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Title: A History of Lancashire

Author: Henry Fishwick

Release Date: July 5, 2015 [EBook #49369]

Language: English

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_HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE._

[Illustration]




_POPULAR COUNTY HISTORIES._

A

HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE.

BY

LIEUT.-COLONEL HENRY FISHWICK, F.S.A.,

  _Author of
  "The Lancashire Library," "The History of Kirkham,"
  "The History of Rochdale," etc._

  LONDON:
  ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.
  1894.




[Illustration]




PREFACE.


The enormous amount of material, printed and in manuscript, which is
available for a History of Lancashire, makes the writing of a popular
work on that subject by no means an easy task; indeed, when first
mentioned to me, I thought it was almost impossible, by any process of
selection, to produce within the compass of an ordinary octavo volume
such a book as would be a popular history, and yet not fail to present
a faithful picture of the county.

However, I have made the attempt, and in accomplishing the task I
must have necessarily left out much which many readers would prefer
should have been inserted; but I trust that I have not inserted what
some would wish I had omitted. I have endeavoured to confine myself as
far as possible to the history of the county as a whole, and have not
allowed myself to go into personal or local details except when such
were required to illustrate the subject in hand. Of the large army of
Lancashire authors and celebrities I have said nothing, as strictly
speaking personal notices belong rather to biography than history; and
if it were not so, I may, I think, stand excused, as to have merely
given their names would have well-nigh filled the volume.

In making my selection of materials from the almost inexhaustible
stores at my disposal, I have rejected everything which in my opinion
is not capable of being well authenticated. In a work of this character
it is not desirable to encumber the text with the very large number
of references to authorities which otherwise might be required. The
reader, however, may rest assured that I have in no case drawn on
my imagination for my facts, neither have I accepted the statements
of others without first satisfying myself that those statements are
trustworthy and reliable.

HENRY FISHWICK.

  THE HEIGHTS,
  ROCHDALE.


[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER                          PAGE

        PREFACE                                                 v

  I.    INTRODUCTORY                                            1

  II.   PRE-ROMAN LANCASHIRE                                    5

  III.  THE ROMANS AS CONQUERORS AND RULERS                    13

  IV.   ROMAN REMAINS                                          20

  V.    THE SAXON AND THE DANE                                 41

  VI.   THE NORMANS AND THE PLANTAGENETS (A.D. 1066-1485)      52

  VII.  LANCASHIRE IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS (A.D. 1485-1603)  88

  VIII. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY                               113

  IX.   RELIGION                                              176

  X.    THE REBELLIONS                                        241

  XI.   PROGRESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY                    253

  XII.  THE DAWN OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY                    278

  XIII. MISCELLANY                                            285

  INDEX                                                       293

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[Illustration]




HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE.




CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.


Lancashire, on its south and south-east, is bounded by the county
of Chester, the division for about 50 miles, _i.e._, from Stockport
to Liverpool, being the river Mersey; on the west is the Irish Sea;
on the east, up to Graygarth Fell, in the parish of Tunstall, lies
Yorkshire; from thence to the waters of Morecambe Bay the boundary
is formed by Yorkshire and Westmorland; across the bay is a portion
of Lonsdale hundred (north of the Sands), which is almost surrounded
by the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, the extreme eastern
boundary being formed by a portion of Windermere Lake. Lancashire from
north-west to south-east measures 86 miles, and it is 45 miles across
at its widest part; it contains 1,219,221 acres. It has within it 69
parishes (exclusive of 9 extra-parochial districts), 446 townships,
and 16 Parliamentary cities and boroughs, which return 35 members, the
county divisions adding 23 to this number.

The great divisions of the county are the six hundreds of Lonsdale
(north and south of the Sands), Amounderness, Leyland, Blackburn,
Salford, and West Derby.

Lonsdale north of the Sands is situate in the extreme north of
Lancashire, and is the most picturesque portion of the county, as
it embraces a portion of the well-known Lake District; its highest
mountain is the Old Man, near Coniston Water, which is 2,577 feet above
the sea-level.

The two subdivisions of Lonsdale north of the Sands are Furness and
Cartmel. The former is the larger district: its chief towns are Barrow,
Ulverston, and Dalton; in the latter there is not a single town of any
considerable size or importance. Barrow-in-Furness is one of those
towns which the enterprise of the latter half of the present century
has suddenly created. A few years ago it was scarcely a village; it
is now an incorporated borough, and not only does a large business in
iron, but is a port of some importance. With this exception, and a few
iron mines, almost the whole district is agricultural in its character.

Furness Abbey, Coniston Priory, and Cartmel Priory were all located in
the southern end of this part of the county.

Lonsdale south of the Sands is also chiefly an agricultural district,
and is, compared with some other parts of the county, but thinly
populated; here and there tall factory chimneys may be seen, but,
except in the neighbourhood of Lancaster, they are few and far between.

Time-honoured Lancaster, with its castle and priory, form the
central historic point of interest in this part of the hundred; here
also were five of the largest forests in Lancashire--Wyersdale,
Quernmoor, Bleasdale, Myerscough, and Fulwood. Coming south of
Lonsdale, the county is much wider, and is divided longitudinally;
the western portion, as far as the river Ribble, forming the hundred
of Amounderness, which, like the more northern parts, is inhabited
by people engaged in the cultivation of the soil, except in and
immediately around the town of Preston, which is now one of the great
centres of the cotton trade. The parishes of Kirkham, Garstang, St.
Michael's-on-Wyre, Lytham, Bispham and Poulton are all in a district
long known as the Fylde, and their respective churches are all of
antiquarian interest. Preston is now by far the largest town in the
division; the manufacture of cotton was introduced here in 1777, and
the trade has since developed to very large proportions. Here were
two religious houses, one a convent of Grey Friars, and the other a
hospital for lepers. The Ribble, in its course from Mitton to Preston,
intersects the county. To the east of Amounderness is the hundred of
Blackburn, which, although it is twenty-four miles in length, only
contains five parishes; its north-western extremity is more or less
agricultural, but the rest of it is densely populated, and has become a
great manufacturing district.

Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington, and several other towns in the
district, are all engaged in the staple trade of the county. Clitheroe
Castle, Whalley Abbey, and Ribchester are in this hundred.

The south bank of the Ribble forms the western boundary of the hundred
of Leyland. The only market-town in the division is Chorley, which
until 1793 formed a part of the parish of Croston; like so many other
towns of Lancashire, it rose out of obscurity through the introduction
of spinning mills towards the end of the last century, and it is
now a town of considerable size and importance; in addition to its
cotton-mills, coal, stone, and iron are found and worked in the
neighbourhood. At Penwortham, on the bank of the Ribble, was a priory
dedicated to St. Mary.

The ancient parish churches of Croston, Leyland, Eccleston, and
Standish are all of historic interest.

The hundred of Salford has now an enormous population, and the very
names of its principal towns call up a vision of tall factory chimneys,
dense smoke, and the noise of machinery; manufactories of every kind
abound, and it is not saying too much to add that few industries
are unrepresented, coal, stone, iron, cotton and woollens, however,
constituting the chief trade.

The city of Manchester and the boroughs of Salford, Oldham, Bolton,
Rochdale, and Bury are all well-known names in the textile or
mechanical world.

West Derby hundred completes the county. This was in Saxon times called
Derbei, and was a recognised division; the river Mersey on the one
side, and the Irish Sea on the other, have not a little contributed to
render this one of the most important districts in England. Liverpool,
with its miles of docks and its connection with every part of the
world, has become the recognised second port in the country. In the
north-east corner of West Derby are the extensive coalfields of Wigan.

A considerable portion of the hundred is as yet untainted with the
smoke of the manufactory. Many of the parish churches are of great
antiquity; amongst them may be named Ormskirk, Leigh, Wigan, Winwick,
Warrington, Childwall, Walton-on-the-Hill, Prescot, Sephton and Huyton.
Burscough Priory was in the parish of Ormskirk, and Liverpool had its
ancient castle.

Having thus briefly (but at as great a length and in as much detail
as the nature and scope of the series of County Histories will allow)
described the County Palatine, we may at once proceed to deal with its
history as a not unimportant section of the United Kingdom.

[Footnote 1: "Recent Results of the Investigation into Local [Rochdale]
Erratic Blocks," by S. S. Platt.]

[Footnote 2: H. Colley March, F.S.A., "The Early Neolithic Floor of
East Lancashire," p. 7.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER II.

PRE-ROMAN LANCASHIRE.


Notwithstanding what has been written upon the so-called "glacial
nightmare," it still remains an undisputed fact that at some
far-distant period the whole of Lancashire was sunk beneath a sea, the
waters of which carried along with them huge masses of ice, which, in
their passage southward, deposited boulders which they had borne in
their chill embrace for hundreds of miles. The hills which rose above
the sea were covered with perpetual snow, and the valleys between them
were filled with glaciers, which in many instances left a terminal
moraine.

The direction which these icebergs took was invariably from north-west
to south-east, or north-north-west to south-south-east, that being
sufficiently indicated by the polished and striated rocks frequently
discovered in all parts of the county. A careful investigation of
the erratic blocks which have been discovered in one small district
alone[1] shows nearly 400 of these rocks, some of which have travelled
from Scotland, but by far the larger number have come from the Lake
District; these are occasionally found in the valleys, but are
generally located on the sides and tops of hills at an elevation of
from 600 to 1,200 feet above the sea-level. Geology furnishes abundant
proofs that at this period the level of the land in what is now known
as Lancashire was fifty or sixty feet higher than it is at the present
day; this is very apparent along the coast-line, where the remains of
submarine forests are frequently met with. It is more than probable
that, from the mouth of the Mersey to the estuary of the Dudden, what
are now sand banks were in prehistoric times dry land on which grew
forests of the oak, the birch, the ash, the yew, and Scotch firs.

All along the coast-line from Liverpool to Preston have been found at
low water the roots and trunks of trees.

