashire and Cheshire Historical Society_.\n\n[142] _Year Book_, part xiii. col. 1558.\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\n\n\n\nLOCAL CUSTOMS AND USAGES AT VARIOUS SEASONS.\n\n\nEvery greater or lesser festival of the church had its popular no less\nthan its ecclesiastical observances. The three great events of human\nbirth, marriage, and death, with their church rites of baptism, wedding,\nand burial, naturally draw towards them many customs and usages deemed\nfitting to such occasions. There are many customs in connexion with the\nfree and the inferior tenants of manors, and their services to the\nmanorial lord. Another class of customs will be found in observance in\nagricultural districts amongst the owners, occupiers, and labourers of\nfarms and the peasantry generally. Lastly, as has been observed of the\nEnglish generally, every great occasion, collective or individual, must\nhave its festal celebration by eating and drinking in assembly. The\nviands and the beverages proper to particular occasions, therefore,\nconstitute a not unimportant part of the local customs and usages of the\npeople; and hence demand a place in a volume of Folk-Lore. To these\nsubjects the present Part of this book is appropriated, and it is\nbelieved that they will be found not less strikingly illustrative of the\nmanners and habits of the people of Lancashire, than the Superstitious\nBeliefs and Practices recorded in the first Part of this little work.\n\n\nCHURCH AND SEASON FESTIVALS.\n\nThe feasts of dedication of parish churches to their particular\ntutelary saints, of course are much too numerous to be more than named\nin a work of this nature. The eve of such anniversary was the yearly\nwake [or watching] of the parishioners; and originally booths were\nerected in the churchyards, and feasting, dancing, and other revelry\ncontinued throughout the night. The parishioners attended divine service\non the feast day, and the rest of that day was then devoted to popular\nfestivities. So great grew the excesses committed during these prolonged\norgies, that at length it became necessary to close the churches against\nthe pageants and mummeries performed in them at these anniversaries, and\nthe churchyards against the noisy, disorderly, and tumultuous\nmerry-makings of the people. Thenceforth the great seat of the revels\nwas transferred from the church and its graveyard, to the village green\nor the town market-place, or some space of open ground, large enough for\npopular assemblages to enjoy the favourite sports and pastimes of the\nperiod. Such were the general character and features of the wakes and\nfeasts of country parishes, changing only with the name of the patron\nsaint, the date of the celebration. But the great festivals of the\nchurch, celebrated alike in city and town, in village and hamlet,\nwherever a church \"pointed its spire to heaven,\" were held with more\ngeneral display, as uniting the ceremonials and rites of the church,\nwith the popular festivities outside the sacred precincts. Of these\ngreat festivals the chief were New Year's Day, Twelfth Night (Jan. 5),\nShrove or Pancake Tuesday, Ash-Wednesday or the first day of Lent,\nMid-Lent or Mothering Sunday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter,\nWhitsuntide or Pentecost, May-Day, Midsummer Day (St. John's Eve and\nDay, June 23 and 24), Michaelmas Day (Sept. 29), and Christmas Day, with\nthe Eve of the New Year. Of these we propose to notice various customs\nand practices as observed in Lancashire from the beginning to the close\nof the year.\n\n\nNEW YEAR'S DAY.\n\nIn the church calendar this day is the festival of the Circumcision; in\nthe Roman church it is the day of no fewer than seven saints. But it is\nmuch more honoured as a popular festival. Many families in Lancashire\nsit up on New Year's Eve till after twelve o'clock midnight, and then\ndrink \"a happy New Year\" to each other over a cheerful glass. The church\nbells, too, in merry peals ring out the Old Year, and ring in the New.\nIn the olden time the wassail-bowl, the spiced ale called \"lamb's wool,\"\nand currant bread and cheese, were the viands and liquor in vogue on New\nYear's Eve and Day. A turkey is still a favourite dish at dinner on New\nYear's Day.\n\n\nFIRE ON NEW YEAR'S EVE.\n\nMy maid, who comes from the neighbourhood of Pendle, informs me that an\nunlucky old woman in her native village, having allowed her fire to go\nout on New Year's Eve, had to wait till one o'clock on the following day\nbefore any neighbour would supply her with a light.[143]\n\n\nNEW YEAR'S LUCK.\n\nShould a female, or a light-haired male, be the first to enter a house\non the morning of New Year's Day, it is supposed to bring bad luck for\nthe whole of the year then commencing. Various precautions are taken to\nprevent this misfortune: hence many male persons with black or dark\nhair, are in the habit of going from house to house, on that day, \"to\ntake the New Year in;\" for which they are treated with liquor, and\npresented with a small gratuity. So far is the apprehension carried,\nthat some families will not open the door to any one until satisfied by\nthe voice that he is likely to bring the house a year's good luck by\nentering it. Then, the most kindly and charitable woman in a\nneighbourhood will sternly refuse to give any one a light on the morning\nof New Year's Day, as most unlucky to the one who gives away light.\n\n\nNEW YEAR'S FIRST CALLER.\n\nFor years past, an old lady, a friend of mine, has regularly reminded me\nto pay her an early visit on New Year's Day; in short, to be her first\ncaller, and to \"let the New Year in.\" I have done this for years, except\non one occasion. When I, who am of fair complexion, have been her first\nvisitor, she has enjoyed happy and prosperous years; but on the occasion\nI missed, some dark-complexioned, black-haired gentleman\ncalled;--sickness and trouble, and commercial disasters, were the\nresult.[144] [This is at variance with the preceding paragraph as to\nthe favourite colour of the hair, &c. Perhaps this differs in different\nlocalities; but of this at least we are assured, that any male, dark or\nfair, is regarded as a much more lucky \"letter-in\" of the New Year, than\nany girl or woman, be she blonde or brunette.]\n\nIn Lancashire, even in the larger towns, it is considered at this time\nof day particularly fortunate if \"a black man\" (meaning one of a dark\ncomplexion) be the first person that enters the house on New Year's\nDay.[145]\n\n\nNEW YEAR'S DAY AND OLD CHRISTMAS DAY.\n\nSome persons still keep Old Christmas Day. They always look for a change\nof weather on that day, and never on the 25th December. The common\npeople have long begun their year with the 1st of January. The Act of\n1752, so far as they were concerned, only caused the Civil and the\nEcclesiastical Year to begin together. In Hopton's _Year Book_ for A.D.\n1612, he thus speaks of _January 1st_:--\"January. New-yeares day in the\nmorning being red, portends great tempest and warre.\"\n\n\nAULD WIFE HAKES.\n\nChristmas and New Year's tea parties and dances are called \"Auld Wife\nHakes\" in the Furness district of Lancashire. The word _hake_ is never\nused in the central part of the county.[146] Can this be from _hacken_\n(? from _hacking_, chopping small), a pudding made in the maw of a sheep\nor hog. It was formerly a standard dish at Christmas, and is mentioned\nby N. Fairfax, _Bulk and Selvedge_, 1674, p. 159.[147] [To _hake_, is to\nsneak, or loiter about.]\n\n\nNEW YEAR'S GIFTS AND WISHES.\n\nIt was formerly a universal custom to make presents, especially from\nsuperiors to dependents, and _vice vers\u00e2_. Now the custom is chiefly\nconfined to parents and elders giving to children or young persons. The\npractice of making presents on New Year's Day existed among the Romans,\nand also amongst the Saxons; from one or both of which peoples we have\ndoubtless derived it. The salutation or greeting on New Year's Day is\nalso of great antiquity. Pieces of Roman pottery have been found\ninscribed \"A happy new year to you,\" and one inscriber wishes the like\nto himself and his son. In country districts, the homely phrase is: \"A\nhappy New Year t'ye, and monny on 'em.\" In more polished society, and in\ncorrespondence, \"I wish you a happy New Year,\" or \"The compliments of\nthe season to you.\"\n\n\nSHROVETIDE.\n\nThis name, given to the last few days before Lent, is from its being the\ncustom for the people to go to the priest to be _shriven_, _i.e._, to\nmake their confession, before entering on the great fast of Lent, which\nbegins on Ash-Wednesday. _Tide_ is the old Anglo-Saxon word for time,\nand it is still retained in Whitsuntide. After the people had made the\nconfession required by the ancient discipline of the church, they were\npermitted to indulge in festive amusements, though restricted from\npartaking of any repasts beyond the usual substitutes for flesh: hence\nthe Latin and continental name _Carnaval_,--literally \"Carne, vale,\"\n\"Flesh, farewell.\" In Lancashire and other Northern counties, three days\nin this week had their peculiar dishes, viz.: \"Collop Monday,\" \"Pancake\nTuesday,\" and \"Fritters Wednesday.\" Originally, collops were simply\nslices of bread, but these were long ago discarded for slices or rashers\nof bacon. Fritters were thick, soft cakes, made from flour batter, with\nor without sliced apples intermixed. Shrovetide was anciently a great\ntime for cock-throwing and cock-fighting, and indeed of many other loose\nand cruel diversions, arising from the indulgences formerly granted by\nthe church, to compensate for the long season of fasting and humiliation\nwhich commenced on Ash-Wednesday. As Selden observes--\"What the church\ndebars us on one day, she gives us leave to take on another; first we\nfeast, and then we fast; there is a carnival, and then a Lent.\"\n\n\nSHROVE-TUESDAY, OR PANCAKE TUESDAY.\n\nThe tossing of pancakes (and in some places fritters) on this day was a\nsource of harmless mirth, and is still practised in the rural parts of\nLancashire and Cheshire, with its ancient accompaniments:--\n\n    \"It is the day whereon the rich and poor,\n    Are chiefly feasted on the self-same dish,\n    When every paunch till it can hold no more,\n    Is fritter-filled, as well as heart can wish;\n    And every man and maid do take their turn\n    And toss their pancakes up for fear they burn,\n    And all the kitchen doth with laughter sound,\n    To see the pancakes fall upon the ground.\"[148]\n\nAnother writer gives this injunction:--\n\n    \"Maids, fritters and pancakes enow see ye make,\n    Let Slut have one pancake for company's sake.\"[149]\n\n\nCOCK-THROWING AND COCK-FIGHTING.\n\nCock-fighting was a barbarous pastime of high antiquity, being practised\nby the Greeks and Romans. In England it may be traced back to the\ntwelfth century, when it appears to have been a childish or boyish\nsport. FitzStephen, in his description of London in the time of Henry\nII., says: \"Every year, on the morning of Shrove-Tuesday, the schoolboys\nof the city of London, and of other cities and great towns, bring game\ncocks to their masters, and in the fore-part of the day, till\ndinner-time, are permitted to amuse themselves with seeing them fight.\"\nThe school was the cock-pit, and the master the comptroller or director\nof the pastime. The victor, or hero of the school, who had won the\ngreatest number of fights was carried about upon a pole by two of his\ncompanions. He held the cock in his hands, and was followed by other\nboys bearing flags, &c. Cock-throwing was a sport equally cruel; but\nonly one cock was needed. The poor bird was tied to a peg or stake, by a\nstring, sometimes long, sometimes short, and the boys from a certain\ndistance, in turn, threw a stick at the cock. The victor in this case\nwas he whose missile killed the poor bird. Amongst the recognised\npayments by the boys at the old Free Grammar Schools, was a penny yearly\nto the master for the privilege of cock-fighting or cock-throwing on\nShrove-Tuesday. The statutes of the Manchester Free Grammar School, made\nabout 1525, show a creditable desire to abolish these barbarous sports.\nOne of these statutes, as to the fees of the master, provides that \"he\nshall teach freely and indifferently [not carelessly, but impartially]\nevery child and scholar coming to the same school, without any money or\nother reward taking there-for, as cock-penny, victor-penny,\" &c. Another\nis still more explicit:--\"The scholars of the same school shall use no\ncock-fights, nor other unlawful games, and riding about for victors,\n&c., which be to the great let [hindrance] of virtue, and to charge and\ncost of the scholars, and of their friends.\" At a much later period,\nhowever, the scholars seem to have been allowed, on Easter Monday, to\nhave archery practice at a target, one of the prizes being a\ndunghill-cock; but this was abolished by the late Dr. Smith, when high\nmaster.\n\n\nCOCK-FIGHTING ABOUT BLACKBURN.\n\nAbout thirty years ago cock-fighting formed a common pastime about\nMellor and Blackburn. A blacksmith, named Miller, used to keep a large\nnumber of cocks for fighting purposes. He was said to have \"sold himself\nto the devil\" in order to have money enough for betting; and it was\nremarked that he rarely won! If the practice is still followed, it is\ndone _in secret_; but the number of game-cocks one sees kept by\n\"sporting characters\" can scarcely admit of any other inference.\n\n\nCOCK-PENNY AT CLITHEROE.\n\nIn the Clitheroe Grammar School an annual present at Shrovetide is\nexpected from the scholars, varying in amount according to the\ncircumstances of the parents. With the exception of this _cock-penny_,\nthe school is free. The origin of this custom it is now difficult to\ntrace. Shrove-Tuesday, indeed, was a sad day for cocks. Cock-fighting\nand throwing at cocks were among its barbarous sports. Schoolboys used\nto bring game-cocks to the master, and delight themselves in\ncock-fighting all the forenoon. In Scotland, the masters presided at the\nfight, and claimed the runaway cocks called \"forgers\" [? 'fugees] as\ntheir perquisites. The \"cock-penny\" may have been the substitute devised\nby a less cruel age for the ordinary gratuity.[150]\n\n\nCOCK-FIGHTING AT BURNLEY.\n\nThe head master of Burnley Grammar School used to derive a portion of\nhis income from \"cock-pence\" paid to him by his pupils at Shrovetide.\nThis has been disused for half a century. Latterly it degenerated into a\n\"clubbing together\" of pence by the pupils for the purpose of providing\nthemselves with materials for a carouse. This was, therefore, at last\nprohibited.\n\n\nSHROVETIDE CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.\n\nShrove-Tuesday was also called \"Pancake Day,\" pancakes being the\nprincipal delicacy of the day. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the\n\"pancake bell\" rang at Poulton church, and operations were immediately\ncommenced. Great was the fun in \"tossing\" or turning the pancake by a\nsudden jerk of the pan; while the appetites of the urchins never\nflagged. Amongst the sports on Shrove-Tuesday, was pre-eminently\ncock-fighting; though bull and bear baiting were also among the rude and\nsavage pastimes of the season.[151] In Poulton, on Shrove-Tuesday, the\npancake bell still warns the apprentice to quit his work, not indeed to\ngo to the confessional and be _shriven_, but to prepare for the feast of\nthe day.[152]\n\n\nLENT.--ASH-WEDNESDAY.\n\nThe forty days' fast at the beginning of spring, in commemoration of the\ntemptation and fast of our Saviour in the wilderness, was called Lent,\nfrom the Saxon name for Spring, _lengten-tide_. The fast, as prescribed\nby the church, consisted in abstaining from flesh, eggs, preparations of\nmilk, and wine, and in making only one meal, and that in the evening.\nFish was not forbidden, though many restricted themselves to pulse and\nfruit. Ash-Wednesday, the first day in Lent, was one of severe\ndiscipline in the Roman church; and to remind the faithful, at the\nbeginning of the long penitential fast, that men are but \"dust and\nashes,\" the priest, with ashes of the wood of the palm-tree, marked the\nsign of the cross on the forehead of each confessing worshipper; whence\nthe name. Since the Reformation the observance of Lent by fasting is not\ngeneral in Lancashire.\n\n\nMID-LENT SUNDAY, OR \"MOTHERING SUNDAY.\"\n\nThe fourth or middle Sunday between Quadragesima (the first Sunday in\nLent) and Easter Sunday. It was of old called _Dominica Refectionis_, or\nthe Sunday of Refreshment, from the gospel of the day treating of the\nmiraculous feeding of the five thousand. It was originally called\n\"Mothering Sunday,\" from the ancient usage of visiting the mother or\ncathedral churches of the dioceses, when Lent or Easter offerings were\nmade. The public processions have been discontinued ever since the\nmiddle of the thirteenth century; but the name of Mothering Sunday is\nstill retained, a custom having been substituted amongst the people of\nLancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, and other counties, of those who have\nleft the paternal roof visiting their natural mother, and presenting to\nher small tokens of their filial affection, in money, trinkets,\nfrumenty, or cakes. In some parts of Lancashire, the particular kind of\ncakes have long been fixed by old custom, being what are called\n\"simnels,\" or, in the dialect of the district, \"simlins;\" and with these\nsweet-cakes, it was, and in places is still, the custom to drink warm,\nspiced ale, called \"bragot.\" Another viand especially eaten on Mid-Lent\nSunday was that of fig or fag-pies.\n\n\nSIMNEL CAKES.\n\nIn days of yore, there was a little alleviation of the severities of\nLent permitted to the faithful, in the shape of a cake called \"Simnel.\"\nTwo English towns claim the honour of its origin,--Shrewsbury and\nDevizes. The first makes its simnel in the form of a warden-pie, the\ncrust being of saffron and very thick; the last has no crust, is\nstar-shaped, and the saffron is mixed with a mass of currants, spice,\nand candied lemon. Bury, in Lancashire, is almost world-famous for its\nsimnels and its bragot (or spiced sweet ale), on Mothering Sunday, or\nMid-Lent. As to the name, Dr. Cowell, in his _Law Directory or\nInterpreter_ (folio, 1727), derives _simnell_ (Lat. _siminellus_), from\nthe Latin _simila_, the finest part of the flour: \"_panis\nsimilageneus_,\" simnel bread,--\"still in use, especially in Lent.\" The\nEnglish _simnel_ was the purest white bread, as in the Book of Battle\nAbbey: \"Panem regi\u00e6 mens\u00e6 apsum, qui _simenel_ vulgo vocatur.\" (Bread\nfit for the royal table, which is commonly called _simenel_.) Dr. Cowell\nadds that it was sometimes called _simnellus_, as in the \"Annals of the\nChurch of Winchester,\" under the year 1042, \"conventus centum\n_simnellos_\" (the convent 100 _simnels_). He also quotes the statute of\n51 Henry III. (1266-7), which enacts that \"bread made into a _simnel_\nshould weigh two shillings less than wastel bread;\" and also an old\nmanuscript of the customs of the House of Farendon (where it is called\n\"bread of symenel\"), to the same effect. Wastel was the finest sort of\nbread. Herrick, who was born in 1591, and died in 1674 (?) has the\nfollowing in his _Hesperides_:--\n\n    TO DIANEME.\n    A Ceremony in Gloucester.\n\n    I'll to thee a _Simnell_ bring\n    'Gainst thou go'st a _mothering_;\n    So that when she blesseth thee,\n    Half that blessing thou'lt give me.\n\nBailey, in his Dictionary (folio 1764), says _simnel_ is probably\nderived from the Latin _simila_, fine flour, and means, \"a sort of cake\nor bun, made of fine flour, spice, &c.\" It will thus appear that\n_simnel_ cakes can boast a much higher antiquity than the reign of Henry\nVII. (Lambert _Simnel_ probably taking his name from them, as a baker,\nand not giving his name to them), and that they were not originally\nconfined to any particular time or place.[153]\n\nIn the _Dictionarius_ of John de Garlande, compiled at Paris in the\nthirteenth century, the word _simineus_ or _simnels_, is used as the\nequivalent to the Latin _placent\u00e6_, which are described as cakes exposed\nin the windows of the hucksters, to sell to the scholars of the\nUniversity and others.[154]\n\n\nBURY.\n\nThere is an ancient celebration in Bury, on Mid-Lent Sunday, there\ncalled \"Simblin Sunday,\" when large cakes called \"simblins\" (_i.e._,\nsimnels), are sold generally in the town, and the shops are kept open\nthe whole day, except during Divine Service, for the purpose of vending\nthis mysterious aliment.[155] These cakes are a compound of currants,\ncandied lemon, sugar, and spice, sandwich-wise, between crust of short\nor puff paste. They are in great request at the period, not only in\nBury, but in Manchester and most of the surrounding towns. A still\nricher kind, approaching the bride-cake in character, are called \"Almond\nSimnels.\"\n\n\nBRAGOT-SUNDAY.\n\nFormerly it was the practice in Leigh to use a beverage on Mid-Lent\nSunday, called \"bragot,\" consisting of a kind of spiced ale; and also\nfor the boys to indulge themselves by persecuting the women on their way\nto church, by secretly hooking a piece of coloured cloth to their gowns.\nA similar custom prevails in Portugal, at Carnival time, when many\npersons that walk the streets on the three last days of the Intrudo,\nhave a long paper train hooked to their dress behind, on which the\npopulace set up the cry of \"Raboleve,\" which is continued till the butt\nof the joke is divested of his \"tail.\" As to \"Bragot,\" or more properly\n\"Braget\" Sunday, it is a name given in Lancashire to the fourth Sunday\nin Lent, which is in other places called \"Mothering Sunday.\" Both\nappellations arise out of the same custom. Voluntary oblations, called\n_Quadragesimalia_ (from the Latin name of Lent, signifying forty days),\nwere formerly paid by the inhabitants of a diocese to the Mother\nCathedral Church, and at this time prevailed the custom of processions\nto the Cathedral on Mid-Lent Sunday. On the discontinuance of\nprocessions, the practice of \"mothering,\" or visiting parents, began;\nand the spiced ale used on these occasions was called _braget_, from the\nBritish _bragawd_, the name of a kind of metheglin. Whitaker[156]\nobserves that this description of liquor was called \"Welsh ale\" by the\nSaxons. Since his time, the liquor drunk on this day is principally\n_mulled ale_, of which there is a large consumption in Lancashire on\nMid-Lent Sunday.[157]\n\n\nFAG-PIE SUNDAY.\n\nFig-pies--(made of dry figs, sugar, treacle, spice, &c., and by some\ndescribed as \"luscious,\" by others as \"of a sickly taste\")--or, as they\nare locally termed, \"fag-pies,\" are, or were at least till recently,\neaten in Lancashire on a Sunday in Lent [? Mid-Lent Sunday], thence\ncalled \"Fag-pie Sunday.\"[158]\n\nIn the neighbourhood of Burnley Fag-pie Sunday is the second Sunday\nbefore Easter, or that which comes between Mid-Lent and Palm Sunday.\nAbout Blackburn fig-pies are always prepared for Mid-Lent Sunday, and\nvisits are usually made to friends' houses in order to partake of the\nluxury.\n\n\nGOOD FRIDAY.\n\nThis name is believed to be an adoption of the old German _Gute_ or\n_Gottes Freytag_, Good or God's Friday, so called on the same principle\nthat Easter Day in England was at no very remote period called \"God's\nDay.\" The length of the Church Services in ancient times, on this day,\noccasioned it to be called Long Friday. In most parts of Lancashire,\nbuns with crosses stamped upon them, and hence called \"cross buns,\" are\neaten on this day at breakfast; and it is in many places believed that a\ncross bun, preserved from one Good Friday to another, will effectually\nprevent an attack of the whooping-cough. Some writers declare that our\ncross buns at Easter are only the cakes which our pagan Saxon\nforefathers ate in honour of their goddess Eostre, and from which the\nChristian clergy, who were unable to prevent people from eating them,\nsought to expel the paganism by marking them with the cross. On the\nMonday before Good Friday the youths about Poulton-le-Fylde and its\nneighbourhood congregate in strange dresses, and visit their friends'\nhouses, playing antics, on which occasion they are styled \"the Jolly\nLads.\"[159] It is stated that in some places in Lancashire, Good Friday\nis termed \"Cracklin' Friday,\" as on that day it is a custom for children\nto go with a small basket to different houses, to beg small wheaten\ncakes, which are something like the Jews' Passover bread; but made\nshorter or richer, by having butter or lard mixed with the flour. \"Take\nwith thee loaves and cracknels.\" (1 Kings xiv.)\n\n\nEASTER.\n\nThis name is clearly traced to that of Eostre, a goddess to whom the\nSaxons and other Northern nations sacrificed in the month of April, in\nwhich our Easter usually falls. Easter Sunday is held as the day of our\nLord's resurrection. Connected with this great festival of the Church\nare various local rites and customs, pageants and festivities; such as\n_pace_ or _Pasche_ [_i.e._, Easter] egging, lifting or heaving, Ball\nplay, the game of the ring, guisings or disguisings, fancy cakes, \"old\nhob,\" \"old Ball,\" or hobby horse, &c.\n\nEaster-Day is a moveable feast, appointed to be held on the first Sunday\nafter the full moon immediately following the 21st of March; but if the\nmoon happen to be at the full on a Sunday, then Easter is held on the\nfollowing Sunday and not on the day of the full moon. Thus, Easter-Day\ncannot fall earlier than the 22nd of March, nor later than the 25th of\nApril, in any year.\n\n\nPASCHE, PACE, OR EASTER EGGS.\n\nIn Lancashire and Cheshire children go round the village and beg eggs\nfor the Easter dinner, accompanying their solicitation by a short song,\nthe burthen of which is addressed to the farmer's dame, asking for \"an\negg, bacon, cheese, or an apple, or any good thing that will make us\nmerry;\" and ending with\n\n    And I pray you, good dame, an Easter egg.\n\nIn the North of Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmorland, and other parts of\nthe North of England, boys beg on Easter Eve eggs to play with, and\nbeggars ask for them to eat. These eggs are hardened by boiling and\ntinged with the juice of herbs, broom-flowers, &c. The eggs being thus\nprepared, the boys go out and play with them in the fields, rolling them\nup and down like bowls, or throwing them up like balls into the\nair.[160]\n\n\nPACE EGGING IN BLACKBURN.\n\nThe old custom of \"pace egging\" is still observed in Blackburn. It is an\nobservance limited to the week before Easter-Day, and is said to be\ntraceable up to the theology and philosophy of the Egyptians, Persians,\nGauls, Greeks, and Romans; among all of whom an egg was an emblem of the\nuniverse, the production of the Supreme Divinity. The Christians\nadopted the egg as an emblem of the resurrection, since it contains the\nelements of a future life.\n\nThe immediate occasion of the observance may have been in the resumption\non the part of our forefathers of eggs as a food at Easter on the\ntermination of Lent; hence the origin of the term _pace_ or _pasque_\n[rather from _Pasche_] that is, Easter egg. In a curious roll of the\nexpenses of the household of Edward I., communicated to the Society of\nAntiquaries, is the following item in the accounts for Easter Sunday:\n\"For four hundred and a half of eggs, eighteen pence.\" The following\nprayer, found in the ritual of Pope Paul V., composed for the use of\nEngland, Ireland, and Scotland, illustrates the meaning of the custom:\n\"Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this Thy creation of eggs, that it may\nbecome a wholesome sustenance to Thy faithful servants, eating it in\nthankfulness to Thee, on account of the resurrection of our Lord.\" In\nBlackburn at the present day, pace egging commences on the Monday and\nfinishes on the Thursday before the Easter-week. Young men in groups\nvarying in number from three to twenty, dressed in various fantastic\ngarbs, and wearing masks--some of the groups accompanied by a player or\ntwo on the violin--go from house to house singing, dancing, and\ncapering. At most places they are liberally treated with wine, punch, or\nale, dealt out to them by the host or hostess. The young men strive to\ndisguise their walk and voice; and the persons whom they visit use their\nefforts on the other hand to discover who they are; in which mutual\nendeavour many and ludicrous mistakes are made. Here you will see\nMacbeth and a fox-hunter arm in arm; Richard the Third and a black\nfootman in familiar converse; a quack doctor and a bishop smoking their\npipes and quaffing their \"half and half;\" a gentleman and an\noyster-seller; an admiral and an Irish umbrella-mender; in short, every\nvariety of character, some exceedingly well-dressed, and the characters\nwell sustained. A few years ago parties of this description were much\nsubject to annoyance from a gang of fellows styled the \"Carr-laners,\"\n(so-called, because living in Carr-lane, Blackburn,) armed with\nbludgeons, who endeavoured to despoil the pace-eggers. Numerous fights,\nwith the usual concomitants of broken eggs and various contusions, were\namongst the results. This lawless gang of ruffians is now broken up, and\nthe serious affrays between different gangs of pace-eggers have become\nof comparatively rare occurrence. An accident, however, which ended\nfatally, occurred last year [? 1842]. Two parties had come into\ncollision, and during the affray one of the young men had his skull\nfractured, and death ensued. Besides parties of the sort we have\nattempted to describe, children, both male and female, with little\nbaskets in their hands, dressed in all the tinsel-coloured paper,\nribbons, and \"doll rags\" which they can command, go up and down from\nhouse to house; at some receiving pence, at others eggs, at others\ngingerbread, some of which is called _hot_ gingerbread, having in it a\nmixture of ginger and Cayenne, causing the most ridiculous contortions\nof feature in the unfortunate being who partakes of it. Houses are\nliterally besieged by these juvenile troops from morning till night.\n\"God's sake! a pace-egg,\" is the continual cry. There is no particular\ntune, but various versions of pace-egging and other songs are sung. The\neggs obtained by the juveniles are very frequently boiled and dyed in\nlogwood and other dyes, on the Easter Sunday, and rolled in the fields\none egg at another till broken. Great quantities of mulled ale are drunk\nin this district on Easter Sunday. The actors do not take the eggs with\nthem; they are given at the places where they call. The actors are\nmostly males; but in the course of one's peregrinations on one of these\nevenings it is not unusual to discover one or two of the fair sex in\nmale habiliments, and supporting the character admirably. This old\ncustom of pace-egging was again observed this year [? 1843]\nnotwithstanding the fatal accidents we have mentioned, without any\nmolestation from the authorities, and without any accident\noccurring.[161]\n\n\nPACE OR PEACE EGGING IN EAST LANCASHIRE.\n\nThe week before Easter is a busy one for the boys and girls in East\nLancashire. They generally deck themselves up in ribbons and fantastic\ndresses, and go about the country begging for money or eggs.\nOccasionally they go out singly, and then are very careful to provide\nthemselves with a neat little basket, lined with moss. Halfpence or\neggs, or even small cakes of gingerbread, are alike thankfully received.\nSometimes the grown young men are very elaborately dressed in ribbons,\nand ornamented with watches and other jewellery. They then go out in\ngroups of five or six, and are attended by a \"fool\" or \"tosspot,\" with\nhis face blackened. Some of them play on musical instruments while the\nrest dance. Occasionally young women join in the sport, and then the\n_men_ are dressed in women's clothing, and the _women_ in men's.\n\n\nEASTER SPORTS AT THE MANCHESTER FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.\n\nA gentleman, using the initials G. H. F., some years ago communicated to\na local paper the following facts relative to the sports of the scholars\nat Easter in the early part of the nineteenth century:--\"On Easter\nMonday the senior scholars had a treat and various festivities. On the\nmorning of that day, masters and scholars assembled in the school-room,\nwith a band of music, banners, &c. One essential thing was a target, in\na square frame, to which were suspended one or more pairs of silver\nbuckles, constituting the chief archery prize, the second being a good\ndunghill-cock. These were the only prizes, and they were duly contended\nfor by the scholars, the whole being probably devised in the old times,\nwith a view to keep the youth of Manchester in the practice of the old\nEnglish archery, which on the invention of gunpowder and fire-arms fell\nrapidly into desuetude. The gay procession thus provided, the scholars,\nbearing their bows and arrows, set out from the Grammar School, headed\nby some reverend gentleman of the Collegiate church, by the masters of\nthe school, the churchwardens, &c.--the band playing some popular airs\nof the day--and took its route by Long Millgate, to Hunt's Bank, and\nalong the Walkers' [_i.e._, fullers'] Croft, to some gardens, where it\nwas then the custom for artizans on Sunday mornings to buy 'a penny\nposy.' Here the targets were set up, and the 'artillery practice,' as\nit was the fashion to call archery, commenced. At its close the prizes\nwere awarded, and the procession returned in the same order, along\nHunt's Bank, the Apple Market, Fennel Street, Hanging Ditch, and Old\nMillgate, to the Bull's Head, in the Market Place,--in those days a very\ncelebrated house, where the junior boys were treated with\n_frumenty_--wheat stewed, and then boiled in milk with raisins,\ncurrants, and spices, till it forms a thick, porridge-like mess,\nexceedingly palatable to young folk. The masters and assistants, and the\nsenior scholars, partook of roast beef, plum pudding, &c. The abolition\nof this Easter Monday custom, said to have been by Dr. Smith, was by no\nmeans relished by the Grammar School boys.\"\n\n\n\"LIFTING\" OR \"HEAVING\" AT EASTER.\n\nThis singular custom formerly prevailed in Manchester, and it is now\ncommon in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, in the parish of Whalley, at\nWarrington, Bolton, and in some other parts of Lancashire, especially in\nrural districts, though it is by no means general, and in some places is\nquite unknown. A Manchester man, in 1784, thus describes it:--\"_Lifting_\nwas originally designed to represent our Saviour's resurrection. The men\nlift the women on Easter Monday, and the women the men on Tuesday. One\nor more take hold of each leg, and one or more of each arm, near the\nbody, and lift the person up, in a horizontal position, three times. It\nis a rude, indecent, and dangerous diversion, practised chiefly by the\nlower class of people. Our magistrates constantly prohibit it by the\nbellman, but it subsists at the end of the town; and the women have of\nlate years converted it into a money job. I believe it is chiefly\nconfined to these northern counties.\"\n\nThe following [translated] extract from a document entitled _Liber\nContrarotulatoris Hospicii_, 13 Edward I. [1225], shows the antiquity of\nthe custom:--\"To the Ladies of the Queen's Chamber, 15th of May; seven\nladies and damsels of the queen, because they took [or lifted] the king\nin his bed, on the morrow of Easter, and made him pay fine for the peace\nof the king, which he made of his gift by the hand of Hugh de Cerr [or\nKerr], Esq., to the lady of Weston, \u00a314.\"[162]\n\nOn Easter Monday, between Radcliffe and Bolton, we saw a number of\nfemales surround a male, whom they mastered, and fairly lifted aloft in\nthe air. It was a merry scene. What humour in the faces of these\nLancashire witches! What a hearty laugh! What gratification in their\neyes! The next day would bring reprisals: the girls would then be the\nparty to be subjected to this rude treatment.[163]\n\n\nEASTER GAME OF THE RING.\n\nIn his _History of Lancashire_, Mr. Baines states that the Easter Game\nof the Ring, little known in other parts of Lancashire, prevails at\nPadiham, in the parish of Whalley, on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in\nEaster week; when young people, having formed themselves into a ring,\ntap each other repeatedly with a stick, after the manner of the holiday\nfolks at Greenwich. The stick may be a slight difference; but the game\nof Easter ring, with taps of the hand, or the dropping of a handkerchief\nat the foot, the writer has seen played at Easter and at Whitsuntide in\nmany villages and hamlets round Manchester.\n\n\nPLAYING \"OLD BALL.\"\n\nThis is an Easter custom. A huge and rude representation of a horse's\nhead is made; the eyes are formed of the bottoms of old broken wine or\nother \"black bottles\"; the lower and upper jaws have large nails put in\nthem to serve as teeth; the lower jaw is made to move by a contrivance\nfixed at its back end, to be operated on by the man who plays \"Old\nBall.\" There is a stick, on which the head rests, which is handled and\nused by the operator, to move \"Old Ball\" about, and as a rest. Fixed to\nthe whole is a sheet of rough sacking-cloth, under which the operator\nputs himself, and at the end of which is a tail. The operator then gets\ninto his position, so as to make the whole as like a horse as possible.\nHe opens the mouth by means of the contrivance before spoken of. Through\nthe opening he can see the crowd, and he runs first at one and then\nanother, neighing like a horse, kicking, rising on his hind legs,\nperforming all descriptions of gambols, and running after the crowd; the\nconsequence is, the women scream, the children are frightened, and all\nis one scene of the most ridiculous and boisterous mirth. This was\nplayed by sundry \"Old Balls\" some five years ago, at the pace-egging\ntime, at Blackburn; but it has gradually fallen into disuse. This year\n[? 1843] our informant has not heard it even mentioned. [It is still\ncontinued in various parts of Lancashire, amongst others at Swinton,\nWorsley, &c.] The idea of this rude game may have been taken from the\nhobby-horse in the ancient Christmas mummings.--_Pictorial History of\nLancashire._ [From the editor of the above work calling this \"playing\nthe old ball,\" and never marking the word ball by a capital B, he seems\nto have supposed it meant a spherical ball; whereas \"Old Ball\"\nthroughout Lancashire is a favourite name for a cart-horse,--See a\nfurther notice of \"Old Ball\" under Christmas.--EDS.]\n\n\nACTING WITH \"BALL.\"\n\nThis is a curious practice, and is often substituted for \"pace-egging.\"\nThe bones of a horse's head are fixed in their natural position by means\nof wires. The bottoms of glass bottles do duty for eyes; and the head is\ncovered with the skin of a calf. A handle is then fixed in the upper\nportion of the head, and the whole skull is supported on a stout pole\nshod with an iron hoop. A sack is then made to fit the skull neatly, and\nto hang low enough down so as to hide the person who plays \"Ball.\" The\nsack, or cover, is also provided with a tail so as to look as nearly\nlike a horse's tail as possible. Some five or six then take \"Ball\" about\nthe country and play him where they can obtain leave. Sometimes a\ndoggrel song is sung, while \"Ball\" prances about and snaps at the\ncompany. As soon as the song is finished, \"Ball\" plays his most\nboisterous pranks, and frequently hurts some of the company by snapping\ntheir fingers between his teeth when they are defending themselves from\nhis attacks. The writer has seen ladies so alarmed as to faint and go\ninto hysterics:--on this account \"Ball\" is now nearly extinct in the\nneighbourhoods of Blackburn, Burnley, &c.\n\n\nEASTER CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.\n\nChildren and young people as Easter approached, claimed their\n\"pace-eggs\" [from Pasche, the old term for Easter] as a privileged \"dow\"\n[dole]. On the afternoon of Easter Sunday the young of both sexes amused\nthemselves in the meadows with these eggs, which they had dyed by the\nyellow blossoms of the \"whin,\" or of other colours by dyeing materials.\nOthers performed a kind of Morris or Moorish dance or play, called\n\"_Ignagning_,\" which some have supposed to be in honour of St. Ignatius;\nbut more probably its derivation is from \"_ignis Agn\u00e6_,\" a virgin and\nmartyr who suffered at the stake about this time of the year.\n\"Ignagning,\" says the Rev. William Thornber,[164] \"has almost fallen\ninto disuse, and a band of boys, termed 'Jolly Lads,' has succeeded,\nwho, instead of reciting the combat of the Turk and St. George, the\nchampion of England, the death of the former, and his restoration to\nlife by the far-travelled doctor, now sing of the noble deeds of Nelson\nand Collingwood; retaining, however, the freaks and jokes of 'Old\nToss-pot,' the fool of the party, who still jingles the small bells hung\nabout his dress.\" Easter Monday was a great day for the young people of\nthe neighbourhood going to the yearly fair at Poulton. Happy was the\nmaiden who could outvie her youthful acquaintance in exhibiting a\ngreater number of \"white cakes,\" the gifts of admiring youths; thereby\nproving beyond dispute the superior effects of her charms. Then the\nexcitement and exertion of the dance! At that time dancing consisted in\nthe feet beating time to a fiddle, playing a jig in double quick time;\none damsel succeeding another, and striving to outdo her companions in\nher power of continuing this violent exercise, for much honour was\nattached to success in this respect, the bystanders meanwhile\nencouraging their favourites, as sportsmen do their dogs, with voice and\nclapping of hands. Such was--\n\n    \"The dancing pair that simply sought renown,\n    By holding out, to tire each other down.\"\n\nOn Good Friday a jorum of _browis_ and roasted wheat or _frumenty_ was\nthe treat for dinner; white _jannocks_, introduced by the Flemish\nrefugees, and _throdkins_[165] were also then eaten with great zest by\nthe hungry labourer.[166]\n\n\nMAY-DAY CUSTOMS.\n\nThe Romans commenced the festival of Flora on the 28th April, and\ncontinued it through several days in May, with various ceremonies and\nrejoicings, and offerings of spring flowers and the branches of trees in\nbloom, which, through the accommodation of the Romish church to the\npagan usages, remain to us as May-day celebrations to the present time.\nIt was formerly a custom in Cheshire [and Lancashire] for young men to\nplace birchen boughs on May-day over the doors of their mistresses, and\nmark the residence of a scold by an alder bough. There is an old rhyme\nwhich mentions peculiar boughs for various tempers, as an owler (alder)\nfor a scolder, a nut for a slut, &c. Ormerod thinks the practice is\ndisused; but he mentions that in the main street of Weverham are two\nMay-poles, which are decorated on May-day with all due attention to the\nancient solemnity; the sides are hung with garlands, and the top\nterminated by a birch, or other tall slender tree with its leaves on;\nthe bark being peeled off and the stem spliced to the pole, so as to\ngive the appearance of one tree from the summit.