Near Fleetwood and Blackpool frequent traces of these forests have
been met with below the high-tide level, the trunks of the trees all
pointing eastward, with their torn-up roots to the west; stumps of
Scotch firs were found near Rossall, and near to them the cones which
had fallen from their branches; trunks of oak and yew trees were also
discovered at Martin Mere (in Poulton).

In these forests the brown bear, the wild boar, roes and stags, the
wolf and the reindeer, and a host of other wild animals, would all be
discovered by the neolithic man when he first made his appearance in
the district.

Whence came this earlier settler? and at what exact period did he
come? are questions which modern scientific research has failed to
satisfactorily answer.

It has been suggested--and with some show of reason--that the early
neolithic man in Lancashire had been driven from the Yorkshire coast by
the victorious invader, who came armed with a war-spear and polished
stone axe.[2] Be this as it may, the evidence of such a race of men
having for some time lived in parts of the county is of the most
conclusive character. Although odd specimens of flint instruments
have been unearthed, in various districts, it is only in the eastern
portion of the county that distinct traces of a neolithic floor have
been discovered--that is to say that, on removing the top soil, beneath
it has been found a surface so profusely sprinkled with flint chippings
and implements as to leave no room for doubt but that at some very
early period there was settled upon it a race of men whose weapons of
offence and defence, as well as the few instruments required for their
simple personal wants, were made out of the flints collected from this
drift.

This neolithic floor is found on both sides of Blackstone edge, and
is generally at least 1,300 feet above the sea-level, but on the
Lancashire side its area is not very large, as it does not reach
Burnley on the north, nor Bolton on the west. The depth of the soil or
peat above this floor varies from one to ten feet. The flints consist
of knives, scrapers, arrow-heads, spear-tips, and minute instruments,
probably used to bore holes in bone needles; they are none of them
polished or ornamented.

In the parish of Rochdale alone there are twenty-five places where
these implements have been found; in fact, there is scarcely a hill-top
in the district where traces of them have not been unearthed. The
great number of chippings met with in small areas of these high lands
indicate that these are the sites of the primitive man's workshop--here
he sat and laboriously fashioned the weapon or the instrument which
he required. Barbed arrow-heads are extremely rare, but a beautiful
specimen was lately found on Trough Edge, a hill near Rochdale.[3]

These men have left no traces of their dwelling-place, and they do not
appear to have made pottery; probably they lived in earth dwellings or
caves in the hillsides. The single fact of their inhabiting only the
high ground indicates that the fear of an enemy was ever before them,
and it may well be that the foe which drove them from Yorkshire may
have ultimately expelled them from their hillside settlements.

At some later period the district became inhabited, though probably
only sparsely, by Celtic races and people of Celtic extraction; of the
latter were the numerous tribes of the Brigantes, one of which was
the Setanii or Segantii (the dwellers in the water country), which is
said to have been chiefly located between Morecambe Bay and the ridge
of hills which divide Lancashire from Yorkshire. Another tribe also
located here was the Voluntii.

At this date Lancashire contained many extensive forests, and in every
direction were trackless morasses. As these almost savage tribes lived
in tents or huts, and spent their time in hunting or fighting, it
is not surprising that the traces of their existence are faint and
unsatisfactory, and that it is often impossible to decide whether
particular remains belong to the early Celtic or the late British.
The geographical nomenclature of the county furnishes some examples
of Celtic origin, but for the most part it clearly points to a later
period. That these Celtic settlers were well spread over the entire
district is certain, as traces of them have been discovered in almost
every parish.

Stone hammers, stone axes, spear-heads, socketed celts, cinerary urns,
and remains of that class, have been unearthed in many places, amongst
which are Aldringham, Cartmel, Tatham, Penwortham, Garstang, Preston,
Pilling Moss, Silverdale, Kirkham, Bolton, Cuerden, Flixton, Liverpool,
Winwick, Lancaster, Manchester, Royton, Rochdale, and Burnley; this
list is alone sufficient to demonstrate that the early settlers had
penetrated into all parts of the county.[4]

In the Furness district remains of entrenchments, ramparts, stone
rings, and other evidences of these early settlers are abundant; they
have been unearthed at Hawkshead, Hall Park, Bleaberry Haws Torver,
Holme Bank, Urswick, Heathwaite Fell, Coniston, and other places in
the neighbourhood, proving beyond a doubt that here was an extensive
British settlement. Beside these there are several cairns, and portions
of stone wall attributable to the same period.

One of the most extensive of the latter group is the one at Heathwaite
Fell, where on the top of an elevated piece of moorland is a site
near half a mile long by 700 yards wide, which has been encompassed
by a stone wall originally 2 feet thick. This enclosed space has been
subdivided into five or more smaller enclosures by cross walls, and
each of these divisions had its own water-supply. The apex of the
ground has been cut by a wall, and this encloses the north elevation
of the site. About midway along the west side another wall leaves the
outer one and crosses the summit, and cuts off the west angle. On the
centre of this wall are situated the "homesteads" or headquarters of
the settlement. The homesteads are situated upon the south-east slope
of the hill, and upon the cross wall dividing off the western ward.
They consist of seven walled courts or yards, three smaller chambers,
and two very small mural huts and chambers. The walls of these are
usually of dry-built masonry, and are in some places 3 feet thick and
in others from 6 to 7 feet.

The main entrance to these enclosures is on the south. The mural huts
are placed at the north-west angle of the west court and the south-west
angle of the south court. The first is the most interesting; it is
contained in a small rectangular block of masonry filling up the angle,
and the plan of the chamber itself is that of a joiner's square. There
is no trace left of any covering to these huts, but they were probably
covered with stone flags or branches of trees. Within and without
the enclosures are cairns of all sizes, one of which is known as The
Giant's Grave. It is remarkable that all the settlements in the Furness
district are found on the fells, and never in the dales, some of them
being 300 feet above the sea-level. Of any actual defensive structure
there is no trace. The settlers here evidently buried their dead close
to their homes, and from the calcined bones found it is clear that the
bodies were burnt.

These earthen burial-mounds are, however, very scarce in the district;
rude-stone cists have been unearthed, but no trace of metals or
ornamental workmanship except a few pieces of rude pottery.

At Holme Bank, Urswick, the rampart of earthed stones encloses a
five-sided figure, within which are traces of cross walls, the general
plan of which points to the site of an early settlement. The rampart or
entrenchment discovered at Hawkeshead Park is of a similar character.
At Scrow Moss, near the foot of Coniston Old Man, is another of these
enclosures, a drawing of which is given in _Archæologia_ (vol. liii.,
part 2). At Dunnerdale Fell is an enclosure very similar to that found
at Heathwaite, though much smaller, the central homestead being formed
by a single wall, near to which are several cairns and remains of
walls. On Birkrigg Common, at a place called Appleby Slack, is another
of these small enclosures, consisting of a single rampart or vallum of
earth, enclosing a pear-shaped area, not far from which is a tumulus,
and about half a mile to the south-east is a double concentric stone
circle. Concerning these various remains in the Furness district, the
writer of the exhaustive article in _Archæologia_[5] just referred to
is of opinion that their elevated position is due to the fact that
the lower ground was at that period such a dense mass of scrub and
jungle that it was utterly untenable for residential purposes. These
various enclosures do not appear to have been forts, as the homesteads
themselves were all on the sloping sides of the hills, but were rather
the dwelling-places of a very early tribe of settlers, who were living
at peace with their neighbours, and had, therefore, no need of a system
of defence, such as we find traces of in other parts of the county.
The plan of these settlements was simple--the smaller courts were the
living apartments, and were no doubt covered with some kind of roof;
the larger enclosures were for the cattle, or possibly for the lower
orders of the tribes who held the place.

Many tumuli belonging to the early British settlers have been opened,
as at Briercliffe, near Burnley, where the covering of earth had been
partly wasted away, leaving a rudely-marked circle of stone, near
to which in 1885 was found a sun-baked hand-made urn of pre-Roman
origin, containing the remains of an adult and a child. At Wavertree,
near Liverpool, in 1867, a large tumulus, since called Urn Mound,
was opened, and six urns containing partly-calcined human bones were
discovered, all of which were early British. Near to these were found a
flint arrow-point and several "scrapers."[6]

Canoes assigned to this period have not infrequently been dug out of
peat which once formed the bottom of lakes, such as Marton Mere, in
Poulton-le-Fylde, and at the estuary of the Ribble, near Penwortham.
A very remarkable bronze beaded torque of the late Celtic period was
found by some workmen in 1832 at Mowroad, in the parish of Rochdale.
This ornament had probably been worn round the neck of some person of
rank; it weighed one pound five ounces, was made of bronze, and was
of superior workmanship and ornamentation.[7] The British tribes did
not congregate in such numbers as to establish anything like a town,
or even a large village, in these Northern parts; but no doubt when
the Romans took possession they found here and there clusters of hut
dwellings, which the geographer Ptolemy afterwards described as British
settlements. One of these was Regodunum, which was somewhere near
the mouth of the Ribble, perhaps at Walton-le-Dale. The author just
referred to (who lived about A.D. 140) mentions the estuaries
on the west coast, three of which, from the latitude and longitude
given, clearly refer to Lancashire rivers; they are named as the
Estuary Moricambe, the Haven of the Setantii, and the Estuary Belisama.
Belisama was the old name for the Mersey; the Haven of the Setantii was
at or near the mouth of the Ribble; and the other estuary was at the
conflux of the Kent with the waters of Morecambe Bay.[8]

At Walton-le-Dale and at Lancaster the Romans are believed to have
founded their stations on the sites of British settlements, as in both
these places have been found celts, arrow-heads, cinerary urns, and
other signs of the earlier race.

[Illustration]

[Footnote 3: Engraved, with other flints, in "History of Rochdale," p.
4.]

[Footnote 4: A complete list, up to date, will be found in Rev. William
Harrison's "Archæological Survey of Lancashire," which will appear in
the next volume of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society.]