[167] The principal\ncharacteristics of May-day celebrations and festivities are of rejoicing\nthat the reign of winter is at an end, and that of early summer with its\nfloral beauties, has come. The hawthorn furnishes its white blossoms in\nprofusion; and the tall May-poles, gaily decorated with garlands of\nleaves and flowers, and festoons of ribbons of the brightest colours,\nare centres of attraction on the village green, for the youth of both\nsexes to dance the May-pole dance, hand-in-hand, in a ring.\n\n\nMAY SONGS.\n\nAmongst the old customs of rural Lancashire and Cheshire is that of a\nsmall party of minstrels or carollers going round from house to house\nduring the last few evenings of April, and singing a number of verses,\nexpressive of rejoicing that \"cold winter is driven away,\" and that the\nseason is \"drawing near to the merry month of May.\" The singers are\ngenerally accompanied by one or two musical instruments, a violin and\nclarionet for instance, and the tunes are very quaint and peculiar. Of\ncourse for their good wishes for the master of the house, with his\n\"chain of gold,\" for the mistress, with \"gold along her breast,\" and the\nchildren \"in rich attire,\" a trifling gift in money is made.[168]\n\n\nMAY-DAY EVE.\n\nThe evening before May-day is termed \"Mischief Night\" by the young\npeople of Burnley and the surrounding district. All kinds of mischief\nare then perpetrated. Formerly shopkeepers' sign-boards were exchanged;\n\"John Smith, grocer,\" finding his name and vocation changed, by the sign\nover his door, to \"Thomas Jones, tailor,\" and _vice vers\u00e2_; but the\npolice have put an end to these practical jokes. Young men and women,\nhowever, still continue to play each other tricks, by placing branches\nof trees, shrubs, or flowers under each others' windows, or before their\ndoors. All these have a symbolical meaning, as significant, if not\nalways as complimentary, as \"the Language of Flowers.\" Thus, \"a thorn\"\nimplies \"scorn;\" \"wicken\" (the mountain ash) \"my dear chicken;\" a\n\"bramble,\" for one who likes to \"ramble,\" &c. Much ill-feeling is at\ntimes engendered by this custom.\n\n\nMAY-DAY CUSTOM.\n\nOn the 1st of May the following custom is observed in some parts of\nLancashire, though now very nearly obsolete. Late on the preceding\nnight, or early on that morning, small branches of trees are placed at\nthe doors of houses in which reside any marriageable girls. They are\nemblematical of the character of the maidens, and have a well-understood\nlanguage of their own, which is rhythmical. Some speak flatteringly;\nothers quite the reverse; the latter being used when the character of\nthe person for whom it is intended is not quite \"above suspicion.\" A\nmalicious rustic wag may sometimes put a branch of the latter\ndescription where it is not deserved; but I believe this is an\nexception. I only remember a few of the various trees which are laid\nunder contribution for this purpose. _Wicken_ is the local name for\nmountain ash.\n\n_Wicken_, sweet chicken.\n\n_Oak_, for a joke.\n\n_Gorse, in bloom_, rhymes with \"at noon\" (I omit the epithet given here\nto an unchaste woman) and used for a notorious delinquent.[169]\n\n\nPENDLETON AND PENDLEBURY MAY-POLE AND GAMES.\n\nThe people of these townships for centuries celebrated May-day (a relic\nof the ancient heathen festival of the goddess Flora) by the May-pole,\nto which the watchful care of Charles I. and his royal progenitor\nextended, when they printed in their proclamation and \"Book of Sports,\"\nthat after the end of divine service on Sundays, their \"good people be\nnot disturbed, letted, nor discharged from the having of May-games, and\nthe setting up of the May-poles,\" &c. The ancient practice was to erect\nthe pole on May-day, and to surround it with a number of verdant boughs,\nbrought from \"Blakeley Forest,\" which were decked usually with garlands\nand flowers, and around which the people assembled to dance and\ncelebrate their May-games. \"Pendleton Pole\" is of much higher antiquity\nthan the Reformation; for in the will of Thomas del Bothe, who died 47\nEdw. III. (1373) the sum of 30_s._ is bequeathed towards making the\ncauseway at Pendleton near \"le Poll.\" In the time of the Commonwealth\nthe Pendleton Pole was taken down, in virtue of an ordinance of\nParliament against May-poles, and such other \"heathenish vanities;\" but\nit was re-erected at the Restoration, and still presents its lofty head,\nsurmounted by a Royal Crown; though much of the spacious field of the\nancient May-games is now occupied by buildings [in 1780 the township\nwas little more than a fold of cottages, with its May-pole and green],\nand much of the spirit of the rural sports of our ancestors has\nsubsided. In Pasquil's \"_Palinodia_,\" (published in 1654) the decay of\nMay-games two centuries ago, is recorded and lamented:--\n\n    \"Happy the age, and harmless were the days\n      (For then true love and amity was found);\n    When every village did a May-pole raise,\n      And Whitsun ales and May-games did abound,\n    And all the lusty younkers in a rout,\n    With merry lasses, danced the rod about;\n    Then friendship to their banquets bid the guests,\n    And poor men fared the better for their feasts.\n\n    The lords of castles, manors, towns, and towers,\n      Rejoiced when they beheld the farmers flourish,\n    And would come down unto the summer bowers,\n      To see the country gallants dance the Morice.\n       .       .       .       .       .\n    But since the summer poles were overthrown,\n      And all good sports and merriments decay'd,\n    How times and men are changed, so well is known,\n      It were but labour lost if more were said.\"\n\n\nMAY CUSTOM IN SPOTLAND.\n\nA custom of high antiquity and of primitive simplicity prevails in the\ndistrict of Spotland, in the parish of Rochdale. On the first Sunday in\nMay the young people of the surrounding country assemble at Knott Hill\nyearly, for the purpose of presenting to each other their mutual\ngreetings and congratulations on the arrival of this cheering season,\nand of pledging each other in the pure beverage which flows from the\nmountain springs.[170]\n\n\nMAY-DAY CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.\n\nOn the morning of the first day of May, many a May-bough[171] ornamented\nthe villages and towns of the Fylde, inserted by some mischievous\nyoungsters, at the risk of life or limb, in the chimney-tops of their\nneighbours' houses. Then came a most imposing piece of pageantry, that\nof \"bringing-in May;\" when a king and queen, with their royal attendants\nand rustic band of music, mummers, &c., attracted the attention and\nadmiration of the country side. May-day with its pageants, sports,\ngames, dances, garlands, and May-poles, was peculiarly a season of\nhilarity, merry-making, and good humour. The pageant of \"bringing-in\nMay,\" was a favourite pastime at Poulton about fifty years ago [_i.e._,\nabout 1787]; the causeways were strewed with flowers, and at the door of\nthe house of each respectable inhabitant, sweetmeats, ale, and even\nwine, were handed about as a treat and refreshment to the young, who\nwere thus affording them amusement. By degrees the pageant ceased; a\nvigorous attempt, however, was made to revive it in 1818, with all its\nhonours; but the age-worn custom proved to be utterly incapable of\nresuscitation. Another writer,[172] however, states that at\nPoulton-le-Fylde and in its neighbourhood, some of the customs of the\nolden time are still observed. Very recently May-day was ushered in with\na dance round the May-pole, and the lavish exhibition of garlands and\nmerriment.\n\n\nTHE MAY-POLE OF LOSTOCK.\n\nThe May-pole of Lostock, a village near Bolton, is probably the most\nancient upon record. It is mentioned in a charter by which the town of\nWesthalchton [? Westhaughton] was granted to the Abbey of Cockersand,\nabout the reign of King John. The pole, it appears, had superseded a\ncross, and formed one of the landmarks which defined the boundaries, and\nit must therefore have been a permanent and not an annual erection. The\nwords of the charter are:--\"De Lostock meypull, ubi crux situ fuit,\nrecta linea in austro, usque ad crucem super le Tunge.\"[173] (From\nLostock May-pole, where the cross was formerly, in a straight line to\nthe south, as far as to the cross upon the Tunge.)\n\n\nROBIN HOOD AND MAY-GAMES AT BURNLEY, IN 1579.\n\nIn a letter from Edmond Assheton, Esq., then a magistrate of Lancashire,\nand aged 75, to William Farington, Esq. (who was also in the commission\nof the peace), dated Manchester, May 12, 1580, the writer thus complains\nof \"lewd sports\" and sabbath-breaking:--\"I am sure, Right Worshipful,\nyou have not forgotten the last year stirs at Burnley about Robin Hood\nand the May-games. Now, considering that it is a cause that bringeth no\ngood effect, being contrary to the best, therefore a number of the\njustices of the peace herein in Salford Hundred have consulted with the\n[Ecclesiastical] Commission [of Queen Elizabeth] to suppress those lewd\nsports, tending to no other end but to stir up our frail natures to\nwantonness; and mean not to allow neither old custom. Then their excuse\nin coming to the church in time of divine service, for every man may\nwell know with what minds, after their embracings, kissings, and\nunchaste beholding of each other, they can come presently prepared to\nprayer. A fit assembly to confer of worse causes, over and besides their\nmarching and walking together in the night time. But chiefly because it\nis a profanation of the Sabbath-day, and done in some places in\ncontempt of the gospel and the religion established, I pray God it be\nnot so at Burnley. It is called in the Scriptures the Lord's Day, and\nwas not lawful under the old law to carry a pitcher of water on the\nSabbath, or to gather sticks, but it was death. Such regard was had in\nthe time of the law to keeping holy the Sabbath. And do not we withdraw\neven the practice and use of good and godly works upon the same day?\nThen in reason the other should cease. Tell me, I pray you, if you can\nfind in the presence of the foresaid lewd pastimes, good example or\nprofit to the commonwealth, the defence of the realm, honour to the\nprince, or to the glory of God? Then, let them continue; otherwise, in\nmy opinion, they are to be withdrawn. For to that end I address these\ncontents unto you, because we would not deal for any reformation within\nthe limits of your walk; and for the better credit of the consent of the\nCommissioners, you may peruse how they mean to proceed against them of\nBurnley who have revived their former follies, if you redress not the\nsame.... Your assured always to use, EDMOND ASSHETON. It will not be\nlong afore [there] will be order taken for this dancing, either by the\nPrivy Council or by the Bishops by their commandment. My meaning is, I\nwould have you to do it yourself, which will with one word be brought to\npass.... If you would set your hand to this precept with us, I think it\nwould end these disorders within prescribed.\"[174]\n\n\nMAY-DAY IN MANCHESTER.\n\nIn the now olden days of coaching, this was a great day in Manchester.\nThe great coaching establishments, those of the royal mails, north,\nsouth, east, and west, and all the highflyers, &c., turned out all their\nspare vehicles and horses for a grand procession through the principal\nstreets of the town. Many of the mail and other coaches were newly\npainted for the occasion; all the teams were provided with new harness\nand gearing; the coachmen and guards had new uniforms; Jehu wore a great\ncockade of ribbons, and a huge bouquet of flowers, and he handled the\nnew ribbons with a dignity and grace peculiar to this almost defunct\nrace. The guard, in bright scarlet uniform, blew on his Kent bugle some\npopular tune of the time; and the horses wore cockades and nosegays\nabout their heads and ears; almost every coach on this occasion was\ndrawn by four horses, their coats shining with an extra polish for\nMay-day; and the cavalcade was really a pretty sight on a bright May-day\nmorning. Second only to it in decorative splendour, and in horseflesh,\nwas the display of lorries, wagons, drays, and carts, with their fine\ndraught-horses. Then came the milk-carts, with their drivers in dresses\ncovered with ribbons. These equine and asinine glories have passed\naway, extinguished by the rail.\n\n\nQUEEN OF THE MAY, &c.\n\nThe custom of choosing a May King and Queen is now disused. May-games,\nand the May-pole, were kept up at the quiet little village of Downham\nwhen all other places in the neighbourhood had ceased to celebrate\nMay-day. Nothing is now made of May-day, if we except the custom of\ncarters dressing their horses' heads and tails with ribbons on that day.\n\n\nWHITSUNTIDE.\n\nThe Feast of Pentecost, or Whitsuntide, was formerly kept as a high\nchurch festival, and by the people was celebrated by out-door sports and\nfestivities, and especially by the drinking assemblies called\n\"Whitsun-Ales.\" One writer (inquiring whether the custom of \"lifting at\nEaster\" is a memorial of Christ being raised up from the grave) observes\nthat, \"there seems to be a trace of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the\nheads of the Apostles, in what passes at Whitsuntide Fair, in some parts\nof Lancashire; where one person holds a stick over the head of another,\nwhilst a third, unperceived, strikes the stick, and thus gives a smart\nblow to the first. But this probably is only local.\"[175] \"Whit-week,\"\nas it is generally called, has gradually grown to be the great yearly\nholiday of the hundred of Salford, and the manufacturing district of\nwhich Manchester is the centre. This seems to have arisen from the\nyearly races at Manchester being held from the Wednesday to the Saturday\ninclusive, in that week. After the rise of Sunday-schools, their\nconductors, desiring to keep youth of both sexes from the demoralizing\nrecreations of the racecourse, took them to fields in the neighbourhood\nand held anniversary celebrations, tea-parties, &c., in the schools. The\nextension of the railway system has led to \"cheap trips\" and \"school\nexcursion trains\" during Whitsuntide; which are occasionally taken to\nWales, the Lakes, and other great distances. Canal boats take large\nnumbers of Sunday scholars to Dunham Park, Worsley, &c. Short excursions\nare made in carts, temporarily fitted with seats. It is customary for\nthe cotton-mills, &c., to close for Whitsuntide week to give the hands a\nholiday; the men going to the races, &c., and the women visiting\nManchester on Whit-Saturday, thronging the markets, the Royal Exchange,\nthe Infirmary Esplanade, and other public places; and gazing in at the\n\"shop windows,\" whence this day is usually called \"Gaping Saturday.\" The\ncollieries, too, are generally closed in Whit-week; and in some the\nunderground horses are brought to the surface to have a week's daylight,\nthe only time they enjoy it during the year. The mills, coalpits, &c.,\ngenerally have the requisite repairs of machinery, &c., made during this\nyearly holiday--those at least which would necessitate the stoppage of\nthe work at another time.\n\n\nWHIT-TUESDAY.--KING AND QUEEN AT DOWNHAM.\n\nThe last rural queen chosen at Downham is still living in Burnley. The\nlot always fell to the prettiest girl in the village, and certainly it\nmust be admitted that in this instance they exercised good judgment. A\ncommittee of young men made the selection; then an iron crown was\nprocured and dressed with flowers. The king and queen were ornamented\nwith flowers, a procession was then formed, headed by a fiddler. This\nproceeded from the Inn to the front of \"Squire Assheton's,\" Downham\nHall, and was composed of javelin men, and all the attendants of\nroyalty. Chairs were brought out of the Hall for the king and queen, ale\nwas handed round, and then a dance was performed on the lawn, the king\nand queen leading off. The procession next passed along through the\nvillage to the green, where seats were provided for a considerable\ncompany. Here again the dancing began, the king and queen dancing the\nfirst set. The afternoon was spent in the usual games, dances, &c. On\nthe next night all the young persons met at the inn, on invitation from\nthe king and queen--each paid a shilling towards the \"Queen's Posset.\" A\nlarge posset was then made and handed round to the company. After this\nthe evening was spent in dancing and merry-making.\n\n\nROGATIONS OR GANG DAYS.\n\nThese days are so named from the Litanies or Processions of the Church,\nbefore Holy Thursday or Ascension Day. It was a general custom in\ncountry parishes to \"gang\" or go round the boundaries and limits of the\nparish, on one of the three days before Holy Thursday, or the Feast of\nour Lord's Ascension; when the minister, accompanied by his\nchurchwardens and parishioners, was wont to deprecate the vengeance of\nGod, beg a blessing on the fruits of the earth, and preserve the rights\nand properties of the parish. In some parishes this perambulation took\nplace on Ascension Day itself. In a parochial account-book, entitled \"A\nRecord of the Acts and Doings of the thirty men of the parish of\nKirkham,\" Lancashire, is the following entry under the year 1665: \"Spent\non going perambulations on Ascension Day, 1_s._ 6_d._\"\n\n\nOATMEAL CHARITY AT INCE.\n\nUnder the name of Richardson's Charity, a distribution takes place\nannually on the Feast of the Ascension or Holy Thursday (ten days before\nWhit-Sunday) of _five loads of oatmeal_, each load weighing 240 lb.\nThree loads are given to the poor of the township of Ince, one to the\npoor of Abram, and the other to the poor of Hindley; adjacent\ntownships, all in the parish of Wigan. The Charity Commissioners, in\ntheir twenty-first report, state that the meal is provided by Mr.\nCowley, of Widnes, the owner of an estate in Ince, formerly the property\nof Edward Richardson, who, as the commissioners were informed, directed\nby his will that this distribution should be made for fifty years from\nthe time of his death. The year 1784 was given as the date of this\nbenefaction, in the Returns made to Parliament in 1786. Mr. Cowley has\nhimself had the disposal of this charity. The charity would, according\nto this statement, legally cease in 1836.\n\n\nNAMES FOR MOONS IN AUTUMN.\n\nIn Lancashire, as well as in the South of Scotland and the South of\nIreland, the moon of September is commonly called \"the harvest moon,\"\nthat of October \"the huntsman's moon.\"[176]\n\n\n\"GOOSE-INTENTOS.\"\n\nIn \"An Universal Etymological English Dictionary,\" by N. Bailey, London,\n1745, I read:--\"Goose-intentos, a goose claimed by custom by the\nhusbandmen in Lancashire, upon the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost,\nwhen the old Church prayers ended thus: 'ac bonis operis jugiter\npr\u00e6stat esse _intentos_.'\" These words occur in the old Sarum books, in\nthe Collect for the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost; in the present\nLiturgy, in that for the seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.[177]\n\nBlount, in his _Glossographia_, says that \"in Lancashire the husbandmen\nclaim it as a due to have a goose-intentos on the sixteenth Sunday after\nPentecost: which custom takes its origin from the last word of the old\nChurch prayer of that day:--'Tua nos Domine, qu\u00e6 sumus, gratia semper et\npr\u00e6veniat et sequatur; ac bonis operibus jugiter pr\u00e6stet esse\n_intentos_.' The vulgar people called it 'a goose with ten toes.'\"\nBeckwith, in his new edition of Blount's _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_\n(London, 4to, 1815, p. 413), after quoting this passage, remarks:--\"But\nbesides that the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, or after Trinity\nrather, being movable, and seldom falling upon Michaelmas Day, which is\nan immovable feast, the service for that day could very rarely be used\nat Michaelmas, there does not appear to be the most distant allusion to\na goose in the words of that prayer. Probably no other reason can be\ngiven for this custom, but that Michaelmas Day was a great festival, and\ngeese at that time most plentiful. In Denmark, where the harvest is\nlater, every family has a roasted goose for supper on St. Martin's Eve\n[Nov. 10].\" It must be borne in mind that the term _husbandman_ was\nformerly applied to persons of a somewhat higher position in life than\nan agricultural labourer, as for instance to the occupier and holder of\nthe land. In ancient grants from landlords of manors to their free\ntenants, among other reserved rents, boons, and services, the landlord\nfrequently laid claim to a good stubble goose at Michaelmas. After all,\nthe connexion between the goose and the collect is not apparent.[178]\n\n\nALL SOULS' DAY.--NOV. 2.\n\n    So named, because in the Church of Rome prayers are offered on this\n    day for \"all the faithful deceased.\"\n\nThere is a singular custom still kept up at Great Marton, in the Fylde\ndistrict, on this day. In some places it is called \"soul-caking,\" but\nthere it is named \"psalm-caking,\"--from their reciting psalms for which\nthey receive cakes. The custom is changing its character also--for in\nplace of collecting cakes from house to house, as in the old time, they\nnow beg for money. The term \"psalm\" is evidently a corruption of the old\nword \"sal,\" for soul; the mass or requiem for the dead was called\n\"Sal-mas,\" as late as the reign of Henry VI.\n\n\nGUNPOWDER PLOT AND GUY FAWKES.\n\nThe anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605, is still more\nor less kept in many parts of Lancashire, in towns by the effigy of Guy\nFawkes being paraded about the streets, and burnt at night with great\nrejoicing; and by the discharge of small cannon, guns, pistols, &c., and\nof fireworks. In the country the more common celebration is confined to\nhuge bonfires, and the firing of pistols and fireworks. In some places,\nespecially about Blackburn, Burnley, and that district, as well as in\nvillages about Eccles, Worsley, &c., it is customary for boys for some\ndays before the 5th of November, to go round to their friends and\nneighbours to beg for coals. They generally take their stand before the\ndoor, and either say or sing some doggerel, to the following effect:--\n\n    \"Remember, remember,\n    The Fifth of November,\n      The gunpowder treason and plot;\n    A stick and a stake,\n    For King George's sake,\n      We hope it will ne'er be forgot.\"\n\n\nCHRISTMAS.\n\nIn the olden time, before the Reformation, Christmas was the highest\nfestival of the Church. In some rural parts of Lancashire it is now but\nlittle regarded, and many of its customs are observed a week later,--on\nthe eve and day of the New Year. But still there linger in many places\nsome relics of the old observances and festivities, as the carols, the\nfrumenty on Christmas Eve, the mummers, with \"old Ball,\" or the\nhobby-horse, and the decoration of churches and dwellings with boughs of\nevergreen shrubs and plants; in the centre of which is still to be\nfound, in many country halls and kitchens, and in some also in the\ntowns, that mystic bough of the mistletoe, beneath whose white berries,\nit is the custom and licence of the season to steal a kiss from fair\nmaidens, and even from matrons \"forty, fat, and fair.\"\n\n\nCREATURES WORSHIPPING ON CHRISTMAS EVE.\n\nI have been told in Lancashire, that at midnight on Christmas Eve the\ncows fall on their knees, and the bees hum the Hundredth Psalm. I am\nunwilling to destroy the poetry of these old superstitions; but their\norigin can, I think, be accounted for. Cows, it is well known, on rising\nfrom the ground, get up on their knees first; and a person going into\nthe shippon at midnight would, no doubt, disturb the occupants, and by\nthe time he looked around, they would all be rising on their knees. The\nbuzzing of the bees, too, might easily be formed into a tune, and, with\nthe Hundredth Psalm running in the head of the listener, fancy would\nsupply the rest.[179]\n\n\nCHRISTMAS MUMMING.\n\nMr. J. O. Halliwell, in his _Nursery Rhymes of England_, relates the\nfollowing as a Christmas custom in Lancashire:--The boys dress\nthemselves up with ribands, and perform various pantomimes, after which\none of them, who has a blackened face, a rough skin coat, and a broom in\nhis hand, sings as follows:--\n\n    Here come I,\n    Little David Doubt;\n    If you don't give me money,\n    I'll sweep you all out.\n    Money I want,\n    Money I crave;\n    If you don't give me money,\n    I'll sweep you all to the grave.\n\n\nTHE HOBBY HORSE, OR OLD BALL.\n\nIn an old painted window at Betley, Staffordshire, exhibiting in twelve\ndiamond-octagon panes, the mummers and morris-dancers of May-day, the\ncentre pane below the May-pole represents the old hobby-horse, supposed\nto have once been the King of the May, though now a mere buffoon. The\nhobby (of this window) is a spirited horse of pasteboard, in which the\nmaster dances and displays tricks of legerdemain, &c. In the horse's\nmouth is stuck a ladle, ornamented with a ribbon; its use being to\nreceive the spectators' pecuniary donations. In Lancashire the old\ncustom seems to have so far changed, that it is the head of a dead horse\nthat is carried about at Christmas, as described amongst the Easter\ncustoms. \"Old Ball\" bites everybody it can lay hold of, and holds its\nvictims till they buy their release with a few pence.\n\n\nCHRISTMAS CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.\n\nThe Rev. W. Thornber[180] describes the Christmas gambols and customs in\nthe Fylde nearly a century ago, as having been kept up with great\nspirit. The midnight carols of the church-singers[181]--the penny laid\non the hob by the fireside, the prize of him who came first to the outer\ndoor, to \"let Christmas in,\"--the regular round of visits--the treat of\nmince pies[182]--in turn engrossed their attention. Each farm-house and\nhut possessed a pack of cards, which were obtained as an alms from the\nrich, if poverty forbade the purchase. Night after night of Christmas\nwas consumed in poring over these dirty and obscured cards. Nor were the\nyoungsters excluded from a share in the amusements of this festal\nseason. Early, long before dawn, on Christmas morning, young voices\nechoed through streets and lanes, in the words of the old song--\n\n      Get up old wives,\n      And bake your pies,\n    'Tis Christmas-day in the morning;\n      The bells shall ring,\n      The birds shall sing,\n    Tis Christmas-day in the morning.\n\nMany an evening was beguiled with snap-dragon, bobbing for apples,\njack-stone, blind-man's buff, forfeits, hot cockles, hunting the\nslipper, hide lose my supper, London Bridge, turning the trencher, and\nother games now little played. Fortune-telling by cards, &c., must not\nbe omitted. In the bright frost and moonshine, out-door sports were\neagerly pursued, guns were in great request, to shoot the shore-birds,\nand many found pleasure in \"watching the fleet;\" others played at\nfoot-ball in the lanes or streets; or engaged in the games of\nprison-bars, tee-touch-wood, thread-my-needle, horse-shoe, leap-frog,\nblack-thorn, cad, bandy, honey-pot, hop-scotch, hammer and block, bang\nabout and shedding copies. Cymbling for larks[183] was a very common\npastime; now it is scarcely known by name, and few have retained any of\nthe implements or instruments requisite to practise the art. Tradesmen\npresented their customers with the Yule-loaf,[184] or two mould candles\nfor the church, or some other Christmas-box. The churches and\nhouse-windows were decked with evergreens; a superstition derived\nprobably from the Druids, who decked their temples and houses with\nevergreens in December, that the Sylvan Spirits might avoid the chilly\nfrosts and storms of winter, by settling in their branches. For some\nweeks before Christmas, a band of young men called \"Mutes,\" roused at\nearly morn the slumbering to their devotions, or to activity in their\ndomestic duties. The beggar at the door, craving an _awmas_ [? alms] or\n_saumas_ [soul-mass] cake, reminded the inmates that charity should be a\ncharacteristic of the season. The Eve of Christmas Day was named \"Flesh\nDay,\" from the country people flocking to Poulton to buy beef, &c.,\nsufficient to supply the needs of the coming year. On the morning of\nChristmas Day the usual breakfast was of black puddings, with jannock,\n&c.\n\n\nCELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS AT WYCOLLER HALL.\n\nAt Wycoller Hall, the family usually kept open house the twelve days at\nChristmas. The entertainment was [in] a large hall of curious ashlar\nwork, [on] a long table, plenty of _frumenty_, like new milk, in a\nmorning, made of husked wheat boiled, roasted beef, with a fat goose and\na pudding, with plenty of good beer for dinner. A round-about\nfire-place, surrounded with stone benches, where the young folks sat and\ncracked nuts, and diverted themselves; and in this manner the sons and\ndaughters got matching, without going much from home.[185]\n\n\nCAROLS, &c.\n\n\"Carol\" is supposed to be derived from _cantare_ to sing, and _rola_, an\ninterjection of joy. Amongst our Christmas customs that of carol-singing\nprevails over a great part of Lancashire. It is the old custom of\ncelebrating with song the birth of the Saviour, even as the angels are\nsaid to have sung \"Glory to God in the highest,\" &c., at this great\nevent. Almost every European nation has its carols. Our earliest\nChristian forefathers had theirs; one or two Anglo-Norman carols have\nbeen preserved, and some of every century from the thirteenth to the\neighteenth. Numerous books containing carols have been printed (one by\nWynkin de Worde), and it would occupy too much space to insert even the\nmost popular of these carols here. A verse of one common to Lancashire\nand Yorkshire must suffice:--\n\n    God rest you all, merry gentlemen,\n      Let nothing you dismay;\n    Remember Christ our Saviour\n      Was born on Christmas-day.\n\nThe town or the village waitts go about after midnight, waking many a\nsleeper with their homely music, which sounds all the sweeter for being\nheard in the stilly night. Various items of payment to the Manchester\nwaitts occur in the Church Leet Books of that manor. A dance tune called\n\"The Warrington Waitts\" occurs in a printed Tune-Book of 1732. Hand-bell\nringing, a favourite Lancashire diversion, is much practised about\nChristmas.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[143] Hermentrude, in _Notes and Queries_, 3rd ser., vol. ii. p. 484.\n\n[144] Prestoniensis, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd ser., vol. ii. p. 326.\n\n[145] Hampson's _Medii \u00c6vi Kalendarium_, vol. i. p. 98.\n\n[146] Prestoniensis, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, vol. iii. p.\n50.\n\n[147] Halliwell's _Archaic and Provincial Dictionary_.\n\n[148] Pasquil's _Palinodia_.\n\n[149] _Ploughman's Feasting Days_, stanza 3.\n\n[150] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._\n\n[151] See Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.\n\n[152] See also, under BELLS, the Pancake Bell.\n\n[153] _Notes and Queries_, 2nd ser., V.\n\n[154] For the Simnel cakes of Shrewsbury, &c., see _Book of Days_, I.\n336.\n\n[155] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[156] _History of Manchester_, II. 265.\n\n[157] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[158] H. T. Riley, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd ser., ii. 320.\n\n[159] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._\n\n[160] Hone's _Every-Day Book_, ii. 450; Brand's _Popular Antiquities,\n&c._\n\n[161] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._\n\n[162] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[163] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._\n\n[164] _History of Blackpool_, p. 92.\n\n[165] _Browis_ or _brewis_ is broth or pottage; _frumenty_, is hulled\nwheat boiled in milk, and flavoured with cinnamon, sugar, allspice; and\n_jannocks_, oaten bread in large, coarse loaves; _throdkins_, a cake\nmade of oatmeal and bacon.\n\n[166] Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.\n\n[167] Hone's _Every-Day Book_, ii. 597.\n\n[168] For the words of these songs, see Harland's _Ballads and Songs of\nLancashire_, p. 116; and for words and music, Chambers's _Book of Days_,\ni. 546.\n\n[169] A. B., Liverpool, in _Notes and Queries_, v. 581.\n\n[170] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[171] These boughs, says Mr. Thornber, in his _History of Blackpool_,\nwere emblematical of the character of the maiden thus conspicuously\ndistinguished; an elder-bough for a scold, one of ash for a swearer, &c.\n\n[172] _Pictorial History of Lancashire._\n\n[173] Dugdale's _Monast. Anglic._, vol. vi. p. 906.\n\n[174] _Farington Papers_, p. 128.\n\n[175] _Gent. Mag._, vol. liii., for July, 1783, p. 578.\n\n[176] M. F., in _Notes and Queries_, 3rd series, ii. 397.\n\n[177] Aquinas, in _Notes and Queries_, 3rd series, v., April 2., 1864.\n\n[178] Ed. _Notes and Queries_.\n\n[179] Wellbank, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, viii. 242.\n\n[180] See _History of Blackpool_.\n\n[181] Here is the specimen of one sung from house to house during\nChristmas:--\n\n    We're nather cum to yare hase to beg nor to borrow,\n    But we're cum to yare hase to drive away o sorrow;\n    A suop o' drink, as yau may think, for we're varra droy,\n    We'll tell yau what we're cum for--a piece o' Christmas poye.\n\n[182] The mince-pie, made of a compound of Eastern productions,\nrepresented the offerings of the wise men who came from far to worship\nthe Saviour, bringing spices. Its old English coffin-shape was in\nimitation of the manger in which the infant Jesus was laid.\n\n[183] We have not been able to find any account of this mode of catching\nlarks, at least, under the name here given.\n\n[184] The baker formerly gave his customers a baby of paste; and in my\nown recollection a cake, decorated with the head of a lamb, named \"the\nEwe loaf,\" was the Christmas present of bakers at Poulton. On Christmas\nEve the houses were illuminated with candles of an enormous size.--W. T.\n\n[185] From a family MS. of the Cunliffes, quoted in Baines's\n_Lancashire_, iii. 244.\n\n\n\n\nEATING AND DRINKING CUSTOMS.\n\n\nIn many instances of particular Church Festivals, and of popular\ncelebrations, we have already enumerated various viands appropriated to\nspecial occasions, as the turkey to New Year's Day; the pancake to\nShrove-Tuesday; the simnel, carlins, bragot, and fig-pie to Mid-Lent\nSunday; the goose to Michaelmas; frumenty, mince-pies, &c., to\nChristmas. A few remain, however, for notice here:--Eccles cakes,\nOrmskirk gingerbread, Everton toffy, and other sweet cakes have \"all\nseasons for their own.\" The two rival shops in Eccles, on opposite sides\nof Church-street, the one called \"The genuine Eccles cake shop, from\nover the way,\" and the other \"The real Eccles cake shop, never removed,\"\nso much puzzle the stranger and visitor, that purchases are often made\nat both in order to secure the real, genuine, original article.\n\n\nTHE HAVERCAKE LADS.\n\nFormerly the bread eaten by the labouring classes in the parish of\nRochdale and others in the east of Lancashire was oat-cake, which was\nalso pretty generally in use in the west of Yorkshire. A regiment of\nsoldiers raised in these two adjoining districts at the beginning of the\nlast war took the name of the \"Havercake Lads,\" assuming as their badge\nan oat cake [oats are called havers], which was placed (for the purpose\nof attracting recruits) on the point of the recruiting sergeant's sword.\nOat bread is still eaten in various manufacturing and hilly districts of\nLancashire, but not nearly so generally as half a century ago.[186]\n\n\nWOODEN SHOES AND OATEN BREAD OR JANNOCKS.\n\nBoth these are said to have been introduced by the Flemish immigrant\nweavers about the year 1567. Their sabots, however, were made entirely\nof wood, lined with a little lamb's skin, to protect the top of the\nfoot; while the _clogs_ of the present day have strong leather tops\n[often brass clasps] and thick wooden soles. The kind of bread\nintroduced by the Flemings into Bolton and other manufacturing districts\nof Lancashire was made of oatmeal in the form of a loaf, and called\n_jannock_; but the gradual change in manners and improvement in social\ncondition have almost banished this food, and wheaten-bread and\noat-cakes have almost altogether taken its place.\n\nIn the _Shepherd's Play_, performed at Chester in 1577, in honour of the\nvisit to that city of the Earl of Derby, the third Shepherd says:--\n\n    And brave ale of Halton I have,\n      And what meat I had to my hire;\n    A pudding may no man deprave,\n      And a _jannock_ of Lancaster-shire.\n\nJannock is now used in Leigh more commonly than in most other parts of\nLancashire. Warrington ale was no less celebrated than Halton ale, and a\nsong in praise of the former is printed in Harland's _Lancashire\nBallads_.[187]\n\n\nPORK PASTIES.\n\nIn West Houghton, at the annual feast or wakes, there is a singular\nlocal custom of making large flat pasties of pork, which are eaten in\ngreat quantities on the Wakes Sunday, with a liberal accompaniment of\nale; and people resort to the village from all places for miles round,\non this Sunday, just as they rush into Bury on Mid-Lent or Mothering\nSunday to eat simnels and drink bragot ale.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[186] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[187] P. 199.\n\n\n\n\nBIRTH AND BAPTISMAL CUSTOMS.\n\n\nMany of the customs attending child-bearing, churching, and christening\nare not peculiar to Lancashire, but common nearly all over England. The\nterm \"the lady in the straw,\" merely meant the lady confined to her bed,\nas all beds were anciently stuffed with straw. It was formerly the\ncustom in Lancashire, as elsewhere, for the husband against the birth of\nthe child to provide a large cheese and a cake. These were called \"the\ngroaning\" cheese and cake; and throughout the north of England the first\ncut of the sick wife's cheese, or groaning cheese, is taken and laid\nunder the pillows of young women to cause them to dream of their lovers.\nAmongst customs now obsolete was the giving a large entertainment at the\nchurching. Now it is usually given at the christening.\n\n\nPRESENTS TO WOMEN IN CHILDBED.\n\nIn a note on an entry of _Nicholls's Assheton's Journal_, Dr. Whitaker\nand its Editor, the Rev. Canon Raines, say that the custom of making\npresents to women in childbed, is yet called \"pr\u0113s\u0115nting\" in\nCraven. It is now quite obsolete in South Lancashire, although it\ncontinued to be observed to the middle of the eighteenth century. In a\nMS. journal of 1706 is an entry \"John Leigh brought my wife a\ngroaning-cake: gave him 6_d._\" Other entries in the same journal show\nthat money gifts ranged from 1_s._ 6_d._ to 5_s._ (the last being to the\nminister's wife); besides smaller gifts to maids and midwives, and\nbottles of wine, syrup of ginger, and other creature comforts to the\nperson confined.\n\n\nTEA-DRINKING AFTER CHILDBIRTH.\n\nIn some parts of North Lancashire it is customary to have a tea-drinking\nafter the recovery from childbirth. All the neighbours and friends are\ninvited--sometimes many more than can be comfortably accommodated--and\nboth tea and rum are plentifully distributed. After tea, each visitor\npays a shilling towards the expense of the birth feast; and the evening\nis spent in the usual gossip.\n\n\nTURNING THE BED AFTER CHILDBIRTH.\n\nAn attendant was making a bed occupied by the mother of a child born a\nfew days previously. When she attempted to turn it over, to give it a\nbetter shaking, the nurse energetically interfered, peremptorily\nforbidding her doing so till a month after the confinement, on the\nground that it was decidedly unlucky; and said that she never allowed it\nto be done till then, on any account whatever.[188]\n\n\nAN UNBAPTIZED CHILD CANNOT DIE.\n\nThe _Morning Herald_ of the 18th June, 1860, notices a case of attempted\ninfanticide near Liverpool. The wretched mother, having gained access to\na gentleman's grounds, laid her child on the ground and covered it with\nsods. The child was happily discovered and its life saved. The mother\nwas apprehended and charged with having attempted to murder her child.\nShe confessed that she was guilty, and added [\"the tender mercies of the\nwicked are cruel\"] that she had previously succeeded in getting the\nchild baptized, as she believed it could not otherwise have died. This\nis a strange bit of folk-lore.[189]\n\n\nGIFTS TO INFANTS.\n\nIt is a custom in some parts of Lancashire, as well as in Yorkshire,\nNorthumberland, and other counties, that when an infant first goes out\nof the house, in the arms of the mother or the nurse, in some cases the\nfirst family visited, in others every neighbour receiving the call,\npresents to or for the infant an egg, some salt, some bread, and in some\ncases a small piece of money. These gifts are to ensure, as the gossips\navow, that the child shall never want bread, meat, or salt to it, or\nmoney, throughout life. The old custom of sponsors giving the child\ntwelve tea-spoons, called \"Apostle Spoons,\" is now obsolete. The gift of\na coral with bells, is supposed to have had its origin in a very ancient\nsuperstition. Coral, according to Pliny, was deemed an amulet against\nfascination; and it was thought to preserve and fasten the teeth. The\ncoral-bells (especially if blest by the priest) would scare away evil\nspirits from the child.\n\n\nCHANGELINGS.\n\nThere is even yet in some parts of Lancashire a strong dread of the\nfairies or witches coming secretly and exchanging their own ill-favoured\nimps, for the newly born infant; and various charms are used to prevent\nthe child from being thus stolen away.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[188] A. B., Liverpool, in _Notes and Queries_, vi. 432.\n\n[189] W. S. Simpson, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, x. p. 184.\n\n\n\n\nBETROTHING AND BRIDAL OR WEDDING CUSTOMS.\n\n\nBETROTHING CUSTOMS.\n\nThe common custom of breaking a piece of silver or gold (if it be\ncrooked, so much the luckier) between lovers of the humbler classes,\nespecially when the man is going to a distance, is believed to have had\nits origin in a sort of betrothal or promise of marriage, much practised\namongst the ancient Danes, called _Hand-festing_, which is mentioned by\nRay in his Collection or Glossary of Northumbrian Words. It means\nhand-fastening or binding. In betrothal it was also the custom to change\nrings, formed of two links or hoops, called gemmel rings, from\n_gemelli_, twins.\n\n\nCURIOUS WEDDING CUSTOM.\n\nAn ancient custom at weddings of the poorer classes in Lancashire, and\nin some parts of Cumberland, is thus described:--The Lord of the Manor,\nin whose jurisdiction the marriage takes place, allowed the parties a\npiece of ground for a house and garden. All their friends assembled on\nthe wedding-day, and the bridegroom having provided a dinner and drink,\nthey set to work and constructed a dwelling for the young couple, of\nclay and wood, what is called post and petrel, or wattle and daub. Many\nof these \"clay biggins\" still remain in the Fylde district and the\nnorthern parts of Lancashire. The relatives of the pair supplied the\nmost necessary part of the furniture, and thus they were enabled to\n\"start fair\" in the world.