[Footnote 5: H. Swainson Cowper, Esq., F.S.A.]

[Footnote 6: _Hist. Soc. of Lanc. and Ches._, xx. 131.]

[Footnote 7: Engraved in "History of Rochdale," p. 5. See also
_Archæologia_, xxv. 595.]

[Footnote 8: See _Transactions of Hist. Soc. of Lanc. and Ches._, xxx.
81.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER III.

THE ROMANS AS CONQUERORS AND RULERS.


The coming of Julius Cæsar in August, B.C. 55, with his
legions of Roman soldiers to punish the men of Kent for having sent
assistance to one of the Gallic tribes, the _Veneti_, then at war
with Rome, was what led on to the subsequent subjugation of the whole
of Britain. This did not, however, take place for nearly a century
afterwards, as, on the Britons undertaking to pay tribute, the invaders
withdrew. In A.D. 43 the Emperor Claudius appears to have
looked at this country with an envious eye, and finally decided to
annex it to Rome; and with this view he sent his General, Aulus
Plautius, with an army of some 48,000 men, to subdue the natives, who
were, however, found to be a race not easily conquered. After severe
fighting, he entrenched himself on the bank of the Thames, where he
was joined by the Emperor himself in the following year. Step by step,
slowly but steadily, the invaders made their way northwards.

The building of a line of forts by the Imperial Legate from the Severn
to the Nene, thus dividing the country, led to a rebellion of the
tribe of Cenimagni (or Iceni), the dwellers in what is now Norfolk or
Cambridgeshire. In this case the natives were again unsuccessful; and
in recording their defeat Tacitus[9] first mentions the Brigantes in
terms which clearly indicate that even before this time they had given
the Romans some trouble. The passage runs: "He (Ostorius Scapula) now
approached the sea which washes the coast of Ireland, when commotions,
begun amongst the Brigantes, obliged the General to return thither,
as he had formed a settled determination not to prosecute any new
enterprise till his former were completed and secure. The Brigantes,
indeed, soon returned to their homes, a few who raised the revolt
having been slain and the rest pardoned."

The _Silures_, inhabiting the western part of Wales, under their King
Caractacus, maintained a fierce resistance to Ostorius, but were
ultimately compelled to bear the Roman yoke. At this period the Queen
of the Brigantes was Cartismandua, whose betrayal of Caractacus has
preserved her name from oblivion. She afterwards married a leader of
the Silures named Venusius, who, according to Tacitus, was for some
time under the protection of the Romans; but having been divorced from
Cartismandua, she again took up arms against the invaders.

In A.D. 58 in the eastern district of Britain reigned Queen
Boadicea, who, taking advantage of the Roman Governor, with many of
his soldiers, being engaged in the country of the Brigantes, attacked
the towns of St. Albans, Colchester and London, with victorious
results, the legion being destroyed and many thousand settlers slain.
This probably led to a withdrawal of the Romans for a time from the
north-west, and thus left Lancashire in peace. The whole of South
Britain in A.D. 62 was finally conquered by the Romans; but
it was left to the Roman Governor, Petilius Cerealis, to fight out the
battle with the Brigantes, who were reputed to be the most populous
state in the whole province. Many engagements took place, attended
with much bloodshed, and the greater part of the tribe were either
subjugated or slain.[10]

Although there is no positive evidence that any of the men of
Lancashire were engaged in these struggles, it seems scarcely
possible that it could have been otherwise. Cerealis was Governor
from A.D. 71 to 75, and during that time he was constantly
fighting battles with these hardy North-country men; but neither he
nor his successor, Julius Frontinus, could effectually subdue them,
and it was not until A.D. 79 that the final conquest was made
by Julius Agricola, the father-in-law of Tacitus, who relates that
in the spring of that year Agricola reassembled his army, and having
personally carefully examined "the estuaries and woods," he allowed
the enemy no respite, but harassed them with sudden incursions and
ravages, the result being that several communities, which had not
before yielded their independence, submitted to the foe, gave hostages,
and allowed fortresses to be erected.[11] There are many reasons which
make it almost a certainty that these estuaries include those of the
Dee, the Mersey, the Ribble, the Wyre, the Lune and Morecambe (the
Kent). Very difficult indeed must have been the task of overcoming the
fierce and determined resistance offered by the natives. Much of the
country was covered with timber, particularly to the west, and on every
side were large tracts of moss and fen, the pathways through which
were treacherous, and known only to those who used them; and Agricola
was acting like a wise and experienced general when he directed his
first attention to the mouths of the rivers and to the almost pathless
forests.

Agricola is allowed by all historians to have been a judicious
governor, and to have made efforts to accustom the conquered race to
the comforts and luxuries of Roman citizens. He also taught them to
build temples, houses and baths; to many of them the Roman language
was taught, and they were encouraged to live together in towns
and villages. Probably in his time arose the forts at Mancunium
(Manchester), Bremetonacæ (Ribchester), and Galacum (Overborough).

After the middle of the second century, the Brigantes as a tribe
disappear from the page of history; henceforth they are Britons.

The Hadrian Wall, which stretches for seventy miles from the Solway
Firth to the Tyne, nowhere touches Lancashire, but the frequent battles
which raged in its vicinity were near enough to have an effect upon
the district, and no doubt occasionally the invading forces from the
North penetrated into the county. The Caledonians, in A.D.
180, broke through the wall, and for some time remained masters of a
considerable portion of the North of England.[12] In A.D.
208 the Emperor Severus, with his sons Caracalla and Geta, visited
Britain, and sent some of his soldiers to the North, as he found that
the inhabitants of what is now Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumberland had
not yet become reconciled to the Roman government, and, to add to the
difficulty, the people on the other side of the Hadrian Wall--the Picts
and Scots--required repression.

Severus died at York in 211, and for the next fifty years little is
known of the Roman rule in Britain beyond the fact that the names of
several legates, who acted as its governors, are on record. Between
A.D. 258 and 282 the historians are also silent about this
district, yet coins of Posthumus, Victorinus and Tetricus (three
of the usurpers known as the "Thirty Tyrants") have been found in
various parts of Northumbria which are now known as Lancashire. In
A.D. 282 the Emperor Carus gave the island of Britain to his
son Carinus, who was murdered in the year following. Passing over the
next two Emperors, we find Carausius has the government of Britain
ceded to him, and whilst on a visit to the Brigantes' district he was
assassinated at York, A.D. 293, by his minister, Allectus, who
at once usurped the purple in Britain; but not being acknowledged, a
powerful force was sent against him from Rome, which met him not far
from London, and in the engagement which followed he was slain and
his army defeated. In the beginning of the next century, the Emperor
Constantius Chlorus undertook an expedition against the Scots, and for
that purpose appears to have made York his headquarters; he died in
that city on July 25, A.D. 306, and his son Constantine was
at once proclaimed Emperor by the garrison there stationed. The exact
date of the introduction of the Christian religion into Lancashire is
unknown, but we know that in 303 the Emperor Diocletian persecuted
the followers of the new religion in Britain, and that the first
recorded British martyr, St. Alban, died in 304 near the city which
bears his name. Great must have been the change in the aspect of
religious thought which, in 311, led to the conversion of Constantine
the Great. This illustrious Emperor had no doubt a powerful influence
over spiritual affairs in Lancashire, although the latter part of
his life was not spent in Britain; he died in A.D. 337. The
latter half of the century witnessed the beginning of the decline of
the Roman power; the supposed unpassable Hadrian Wall was not enough to
keep back the Northern warlike tribes, who, making their way through
it, soon became masters of the district near its southern side, and by
A.D. 368 the invaders had even reached the metropolis.

At this time was sent to Britain a great general, Theodosius, who,
with a large army, drove back the Picts and Scots to the north of the
Clyde; he also restored and rebuilt many of the towns and fortresses,
and to him is attributed the naming of the province of Valentia, which
is comprised between Solway Firth and the Tyne, and the Clyde and the
Firth of Forth. All this, however, did not prevent the Picts, Scots,
and Saxon pirates from re-entering the country as soon as the Roman
legions were withdrawn, their services being required elsewhere. Rome,
in fact, at this time was fast declining in power, and by the year 410
she had been obliged to call all her troops away from Britain, and
Honorius had proclaimed Britain to be an independent state--in other
words, the Romans left the country either because they could not any
longer retain it, or they did not consider it worth the great drain
upon their resources which it must have been.

The so-called independence which followed was so disastrous that the
Britons found the last state worse than the first, and entreated their
former rulers to assist them in repelling the foes they themselves were
unable to overcome. They wrote: "The barbarians chase us into the sea,
the sea flings us back on the barbarians; the only choice left us is to
die by the sword or by the waves."

The appeal was in vain, and the wretched Britons were left to their
own resources. That they were disorganized and without leaders will
easily be understood, and to this must be added that for years the
best of the youths had been trained as recruits and drafted off to
the Continent, from whence very few returned; and then, again, the
inhabitants, especially in the North (including Lancashire), must have
been dreadfully reduced by the ravages continually made by the Picts
and Scots. Thus it was that Lancashire, with the rest of the country,
became an easy prey, first to the marauding foes from the North, and
afterwards to those races which ultimately became the makers of England.

It is curious to notice the Roman influence on traditions still common
in modern Lancashire--the beating of parish bounds recalls the Roman
_Terminalia_ in honour of the god of limits and boundaries; May Day
is the festival of Flora; the marriage-ring, the veil, the wedding
gifts, and even the cake, are all Roman. Our funeral customs are also
Roman--the cypress and the yew, the sprinkling of dust on the coffin,
the flowers on the grave, and the black clothes.[13]

[Illustration]

[Footnote 9: "Annals," xii. 31.]

[Footnote 10: Tacitus, "Hist.," book iii., ch. lix.]

[Footnote 11: Tacitus, "Vita Agricolæ," cap. xx.]