[190]\n\n\nCOURTING AND WEDDING CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.\n\nOn the occasion of a marriage, a christening, or a churching, each guest\neither sent or presented some offering of money or food; thus providing\na sufficient stock of provisions for the entertainment without much, if\nany, cost to the host. The preliminaries before marriage, the addresses\npaid by the swain to his sweetheart after the day's labour was done,\nwere styled \"the sitting-up,\" the night being the time allotted to\ncourtship, by the kitchen fire, after the other members of the family\nhad retired to rest. This \"sitting-up\" was regularly observed every\nSaturday night if the lover was faithful; if otherwise, the price of the\n\"lant\" (?) of the forsaken fair was transmitted by her to the rival\npreferred by her inconstant swain. On the wedding-day, when a bride and\nher \"groom\" left the house to have the marriage rites solemnized, some\nrelative or servant threw at or after the smiling pair a \"shuffle\"\n(_Pantoufle_, an old shoe or slipper)--a custom in its origin said to be\nJewish--as a preventive of future unhappiness, an omen of good-luck and\nprosperity. At the church-door an idle crowd was always ready for the\n\"perry,\"--that is, to contest for the dole of scattered half-pence, or\nif disappointed, to deprive the bride of her shawl or shoes, till some\nlargess was bestowed. The day was spent in the company of a merry party\nof friends, who, after the ceremony of \"throwing the stocking\" over the\nbed of the wedded pair was performed, retired to their homes.[191]\n\n\nANCIENT BRIDAL CUSTOM.--THE BRIDE'S CHAIR AND THE FAIRY HOLE.\n\nOn the lower declivity of Warton Crag, in the parish of Warton (which\nabuts on Morecambe Bay and the Westmorland border), commanding a\nbeautiful and extended prospect of the bay, a seat called \"The Bride's\nChair\" was resorted to on the day of marriage by the brides of the\nvillage; and in this seat they were enthroned with due solemnity by\ntheir friends; but the origin and the object of the custom, which has\nnow fallen in disuse, are unknown. Not far from Warton Crag are three\nrocking-stones placed in a line, about forty feet asunder, the largest\nstone lying in the middle. A cave is also mentioned by Lucas, named \"The\nFairy Hole,\" where dwarf spirits called Elves or Fairies, were wont to\nresort.[192]\n\n\nBURNLEY.\n\nAn ancient custom prevails at Burnley Grammar School, by which all\npersons married at St. Peter's Church in that town are fined by the\nboys. As soon as a wedding is fixed the parish clerk informs the boys,\nand on the day appointed they depute two of their number to wait upon\nthe groomsman and demand a fee. There is no fixed sum named; but enough\nis got to purchase books and maintain a tolerable library for the use of\nthe pupils. Former pupils always pay a liberal fine.\n\n\nMARRIAGES AT MANCHESTER PARISH CHURCH.\n\n\"Th'owd Church,\" as the collegiate church of Manchester was provincially\ndesignated before it attained the dignity of a cathedral, was known and\ncelebrated far and wide over the extensive parish. Its altar has\nwitnessed the joining together of thousands of happy [and unhappy]\ncouples. The fees here being less than those demanded at other churches,\nwhich had to pay tribute to it, it was of course the most popular\nsanctuary in the whole parish for the solemnization of matrimony. At the\nexpiration of Lent (during which the marriage fees are doubled) crowds\nof candidates for nuptial honours present themselves; indeed so numerous\nare they that the ceremony is performed by wholesale on Easter Monday. A\nchaplain of facetious memory [the Rev. Joshua Brookes] is said to have\non one of these occasions accidentally united the wrong parties. When\nthe occurrence was represented to him, his ready reply was, \"Pair as you\ngo out; you're all married; pair as you go out.\" This verbal certificate\nappeared to give general satisfaction, and each bridegroom soon found\nhis right bride. Sir George Head, in his _Home Tour through the\nManufacturing Districts, in the summer of 1835_, thus describes what he\nsaw of these wholesale Monday marriages:--\"I attended the Old Church at\nManchester one Monday morning, in order to witness the solemnization of\nseveral marriages, which I had reason to suppose were then and there to\ntake place. I had heard on the preceding Sunday the banns proclaimed as\nfollows:--'For the first time of asking, 65; for the second time, 72;\nfor the third time, 60. Total, 197.' Having been informed that it would\nbe expedient to be on the spot at eight in the morning I repaired\nthither at that hour. Operations, however, did not commence before ten.\nThe latter is the usual time of proceeding to business, although in\ncases of persons married by licence 8 o'clock is the hour. When all was\nready and the church doors opened, the clergyman and clerk betook\nthemselves to the vestry; and the people who were about to be married,\nand their friends, seated themselves in the body of the church opposite\nthe communion table, on benches which were placed there for the purpose.\nNot less than fifty persons were assembled, among whom I took my seat\nquietly, without being noticed. A party who had arrived in a narrow _vis\n\u00e0 vis_ fly, most exclusively paraded in the meantime up and down (as if\nunwilling to identify themselves with the humbler candidates of\nmatrimony) in another part of the church. The people at first took their\nseats in solemn silence, each one inquisitively surveying his neighbour;\nbut as the clergyman and clerk were some time in preparation, the men\nfirst began to whisper one to another and the women to titter, till by\ndegrees they all threw off their reserve, and made audible remarks on\nthe new comers. There was little _mauvaise honte_ among the women, but\nof the men, poor fellows! some were seriously abashed; while among the\nhymeneal throng there seemed to prevail a sentiment that obtains pretty\ngenerally among their betters, namely, inclination to put shy people out\nof conceit with themselves. Thus, at the advance of a sheepish-looking\nbridegroom, he was immediately assailed on all sides with 'Come in, man;\nwhat art thou afraid of? Nobody 'll hurt thee!' And then a general laugh\nwent round in a repressed tone, but quite sufficient to confound and\nsubdue the new comer. Presently a sudden buzz broke out, 'The\nclergyman's coming;' and all was perfectly silent. About twelve couples\nwere to be married; the rest were friends and attendants. The former\nwere called upon to arrange themselves all together around the altar.\nThe clerk was an adept in his business, and performed the duties of his\noffice in a mode admirably calculated to set the people at their ease\nand direct the proceedings. In appointing them to their proper places,\nhe addressed each in an intonation of voice perfectly soft and soothing,\nand which carried with it more of encouragement as he made use of no\nappellative but the Christian name of the person spoken to. Thus he\nproceeded:--'Daniel and Ph\u0153be; this way, Daniel, take off your\ngloves, Daniel. William and Anne; no, Anne; here, Anne; t'other side,\nWilliam. John and Mary; here, John; oh! John.' And then addressing them\nall together, 'Now, all of you give your hats to some person to hold.'\nAlthough the marriage service appeared to me (adds Sir George) to be\ngenerally addressed to the whole party, the clergyman was scrupulously\nexact in obtaining the accurate responses from each individual.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMany wedding customs, as the bridesmaids and best men, the wedding-ring,\nthe nuptial kiss in the church, the bouquet borne in the hand of the\nbride, &c., the scattering of flowers in her path, the throwing of an\nold shoe after her for luck, the giving gloves, &c., are of ancient\norigin, and are the relics of Anglo-Saxon or Danish usages.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[190] Hampson's _Medii \u00c6vi Kalend._ i. 289.\n\n[191] See Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.\n\n[192] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n\n\n\nDYING, DEATH-BED, AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS.\n\n\nDYING HARDLY.\n\nPersons are said to \"die hardly,\" as the phrase is, meaning to be\nunable to expire, when there are pigeons' feathers in the bed. Some will\nnot allow dying persons to lie on a feather-bed, because they hold that\nit very much increases their pain and suffering, and actually retards\ntheir departure. On the other hand, there is a superstitious feeling\nthat it is a great misfortune, nay, even a _judgment_, not to die in a\nbed.\n\n\nBURYING IN WOOLLEN.\n\nBy a statute of 30 Car. II., stat. I, cap. 3 (1678), entitled \"An act\nfor the lessening the importation of linen from beyond the seas, and the\nencouragement of the woollen and paper manufactures of the kingdom,\" it\nis enacted that the curate of every parish shall keep a register, to be\nprovided at the charge of the parish, wherein to enter all burials and\naffidavits of persons being buried in woollen; the affidavit to be taken\nby any justice of the peace, mayor, or such like chief officer, in the\nparish where the body was interred; and if there be no officer, then by\nany curate within the city where the corpse was buried (except him in\nwhose parish the corpse was buried), who must administer the oath and\nset his hand gratis. No affidavit to be necessary for a person dying of\nthe plague. It imposes a fine of \u00a35 for every infringement; one half to\ngo to the informer, and the other half to the poor of the parish. This\nact was repealed by the 54 Geo. III. cap. 108 (1814). In the parish of\nPrestwich, the first entry in the book provided for such purposes was in\nAugust, 1678; and there is no entry later than 1681, which appears also\nto be the limit of the act's observance in the adjacent parish of\nRadcliffe; where the entries immediately follow the record of the burial\nitself in the registers, and not in a separate book as at Prestwich.\nUnder the year 1679, is the following entry in the parish register of\nRadcliffe:--\n\n\"An orphan of Ralph Mather's, of Radcliffe, was buried the 9th day of\nApril, and certified to be wound up in woollen only, under the hand of\nMr. William Hulme.\"\n\nIn the churchwardens' accounts of Prestwich, for the year 1681, is the\nfollowing item of receipt:--\n\n\"Received a fine of James Crompton, for burying his son, and not\nbringing in an affidavit, according to the act for burying in woollen,\n\u00a32 10_s._\"[193]\n\n\nFUNERAL DOLE AND ARVAL CAKE.\n\nIn Lancashire, the funeral was formerly celebrated with great profusion\nin meats and drinks, to which was added in those of the richer sort,\nwhat was called a penny dole, or promiscuous distribution of that sum,\nanciently delivered in silver to the poor. The effect of this custom,\nsays Lucas (as quoted by Dr. Whitaker[194]) was such, that he had seen\nmany \"who would rather go seven or eight miles to a penny dole, than\nearn sixpence in the same time by laudable industry.\" This custom of\ndistributing a small money alms or dole at funerals still existed in\nparts of Lancashire within the last fifty years. One sexagenarian\ninformant told the writer that, when a lad, he went to the funeral of a\nMr. D., in the hamlet of Swinton, parish of Eccles, and there was what\nhe called \"a _dow_, gi'en to every lad and every wench [boy or girl] as\nwent, far and near,--a penny a-piece; and them as carrit a choilt\n[carried a child] had tuppence.\" Usually at country funerals, after the\ninterment, the relations first, and next their attendants, threw into\nthe grave sprigs of bay, rosemary, or other odoriferous evergreens,\nwhich had been previously distributed amongst them. In some cases, a\nmessenger went round the neighbourhood, \"bidding\" parties to the\nfuneral, and at each house where he gave the invitation, he left a sprig\nof rosemary, &c. After the rites at the grave, the company adjourned to\na neighbouring public-house, where they were severally presented with a\ncake and ale, which was called an _arval_. This word seems to have\ngreatly puzzled Dr. Whitaker. It is the Sueo-Gothic _arf\u00f6l_, which is a\ncompound of _arf_, inheritance, and _\u00f6l_, ale,--expressive of a feast\ngiven by the heir, at the funeral, on succeeding to the estate. The\nfeast and its name were imparted to us by the Danes, whose _arfw\u00f6l_ is\ndescribed by Olaus Wormius as a solemn banquet, celebrated by kings and\nnobles, in honour of deceased relations, whom they are succeeding.\n\n\nDALTON-IN-FURNESS.\n\nThe most singular mode of conducting funerals prevails at this place. A\nfull meal of bread and cheese and ale is provided at the funeral house;\nand, after the corpse is interred the parish clerk proclaims, at the\ngrave-side, that the company must repair to some appointed public-house.\nArrived there, they sit down by fours together, and each four is served\nwith two quarts of ale.[195] One half of this is paid for by the\nconductor of the funeral, and the other half by the company. While they\nare drinking the ale, the waiter goes round with cakes, serving out one\nto each guest, which he is expected to carry home.[196]\n\n\nOLD FUNERAL CUSTOMS AT WARTON.\n\nA singular practice, which was growing obsolete in the time of Lucas\n(says Dr. Whitaker) once prevailed in the parish of Warton; which was,\nthat most householders were furnished with a kind of family pall, or\nfinely wrought coverlet, to be laid over the bier when the corpse was\ncarried to church. Amongst other funeral customs at Warton, were the\ngreat feasting and drinking; the funeral dole, distributed to the poor;\nthe casting of odoriferous herbs into the grave; and the cake and\n_arval_-ale, already described, pp. 270, 271, _supr\u00e2_.[197]\n\n\nFUNERAL CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE.\n\nWhen the last offices of respect to a departed friend or neighbour were\nto be rendered, a whole district, called \"their side\" of the country,\nwas \"bidden\" or invited to assist in carrying the remains to their\nnarrow home. At a stated hour the crowd assembled, not to mourn with\nwidowed wife or weeping children, but to consume ale and tobacco, and to\ntalk over their farms or trade till all was in readiness to depart for\nthe completion of the obsequies. A particular order was observed. From\nthe door of his former home, and into, and out of, the church, the\ncorpse was carried on the shoulders of four of his relatives--his\nnearest kinsman, the chief mourner, walking in front with the clergyman.\nAt the close of the ceremony, after the sprigs of box or rosemary had\nbeen deposited on the coffin, each person also adding a sprinkling of\ndust, the rough voice of the parish clerk was heard grating harshly in\nthat solemn moment, inviting the \"bidden\" to show further their respect\nto the deceased by partaking of a dinner provided at the village inn.\nHow the day terminated may be supposed, and indeed was a matter of sad\nnotoriety. Indeed, it was not very unusual to see those who were to\nconvey the dead to the sepulchre, tottering from intoxication under\ntheir sad burden. The best features of these old-time funerals were that\ndoles in money were distributed to the aged and the very young; the poor\nwere fed, and sometimes warm cloaks or other useful articles of attire\nwere given, to be worn in memory of the departed.[198] Fifty-five years\nago, says Mr. Thornber, writing in 1837, the more respectable portion of\nthe inhabitants of Poulton were buried by candle-light--a custom long\nobserved by some of the oldest families in the town. It was regarded as\na sacred duty to expose a lighted candle in the window of every house as\nthe corpse passed through the streets towards the church for interment;\nand he was poor indeed who did not pay this tribute of respect to the\ndead. So late as 1813 this church was strewed with rushes.\n\n\nMODE OF BURIAL OF A WIDOW WHO HAD TAKEN RELIGIOUS VOWS.\n\nA daughter of William Balderstone, of Balderstone, in her widowhood,\nmakes a will of which the following is the commencement:--\"Seventh day\nof January, 1497. I, Dame Jane Pilkington, widow, make and ordain this\nmy last will and testament: First, I bequeath my bodye to be buried in\ny^e Nunnes Quire of Monketon, in my habit, holding my hand upon my\nbreast, with my ring upon my finger, having taken in my resolves the\nmantel and the ring,\" &c.[199]\n\n\nFUNERAL CUSTOMS IN EAST LANCASHIRE.\n\nIn _Nicholas Assheton's Journal_, he mentions that the corpse of a Mrs.\nStarkie was carried to church by four relatives; there was a sermon, and\nafterwards dinner, forty messes being provided for. On this, Dr.\nWhitaker remarks:--\"An ancient usage. The nearest relations always took\nup the corpse at the door; and once more, if the distance was\nconsiderable, at the church gates. By forty messes, I suppose are to be\nunderstood so many dishes of meat.\" The editor (the Rev. Canon Raines)\nadds:--\"This custom, which appears to be quite patriarchal, is still\nprevalent in some of the country parishes in South Lancashire. The\ncustom of preaching funeral sermons on the day of the burial is now\nexploded, although so recently as 1776 the vicar of one of the largest\nparishes in Lancashire (Rev. John White, B.A., of Blackburn), objected\nto the building of a church in his parish unless he had 'some\ncompensation made for the funeral sermons to be preached in it.'[200] I\nshould rather understand the forty messes to be dinners provided for\nforty persons, although funerals in Lancashire at this period were\nconducted on a scale of prodigality scarcely to be conceived.\" [_The\nHouse and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths_ give examples of three\nburial customs--that of a dole to the poor; at one place 40_s._ 7_d._,\nat another 57_s._ 4_d._, at a third 47_s._ 8_d._ (?) a penny to each\nperson; that of payment to the clergyman for a funeral sermon, in one\ncase 5_s._; and that of providing dinners for the mourners, chiefly for\nthose from a distance, in one case twenty-four messes of meat cost\n58_s._ 8_d._; in another instance seventy dined at 6_d._ the mess or\nmeal, seventy-six and sixty-five at 5_d._; in all 211 persons attending\none funeral.--EDS.]\n\n\nBIDDING TO FUNERALS.\n\nPreviously to the formation of cemeteries, and the employment of\nomnibus-hearses, it was customary to invite large numbers to attend\nfunerals. Guests were invited by _dozens_; and as each entered the house\nwhere the deceased lay, he was met at the door by a female attendant\nhabited in black, and wearing a white apron, who offered him spiced\nliquor from a silver tankard. In the house each person was presented\nwith a bun and a slice of currant bread. When the time for closing up\nthe coffin arrived, each took his last look at the corpse and presented\na shilling, or more, to the nearest relative of the deceased; who always\nsat at the head of the coffin for this purpose. In the neighbourhoods of\nLittle Hulton, Peel Yate, Walkden Moor, &c., it was till of late years\nthe custom for two persons to be nominated as \"bidders\" of guests to a\nfuneral. These went to the various houses of the persons to be invited,\nand presented to each a sprig of rosemary; which the guest wore or\ncarried in the hand at the funeral. This inviting or \"bidding\" was\nusually called \"lating\" or \"lathing;\" from the A.-S. verb _Lathian_, to\ninvite, bid, or send for.\n\n\nSITUATION AND DIRECTION OF GRAVES.\n\nAs churches are built to stand about East and West, the greatest spaces\nin the churchyard are the North and South sides of the church.\nThroughout Lancashire and the North of England there is a universal\nsuperstition that the south side of the church is the holiest or most\nconsecrated ground, and it may be observed that that side of the\ngraveyard is generally crowded with grave-stones, or green hillocks of\nturf, while the north side has but few. This is an old superstition,\nwhich held that the north side of the church was really unhallowed\nground, fit only to be the last resting place of still-born infants and\nsuicides. Then almost all graves are ranged east and west; and in a rare\ntract of the Marprelate series, called \"_Martin's Month's Mind_\" (1589)\nit is stated that \"he would not be laid east and west (for he ever went\nagainst the hair), but north and south: I think because 'Ab aquilone\nomne malum' (from the north comes all evil), and the south wind ever\nbrings corruption with it.\" The celebrated antiquary Thomas Hearne, left\norders for his grave to be made straight by a compass, due east and\nwest. Sir Thomas Browne[201] observes that \"the Persians were buried\nlying north and south; the Megarians and Ph\u0153nicians placed their\nheads to the east; the Athenians, some think, towards the west, which\nChristians still retain; and Bede will have it to be the posture of our\nSaviour.\" One \"Article of Inquiry\" in a visitation of the Bishop of Ely\nin 1662, was--\"When graves are digged, are they made six feet deep (at\nthe least), and east and west?\"\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[193] Rev. John Booker, Prestwich, in _Notes and Queries_, v. 543.\n\n[194] _Richmondshire_, ii. 298.\n\n[195] In many instances, in social feasts, four persons were regarded as\na \"mess.\"\n\n[196] The Rev. Mr. Hodgson's _Description of Westmorland_.\n\n[197] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[198] Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.\n\n[199] Dr. Whitaker's _Whalley_, addenda.\n\n[200] _Lancashire MSS.--Letters._\n\n[201] In his _Urn Burial_.\n\n\n\n\nCUSTOMS OF MANORS.