[Footnote 12: Xiphiline's abridgment of Dion Cassius. It may be well
here to state my general indebtedness to the late W. Thompson Watkin's
"Roman Lancashire"; Liverpool, 1883.]

[Footnote 13: E. Sanderson, "Hist. of England," p. 19.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER IV.

ROMAN REMAINS.


The history of Roman Lancashire has so recently been published[14]
that, even if our space would allow (which it will not), it would be
unnecessary, in a work of this description, either to furnish too much
detail, or to dwell too long on the vexed questions of the subject
which have not even yet been settled.

When the Romans invaded Lancashire, one of their chief difficulties
was the want of roads, which rendered many parts of the district
almost untenable, and to remedy this state of things, one of their
first acts after conquest must have been to construct a way by which
access could easily be gained to the newly-acquired territory. As
everyone knows, the Romans were skilful in all kinds of engineering
work, and as road-makers they have never been excelled; so durable
were their pavements that we find remains of them still in all parts
of the country. Up hill and down dale they went, from point to point,
nearly always in a straight line--if a bog was in the way it was filled
up; if a mountain, it was crossed. Taking these roads as they are now
acknowledged by antiquaries to have run, and following alone their
route, we shall come across the chief remains which time has left of
our conquerors and rulers.

The main Roman roads in Lancashire are all believed to have been
constructed during the Higher Empire; that is, at or before the time
of Hadrian (A.D. 117-128). The minor roads are of later and
uncertain date.

Of the nine towns which became Roman _coloniæ_, the nearest to
Lancashire were Eboracum (_York_), and Deva (_Chester_), but Mancunium
(_Manchester_) was also a great military centre, and from it there were
five Roman roads.[15] Two of these came from the Cheshire side of the
Mersey, one passing through Stretford, and the other through Stockport
to Buxton.

All trace of the road from Manchester to Stretford has disappeared, but
its course ran through Cornbrook (near which it was cut through by the
Bridgewater Canal) and by the botanical gardens to Crossford Bridge, on
the Mersey. A few small remains have from time to time been found at
Stretford, but scarcely sufficient to justify the idea that here was a
Roman camp.[16] On the Stockport side of the Mersey we have traces of
the road to Buxton, but on the Lancashire side its site is covered by
the modern highway, part of which is still known as High Street.

Another of the approaches to Manchester was from the east. This
also only for a short distance was on Lancashire soil. It came from
Yorkshire, and, passing through Glodwick and Hollinwood, in the parish
of Oldham, skirts the township of Failsworth, where at the end of the
last century it was visible for upwards of a mile, and was commonly
known as the "Street," or "Street Lane."[17] At Newton Heath traces of
it were seen in 1857, and Whitaker saw remains of it in Ancoats and
Ardwick.

In making the Oldham Park, a number of copper coins from the period of
Antoninus Pius (A.D. 135) to Victorinus (A.D. 218) were found, and
in 1887, during the excavations made for Chamber Mill, near the site
of the road, a box was unearthed which contained 300 bronze and brass
coins. The following were verified: Antoninus Pius (A.D. 135-161),
Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-180), Commodus (A.D. 180-193), Septimius
Severus (A.D. 193-211), Caracalla (A.D. 211-217), Julia Mamica (A.D.
222-235).[18]

Before referring to the other roads from Manchester to the North and to
the West, it will be well to glance at the Mancunium of the Romans, and
it is needless, perhaps, here to remark that the building of the modern
Manchester and Salford must of necessity have almost obliterated every
material trace of this ancient stronghold.

Somewhere about the time of Agricola (A.D. 78-85), or possibly a little
earlier, the Romans erected a _castrum_ on a tongue of land made by a
bend of the river Medlock. Whitaker, the Manchester historian,[19] thus
describes what remained of this in 1773:

  The eastern side, like the western, is an hundred and forty [yards]
  in length, and for eighty yards from the northern termination the
  nearly perpendicular rampart carries a crest of more than two
  [yards] in height. It is then lowered to form the great entrance,
  the _porta prætoria_, of the camp: the earth there running in
  a ridge, and mounting up to the top of the bank, about ten in
  breadth. Then, rising gradually as the wall falls away, it carries
  an height of more than three for as many at the south-eastern
  angle. And the whole of this wall bears a broken line of thorns
  above, shews the mortar peeping here and there under the coat of
  turf, and near the south-eastern corner has a large buttress of
  earth continued for several yards along it. The southern side, like
  the northern, is an hundred and seventy-five [yards] in length;
  and the rampart, sinking immediately from its elevation at the
  eastern end, successively declines, till, about fifty yards off, it
  is reduced to the inconsiderable height of less than one [yard].
  And about seventeen [yards] further there appears to have been a
  second gateway, the ground rising up to the crest of the bank for
  four or five at the point....

  One on the south side was particularly requisite ... in order to
  afford a passage to the river; but about fifty-three yards beyond
  the gate, the ground betwixt both falling away briskly to the west,
  the rampart, which continues in a right line along the ridge,
  necessarily rises till it has a sharp slope of twenty [yards] in
  length at the south-western angle. And all this side of the wall,
  which was from the beginning probably not much higher than it is
  at present, as it was sufficiently secured by the river and its
  banks before it, appears crested at first with an hedge of thorns,
  a young oak rising from the ridge and rearing its head considerably
  over the rest, and runs afterwards in a smooth line nearly level
  for several yards with the ground about it, and just perceptible to
  the eye, in a rounded eminence of turf.

  As to the south-western point of the camp, the ground slopes away
  on the west towards the south, as well as on the south towards the
  west. On the third side still runs from it nearly as at first,
  having an even crest about seven feet in height, an even slope
  of turf for its whole extent, and the wall in all its original
  condition below. About an hundred yards beyond the angle was the
  _Porta Decumana_ of the station, the ground visibly rising up
  the ascent of the bank in a large shelve of gravel, and running
  in a slight but perceivable ridge from it. And beyond a level of
  forty-five yards, that still stretches on for the whole length of
  the side, it was bounded by the western boundary of the British
  city, the sharp slope of fifty to the morass below it. On the
  northern and the remaining side are several chasms in the original
  course of the ramparts. And in one of them, about an hundred and
  twenty-seven yards from its commencement, was another gateway,
  opening into the station directly from the road to Ribchester. The
  rest of the wall still rises about five and four feet in height,
  planted all the way with thorns above, and exhibiting a curious
  view of the rampart below. Various parts of it have been fleeced of
  their facing of turf and stone, and now show the inner structure
  of the whole, presenting to the eye the undressed stone of the
  quarry, the angular pieces of rock, and the round boulders of the
  river, all bedded in the mortar, and compacted by it into one. And
  the white and brown patches of mortar and stone on a general view
  of the wall stand strikingly contrasted with the green turf that
  entirely conceals the level line, and with the green moss that half
  reveals the projecting points of the rampart. The great foss of the
  British city, the Romans preserved along their northern side for
  more than thirty yards beyond the eastern end of it, and for the
  whole beyond the western. And as the present appearances of the
  ground intimate, they closed the eastern point of it with a high
  bank, which was raised upon one part of the ditch, and sloped away
  into the other.

Many inscribed stones have been found on the site of this _castrum_,
which originally were built into the wall; one is noticed by Camden,
which read:

  Ↄ. CANDIDI
  PEDES XX
  IIII

_i.e._, Centuria Candidi, Pedes xxiiii.

Another bore the inscription:

  COHO. I. FRISIN.[20]
  Ↄ. MASAVONIS.
  P.XXIII.

--which may be translated into, "The century of Masavo of the first
cohort of the Frisians [built] 23 feet."

The Frisii were inhabitants of Gaul, who were frequently at war with
the Romans, but towards the end of the first century, though they were
not actually under Roman rule, they had agreed to contribute men for
the imperial army; hence their presence in Lancashire.

There have been other centurial stones found near the Manchester
settlement which are of considerable interest. One was discovered
in 1760 on the south side of the Medlock, near Knott Mill; all that
remains of the inscription is:

  .... ** QPOB
  XVAR ** CHOR. I.
  RIS. P. *****

The other centurial stone was found in 1796. It measures 15 inches by
11. It had inscribed upon it:

  COHR. I.
  FRISIAVO
  > QVINTIANI
  € P. XXIII.

The translation would be, "The century of Quintianus, of the first
cohort of the Frisians, [built] 24 feet." This stone was found near
to one of the gateways to the _castrum_. A tile inscribed to "The
twentieth legion, valiant and victorious," was found in 1829, and two
others, bearing the words (when extended) _Cohortis III. Bracarum_. A
small portion of the wall of a building within the _castrum_ is still
preserved; a great portion of it consists of fragments of unhewn red
sandstone.

In 1612, under the roots of an oak-tree, near to the Roman side, was
found part of an inscribed altar. It was much mutilated, and had
probably been built into a wall after the departure of the Romans. It
is 27½ inches in height, 15½ inches in breadth, and nearly 11 inches
thick. This altar passed through many hands, and its whereabouts is now
unknown, but a copy of the inscription on its face has been preserved.
It was dedicated to "Fortune the preserver, Lucius Senecianius Martius,
a centurion of the Sixth Legion, (surnamed) the Victorious." This
legion was stationed at Eboracum (York), A.D. 120.

Another altar (or, rather, a part of one) was found in Castlefield. It
was of red sandstone, and was 2 feet 5 inches high. It is now preserved
at Worsley New Hall. Its inscription may be rendered as, "To the god
... Præpositus of the Vexillation of Rhætii and Norici performs his
vow cheerfully and willingly to a deserving object." This inscription
therefore informs us that part of the garrison of Mancunium consisted
of a body of soldiers belonging to the Rhætii and Norici; the former
came from Switzerland, and the latter were Tyrolese. This is remarkable
as the only description yet discovered in Britain which thus refers to
these troops. The amount of pottery discovered has not been large, but
amongst it were some fragments of Samian ware, on one of which is a
representation of a hunting scene. Samples from the Roman potteries of
Upchurch have also been dug up, but none of them bear the maker's name.

About two miles from the _castrum_, in the bed of the river Irwell,
was found in 1772 a golden ornament for the neck (a bulla), which was
richly ornamented; along its upper border was a hollow tube through
which to pass the cord by which it was suspended round the neck of
the wearer. Only one other specimen of this kind of ornament in
gold has been found in England, and that also was in Lancashire (in
Overborough). Within the area of the _castrum_ various minor remains
have from time to time been discovered, including a massive gold ring,
coins, urns, tiles, spear-heads, household gods, and Roman pottery.[21]

Amongst the coins were many of the reigns of Trajanus (A.D.
53-117), Hadrianus, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius;[22] they were
all found in or near what is still known as Castlefield.

Around this Roman stronghold something approaching a town was no
doubt built, if, indeed, the conquering forces did not find some such
settlement existing on their arrival. From the evidence of the remains
found, this suburban quarter was mostly on the north of the _castrum_.
In Tonman Street, in 1839, was discovered a bronze statuette of Jupiter
Stator. Remains of domestic building have frequently been met with, and
the site of the cemetery lying on the south-east side of the station
is indicated by the numerous sepulchral urns discovered there, as
well as human bones and lachrymatory vessels of black glass. Judging
solely from the remains which are known to have been found here, the
conclusion we must arrive at is that, important as Mancunium was as a
military centre, the village or town around its _castrum_ was not as
important as that of Ribchester.

The dates of the various coins recorded (many more have been found but
not recorded) clearly show that the Romans were settled at Mancunium
from about A.D. 80 to the time when they left the country.

Traces of a road have been found between Manchester and Wigan, and the
latter place was certainly a Roman station, though it has not been
satisfactorily proved to be identical with the _Coccium_ named in the
tenth Iter of Antoninus. In 1836 the ditch and agger by which the
station was fortified were still visible near the crown of the hill
on which part of Wigan now stands.[23] Many Roman coins and urns have
been found near the station, and a stone built into the present parish
church is considered to have been a portion of a Roman altar. From
Wigan the road went north and south.

Returning to Manchester: from this centre issued another road going in
a straight line to Ribchester; it passed across Campfield and the site
of what is now the Victoria railway-station; it went on to Prestwick,
Lower Darwen, Blackburn, and finally to the bank of the Ribble near
Ribchester; the remains of the road have been seen nearly over the
whole of its length. It is not thought to be quite so ancient as the
other roads out of Mancunium;[24] however this may be, at Bremetonacum
(Ribchester) was erected the largest _castrum_ in the whole county.

Roman Ribchester was probably founded by the Emperor Agricola or by
Hadrian.

Like nearly all the large stations, it was placed near to a river,
and in this case the Ribble served as the fosse on the south-eastern
side; its other boundaries have been clearly defined, the outline of
fosse and vallum being still quite apparent, and within its limits are
included the parish yard and Vicarage garden: its total area covers
about ten statute acres. Its dimensions are: from the vallum on the
north-west to the bed of the river 615 feet, and from the vallum on the
south-east to that on the opposite side 611 feet. The corners on the
north and north-east are rounded off, the southern ones being lost in
the bed of the river, which has considerably altered its course.

At the angle pointing north, in 1888, a gateway was discovered.[25]
It was 14 feet wide, the end of the wall at each side being carefully
rounded.

The construction of the vallum was at the same time exposed, and showed
that it was formed of boulder stones put together with cement. It lies
6 feet below the present surface, and is about 5 feet wide.

Upon this base was raised the rampart of earth well beaten down.
Outside the vallum on the south-western side is a fosse (or dyke), of
which the outer limit is about 43 feet from the vallum.

In 1888-89 this rampart was cut through in seven places. At one of
these cuttings on the south-western side the vallum was found to be
4 feet 6 inches wide at the base, and inside it, at a distance of 4
feet, and level with the base, was found a layer of oak shingles--that
is, pieces of split oak--each about 4 to 5 feet long, 2 or 3 inches
thick, and 3 to 4 inches wide; these were placed at right angles to
the vallum, and at about 7 inches apart, with their widest sides lying
horizontally.

These shingles are pointed at the end next the vallum, and broader and
squarer at the other end. In the second cutting near the western angle
the vallum was found to be 6 feet wide, and below the base there was
a layer of imported clay; below this was a layer of red sand 2 feet
thick, and under that a quantity of gravel. Here again were found the
shingles, of which there were three rows, all lying at right angles to
the vallum.

The longest of these shingles were from 9 to 14 feet, and were those at
the greatest distance from the vallum. Two other cuttings exposed two
jambs of a gateway, and the layer of shingles was found to extend from
the inside through the gateway to the length of 7 or 8 feet outside;
they were larger and longer than any of the others. Under them was a
layer of gravel 9 inches thick, and below this, again, a floor of oak
planks, smooth and tightly jointed, and stretching across the gateway.
Beneath this was another layer of gravel, under which were four
large shingles about 14 feet long, 1 foot wide, and 6 inches thick,
which were laid at right angles to the shingles above them. On the
north-eastern side of the vallum was a strong oak post found standing
upright, which appeared to have been a gate-post. In 1725 Dr. Stukeley,
the antiquary, visited Ribchester at a time when a portion of the
south-eastern boundary was exposed through the action of the river, and
he mentions having seen "the floor along the whole bank," which was no
doubt made up of similar shingles. The use to which these oak shingles
were put has not yet been satisfactorily settled, but the most probable
theory is that they were intended to make sure the foundation of the
path behind the rampart. They have not been discovered at any other
Roman station in Britain. Another peculiarity of the Ribchester camp is
the gates being placed in an angle of the quadrilateral instead of in
the centre of one of the sides.

Outside the camp at Ribchester there was a settlement of considerable
size and importance. There were at least two temples, the largest of
which was probably over 100 feet long; it had sixteen pillars in front,
and others around it, forming a peristyle. The inscription over the
entrance (which was found some years ago) shows that it was dedicated
"To the Deity: for the safety of the Emperor ... and of Julia ...
the mother of our Lord [the Emperor], and the camps under the care
of Valerius Crescens Fulvianus, his Legate [and] Pro-Prætor. Titus
Floridius Natalis, Legate, our Præpositus and Governor, from the reply
[of the oracle] restored the temple from the ground, and inaugurated it
at his own expense." The mention of the Empress Julia fixes the date to
between A.D. 211 and A.D. 235. The four pillars forming the entrance
to the Bull Inn at Ribchester were from the ruins of one of the two
temples. The bases of some of the columns of the larger building are
preserved at the Rectory; they are of rude workmanship, but appear to
be in the Doric style.

This temple is believed to have been destroyed by fire. From the
inscription just quoted it would appear that it was then rebuilt,
and it is at least possible that the original building may have been
destroyed by the Scots, who at this time waged fierce war with the
Romans.

The evidence as to the existence of the smaller temple is not so
conclusive, although several stone cylindrical columns, each with a
foliated capital, said to have belonged to it, are still preserved.

Beside the "finds" of coins, rings, querns, amphoræ, etc., there have
been from time to time sculptured stones brought to light which tell
their own history. A few only of these can here be mentioned: a walling
stone inscribed LEG[IO] VICESIMA V[ALARIA] V[ICTRIX] FECIT
(The Twentieth Legion, Valiant and Victorious, made [it]); a large
sculptured altar which bore an inscription "To the holy god Apollo
Maponus for the welfare of our lord [the Emperor], and of the Numerus
of Sarmatian horse Bremetennacum [styled] the Gordian, Antoninus of
the Sixth Legion, [styled the] Victorious. [His] birthplace [was]
Melitene." The date of this is believed to be between A.D.
238 and A.D. 244.[26] In 1603 Camden saw at Ribchester an
altar which he describes as the largest and fairest that he had ever
seen; this is now at Stonyhurst College. It was dedicated "To the
goddess mothers, Marcus Ingenuius Asiaticus, a decurion of the cavalry
regiment of the Astures, performs his vow willingly [and] dutifully to
a deserving object."

Altars dedicated to these Deæ Matres are not uncommon in Britain; they
are often represented by female figures each bearing a basket of fruit.
Another altar was dug up in the churchyard; its inscription refers to
Caracalla and his mother Julia Domna (the widow of Septimius).

In 1796 a boy playing near the road leading to the church accidentally
discovered a helmet, which its subsequent owner[27] thus described:
"The superior style of workmanship of the mask to that of the headpiece
is also remarkable. It measures ten inches and a half from its
junction to the skull-piece at the top of the forehead to its bottom
under the chin. A row of small detached locks of hair surrounds the
forehead a little above the eyes, reaching to the ears, which are well
delineated. Upon these locks of hair rests the bottom of a diadem, or
_tutulus_, which at the centre in front is two inches and a quarter
in height, diminishing at the extremities to one inch and an eighth
of an inch, and it is divided horizontally into two parts, bearing
the proportionate height just mentioned. The lower part projects
before the higher, and represents a bastion wall, separated into seven
divisions by projecting turrets, with pyramidal tops, exceeding a
little the height of the wall. These apertures for missile weapons of
defence are marked in each of the turrets. Two arched doors appear
in the middle division of this wall, and one arched door in each of
the extreme divisions. The upper part of the diadem, which recedes a
little so as to clear the top of the wall and of the turrets, was
ornamented with seven embossed figures placed under the seven arches,
the abutments of which are heads of genii. The central arch and the
figure that was within it are destroyed, but the other six arches are
filled with a repetition of the following three groups: a Venus sitting
upon a marine monster; before her a draped figure with wings, bearing
a wreath and palm-branch, and behind her a triton, whose lower parts
terminate in tails of fish. Two serpents are represented on each side
of the face near the ears, from whence the bodies of these reptiles
surround each cheek and are joined under the chin. From the general
form of the diadem being usually appropriated to female deities, and
the circumstance of the lower division being composed of a wall and
turrets in the same manner as the heads of Isis, Cybele, and the
Ephesian Diana are decorated, added to the effeminacy and delicacy
of the features of the mask, one may conclude that it alludes to
these goddesses; but the manner in which the face is accompanied with
serpents strongly indicates that it also comprises the character of
Medusa...." The head portion of the helmet is ornamented with soldiers
on horse and on foot. This is considered one of the finest specimens of
a Roman helmet yet discovered. In 1875, in the bed of the Ribble, was
found a sepulchral slab representing a horse-soldier spearing a fallen
foe. The stone is 5 feet long and 2½ feet in breadth.[28] Several
other tombstones have been discovered here, the inscription on one
of which, being translated, records that "In this earth is held that
which was at one time Ælia Matrona; she lived twenty-eight years, two
months, and eight days: and Marcus Julius Maximus her son; he lived six
years, three months and twenty days: and Campania Dubitata her mother;
she lived fifty years. Julius Maximus, a sigularis consularis of the
Polish cavalry, the husband of an incomparable wife, and to a son most
dutiful to his father and to a mother-in-law of very dear memory, has
placed this."