\n\n\nThis subject would require extensive notice, if the materials requisite\nfor its elucidation were more numerous and accessible. All prescriptive\ncustoms of manors have existed beyond what is termed \"legal\nmemory\"--_i.e._, from the reign of Richard I. (1189-1199). Many others,\nrelating to the military and other free tenures of the chief tenants of\nmanors, and to the socage and inferior or servile tenures, with the\nboons of the cottagers, &c., and the various services attached to these\ndifferent tenures, would make a very curious piece of history of customs\nand usages; but these are usually recorded only in private grants,\ncharters, and other deeds, or in copy-rolls and other records of manors,\nnot generally accessible. The following are some examples:--\n\n\nTHE HONOUR OF KNIGHTHOOD.\n\nIn the early ages of our history, the honour of knighthood, with the\nmilitary services to which it was incident under the feudal system, was\noften forced upon the subject. In the year 1278, a writ to the Sheriff\nof Lancashire commanded him to distrain upon all persons seised of land\nof the value of \u00a320 yearly, whether held of the King _in capite_, or of\nany other lords who ought to be knights and were not; and all such were\nordered forthwith to take out their patent of knighthood. Fourteen years\nafter this, a writ was issued, wherein the qualification was raised to\ndouble the amount; and a writ, dated 6th February, 1292, was issued to\nthe Sheriff of Lancashire (with others), proclaiming that all persons\nholding lands in fee, or of inheritance, of the value of \u00a340 per annum,\nmust take the order of knighthood before Christmas in that year. The\ncrown might relax or vary these services: hence a writ to the Sheriff of\nLancashire recites \"that the commonalty of England, having performed\ngood services against the Welsh, the king excuses persons not holding\nlands of the value of \u00a3100 yearly from taking the order of knighthood;\"\nbut all holding above that amount, and not taking the order before the\nNativity of the Virgin (Sept. 8), were to be distrained upon.\nSubsequently, injunctions were addressed to the Sheriff, commanding him\nto make extents of the lands of those refusing to take the order of\nknighthood, and to hold them for the king until further orders. Another\nwrit to the Sheriff of Lancashire, of 6th April, 1305, directs him to\nproclaim that all who should become knights, and are not, must repair to\nLondon before the following Whit Sunday to receive that distinction, if\nproperly qualified.[202]\n\n\nMARITAGIUM.\n\nOn the marriage of the Princess Alianora (sister of Edward III.) with\nthe Earl of Guelders, an order was issued to the abbot of Furness, and\nto the priors of Burscough, Up-Holland, and Hornby, as well as to the\nabbot of Whalley, and to the priors of Cartmell and Coningshead,\nrequesting them to levy the subsidy on their respective houses, towards\nthe _Maritagium_, an impost of early times, which ceased with the feudal\nsystem.[203] This order the priests were slow to obey, in consequence of\nwhich another letter was issued by the king from Pontefract, reminding\nthem of their neglect, and ordering them to communicate their intention\nto the proper authority. No further documents appear on the subject; and\nit may be presumed that this second application produced the desired\neffect.[204]\n\n\nPECULIAR SERVICES AND TENURES.\n\nThe following are entries in the \"Testa de Nevill,\" a book supposed to\nhave been compiled towards the close of the reign of Edward II. or the\nbeginning of that of Edward III., and consequently to exhibit the\nservices and tenures existing about the beginning of the 12th\ncentury:--Thomas and Alicia de Gersingham, by keeping the king's\n[John's] hawks in Lonsdale, till they became strong, when they were to\nbe committed to the Sheriff of Lancashire. Luke Pierpoint, by keeping an\na\u00ebry; Adam de Hemelesdale, by constabulary at Crosby. Quenilda de\nKirkdale, by conducting royal treasure. Richard Fitz Ralph, by\nconstabulary at Singleton. John de Oxeclive, by being carpenter at\nLancaster Castle. Adam Fitz Gilmighel, by being the king's carpenter.\nRoger the carpenter, by being carpenter in Lancaster Castle. Ralph Barun\nor Babrun, by being mason in Lancaster Castle. Walter, son of Walter\nSmith, by forging iron instruments. Roger Gernet, by being chief\nforester. William Gernet, by the service of meeting the king on the\nborders of the city, with his horse and white rod, and conducting him\ninto and out of the city. William and Benedict de Gersingham, by the\nsergeantry of keeping the king's a\u00ebries of hawks. Gilbert Fitz Orm, by\npaying yearly 3_d._ or some spurs to Benedict Gernet, the heir of Roger\nde Heton, in thanage. Roger de Leycester, by paying 8_s._ and two arrows\nyearly. A great number of persons in thanage: others in drengage. John\nde Thoroldesholme, by larderery; Roger de Skerton, by provostry. Roger\nFitz John, by making irons for the king's ploughs. Others, by gardenry,\nand by masonry, or the service of finding pot-herbs and leeks for\nLancaster castle, smith's work, and carpentry; the burgesses of\nLancaster, by free-burgage and by royal charter. Peter de Mundevill, by\nservice of one brachet [a sort of hound] of one colour. The prior of\nWingal, by he knows not what service. Lady Hillaria Trussebut, by no\nservice, and she knows not by what warrant. Henry de Waleton, by being\nhead sergeant or bailiff of the Hundred of Derbyshire [_i.e._, West\nDerby]. Galfridus Balistarius [Geoffrey Balistur] by presenting two\ncross-bows to the king. William Fitz William, by presenting one brachet,\none _velosa_ [? a piece of velvet] and two _lintheamina_ [pieces of\nlinen cloth]. Roger Fitz Vivian holds the sergeantry of Heysham, by\nblowing the horn before the king at his entrance into and exit from the\ncity of Lancaster. Thomas Gernet, in Heysham, by sounding the horn on\nmeeting the king on his arrival in those parts. William Gresle, by\npresenting a bow without string, a quiver, 12 arrows, and a _buzon_ [?\npossibly a quiver or arrow-case]. William Fitz Waukelin, by presenting\none soar-hawk. Hervi Gorge, by presenting one plough, one _linthola_\n[piece of linen cloth], one _velosa_ [piece of velvet], and one\n_auricular_ [? a veil for the confessional]. Roger and Hugh de\nAuberville, by keeping one hawk. Several religious houses held in pure\nand free and perpetual alms, or what the Normans styled\n\"Frank-almoigne.\" A large number of persons held by donation, in\nconsideration of yearly rents, and some of these were nominal, as \"a\npepper-corn, if demanded,\" \"a clove,\" \"a red rose on St. John the\nBaptist's Day\" (24th June), \"a pair of white gloves or a peny,\" a\n\"Manchester knife,\" &c.\n\nSMITHELLS.--The mesne manor of Smithells in Sharples, near Bolton, is\ndependent upon the superior manor of Sharples, the lord of which claims\nfrom the owner of Smithells a pair of gilt spurs annually; and, by a\nvery singular and inconvenient custom, the unlimited use of the cellars\nat Smithells Hall for a week in every year.[205]\n\nIt does not appear, however, that the lord of Smithells was bound to the\nquantity or to the quality of the liquors with which his cellars were at\nthat time to be stored. This feudal claim seems now nearly abandoned, as\nit has not been enforced within the present century.[206]\n\n\nMANOR OF COCKERHAM.--REGULATIONS FOR THE SALE OF ALE.\n\nThe customs' dues of this manor appear to have been originally ordained\nby Brother William Geryn, cellarer of the Abbey of Cokersand, in 1326,\nand were confirmed by John the Abbot in 1st Richard III. (1483-4). The\nconfirmation is in the English of the period; and among other curious\nordinances, contains the following regulation as to the price, &c., of\nale (the spelling is modernised):--\"There shall no brewer let no tenant\nfor to have ale for their silver out of their house, and such [may] have\nfour gallons within their house, so that they bring a vessel with them.\nYe shall not sell a gallon of ale above a halfpenny when ye may buy a\nquarter of good oats for 2_d._ Ye shall give ale-founders [manorial\nofficers also called ale-tasters] a founding-gallon, or else a taste of\neach vessel, and your charge, on pain [penalty] of grievous\namerciaments.\"[207]\n\n\nMANORIAL CUSTOMS IN FURNESS.\n\nKIRKBY IRELETH.--In this manor the widow is entitled during her\nwidowhood to the moiety of the estate whereof her husband died seised;\nbut forfeits her right thereto upon re-marriage or breach of chastity.\nEvery tenant, upon being admitted to a tenement, pays to the lord of the\nmanor 20 years' quit-rent for a fine. Every entire tenement was formerly\nobliged to keep one horse and harness, for the king's service, on the\nborders or elsewhere. These were called \"summer [? sumpter] nags,\" of\nwhich 30 were kept in Kirkby. The tenant was also to furnish a boon\nplough and a boon-harrow, that is, a day's ploughing and harrowing; and\nno one is to let his land for any time exceeding 7 years, without\nlicence. Tenements in this manor are forfeited to the lord by treason or\nfelony. A tenant convicted of wilful perjury forfeits to the lord 20\nyears' rent, and for petty larceny, 10 years' rent.\n\nPENNINGTON.--Pennington is the smallest parish in the county, and\ncontains fewer streams than any other parish in North Lonsdale. Some\nfeudal customs, obsolete in most places, are still observed in the manor\nof Pennington. A tenant on admission pays a fine of 16 years' quit-rent.\nOn the death of the lord and on every change of the lord by descent, the\ntenant pays a further fine of 6 years' quit-rent; and a running-fine,\ntown-term, or _gressom_, is payable every 7th year. The heir, where\nthere is a widow, pays a heriot. Every tenant must plant two trees of\nthe same kind for every one that he fells. Formerly every tenant was\nobliged to carry a horse-load once a year to Manchester and half a\nhorse-load to Lancaster. In 1318 a dispute between the Pennington family\nand the Abbot of Furness, as to boon services, was thus decided:--\"That\nthe manor of Pennington was held by the service of 30_s._, and of\nfinding yearly, for one day in autumn, a man and woman, sufficient to\nmow at the Grange of Lindale, for every house with a court-yard except\nSir William de Pennington's capital messuage; the convent to find the\ndaily refreshment of each mower while employed, according to ancient\ncustom; and Sir William granting that all the tenants of the manor, who\nhad or might have ploughs, should plough half an acre of the Abbot's\nGrange at Lindale.\"[208]\n\nMUCHLAND.--Immediately after the Conquest Aldingham was granted to\nMichael Flandrensis or le Fleming, and his land was called Michael's\nland, to distinguish it from that of the abbey of Furness; spelled often\nMychel-land and Mychelande, till it got corrupted into Muchland. In the\nmanor of Muchland, the tenant on being admitted to his tenement pays to\nthe lord of the manor two years' rent over and above the usual annual\nrent. Every tenant paying 40_s._ rent was formerly obliged to find a\nhorse and harness for the King's service, on the borders or elsewhere.\nEvery tenant who paid 20_s._ a year rent, was to furnish a man harnessed\nfor the King's service. Every old tenant paid a _gressom_ of one year's\nrent on the death of the lord, and every new tenant pays two years' rent\nto the next heir. The widow has one-third of the tenement during her\nchaste widowhood. If a tenement is not presented within a year and a day\nafter the death of the tenant, or if it be sold, set, or let without\npaying the fine, or _gressom_, for a year and a day, then the lord, if\nthere be not good distress upon the grounds, may seize such tenement\ninto his hands as a forfeiture, &c.\n\nLOWICK.--Here the customs are much the same as in Kirkby Ireleth, except\nas to forfeitures. The running _gressom_, or town term, is a year's rent\nevery seventh year, paid to the lord. There are four house-lookers\nannually appointed for reviewing and assigning timber for necessary\nrepairs.\n\nNEVIL HALL.--The admittance fine is two years' rent, over and above the\naccustomed yearly rent. The heriot, on the change of lord, is half a\nyear's rent. The running _gressom_, or town-term, is half a year's rent\nevery seventh year. Every tenant paying 20_s._ rent was formerly to keep\na horse harnessed in readiness for the King's service. The widow in this\nmanor, if the first wife, to have half the tenement; but if she be a\nlatter wife, then only one-third the tenement. A tenant may, whenever he\npleases, give his tenement to any of his sons; and in default of sons to\nany of his daughters, as he thinks fit. A tenant may let, or mortgage,\nany tenement or part of it for a year, without a licence; and may sell\nhis whole tenant-right, or any part of it, with licence from the lord.\nThe rents mentioned above are old and immutable rents.[209]\n\nMUCH-URSWICK.--These customs include a fine of 20_d._ to the lord of the\nmanor on every change of tenancy, or on the death of the lord; except\none large house, which paying 4_s._ rent, paid a fine of five times the\nlord's rent, or 5_d._ on the death of the lord, or a change of tenancy.\nThe tenant's widow had half the estate during chaste widowhood. The\ntenants were obliged to carry a single horse-load, anciently fish, once\na year to Mowbreck Hall, near Kirkham; but this service was commuted for\na small rent called carriage rent. Tenements in this manor, on treason\nor felony by the tenant are forfeited to the lord. A tenant convicted of\nwilful perjury, forfeits to the lord twenty years' rent, and for petty\nlarceny, ten years' rent.[210]\n\nTHE ROYAL MANOR OF WARTON.--These customs are similar in many respects\nto those of the duchy manors in Furness. In the reign of Elizabeth a\ncommission of survey, and a jury of twenty-four, from the neighbouring\nmanors, made a return of the customs, which were confirmed by the Court\nof Exchequer. These manorial bye-laws are applicable to customary\ntenants, and relate to the subjects of heirships, performance of suit\nand service, the powers of the steward, the enrolling of tenants, the\npayment of rents, amounts of fines, &c. A fine of two years' rent is to\nbe imposed on changes of tenantry; all tenants paying above 20_s._ rent\nwere required to maintain a horse and man with armour, tenants paying\nunder 20_s._ being commanded to serve in person: these services to be\nstrictly and fully executed in cases of need. Each tenant is directed to\nrepair his own homestead. In case of the death of a married tenant,\none-half of the tenement is assigned to the widow, to be held during her\nchaste widowhood, and the other half to the heir or heirs. The crime of\nfornication to be punished with forfeiture. Tenants not to set, let, or\nmortgage for above three years without licence; not to encroach on the\ncommon without permission. The manor court to have jurisdiction in cases\nof tithe and tenant right; the tenants to be at liberty to take ash\nwood. The tenants are not to be abated in their rents for any loss they\nmay suffer in their several proportions of turbary, marsh and common.\nThese manorial regulations are now but seldom enforced, and the Court\nBaron of Warton assembles only on rare occasions, not uncommonly after\nintervals of years.[211]\n\nFEUDAL PRIVILEGES OF THE HONOUR AND MANOR OF HORNBY.--These ancient\nprivileges comprised free warren, subject to a fine of 10_l._ on\nencroachments on the King's forests; right of market and fair at\nArkholme and at Hornby; court of view of frank-pledge; sheriff's turn;\nfree court of all pleas; assize of bread; soc, sac, tol, and them;\ninfangetheof and utfangetheof; hamsocn; leyrwite; murder; acquittance of\nshires and hundreds, lestage [or lastage], aids of sheriffs and their\nbailiffs, and amercements; wardships, and works and enclosures of\ncastles, parks, and bridges; and of passage, frontage, stallage, toll,\npaiage, and money given for murder; and right to pontage, stallage,\nhidage, and pickage. All these feudal customs were confirmed in the 12th\nCharles I. (1636) to Henry Parker, Lord Morley and Monteagle.[212]\n\nA number of the above terms require explanation. \"Money given for\nmurder,\" implied the fines levied on a district in which a murder had\nbeen committed, and the criminal not discovered; \"the privilege of\nmurder\" was the power to levy such fines; thus the town or hundred which\nsuffered an Englishman, who had killed a Dane there to escape, was to be\namerced sixty-six marks [44_l._] to the King. _Hamsocn_, is the\nprivilege or liberty of a man's own house, its violation is burglary.\n_Leyr_ or _lecher wite_, is the privilege of punishing adultery and\nfornication. Passage is a toll for passing over water, as at a ford or\nferry; pontage is bridge toll; stallage, a toll for stalls in a market;\npaiage or pavage, is a paving toll. _Sac_, the right of a lord to hold\npleas in his court, in causes of trespass among his tenants; _soc_, the\nright to administer justice and execute laws; _toll_, the right to levy\ntolls on tenants; _them_, the right to hear, restrain, and judge bondmen\nand villeins, with their children, goods and chattels, &c.\n_Infangetheof_, the lord's privilege to judge any thief taken within his\nfee. _Outfangtheof_, the right of the lord to call men dwelling within\nhis manor, and taken for felony outside his fee, to judgment in the\nlord's own court.\n\n\nTHE LORD'S YULE FEAST AT ASHTON.\n\nAmong the customs of the Manor of Ashton-under-Lyne, as described by the\nlate Dr. Hibbert-Ware, was the making of so-called \"presents\" by the\ntenants-at-will to the lord of the manor, for the sake of partaking in\nthe annual feast at the great hall. In the rental of Sir John de\nAssheton, made in November 1422, these presents are claimed as an\nobligatory service from the tenants-at-will, in the following\nterms:--\"That they shall give their presents at Yole [Christmas]; every\npresent to such a value as is written and set in the rental; and the\nlord shall feed all his said tenants, and their wifes, upon Yole-day at\nthe dinner, if they like for to come; but the said tenants and their\nwifes, though it be for their ease not to come, they shall send neither\nman nor woman in their name,--but if [unless] they be their son or their\ndaughter dwelling with them,--unto the dinner; for the lord is not\nbounden to feed them all, only the good man and the good wife.\" In some\nmanor-houses of Lancashire, once dedicated to these annual scenes of\nfestivity, may be observed an elevation of the floor [or _da\u00efs_] at the\nextremity of the great hall, or, in the place of it, a gallery which\nstretches along one side of the room [many halls have both _da\u00efs_ and\ngallery] to accommodate the lord and his family, so that they might not\nbe annoyed by the coarse rustic freedoms which the tenants would be too\napt to take during the hours of their conviviality. In a hall, then, of\nthis kind in the manor-house at Assheton, we may imagine the large Yule\nfire to be kindled; while in a gallery or raised floor Sir John of\nAssheton, his lady, and family, together with his kinsmen, Elland of\nBrighouse, and Sir John the Byron, are feasting apart, yet attentive to\nthe frolics or old songs of the company below. It was on these occasions\nthat peg-tankards were used, and horns that bore the names of the Saxons\nand Danes, whom the Normans had ousted out of their possessions. Of the\ndescription of ale that flowed merrily on these occasions we know\nlittle; but there can be no doubt that it was like King Henry the\nEighth's ale, which contained neither hops nor brimstone. We may\nsuppose, then, that on annual festivals like these, the wooden bowl or\nhorn would pass freely through the hands of Sir John of Assheton's\ntenants-at-will; among whom were such personages as Hobbe Adamson, Hobbe\nof the Leghes, William the arrow-smith, Roger the baxter, Roger le\nsmith, Jack the spencer, Jack the hind, Elyn Wilkyn daughter, Elyn the\nrose, and the widows Mergot of Staley, Peryn's wife, and Nan of the\nWindy Bank,--all clad in their best hoods, and brown woollen jackets and\npetticoats. The ancient musical instruments used in Lancashire were a\nkind of fiddle, not of the present form, and a stringed instrument\ncalled the virginals. The provincial songs of that period, few of which\nwere less than half-an-hour in length, rehearsed the deeds of Launcelot\ndu Lake, and his conquest of the giant Tarquin, at the castle of\nManchester; Ranulph of Chester, and his wars in the Holy Land; or the\nwarlike feats and amorous prowess of the renowned Cheshire hero, Roger\nde Calverley. In order to preserve, as much as possible, the degree of\ndecorum that was necessary at such meetings, there was firstly\nintroduced a diminutive pair of stone stocks, of about eighteen inches\nin length, for confining within them the fingers of the unruly. This\ninstrument was entrusted to the general prefect of manorial festivities\nnamed the King of Misrule, whose office it was to punish all who\nexceeded his royal notions of decency. Accordingly such a character\nappears among the list of Sir John of Assheton's tenants, under the name\nof Hobbe the king. From these entertainments being supported by the\ncontributions of the tenants, they were derisively called _Drink-leans_.\n[_L\u00e6n_, A.-S. a loan, a gift, a reward; _L\u00e6ne_, adj., lean, slender,\nfragile.][213]\n\n\nRIDING THE BLACK LAD AT ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE.\n\nIn the rental of Sir John Assheton, knight, of his Manor of\nAshton-under-Lyne, A.D. 1422, it is stated that two of his sons, Rauf of\nAssheton, and Robyn of Assheton, by grants to them, \"have the sour carr\nguld rode and stane rynges for the term of their lives.\" This donation\n(says Dr. Hibbert-Ware) evidently alludes to the privilege of\n_Guld-riding_, a custom that in Scotland at least is of great antiquity,\nhaving been intended to prevent lands from being over-run with the\nweeds, which, from their yellow colour, were named _gools_ or _gulds_,\n_i.e._, the corn-marigold, or _Chrysanthemum Segetum_ of Linn. Boethius\n(lib. 10) mentions a law of king Kenneth (probably rather of Alexander\nII.) to prevent the growth of _manaleta_ or _guld_, and to impose a fine\nof oxen on proof of its infraction. The Rev. J. P. Bannerman, in a\nstatistical account of the parish of Cargill, in Perthshire, states that\nwith a view of extirpating this weed, \"after allowing a reasonable time\nfor procuring clean seed from other grounds, an act of the Baron Court\nwas passed, enforcing an old Act of Parliament to the same effect,\nimposing a fine of 3_s._ 4_d._, or a wether sheep, on the tenants for\nevery stock of _gool_ that should be found growing in their corn at a\nparticular day; and certain persons styled _gool-riders_ were appointed\nto ride through the fields, search for _gool_, and carry the law into\nexecution when they discovered it. Though the fine of a wether sheep is\nnow commuted and reduced to a penny, the practice of _gool-riding_ is\nstill kept up, and the fine rigidly exacted.\" To this origin Dr.\nHibbert-Ware attributes the custom peculiar to Ashton-under-Lyne of\n\"Riding the Black Lad.\" He states that in the days of Sir John of\nAssheton (A.D. 1422) a large portion of low wet land in the vicinity of\nAssheton was named the Sour Carr (carr being synonymous with the Scotch\nword _carse_, and the well-known term _sour_ implying an impoverished\nstate of the carr). It had been over-run with corn-marigolds or\ncarr-gulds, which were so destructive to the corn that the lord of the\nmanor enforced some rigorous measures for their extirpation, similar to\nthe carr-guld riding in Perthshire. Ralph of Assheton, Sir John's son by\na second marriage, and Robin, his brother, were on a certain day in the\nspring [Easter-Monday] invested with the power of riding over the lands\nof the carr, named the _Carr Guld Rode_, of levying fines for all\n_carr-gulds_ that were found among the corn, and, until the penalties\nwere paid, of punishing transgressors by putting them into the [finger]\n_stocks_ or _stone rings_, or by incarceration. Ralph Assheton, by his\nalliance with a rich heiress, became the lord of the neighbouring manor\nof Middleton, and soon afterwards received the honour of knighthood;\nbeing at the same time entrusted with the office of Vice-Constable of\nthe kingdom; and it is added, of Lieutenant of the Tower. Invested with\nsuch authorities, he committed violent excesses in this part of the\nkingdom. Retaining for life the privilege granted him in Ashton of\nGuld-riding, he, on a certain day in spring, made his appearance in the\nmanor, clad in black armour (whence his name of the Black Lad or Black\nBoy) mounted on a charger, and attended with a numerous train of his own\nfollowers, in order to levy the penalty arising from the neglect of\nclearing the land from carr-gulds. The interference of so powerful a\nknight belonging to another township could not but be regarded by the\ntenants of Assheton as the tyrannical intrusion of a stranger; and as\nSir Ralph, sanctioned by the political power given him by Henry VI.,\nexercised his privilege with the utmost severity, the name of the Black\nLad is still regarded with sentiments of horror. Tradition has, indeed,\nperpetuated the prayer that was fervently ejaculated for a deliverance\nfrom his tyranny:--\n\n    Sweet Jesu! for thy mercy's sake,\n      And for thy bitter passion,\n    Save us from the axe of the Tower,\n      And from Sir Ralph of Ashton.\n\nUpon the death of the Black Knight, Sir John's heir and successor\nabolished the usage for ever, reserving for the estate a small sum of\nmoney for the purpose of perpetuating, in an annual ceremony, the\ndreaded annual visits of the Black Boy. This is still kept up. An effigy\nis made of a man in armour; and since Sir Ralph was the son of a second\nmarriage (which, for this reason, had been esteemed by the heir of Sir\nJohn as an unfortunate match) the image is deridingly emblazoned with\nsome emblem of the occupation of the first couple that are linked\ntogether in the course of the year. [Mr. Edwin Butterworth says with the\ninitials of their names.] The Black Boy is then fixed on horseback, and,\nafter being led in procession round the town, is dismounted, made to\nsupply the place of a shooting-butt, and, all fire-arms being in\nrequisition for the occasion, he is put to an ignominious death. [The\norigin of Riding the Black Lad, here suggested, is exceedingly\ningenious; but it seems questionable whether any real data for it are\ngiven in the single passage cited from the rental of 1422. \"The Sour\nCarr Guld Rode and the Stane Ringes\" taken as they stand, may mean the\nGuld-ruyding, or ridding, as a piece of land cleared of stumps, &c., was\ncalled; _ex. gr._ Hunt-royd, Orme-rod, Blake-rod, &c. The Stone Rings\nmay be a piece of land so-called. There is no mention of the power to\nlevy penalties, nor even of any official riding, but only the\n_rode_,--not road, as it has been interpreted, but ridded land, perhaps\ncleared from gulds and weeds, no less than from stubs, stumps, and\nstones.--EDS.][214]\n\nMr. Roby, from the above materials, has written a tale of Sir Ralph's\ncruel seizure of a widow's only cow, as the heriot due to him as lord of\nthe manor, on the death of her husband. Her half-witted son is said to\nhave told Sir Ralph that on his death his master the devil would claim a\nheriot, and that Sir Ralph himself would be given up. On this Sir Ralph\ntook fright, and sent back the heriot cow to the poor widow. Another\ntradition exists as to the origin of the custom of \"Riding the Black\nLad,\" which Mr. Roby thinks may have been fabricated merely to throw off\nthe odium attached to the name of Sir Ralph. In the reign of Edward III.\none Thomas Assheton fought under Queen Philippa in the battle of\nNeville's Cross. Riding through the ranks of the enemy, he bore away the\nroyal standard from the Scotch king's tent, who himself was afterwards\ntaken prisoner. King Edward, on his return from France, conferred on\nThomas the honour of knighthood, with the title of \"Sir Thomas Assheton\nof Assheton-under-Lyne.\" To commemorate this singular display of valour,\nSir Thomas instituted the custom of \"Riding the Black Knight or Lad\" at\nAssheton, on Easter-Monday; leaving 10_s._ yearly to support it,\ntogether with his own suit of black velvet, and a coat of mail. Which of\nthese accounts of the origin of the custom is correct, there is now no\nevidence to determine.\n\n\nBOON SHEARING.\n\nIn the manor of Ashton-under-Lyne, every tenant-at-will was thus\ncommanded:--\"He that plough has, shall plough two days. He that half\nplough has, shall plough a day, whenever the lord be liever [more\nwilling], in wheet-seeding, or in lenton-seeding; and every tenant\nharrow a day with their harrow, in seeding time, when they bin charged.\nAnd they should cart, every tenant ten cartful of turve from Doneam Moss\nto Assheton, and shere four days in harvest, and cart a day corn.\" This\nservice, so profitable to the lord, was familiarly called boon-work.\nHence an old adage still retained in the North of England, when a man is\nsupposed to be working for nothing, that \"he has been served like a\nboon-shearer.\"[215]\n\n\nTHE PRINCIPAL OR HERIOT.\n\nOne of the services of Sir John Assheton's tenants-at-will, in the manor\nof Ashton-under-Lyne, in the fifteenth century, as appears by his rental\nof 1422, was that \"they should pay a principal at their death, to wit,\nthe best beast they have.\" This was evidently a heriot. As of a military\nvassal, or tenant by knight-service, his horse was the heriot due to his\nlord at death; so the custom became extended to that class of dependents\nwho were retained in the lord's employ to perform the busier services of\nthe manor. As their property consisted of cattle, or of implements of\nhusbandry, the heriot due to the lord was the best beast, cow, or horse,\nof which the tenant might die possessed. This condition being fulfilled,\nevery further claim upon the goods of the deceased was remitted. At\ntimes this expressive relic of ancient military subjection was found\nexceedingly galling. In the manor of Assheton there are many traditional\nstories still remaining on the subject of such principals or heriots. A\ntenant's boy, on the death of his father, was driving an only cow to the\nmanor-house of the adjoining demesnes of Dukinfield. He was met by the\nlord of the place, with whose person and rank he was unacquainted, who\nquestioned him whither he was taking his beast. \"I am driving it as far\nas Dukinfield for the heriot,\" replied the boy. \"My father is dead--we\nare many children--and we have no cow but this. Don't you think the\ndevil will take Sir Robert for a heriot, when he dies?\" The lad was\nfortunately addressing a humane landlord. \"Take the cow back to thy\nmother; I know Sir Robert,--I am going to Dukinfield myself, and will\nmake up the matter with him.\"[216]\n\n\nDENTON RENT-BOONS.\n\nThe lands of the Denton estates of the Hollands were held in 1780 by\nseventeen tenants, subject to a rent of 294_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ The entire\nproperty was held by lease of lives, and this rental was exclusive of\nfines paid on the renewal of leases. By the terms of their respective\nleases the tenants were also pledged to the payment of certain\nrent-boons, consisting of a dog and a cock, or (at the landlord's\noption) of their equivalent in money--for the dog 10_s._, for the cock\n1_s._; the landlord thus providing for his amusement in hunting and\ncock-fighting in a manner least onerous to himself.[217]\n\n\nA SAXON CONSTABLEWICK.\n\nUntil within these few years a relic of Saxon polity more ancient than\nthe Domesday Survey existed in the Constablewick of Garstang, which\ncontinued to our own days, the _freo borh_, _friborg_, or Saxon manor,\nin a very perfect state. The free-burgh consisted of 11 townships,\nsurrounding the original lordship to which all but one were subject. The\nreason for establishing this institution is stated in a Saxon law. The\n_Wita_, or counsellors, having considered the impunity with which\ntrespasses against neighbours were committed, appointed over every ten\nfriborgs, justiciaries whom they denominated _tien heofod_ or \"head of\nten.\" These (says Dr. Keuerden) handled smaller causes between townsmen\nand neighbours, and according to the degree of the trespass, awarded\nsatisfaction; made agreements respecting pastures, meadows and\ncorn-lands, and reconciled differences among neighbours. The\nconstablewick of Garstang comprised the township of Garstang and ten\nother townships, all of which are styled hamlets in the books of the\ncourt, and were divided into three portions. Two constables were\nannually elected for this district, and were alternately taken from each\nthird portion of the constablewick. The jury were nominated in a similar\nmanner. The jury were accustomed to adjourn from the court to an\neminence called Constable hillock, adjoining the river Wyre, where they\nmade choice of the constables by inscribing their names upon slips of\nwood. These officers were empowered to collect the county-rates, and\nserve for all the hamlets. The court was held annually, by direction of\na steward of the Duke of Hamilton, the superior lord of the wick, till\n1816, when it fell into neglect, and its powers are now exercised in\nsuch of the townships only as are the property of the Duke. The\nadjournment of the court to the hillock is obviously the remnant of a\ncustom far more ancient than the institution of the friborg itself.[218]\n\n\nTALLIAGE OR TALLAGE.\n\nThis was a kind of occasional property tax, levied by order of the\nmonarch in emergencies, and throughout the kingdom. In the charter\ngranted by Randle, Earl of Chester, to the burgesses of Stafford, about\nA.D. 1231, is a clause reserving to him and his heirs reasonable\ntallage, when the King makes or takes tallage of his burgesses\nthroughout England. A precisely similar clause is found in Thomas\nGreslet's charter to his burgesses of Mamecestre in 1301. In the 11th\nHenry III. (1226-27) a still earlier talliage was made in Lancashire,\nwhich enables us to measure the relative importance of the principal\ntowns in the county early in the thirteenth century. The impost was\nassessed by Master Alexander de Dorsete and Simon de Hal; and the\npayments were for the towns of Lancaster thirteen marks (\u00a38 13_s._\n4_d._); Liverpool, eleven marks, 7_s._ 8_d._ (\u00a37 14_s._ 4_d._); West\nDerby, seven marks, 7_s._ 8_d._ (\u00a35 1_s._); Preston, fifteen marks,\n6_d._ (\u00a310 0_s._ 6_d._). The tenants in thanage paid ten marks (\u00a36\n13_s._ 4_d._) to have respite, that they might not be talliaged. Baines\ndeems it remarkable that Manchester, Stafford, and Wigan were not\nincluded; but in these old manors it was the lord of the manor who had\nthe right to levy talliage within his manor. In 1332 a tallage of\none-fifteenth was levied by Edward III., to enable him to carry on the\nwar against Scotland.[219]\n\n\nROCHDALE TITHE, EASTER-DUES, MORTUARIES, ETC.\n\nThe following is a literal copy of a small hand-bill in possession of\nthe writer, which appears to have been printed for distribution among\nthe farmers and the parishioners generally, with the purpose of\nsupplying information as to the various payments to be made to the\nvicar, or at all events to the parish church:--\n\n    An EXTRACT out of the _Parliament Survey_,\n    Taken the 10th of _January_ 1620.\n\n    The Parish of _Rochdale_ is divided into four Divisions, viz.\n    _Hundersfield_, _Spotland_, _Castleton_, and _Butterworth_. There is\n    also belonging to the Rectory of _Rochdale_, the Parish Chapel of\n    _Saddleworth_, in the County of _York_; and certain Parcels of Glebe\n    Lands, lying in _Saddleworth_.\n\n    \u2042 There is no Tythe Hay paid within the Parish, but a Penny a\n    Year every one payeth that holdeth any Lands within the Parish.\n\n    No Tythe paid for Eggs, Apples, Hemp, or Flax.\n\n    The Manner of receiving the _Easter-Role_ and Mortuarys are\n    thus--each Horse payeth a Penny; for every married Man or Widow at\n    the Offering, a Penny; every Plough a Penny; every Swarm of Bees a\n    Penny; every Cow one Penny; and every Colt, and every Calf, one\n    Halfpenny.\n\n    For Mortuarys--Every one buried in the Chancel payeth 6_s._ 8_d._\n    every one that dieth worth twenty Nobles, in moveable Goods, over\n    and above his Debts, payeth 3_s._ 4_d._ if worth 30_l._ payeth\n    6_s._ 8_d._ if worth 40_l._ or upwards, 10_s._--Stat. 21. Hen. 8.\n    Chap. 6.\n\n    N.B. That House or Smoke, and Garden, hath been substituted in the\n    Room of Horse and Plough.\n\n    In Closes where there are more than ten Stacks of Corn (or even\n    tens) in one Close, _the odd Stacks shall not be tythed_; the\n    Land-Owner setting up the Corn in Stacks, may be a good\n    Consideration for the same; because of Common Right the Tytheman is\n    to take the Corn Tythe in the Sheaf, but when the same is stacked,\n    as is customary in many places, the Tytheman may not break any odd\n    Stack, for he cannot tythe both by the Stack and Sheaf. And this\n    was the Opinion of Serjeants _Poole_ and _Kenyan_, and of Lawyer\n    _Wilson_.\n\n    No Complaint concerning any small Tythes, &c. shall be determined\n    by Justices of Peace, unless the Complaint be made within two Years\n    after the same Tythes, &c. become due. Stat. 7. and 8. William 3.\n    Chap. 6.\n\n\nFARM AND AGRICULTURAL CELEBRATIONS IN THE FYLDE.\n\nIn the olden times almost every great agricultural operation had its\npeculiar festivities; now almost everywhere obsolete. The harvest home,\nits procession and feast, still linger the last of these rural\ncelebrations, but shorn of much of its old ceremonial and jollity.\n\"Shutting of marling\" had also its gala-day. Then a \"lord\" and a \"lady\"\npresided at the feast; having been previously drawn out of the marl-pit\nby a strong team of horses, gaily decorated with ribbons, mounted by\ntheir drivers, who were trimmed out in their best. The procession\nparaded through the village lanes and streets, some of its members\nshaking tin boxes, and soliciting contributions from the bystanders. The\nmoney collected was expended in good cheer at the feast. Again,\n\"Cob-seeding\" was a time when mirth and good-nature prevailed. Like the\n\"bee\" of our American cousins, it was an occasion when all helped every\none else in turn,--collecting, threshing, winnowing the crop on the\nfield; \"housing\" the seed ready prepared for the market; and when all\nthe work of the day was finished, partaking of a substantial supper, and\nclosing the evening with many a merry dance on the barn's clay\nfloor.[220]\n\n\nDALTON-IN-FURNESS.\n\nAmong the ancient customs of Dalton, is the practice of hiring reapers\non Sundays in time of harvest. Endeavours have been made to abolish it;\nbut by the statute of 27 Henry VI. cap. 5, for suppressing\nSabbath-breaking, four Sundays in harvest time are excepted from the\nprohibition against holding markets and fairs on holydays, and the\npeople of Dalton have construed it to the hiring of such servants. Till\nof late years there was at Dalton an annual festival called \"The Dalton\nHunt,\" in which the gentlemen of the district partook of the sports of\nthe field by day, and joined the ladies in the ball-room at night. A\nsuite of rooms was erected in the town, and handsomely fitted-up for\nthis annual jubilee, which existed as early as the year 1703, as appears\nfrom the columns of the _London Gazette_, in which it is styled \"the\nDalton Route,\" and the pen of an elegant contributor to the _Tatler_ has\nimparted to it additional celebrity. To the regret of the beaux and\nbelles of the neighbourhood the \"route\" was discontinued in 1789, and\nhas never since been revived.[221]\n\n\nLETTING SHEEP FARMS IN BOWLAND.\n\nOne custom, in letting the great sheep-farms in the higher parts of\nBowland, deserves to be mentioned, as I do not know that it prevails\nanywhere else. It is this: That the flock, often consisting of 2000\nsheep, or more, is the property of the lord, and delivered to the tenant\nby a schedule, subject to the condition of delivering up an equal number\nof the same quality at the expiration of the term. Thus the tenant is\nmerely usufructuary of his own stock. The practice was familiar to the\nRoman law, and seems to have arisen from the difficulty of procuring\ntenants who were able to stock farms of such extent.[222]\n\n\nMEDI\u00c6VAL LATIN LAW TERMS.\n\nThe old charters and deeds of Manchester, Warrington, and other\nLancashire towns, contain various words now obsolete, and amongst others\nthe words _namare_ and _namium_, which it is not easy to render\naccurately. The first may be translated to seize in pledge, to arrest,\nto distrain; the second is a pledge, or a distress, what is seized by\ndistraint. In connexion with the substantive _namium_, the following\nanecdote of the great Sir Thomas More may be told, as illustrative of\nthe obscurity of some of these ancient law terms. It is said that Sir\nThomas, when travelling, arrived at Padua just as a boasting Professor\nhad placarded the walls of that University with a challenge to all the\nworld to dispute with him on any subject or in any art, and that Sir\nThomas accepted the challenge, and proposed for his subject this\nquestion:--\n\n    \"AN AVERIA CARUC\u00c6 CAPTA IN VETITO NAMIO SINT IRREPLEGIBILIA?\"\n\nwhich, it is almost needless to add, proved such a stumbling-block to\nthe challenger, who did not know even the very terms of the question,\nthat he surrendered at discretion, and acknowledged himself\nvanquished.[223]\n\nPerhaps the best way to English the puzzling question, would be to\nrender it thus:--\"Whether plough-cattle, taken in illegal distress, are\nirrepleviable?\" But several of the words are susceptible of two\nmeanings. Thus _averia_ means goods, as well as cattle; _caruca_, a\ncart, as well as a plough; _namium_, a pledge, as well as a distress. It\nis not to be wondered at that the continental Professor found himself\nunable even to comprehend the terms of this perplexing question.\n\n\nCUSTOMS [DUES] AT WARRINGTON.\n\nAmongst the Tower records are three royal charters bearing date\nrespectively 3 Edward II., 15 Edward II., and 12 Edward III. (1309-10,\n1321-2, 1338), and granting, for the purpose of effecting repairs in the\nbridges and pavements, certain temporary customs on articles brought\ninto Warrington for sale. In the two first of these charters, a custom\nof one farthing is imposed on every 100 faggots and every 1000 turves;\nand of one halfpenny on every cart-load of wood or wind-blown timber.\nThe last of the charters imposes a custom of one penny on every 1000\nfaggots, one farthing on every 10,000 turves, one penny on every\nship-load of turves, and one halfpenny weekly on every cart-load of wood\nand coals [_carbonum_, ? charcoal]. Amongst other articles, a custom was\nimposed on salt, on bacon, on cheese (probably from Cheshire), on\nbutter, on lampreys, on salmon, on pelts of sheep, goats, stags, hinds,\ndeer, does, hares, rabbits, foxes, cats, and squirrels; on cloths in the\nentire piece; on grice work (_i.e._, fur of the skins of blue weasels);\non Cordovan leather, on oil in flasks (_lagenas olei_); on hemp, on\nlinen webs; on Aylesbury webs and linen; on canvas, Irish cloths,\nGalways and worsteds; on silks, diapered with gold (_de Samite_) and\ntissue; on silks within gold; on sendal [or _cendal_, a kind of silk];\non cloth of baudekin [silk cloth, interwoven with threads of gold]; on\ngads of maple, and on Aberdeen gads; on every tun of wine (_et\ncinerum_--the ashes of burnt wine lees); on honey; on wool in sacks; on\ntin, brass, copper, iron, and lead; on alum, copperas, argil, and\nverdigris; on onions and garlic; and on stock-fish, salt mullet,\nherrings, and sea-fish, amongst a number of other articles.