The number of miscellaneous Roman articles which have been found at
Ribchester is considerable. In 1884, just outside one of the gateways
leading to the camp, a massive gold brooch was found; its weight is 373
grains, and it is in the shape of a harp, measuring 2 inches in length.
Roman brooches of gold are very rarely met with.

In making graves in the churchyard from time to time small articles
have been found; and in the Vicarage garden, almost every time the soil
is turned, fragments of Samian pottery, etc., are brought to light.

These various _finds_ have, perhaps, given rise to the local tradition
that:

  It is written upon a wall in Rome:
  Ribchester is as rich as any town in Christendom.

But much of old Ribchester is lost through the shifting of the bed of
the river, which formed one side of the _castrum_.

From Ribchester issued five roads: (i.) To Yorkshire through Chadburn;
(ii.) to Manchester; (iii.) to Morecambe Bay through the Fylde; (iv.)
to Lancaster, joining the main road at Galgate; (v.) to Westmorland
_viâ_ Overborough.

The road to Yorkshire passed through Langho, crossed the Calder near
a place called "Potter's Ford," and leaving Clitheroe on the east,
went over the rising ground to Chadburn and over the Yorkshire border
to Skipton. Roman coins have been found at Langho,[29] and also the
remains of a rectangular building 70 feet square, which is believed to
have been a small camp; its site is still known as "Castle Holme."[30]
Between Chadburn and Worsthorne, in 1788, nearly 1,000 silver _denarii_
of the Higher Empire were found in an urn dug up by some workmen.[31]
The road through the Fylde district was no doubt made to connect
Ribchester with the Portus Sestantiorum (the Haven of the Sestantii),
the exact site of which has never been satisfactorily proved, but it
was probably near the mouth of the Wyre. The agger is only traceable
along bits of the route from Ribchester, but it appears at "Stubbin
Nook," and, after passing Pedder House, becomes identical with what is
still called Watling Street; it then crosses Fulwood Moor near Preston,
and goes on to Kirkham, Marton Mere, and Poulton-le-Fylde. The late
John Just, in 1850, made a careful survey of that portion of the road;
he thus describes it: "Within a mile of the town of Poulton are seen
the first indications of a Roman road.... But having got on to the high
ground and to a part of the flats of the Fylde district we meet with
striking remains of a road on the turfy ground where it has been piled
up in an immense agger.... Across this the line is very distinct....
On the higher ground the whole of the line has been obliterated ...
until we again detect it in a low hollow towards Weeton Moss.... Here
is an immense embankment of several yards in height, its base standing
in the water.... The line hence directs itself up the rising ground
to Plumpton; ... from hence it directs its course to the windmill on
the high ground between Weeton Moss and Kirkham, which there opens to
the view. Near the windmill the road forms an angle, and thence joins
the public road in a long-continuous straight line forwards towards
Kirkham.... About midway, within the long town of Kirkham, the line
of the Roman roads falls in with Main Street, and continues up to the
windmill at the top of the town. Nearly the whole length of the long
street of Kirkham is upon the Roman road."[32]

At Kirkham the Romans left many traces: amulets, axes, ivory needles,
urns filled with calcined bones, lachrymatory urns, and coins, have all
at various times been discovered, but the finest relic was the umbo
of a shield found at Mill Hill; it is now in the British Museum. It
is about 8 inches in diameter, and in its centre is a figure of a man
seated, his limbs naked, but wearing on his head a crested helmet.[33]

In what was once the bed of Marton Mere, in 1850, the old road was
clearly defined; its gravel was 12 yards wide and 2 yards thick; and
at Fleetwood, in 1835, at some depth below the sand, a portion of the
pavement was found intact. Between Fenny and Rossall Point, on the
Wyre Estuary, upwards of four hundred Roman coins were found; their
dates varied from A.D. 353 to A.D. 408. Many parts of the Roman road in
this district were known as Danes' Pad.[34] The road from Ribchester
to Galgate passed through places called Preston Wives, Writton Stone,
Stoney Lane, Windy Arbour, Street Farm, and a little to the north-east
of Shireshead joined the road from Walton to Lancaster. Westmorland
was approached by a road which, after leaving Ribchester, has not
been very clearly traced, but for a great portion of its route it ran
through Yorkshire, passing through Slaidburn; it came into Lancashire
a few miles south of Ivah, but soon again crossed the border line and
re-entered Lancashire, and passed through Tatham to Overborough, the
Roman _Galacum_. Of this place Camden (writing about 1580) says, "that
it was formerly a great city upon a large plot of ground, between the
Lac and the Lone, and being besieged, was forced to surrender by famine
is what the inhabitants told me, who have it by tradition from their
ancestors; and certain it is that the place makes proof of its own
antiquity by many ancient monuments, inscriptions, chequered pavements,
and Roman coins, as also by this modern name, which signifies a
burrow." Although nearly every trace of the Roman occupation has been
cleared away, discoveries made since Camden's time abundantly prove
that here was a Roman stronghold. Overborough is in the parish of
Tunstall.

There now remains to describe the other Roman road, passing right
through Lancashire, in almost a straight line for Warrington, passing
Wigan, Preston, and Lancaster on its route to Natland in Westmorland.

This road began at Wilderspool, on the Cheshire side of the Mersey.
The exact spot where it crossed the river is unknown, but traces of it
are found near Warrington, at Winwick, Haydock, Ashton in Makerfield,
and Wigan; from the latter place it continued to Standish, Whittle
and Bamber Green, crossed the Ribble at Walton, then passed through
some fields formerly known as Great Pathway Fields, Causeway Meadow
and Pathway Meadow. From Walton the road went on to Lancaster, through
Broughton, Barton Lodge, Brook, Claughton (where was formerly a road
called Fleet Street) and Galgate; between Lancaster and Natland all
trace of the road has disappeared, and its route is undefined. The
remains found on the line of road from Warrington to Wigan are neither
numerous nor of special interest.

At Standish many coins have been found, as well as gold rings, of
undoubted Roman origin.

At Walton-le-Dale we find clear evidence of the existence of a minor
station, between the bends of the Ribble and the Darwen. Here, in
1855, in excavating in a large mound called the Plump, were found the
remains of a probably British foundation, upon which was a layer of
large boulders, mixed with gravel a foot thick, near to which were
lying coins of Antoninus Pius, Domitian, and Vespasian, together with
querns, fragments of Samian ware, bricks, tiles, fragments of amphoræ,
etc.[35] In the immediate neighbourhood subsequent excavations brought
to light other remains in large quantities, as well as portions of
Roman masonry. All the coins found were of the Higher Empire.

At Lancaster was another station, and probably a very early one, as it
is certain that in the time of Trajan (A.D. 98-117) there were
Roman buildings of some kind here; the proof of this is the discovery,
about twenty years ago, beneath the floor of the parish church, of a
triangular-shaped stone upon which was inscribed in letters 2 inches
high, IMP. NER. TRAIAN, AVG. C.; this being completed would
read, "Imperatori Nervae Trajano Augusto cohors."[36]

On the site of, or within the area of the _castrum_ have been erected
the castle, the priory, and the church, so that it is not to be
wondered at that its original boundaries are indefinable. Without
placing too much reliance upon the statements of such writers as Leland
and Camden, sufficient fragments of the Roman walls have from time to
time been exhumed to afford ample proof that such a station existed;
and from inscriptions found, together with the discovery of large
quantities of horses' teeth, it may be assumed to have been occupied by
cavalry troops only.

The remains found within the walls and in the immediate neighbourhood
have been very numerous and varied. Amongst the altars was one
dedicated "to the holy god Mars Cocidius," the latter word referring
to a British god, which shows the accommodating spirit of "Vibinius
Lucius," the pensioner of the Consul who thus "performed his vows."
From the fact that over many parts of the station uncovered there was
found to be a thick layer of ashes, it is conjectured that Roman
Lancaster was destroyed by fire. Many milestones have also been
found, and two burial-places. There was also a road from Lancaster to
Overborough; its route was over Quernmore and through Caton, where a
milestone of the time of Hadrian was discovered. In Lonsdale north of
the Sands we have no distinct trace of Roman occupation.

There were, of course, several other Roman roads of later date and of
minor importance; one only of these is it necessary to refer to, that
is, the road which is supposed to have run from Manchester, through
Chadderton, Royton, Rochdale, Littleborough, and over Blackstone Edge
to Aldborough in Yorkshire. John Ogilby, the King's cosmographer in
1675, states that this road was 8 yards wide and paved with stone all
the way. Warburton, the Somerset Herald, shows it as a Roman road in
his map drawn in 1753; later writers, however, do not agree as to its
exact course, and nearly all trace of it has long ago disappeared,
except for a short distance on the steep side of Blackstone Edge, where
its course can be fairly traced from Windy Bank, near Littleborough,
to the division line between Lancashire and Yorkshire. The portion
best preserved is that which ascends the hill in a perfectly straight
line, commencing about 1,600 yards from the summit. The parts which
have been recently cleared from the overgrowth of heath show a road 15
feet wide, exclusive of curbstone, paved with square blocks of stone,
and slightly arched to throw the water into a trench which runs on
either side. In the centre of this road, where it ascends the hill at
a steep gradient (in some parts one in four and a third), is a course
of hard millstone grit stones, which have been carefully tooled and set
together so as to form a continuous line from the top to the bottom.
These blocks are of stone, are 3 feet 8 inches wide, and in them has
been cut (or as some think worn) a trough about 17 inches wide at the
top, and a little over a foot at the bottom, and of a depth of some
4 inches. The bottom of this trough is found to be slightly curved.
The question as to the use and age of these central stones has been
the subject of much discussion. The author of Roman Lancashire gives
them a Roman origin, and thinks the groove was to steady the central
wheel of a three-wheeled vehicle. An easy explanation would be that
the stones were worn hollow by the feet of packhorses, but the reply
to this is, that on a well-paved road up a steep hill, a footway of
smooth stones would not only be useless, but dangerous. Another theory
is that the Romans placed them there to help the drivers of chariots to
"skid" the wheels of their vehicles, whilst some have urged that the
central trough is of much more recent date, and was used in working the
quarries at the top of the hill.[37]

Roman coins and tiles have been found near Littleborough and at
Underwood, near Rochdale; and at Tunshill in Butterworth, in the same
parish, in 1793, was discovered the right arm of a silver statue of
Victory, to which was attached an amulet with an inscription to the
Sixth Legion.[38]

From this rapid survey of the Roman roads, stations, and settlements,
with the evidence of the vestiges which time has preserved for our
inspection, it must at once be seen that through the length and breadth
of Lancashire (except, perhaps, Lonsdale north of the Sands) the
all-conquering Roman was found, and that for nearly four centuries he
held possession. That he did much to educate and civilize the conquered
tribes cannot be doubted, and the Lancashire people at the close of
the Roman occupation must have been a very different race to those
half-naked barbarians who fought so desperately to defend their soil
against the invading legions. Although the ancient Briton was not
quite an untutored savage, still, the influence of the higher cultured
Romans had a very material effect upon his character and surroundings,
and led to the acquirement of many arts and industries, which produced
corresponding results of prosperity and comfort. The culture of the
land was improved, the people were shown how to make roads and build
houses of stone, mines were opened, iron was smelted, and ships were
built.

[Illustration]

[Footnote 14: "Roman Lancashire," W. Thompson Watkin; Liverpool, 1883.]

[Footnote 15: There are also traces of two other supposed Roman roads.]

[Footnote 16: _Lanc. and Ches. Ant. Soc._, iii. 262.]

[Footnote 17: Whitaker's "History of Manchester," 1771.]

[Footnote 18: _Lanc. and Ches. Ant. Soc._, viii. 156.]

[Footnote 19: Whitaker as an authority is good where he is describing
things which he saw himself, but otherwise many of his theories border
upon romance. (Vol. i., p. 49, 1773 edition.)]

[Footnote 20: The late Mr. Thompson Watkin maintains that the
N at end of the first line should be AV.]

[Footnote 21: "Palatine Note-Book," iii. 67.]

[Footnote 22: For full details of these see Watkin's "Roman
Lancashire."]

[Footnote 23: _Archæological Journal_, xxviii., p. 114, and xxx., p.
153.]

[Footnote 24: Watkin's "Roman Lancashire," p. 55.]

[Footnote 25: Through the influence of the Rev. J. Shortt, Vicar of
Hoghton, whose description of the find is here followed.]

[Footnote 26: Watkin's "Roman Lancashire," p. 133.]

[Footnote 27: Mr. Townley. See "Vetusta Monumenta," iv. 5.]

[Footnote 28: Abram's "History of Blackburn," p. 159.]

[Footnote 29: _Lanc. and Ches. Hist. Soc._, xxv. 161.]

[Footnote 30: Whitaker's "History of Whalley," ii. 19.]

[Footnote 31: Baines' "History of Lancashire" (second edition), ii. 24.]

[Footnote 32: _Lanc. and Ches. Hist. Soc._, iii. 3.]

[Footnote 33: _Hist. Soc. of Lanc. and Ches._, iii. 60; also Fishwick's
"History of Kirkham," _Chetham Soc._, xcii. 5.]

[Footnote 34: Fishwick's "History of Poulton-le-Fylde," _Chetham Soc._,
new series, viii. 4; also civ. 2.]

[Footnote 35: Watkin's "Roman Lancashire," p. 203.]

[Footnote 36: "The Palatine Note-book," iv. 201.]

[Footnote 37: Fishwick's "History of Rochdale," p. 7; also _Lanc. and
Ches. Arch. Soc._, p. 73 _et seq._]

[Footnote 38: _Ibid._, p. 12.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER V.

THE SAXON AND THE DANE.


If it is true--as generally supposed--that the Britons, after being
grievously oppressed by the Picts and Scots, called in the German
tribes to assist them, then it naturally followed that, after driving
back the Northern invaders, they themselves took possession of the land
they had been fighting for.

In Lancashire, the desertion of the Romans probably led to a
considerable part of the county being again laid waste, and the
inhabitants scattered.

All authorities agree that for some forty years after the departure
of the Romans the Britons were in continual strife, and that their
independence brought to them only war and misery. The three Teutonic
tribes known to the Romans as the Jutes, the Saxons and the Angles, in
A.D. 449 appear to have called themselves Englishmen, and in
that year they won their first battle against the Britons at Aylesford,
in Kent. After this it took nearly 150 years to acquire the land from
the South to the Forth. The Northern parts were for the most part taken
possession of by the Angles, and divided into kingdoms, the boundaries
of which are not known; some authorities place part of Lancashire in
the kingdom of Deira, which had York for its centre, whilst others
maintain that the kingdom of Strathclyde extended southward to the
banks of the Dee; be this as it may, towards the close of the sixth
century Lancashire formed part of the kingdom of Northumbria, which
was held by the Angles. The inhabitants of these Northern parts, in
their contests with the invaders, had the great advantage of having
possession of the Roman strongholds, and no doubt offered a stubborn
resistance. With the new rulers came new names, new language, and
new customs, and many things that had been established by the former
invaders were swept away.

We now come to the introduction of Christianity into Northumbria, which
arose through the marriage of Æthelbert, King of Kent, at the close of
the sixth century, with Bertha, daughter of King Charibert of Paris,
who, being a convert to the Christian religion, made it a condition
of her marriage that she should be allowed to worship in a small
Roman-built church near Canterbury. Early in the next century Edwin,
King of Northumbria, married Æthelburga, the daughter of Æthelbert,
who, also being a Christian, took with her Paulinus, a follower of St.
Augustine (see Chapter IX.).

It was not so easy, however, to make a convert of her husband,
but after some delay he called together his Council, who declared
themselves in favour of the new religion, and many of them were
baptized at York, A.D. 627. This conversion led to a war
between Edwin and the King of Mercia, who still held to his faith in
Woden and Thor, when the King of Northumbria was killed at the battle
of Hatfield in 633.

Shortly after this, Cædwallon, King of the Welsh, became ruler over
Northumbria, but only for a short time, as he was defeated and slain in
battle by Oswald, who, afterwards succeeding to the thrones of Bernicia
and Deira, again united Northumbria, and re-established the Christian
creed. But Penda was determined to maintain the pagan religion, and,
defeating Oswald at the battle of Maserfeld in 642, again held
Northumbria. Subsequently another division appears to have taken place,
and Lancashire became part of the kingdom of Deira, its ruler being
Oswine, and continued so for some six years, when Oswi, who reigned in
Bernicia (the other portion of Northumbria), caused Oswine to be slain,
and again united the two kingdoms. Alcfrid, the son of Oswi, having
married Cyneburga, daughter of Penda, was about this time appointed
Regent over Deira, and afterwards a further fusion of the two families
was brought about by the marriage of Alcfrid's sister to Peada, son of
Penda.

Oswi in 655 had a pitched battle with Penda at Winwæd in Yorkshire,[39]
where the latter was defeated and slain. To celebrate this victory
Oswi established twelve religious houses, six of which were in Deira
(see Chapter IX.). Oswi died in 670, and his son Egfrid (or Ecgfrith)
succeeded to the throne of Northumbria, which was now become a
Christian and powerful kingdom. His short reign was marked by several
military victories, the chief being his defeat of the King of Mercia,
by which he gained the province of Lindiswards, or Lincolnshire; but
in A.D. 685 Egfrid went across the Forth to repress a rising
of the Picts, and in a great battle at Nectansmere in Yorkshire he
and many of his nobles were slain, and with them fell the supremacy
of ancient Northumbria. From this date to the establishment of the
Heptarchy, Northumbria, though allowed to elect tributary rulers, was,
except for a very short period, under the overlords of first Mercia
and then Wessex. Green, in his "History of the English People,"[40]
says that Northumbria was "the literary centre of the Christian
world in Western Europe. The whole learning of the age seemed to be
summed up in a Northumbrian scholar, Bæda--the Venerable Bede, later
times styled him." The same writer adds: "From the death of Bæda the
history of Northumbria is in fact only a wild story of lawlessness
and bloodshed. King after king [tributary kings] was swept away by
treason and revolt, the country fell into the hands of its turbulent
nobles, the very fields lay waste, and the land was swept by famine
and plague." In A.D. 827 Egbert found no difficulty, after
subduing the rest of England, in coming to peaceful terms with the
Northumbrian nobles, and reducing the whole country from the British
Channel to the Forth into one kingdom. For some time before the close
of the eighth century Northumbria had been subject to frequent attacks
from the Northmen, or Danes, who mostly came from Denmark and Norway,
who have been frequently described as sea-pirates, distinguished for
courage and ferocity and a strong hatred to the Christian religion,
they themselves being worshippers of Woden and the other pagan gods.
Soon after the middle of the tenth century the Danes were no longer
content to make marauding expeditions, but aspired to become owners of
the soil, and in 867, after a great victory near the city of York, they
practically took possession of Northumbria, and a few years later the
whole of England north of the Thames was in their hands. The subsequent
wars between Alfred the Great and the Danes belong more to the general
history of England; it will suffice here to state that in 878 was
concluded the treaty of peace known as "Alfred and Guthrum's Peace,"
whereby the Danish settlers were recognised and the land on the east
and north of Watling Street given up to them, that is, nearly all the
east side of England from the Thames to the Tweed, where they were to
be independent dwellers, with their own laws and institutions.[41]
Thus, almost the whole of Lancashire was left to the Danish invaders;
but not, however, for a long period, as Edward the Elder, the son and
successor of Alfred, having wrested Mercia from the Danes, marched
against Northumbria, where a contest was avoided by the submission of
the inhabitants, and, according to the Saxon Chronicle,[42] having
taken possession of Manchester, which he found almost in ruins, he
refortified and garrisoned it in the year 923. Athelstan, the son of
Edward the Elder, had frequent disturbances from the Northern Danes,
who in 937, having united the Scots and the Welsh, met the King's
forces at Bruanburgh (supposed to be in Northumberland), where they
were defeated; only, however, for a time, as they were not finally
suppressed until the year 954, when Northumbria was placed under a
governor with the title of Earl.