[224]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[202] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[203] Claus., 7 Edward III., 1333, p. 1, m. 23.\n\n[204] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[205] Dr. Whitaker's _Whalley_.\n\n[206] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[207] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[208] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[209] West's _History of Furness_.\n\n[210] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[211] Baines's _History of Lancashire_.\n\n[212] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[213] _Illustration of the Customs of a Manor in the North of England._\n\n[214] Dr. Hibbert-Ware's _Illustration of the Customs of a Manor in the\nNorth of England_.\n\n[215] Dr. Hibbert-Ware's _Illustration of the Customs of a Manor in the\nNorth of England_.\n\n[216] _Illustration of the Customs of a Manor in the North of England_,\nby Dr. Hibbert-Ware.\n\n[217] Rev. J. Booker's _Chapel of Denton_.\n\n[218] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[219] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[220] Rev. W. Thornber's _History of Blackpool_.\n\n[221] Baines's _Lancashire_.\n\n[222] Dr. Whitaker's _Whalley_.\n\n[223] Mr. Beamont's _Warrington in the Thirteenth Century_.\n\n[224] Mr. W. Beamont, in _Warrington in 1465_.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n Agricultural and Farm Celebrations in the Fylde, 298\n\n Alchemists, 23;\n   two Lancashire, 30\n\n Alchemy, 23\n\n Ale, price of, 281;\n   of Halton, 259;\n   Warrington, 259;\n   Cockerham, 281\n\n Ale Founders, 281\n\n All-Souls Night, 49\n\n \" Day, 251\n\n Apostle Spoons, 262\n\n Arrowsmith, Father, his execution and the dead hand, 158-163\n\n Arval, cake and ale, 270-272\n\n Ascension Day, or Holy Thursday, 249\n\n Ash-Wednesday, 221\n\n Ashton, (Sir Thomas), of Ashton, 30\n\n Ashton-under-Lyne, manorial customs of, 286, 289, 292, 293;\n   the Lord's Yule Feast at, 286;\n   Riding the Black Lad at, 289\n\n Assheton (Sir John de), 287\n\n \" (Sir Ralph de), 290-292\n\n Astrologers, Lancashire, 33\n\n Astrology, 33\n\n Auld Wife Hakes, 216\n\n Averia (cattle, goods), 300, 301\n\n Aylesbury webs and linen, 302\n\n\n Baal Worship, 3-45\n\n Bacon, Customs' dues on, 301\n\n Ball, or \"Old Ball,\" 234, 235\n\n Baptismal Customs, 260\n\n Barguest, bar- or barn-ghaist, 91\n\n Barnacle Geese, 116-121\n\n Bel, Belus, or Baal, 45\n\n Belisama, the River Ribble, 4\n\n Bells, church, 41, 42;\n   passing and funeral, 41, 42;\n   pancake, 44;\n   curfew, 44;\n   submarine, 44;\n   verses, 42\n\n Beltane or Beltein fires, 3, 45, 47, 48\n\n Betrothing and bridal customs, 263\n\n Bible, for direction, divination, and dreams, 20\n\n Bible and key, 103\n\n Bidding to funerals, 274\n\n Birth and baptismal customs, 260\n\n Black Lad, at Ashton, 289\n\n Bleeding, charms to stop, 77\n\n Boggart, or bogle, 16;\n   the name, 49;\n   the flitting, 58\n\n Boggart Hole Clough, 50\n\n Boggarts, ghosts, and haunted places, 49;\n   various, 58;\n   in old halls, 51;\n   in the nineteenth century, 61\n\n Bones of St. Lawrence at Chorley, 157\n\n Booker (John), of Manchester, astrologer, 34-38\n\n _Books of Fate_, 145\n\n Boon rents at Denton, 294\n\n Boon shearing at Ashton, 292, 293\n\n Bothe (Thomas del) his will, 241\n\n Bowland, letting sheep, &c., 300\n\n Bragot-Sunday, 225, 258\n\n Bridal bouquet, 268;\n   flowers, _ib._\n\n Bride's chair at Warton, 265\n\n Brindle Church, footprint at, 134\n\n Bromley (Sir Edward), judge, 189\n\n Brownies or _lares_, 16\n\n Bryn Hall, the Gerards, and the dead man's hand, 158-163\n\n Bungerley stepping-stones, 90\n\n Burial by candle light, 273;\n   of a widow in vows, _ib._\n\n Burnley, the church, 89;\n   a witch near, 209;\n   wedding customs at, 265\n\n Burying in woollen, 269\n\n\n Cards, 140\n\n Carlins, 258\n\n Carnaval, 217\n\n Carols, Christmas, 257\n\n Carr Gulds, 290\n\n Cartmel Church, Legend of, 137\n\n Cattle Diseases, Charms for, 79\n\n Celebrations, Farm and Agricultural, in the Fylde, 298\n\n Changelings, 263\n\n Charles I., King, 200, 240\n\n Charm, a, in cypher, 63\n\n Charms and spells, 62;\n   against evil beings, _ib._;\n   against sickness, wounds, &c., 74;\n   crow, lady-bird, 70-71;\n   to get drink, 72-74;\n   against danger by night, 74;\n   wounds, 74;\n   toothache, 75;\n   rheumatism and cramp, 75;\n   ague, 80;\n   nettle stings, _ib._;\n   jaundice, _ib._;\n   to get sleep, _ib._\n\n \"Chattox, Old,\" a witch, 186-189\n\n Child, unbaptized, cannot die, 262\n\n Childbed presents, 260\n\n Childbirth, tea-drinking, 261\n\n \" turning the bed after, 261\n\n Children, gifts to, 262\n\n Christianizing of pagan gods and festivals, 14\n\n Christmas, 252;\n   mumming at, 253;\n   carols, 254;\n   games, 255;\n   mutes, 256\n\n Christmas at Wycoller Hall, 256\n\n \" Carols, 254;\n   rhymes, 253\n\n Christmas customs in the Fylde, 254;\n   games there, 255\n\n Christmas-day, old and new, 20;\n   breakfast in the Fylde, 256\n\n Christmas Eve, creatures worshipping, 253;\n   called \"Flesh-day,\" 256\n\n \" Evergreens, &c., 256\n\n Christmas Frumenty, 252, 256\n\n Christmas hobby-horse, 254\n\n Christmas or Yule Feast, at Ashton-under-Lyne, 286\n\n Church Festivals, 212, _et seq._\n\n Churches and Churchyards, north and south sides of, 275\n\n Cinderella and her slipper, 5\n\n Clayton Hall Boggart, 52\n\n Clegg Hall Boggart, 52\n\n Cleworth, Demoniacs in 1594, 92\n\n Clock-house Boggart, 52\n\n Cob-seeding, 298\n\n Cock-penny, at Clitheroe, 220\n\n Cock-throwing and Cock-fighting, 218;\n   about Blackburn, 220;\n   at Burnley, _ib._\n\n Cockerham Manor, 281;\n   ale in, _ib._\n\n Cokersand Abbey, 281;\n   abbot of, _ib._\n\n Collop Monday, 217\n\n Constablewick, a Saxon, 295\n\n Corals with bells, 262\n\n Corpse, carrying the, 272, 274\n\n Courting and Wedding Customs in the Fylde, 264\n\n Cousell and Clarke, conjurors, 86\n\n Cramp Rings, 75\n\n Creed and Little Creed, at Eccles, 114\n\n Cross-buns on Good Friday, 226\n\n Crow Charm, 70\n\n Curfew Bell, 44\n\n Customs of Manors, 276;\n   in Furness, 281;\n   Ashton, 286, 289\n\n Customs' dues at Warrington, 301\n\n \"Cuthbert, Old mother,\" and her daughters, 177\n\n\n Dalton-in-Furness, funerals at, 271;\n   manor, 299;\n   hunt and rout, _ib._\n\n Dalton-in-Furness, hiring reapers on Sunday, 299\n\n Danish Traditions, &c., 4, 5\n\n Darrell's (Rev. John) _Narrative_, &c. 93, 96;\n   his punishment, 97\n\n Dead and Dying, the, 7\n\n \" man's hand, 158, 163\n\n \" raising the, 128\n\n Deasil, or Widersinnis, 151\n\n Death tick or Death watch, 152\n\n Dee (Dr. John), 25\n\n \" charged with Witchcraft, 178\n\n Deities and demi-gods, 12\n\n \"Demdike, Old,\" a witch, 186;\n   \"Young Demdike,\" _ib._\n\n Demon and Goblin Superstitions, 88\n\n Demon Pig, 89\n\n Demoniacal possession in 1594, 92;\n   in 1686, 98\n\n Demoniacs, 87;\n   dispossessing a, 92;\n   at Morzine, 88\n\n Demonology, 86\n\n Denton Rent-boons, 294\n\n Derby (Edward 3rd) Earl of, charged with keeping a Conjuror, 129\n\n Device, Elizabeth and Alizon, witches, 186, 189\n\n Devil, the 16;\n   his names, 84-86;\n   a card-player, 81;\n   raised, 17, 81;\n   exorcised, 17, 81\n\n Devil, at Burnley, 83\n\n \" and the Tailor of Chatburn, 82;\n   and the Dun horse, _ib._;\n   and the schoolmaster at Cockerham, 83\n\n Devil, sacrifices to, 82;\n   appearances of, _ib._\n\n \"Devils of Morzine,\" (demoniacs) 88\n\n Dispossession of Devils, 93-98\n\n Divination, ancient, 7;\n   Lancashire, _ib._\n\n \" 102;\n   at marriages, 103;\n   by Bible and key, _ib._;\n   Lancashire form of, 104;\n   by the dying, _ib._;\n   second-sight, 105;\n   spirits of the dying and dead, _ib._;\n   by lots, 106\n\n Doles at Weddings, 264;\n   at funerals, 270;\n   at Swinton, _ib._\n\n Downham, King and Queen at, 248\n\n Dreams, 6, 19, 140, 145-149\n\n Drink-leans, 288\n\n Druidical Rock basins, 106-110\n\n Dugdale, the Surey demoniac, 98\n\n Dukinfield (Sir Robert), and the heriot, 294\n\n Dying, Death-bed, and Funeral Customs, 268\n\n Dying hardly, 268\n\n\n Easter, _Eostre_, 8, 226, 227\n\n \" Customs, 227-237;\n   Fylde, 236\n\n \" Day, 227\n\n \" Eggs, 227, 228\n\n \" Monday, 233, 237\n\n \" \"Lifting or heaving,\" 233;\n   game of the ring, 234;\n   Sports, 231\n\n Easter sports at the Manchester Free Grammar School, 231\n\n Eating and Drinking Customs, 258\n\n Eccles, ignorance in, 113-115\n\n Eccles cakes, 258\n\n Edward I., King, 27;\n   his gift for \"lifting,\" 233\n\n Edward III., King, 28;\n   his letter for alms, 133\n\n Edward IV., King, 32\n\n Edward VI., King, 34\n\n Eggs, Pace, Pasche, or Easter, 217, 228;\n   in Blackburn, 228, 229;\n   in East Lancashire, 231;\n   bought for Easter, 229;\n   papal prayer, blessing eggs, 229\n\n \"Elias, the Prophet,\" a fanatic, 138\n\n Elizabeth, Queen, 35\n\n Ellen's (St.) Well, in Brindle, 172\n\n Elves and Fairies, 110-113\n\n Everton toffy, 258\n\n Evil Eye, the, 69\n\n Ewe Loaf, the, 256\n\n Exorcism of demons by godly ministers, 95, 98-101\n\n\n Fag-pie (or Fig-pie) Sunday, 226, 258\n\n Fairies, 53;\n   and Elves, 106-110\n\n Fairy, a, on Mellor Moor, 111\n\n \" Hole, at Warton, 265\n\n \" Queen, 16\n\n \" Tales, Lancashire, 112, 113\n\n Familiar Spirit, Transfer of a, 210\n\n _Famous History of Witches_, 176\n\n Feeorin (fairies), 53\n\n Fern Seed, 10\n\n Festivals, Church and Season, 212\n\n Finger Stocks of Stone, 288\n\n Flemings' Wooden Shoes and Oaten Bread, 259\n\n \"Flesh-Day\" (Christmas Eve), 256\n\n Folk-Lore, Eastern, 2-6;\n   Greek and Roman, 5, 6;\n   Scandinavian, 4, 5;\n   various, 113;\n   of Eccles and neighbourhood, 113\n\n Footprints at Brindle Church, 134;\n   at Smithells Hall, 135\n\n Fortune-Telling, 121-126;\n   Story of, 122;\n   \"Owd Rollison,\" 123\n\n Frumenty, 262, 256, 258\n\n Funeral Biddings, 274;\n   gifts, 275;\n   bay, rosemary, &c., 270, 272, 275\n\n Funeral Customs, 268;\n   in East Lancashire, 273;\n   at Dalton-in-Furness, 271;\n   at Warton, 271;\n   Fylde, 272\n\n Funeral Doles, 270;\n   at Swinton, _ib._;\n   various, 274\n\n Funeral Sermons, 274;\n   dinners and drinkings, 272\n\n Furness, Manorial Customs, 281, 285\n\n Fylde, The (in Lancashire), _passim_.\n\n \" Easter Customs in, 236, 242, 243\n\n \" Farm and Agricultural Celebrations in, 298\n\n \" Harvest Home, 298;\n   \"shutting of marling,\" _ib._;\n   cob-seeding, _ib._\n\n\n Gabriel Ratchets, 89, 167\n\n \"Gang-Days,\" or Rogation Days, 248\n\n Garstang, a Saxon Constablewick, 295\n\n Geese, hatched from sea-shells, 116\n\n Gemmel Rings, 263\n\n Gerard (Sir Thomas), 131\n\n \" (Sir John), 162\n\n Gerards of Bryn, 158-162\n\n Gifts to Infants, 262\n\n Gloucester (Eleanor), Duchess of, and Witchcraft, 174\n\n Gloves, Wedding, 268\n\n Goblin, Gobelinus, Kobold, Khobalus, &c., 16\n\n Goblin Builders, 89\n\n \" Superstitions, 88\n\n Good Friday, 226;\n   viands, 226, 237\n\n \"Goose-Intentos,\" 250\n\n Graves, Situation and Direction of, 275\n\n Greek Traditions and Superstitions, 5, 6, 13;\n   Mythology, 13\n\n Grendels, The, 17\n\n Grislehurst Boggart, 61\n\n Groaning Cheese and Cake, 260\n\n Guld-Riding, 289\n\n Gunpowder Plot, 251\n\n Guy Fawkes, 251\n\n\n Hackensall Hall Boggart, 59\n\n H\u00e6ver or Hiver, 149\n\n Hakes, Auld Wife, 216\n\n Hallowe'en, 3\n\n Halton Ale, 259\n\n Hand-bell Ringing, 258\n\n Hand-festing, 263\n\n Hartlay (John), a Conjuror, 93-96\n\n Harvest Home, 298\n\n Havercake Lads, 258\n\n Helen's (St.) Well in Brindle, 172;\n   near Sefton, 173\n\n Henry IV., King, 20\n\n Henry VI., King, 28, 29, 31;\n   miracles at his tomb, 132\n\n Henry VII., King, his embassy to Pope Julius II., 132\n\n Henry VIII., King, 87;\n   his ale, 287\n\n Heriot or Principal, at Ashton-under-Lyne, 292, 293;\n   story of, 294\n\n \"Hobbe, the King,\" at Ashton, 288\n\n Hobby-horse at Christmas, 254\n\n Hornby, Honour and Manor of, 285\n\n \" Park Mistress and Margaret Brackin, 59\n\n Horwich Moor, 48\n\n Hothershall Hall, 5\n\n House Boggarts, 56\n\n Household bewitched, 184\n\n Hunchback, story of the, 5\n\n Huntingdon's, Earl of, letter, 130\n\n Hydrocephalus in Cattle, to cure, 79\n\n\n Ignagning, 236\n\n Imps, or Changelings, 263\n\n Ince Hall, 52\n\n Ince Manor House, 52\n\n \" Oatmeal Charity at, 249\n\n Indo-European origin of superstitions, 2\n\n Infants, gifts to, 262\n\n Invocation at bedtime, 68, 69\n\n\n Jack and the Bean-Stalk, 5\n\n Jack the Giant-Killer, 5\n\n James I., King, his _D\u00e6monologie_, 185\n\n Jannocks, 259\n\n Johnson's (Margaret), confession, 198\n\n Jolly Lads, 236\n\n Jourdain (Margery), witch of Eye, 174\n\n\n Kelly (Edward), the Seer, 25, 126\n\n Killing a witch, 208\n\n King and Queen at Downham, 248\n\n King of the May, 254\n\n \" of Misrule, 288\n\n King's Evil, touching for, 77\n\n Kirkby Ireleth, Manor of, 281\n\n Knighthood, honour of, 277;\n   compulsory in 1278, 1292, and 1305, _ib._\n\n Knives, &c., 18;\n   Manchester, 280\n\n\n Labouring Goblins, 56\n\n Lady in the straw, 260\n\n Lady-bird charm, 70, 71\n\n Lancashire musical instruments, 288\n\n \" Witches, verses on, 179\n\n Lancaster (Thomas), Earl of, a saint, 133, 134\n\n Lating or Leeting Witches, 210\n\n Law Terms, medi\u00e6val Latin, 300\n\n Lawrence, St., his bones at Chorley, 157\n\n Leadbetter (Charles), a Lancashire astrologer, 40\n\n Legend of Cartmel Church, 137\n\n Lent, 221\n\n Local customs and usages at various seasons, 212, _et seq._\n\n Lord's Day conjuration, 67\n\n Lostock May-pole, 243\n\n Lots, casting or drawing, 106\n\n Lowick, Manor of, 283\n\n Lubber Fiend, 59, 89\n\n\n Magic and Magicians, 126\n\n Magpies, 143-145\n\n Malkin Tower, in Pendle Forest, 186, 189, 204, 211\n\n Manchester knife, a, 289\n\n \" Church, weddings at, 265\n\n Manorial franchises, &c., 285\n\n Manors, customs of, 276;\n   in Furness, 281;\n   Ashton-under-Lyne, 286, 289;\n   Smithells, 280;\n   Cockerham, 281;\n   Kirkby Ireleth, _ib._;\n   Pennington, 282;\n   Muchland, _ib._;\n   Lowick, 283;\n   Nevill Hall, _ib._;\n   Much Urswick, 284;\n   Warton, _ib._;\n   Hornby, 285;\n   Ashton-under-Lyne, 286, 289\n\n Maritagium, custom of, 278\n\n Marsh (Geo.), the martyr, 135-137\n\n Martins, \"shifting of,\" 143\n\n Mary Queen of Scots, 131\n\n May-day Eve, 46, 47, 239\n\n \" Customs, 238-246;\n   in Spotland, 242;\n   in Manchester, 245\n\n May-day Games, decay of, 241;\n   at Burnley (1579), 244\n\n May-Poles, 240-243;\n   Parliamentary ordinance against, 241\n\n May King and Queen, 246\n\n \" Songs, 239\n\n Mermaid of Marton Mere, 90\n\n \"Messes\" at dinners, &c., 271, 274\n\n Michaelmas Day, 250;\n   goose, _ib._, 258\n\n Mid-Lent Sunday, or Mothering Sunday, 222, 225\n\n Mince Pies, 255, 258\n\n Miracles, or Miraculous Stories, 131\n\n \" of a dead Duke of Lancaster (King Henry VI.), 132-134\n\n Miraculous cures by a dead man's hand, 158-163\n\n Miraculous footprints in Brindle Church, 134;\n   in Smithells Hall, 135\n\n \"Mischief Night,\" 239\n\n Mistletoe, 252\n\n Money gift at funerals, 275\n\n Moon, the, 70;\n   omens from, 149;\n   names for autumn moons, 250\n\n More (Sir Thomas), Story of, 300\n\n \"Mothering Sunday,\" 222, 225\n\n Mountain Ash, 72\n\n Muchland, Manor of, 282\n\n Much-Urswick, Manor of, 284\n\n Mutes at Christmas, 256\n\n Mythology of Greece and Rome, 13;\n   Oriental, _ib._;\n   Northern, _ib._\n\n\n Naiades, Nixies, Nisses, 16\n\n Nails, cutting, 68\n\n Nevill Hall, Manor of, 283\n\n New Year's-Day, weather omens, 151;\n   Festival, 214;\n   and Old Christmas-Day, 212\n\n New-Year's turkey, 258\n\n \" Eve, fire on, 214\n\n New-Year's Luck, 214;\n   first caller, 215;\n   gifts and wishes, 216\n\n Nicholas, St., 85\n\n \"Nick, Old\" (the devil), 84-86\n\n Night-mare, 89\n\n Northumbrian Superstitions, 9\n\n November 1, All Souls' Day, 251\n\n November 5, Gunpowder Plot, 251\n\n Numbers, odd, 4;\n   \"3\" and \"7,\" _ib._\n\n Nutter (Alice), a wealthy witch, 193\n\n\n Oat Cake, 258;\n   Jannocks, 259\n\n Oatmeal charity at Ince, 249\n\n \"Old Nick\" (the devil), 84-86\n\n \"Old Scrat,\" or Skrat, 90\n\n Omens and Predications, 138, 139\n\n Omens, Dreams, Withershins, Cards, Teacups, &c., 140\n\n Omens--Cats, 141;\n   Dogs, Lambs, Birds, 142;\n   Swallows, Magpies, _ib._\n   Deasil, or Widersinnis, 151;\n   weather for New Year's-Day, 151;\n   Death tick, or watch, 152\n\n Ormskirk gingerbread, 258\n\n\n Pace or Pasche-egging, 128;\n   in Blackburn, _ib._;\n   East Lanc., 231\n\n Pagan gods, festivals and temples, changed into Christian saints,\n        feasts and churches, 14\n\n Pancake Bell, 44;\n   Tuesday, 218\n\n Passing Bell, 44\n\n Paternoster, White, &c., at Eccles, 115\n\n Peel of Fouldrey and Tree-Geese, 116\n\n Peggy's Well, Legend of, 171\n\n Pendle, Forest and Hill of, 202, 204\n\n Pendleton and Pendlebury, May-pole and games, 240, 241\n\n Pentecost, 16th Sunday after, 250\n\n Pentecost (See Whitsuntide).\n\n Persons bewitched, sixteen, 192\n\n Philosopher's Mercury, 23\n\n \" Stone, 23\n\n Pigeons' Feathers in beds, 268\n\n Pilkington (Dame Jane), 273\n\n Pimpernel, 71\n\n Pork Pasties, 260\n\n Prayer and Blessing on Eggs, 229\n\n Prayer in Verse against Sir Ralph Ashton, 291\n\n Predications (see Omens).\n\n Presents to Women in Childbed, 260\n\n \" to Infants, 262\n\n Prestwich, Burying in Woollen at, 269\n\n Principal or heriot at Ashton, 293\n\n Prophet Elias, a fanatic, 138\n\n\n Queen of the May, 246\n\n\n Radcliffe, Burying in Woollen, 269\n\n Radcliffe Tower, 51\n\n Raising the Dead, 128;\n   the Devil, 17, 81\n\n Rent-boons at Denton, 294\n\n Rents, Nominal, 280\n\n Rheumatism, charms to cure, 75\n\n Riding the Black Lad at Ashton, 289\n\n Rings, betrothal or gemmel, 263;\n   Wedding, 268\n\n Robins and Wrens, 142\n\n Robinson, Edmund, 195, 201\n\n Rochdale Church, 89\n\n \" Tithe, Easter Dues, &c., 297\n\n Rogation Days or Gang Days, 248\n\n Rolleston, Mr., 131\n\n \"Rollison, Owd,\" 123-125\n\n Roman Traditions and Superstitions, 5, 6, 18;\n   Mythology, 13\n\n\n Saint Cuthbert's Beads, 15\n\n \" John's Eve, 8, 46, 47\n\n \" Vitus's Dance, 87\n\n Samlesbury Witches, 194\n\n \"Scrat, Old\" (or Skrat), 90\n\n Second-sight in Lancashire, 105\n\n Services and Tenures, peculiar, 278\n\n Sheep and Farms in Bowland, 300\n\n Shoes, Old, for luck, 264, 268\n\n Shrew Tree in Carnforth, 79\n\n Shrovetide, 217;\n   Tuesday, 218;\n   Pancakes, _ib._, 258;\n   Sports, 219;\n   customs in the Fylde, 221\n\n Sickness, charms to cure, 74\n\n Simnel Cakes, 223;\n   at Bury, 224, 258\n\n Sitting-up Courtship, 264\n\n Skriker, 91\n\n Smithells Hall, 51;\n   Marsh the Martyr, 135\n\n Smithells, Manor of, custom, 280\n\n Sneezing, 6, 68\n\n Songs, Lancashire, about 1422, 288\n\n Sparrows, 142\n\n Spell, description of a, 177\n\n Spirits of the dying and dead, 105\n\n Spitting on money, &c., 69, 70\n\n Stocks for the fingers, 283\n\n Superstitions in Manchester in the 16th century, 168\n\n Superstitions of Pendle Forest, 164;\n   of East Lancashire, 165\n\n Superstitions, popular, 153-157;\n   Nineteenth Century, 164\n\n Superstitious beliefs, and practices, 1;\n   fears and cruelties, 167\n\n Superstitious fear of Witchcraft, 182\n\n\n Talliage or Tallage, 296;\n   of Lancashire towns, &c., _ib._\n\n Teacups, Omens from, 140\n\n Teanlay, or All Souls' Night, 49\n\n Tenants of Ashton-under-Lyne, 288\n\n Tenures and Services, peculiar, 278\n\n Thackergate Boggart, 52\n\n Throwing the Stocking, 264\n\n Toothache, charms to cure, 75\n\n Touching for King's Evil, 77\n\n Towneley, ghost and tradition, 57\n\n Trash or Skriker, 91\n\n Tree Barnacles, or Tree Geese, 116\n\n Turning Bed after Childbirth, 261\n\n\n Unbaptized Child, cannot die, 262\n\n Urswick Much, Manor of, 284\n\n Utley, hanged for witchcraft, 195\n\n\n Vervain, to cure wounds, a rhyming charm, 76, 115;\n   against blasts, 115\n\n Victor Penny, 219\n\n Vitus's (St.), Dance, 87\n\n\n Waddow Hall, 171\n\n Waitts, the, 257;\n   of Manchester, 257;\n   of Warrington, 258\n\n Walton-le-Dale, raising the dead, 128\n\n Warcock Hill, 17\n\n Warrington Ale, 259\n\n Warton, Royal Manor of, 284;\n   wedding customs at, 265\n\n Warts, cures for, 78;\n   caused by washing in egg-water, 121\n\n Water Sprites, 89\n\n Weather Omens, 141-145, 149-152\n\n Wedding Customs, 263;\n   in the Fylde, 264;\n   at Warton, 265;\n   at Burnley, 265;\n   various, 268\n\n Weddings at Manchester Church, 265\n\n Well at Wavertree, 169\n\n Well, Peggy's, 170;\n   Legend of, 171\n\n Well, St. Helen's, in Brindle, 172;\n   near Sefton, 173\n\n Wells and Springs, dedicated to saints, 169\n\n West Houghton Wakes, 260\n\n Whitsuntide, 246;\n   Fair, 246;\n   16th Sunday after, 250\n\n Whitsuntide Ales, 246\n\n \" Tuesday, 248\n\n \" week, 247\n\n Whooping Cough, 10\n\n Wicken or Wiggen Tree (the mountain ash), 72\n\n Widersinnis, or Deasil, 151;\n   Withershins, 140, 151\n\n Widow, Burial of a, 273\n\n Widows, manorial customs, 281-285\n\n Wilder Lads, 48\n\n Will-o'-th'-Wisp, 53\n\n Winwick Church, 89\n\n Wise Men and Cunning Women, 121\n\n Wizards, 87;\n   Swimming a, _ib._\n\n Wooden Shoes and Oaten Bread, 259\n\n Woollen, burying in, 269\n\n Wounds, to cure, 74;\n   Vervain, 76\n\n Wycoller Hall, Christmas at, 256\n\n\n Yule Loaf, 256","title":"Lancashire Folk-lore: Illustrative of the Superstitious Beliefs and Practices, Local Customs and Usages of the People of the County Palatine","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":94751}