The beginning of the next century found the country in a very unsettled
state in consequence of fresh invasions by the King of Denmark and
Norway, and on the death of Ethelred, in April, 1016, London proclaimed
Edmund King, whilst a council at Southampton accepted Canute the Dane;
ultimately the English nobles compelled a division, and Northumbria,
Mercia, and East Anglia fell to Canute, who a month later, on the death
of Edmund, became King of England. Canute (or Cnut) during his reign
did much to remove the hatred felt towards the Danes, but the tyranny
and oppression exercised by his two sons, who succeeded him,[43]
revived the old feelings, and on the death of Harthacnut in 1043, after
five-and-twenty years of Danish rule, the people elected one of the old
English stock as the King, and Edward the Confessor ascended the throne.

During these six centuries Lancashire had many rulers, and must have
been the scene of many a pitched battle. Its people were never long at
peace, but rebellions, invasions, and wars of every kind fast followed
each other. At one time they were governed by kings of Northumbria,
at another by kings of England; at one time they were ruled by only
tributary kings, or even only by tributary earls; sometimes the
Christian religion was upheld, and sometimes they were referred back
to Woden and Thor and Oden. Nevertheless, churches were built (see
Chapter IX.), religious houses endowed, and castles erected. Many of
its parishes were now formed, and its hundreds and tithings were meted
out. Many of the parish and township names in Lancashire are suggestive
of Saxon or Danish origin. Thus, Winwick, Elswick, Fishwick, Chadwick,
Poulton, Walton, Sephton, Middleton, Eccleston, Broughton, Preston,
Kirkham, Penwortham, Bispham, Cockerham, Oldham, Sowerby, Westby,
Ribby, Formby, and a host of others, all point to their having once
been held by the early settlers, as do also the terminative "rods"
and "shaws" so common in the south of the county. In the old maps
of the county a tract of land on the west side of the Wyre, between
Shard and Fleetwood, is called Bergerode, which is a combination of
the Anglo-Saxon words "Beor grade"--a shallow harbour. No doubt many
of these places were held by Saxon Thanes, of which there were three
classes; the highest of these held their lands and manors of the King,
and probably had some kind of a castle or fortification erected on
the manors, as well as in many cases a church, though probably only
built of wood. To many places in the county have been assigned Saxon
castles; Baines, in his "History of Lancashire,"[44] has enumerated no
less than twelve of these south of the Ribble, but for only two of them
is there any absolute authority for the assumption, viz., Penwortham
and Rochdale. At Penwortham William the Conqueror found a castle, and
around it were six burgesses, three radmen (a class of freemen who
served on horseback), only eight villeins (who were literally servants
of the lords of the soil), and four neat-herds, or cattle-keepers; and
amongst other possessions its owner had a moiety of the river-fishing,
a wood, and aeries of hawks. The castle was occupied in the time of
Henry III., when Randle de Blundeville, the Earl of Chester and Baron
of Lancaster, held his court within its walls.[45] All trace of it has
now disappeared, but Castle Hill is its traditional site.

In the time of Edward the Confessor (A.D. 1041-1066) most of
the land in Rochdale was held of the King by Gamel the Thane; part of
this land was free from all duties except danegeld.[46] There can be
little doubt but that a Saxon Thane of this order had both his castle
and its accompanying church. As to the existence of the former, it
is placed beyond dispute by the name Castleton, which occurs in many
very early deeds, and by the fact that in a charter, without date (but
early in the thirteenth century), reference is made to "the land lying
between" a field "and the ditch of the castle" (_fossatum castelli_),
and the right of way is reserved for "ingoing and exit to the place
of the castle" (_locus castelli_), and the right of footway to lands
"in Castleton in the north part of Smythecumbesrode and an _assartum_
called Sethe." The boundaries detailed in the charter show that this
castle, probably then in ruins, stood on the elevated ground still
known as Castle Hill.[47]

There is a local tradition that at Bury, on the site called Castle
Croft, once stood a Saxon castle; but there is no evidence to support
this, and from the character of a portion of the foundations
discovered in 1865, it seems more probable that the building which gave
its name to the place was of much more recent date.

Winwick, near Warrington, has also its traditional Saxon castle,
and also lays claim to having within its parish the site of the
battle-field where Oswald, King of Northumbria, fell on August 5,
A.D. 642. Bede[48] records that the Christian King was slain
in a great battle against the pagan ruler over the Mercians at a place
called Maserfield, and adds that such was his faith in God that ever
since his death infirm men and cattle are healed by visiting the spot
where he was killed; some, taking the dust from the soil and putting it
in water, were able to heal their sick friends; by this means the earth
had been by degrees carried away, so that a hole remained as deep as
the height of a man.

This Maserfield, or Maserfeld, was by Camden and others supposed to
be near Oswestry, in Shropshire, but there are many good reasons for
assuming that the engagement took place in Makerfield, near Winwick;
the very ancient parish church is dedicated to St. Oswald, and half a
mile to the north of it is St. Oswald's Well, which is at the present
day in a deep ditch, and until within quite recent times was in the
charge of a paid custodian, whose duty it was to keep the water from
contamination;[49] an ancient inscription on the wall of the south side
of the church also appears to confirm the opinion.

In Aldingham Moat Hill (in Furness) we have an example of the moated
mound or "burh" of a Saxon lord, which probably dates from the tenth
century.[50] The earthwork consists of three divisions. The rectangular
camp, is surrounded by a ditch nearly 40 feet wide, and 4 or 5 feet
deep, the space thus enclosed being about 100 feet square. About 100
yards south of this there is a straight piece of ditch which runs
almost at right angles to the sea-cliff for some 250 feet. South again
of this ditch, but separated from it by about 40 yards, stands the
moated "burh" itself, on the very edge of the cliff; the ditch and part
of the mound have been washed away by the sea. The "burh" is about
30 feet high, and 96 feet above the sea-level. The ditch is about 10
feet deep, and between 15 and 20 feet broad at the bottom. This was
the fortified home of the Anglo-Saxon clan settled in this place. The
rectangular enclosure may have been the meeting-place of the folk-moot
of the settlement. Pennington Castle Hill is a somewhat similar mound,
but some of the characteristics of a "burh" are wanting; nevertheless,
it was doubtless the fortified _ton_ of the Pennings. Near to it is a
place called Ellabarrow, which takes its name from a large tumulus 400
feet in circumference, known as Coninger or Coninsher.

The remains which from time to time have been discovered, and which can
with certainty be classed as Danish or Anglo-Saxon, are not nearly so
numerous as one would have expected. Saxon stone crosses (or portions
of them) have been found at Bolton, Whalley, Burnley, Halton, Heysham,
Lancaster, and Winwick, and the ornamentation of several of them is
beautiful and interesting. The so called "hog-backed" stone in Heysham
churchyard has given rise to much controversy, and is undoubtedly of
very great antiquity.[51] Saxon tumuli have been opened at Langho,
Winwick, and some few other places, and coins belonging to this period
have occasionally been exhumed; notably at Cuerdale, where nearly 2,000
coins were found which were believed to have been struck by one of the
Danish rulers of Northumbria, and large numbers of very similar coins
have been dug up at Harkirke, in the parish of Sefton. Some of these
coins were of King Alfred's time, others were of Guthred, or Gulfrith
(son of Ivan), who was King of Northumbria A.D. 883 to 894,
who was supposed to have on embracing Christianity taken the name of
_Cnvt_, which is engraved on the coins.[52]

It is believed that at Billington, near Whalley, in A.D. 798,
King Ethelred met the conspirator Wada, and defeated him in a battle in
which on both sides great numbers were slain.[53] Near to this place
is a large tumulus known as the "Lowe," which has never been properly
explored; but at Brockhole Eses (which is quite near to Billington) a
tumulus was found to contain human bones and iron spear-heads.

At Claughton, in the parish of Garstang, a tumulus of this period was
opened in 1822, and found to contain, in addition to charred human
bones, large convex brooches of white metal, beads of coloured paste,
iron and stone axes, spear-heads and a sword;[54] remains very similar
in character to these were also dug up at Crossmoor, in Inskip, in
1889.[55]

In the time which immediately preceded the coming of the Norman
Conqueror, Lancashire must have been very sparsely populated; in every
part of it there were vast forests, and great stretches of moss and
fern; agriculture was everywhere neglected; towns, in the modern sense,
there were none; but here and there, clustering as if for protection
round some Saxon Thane's castle or fortified dwelling-place, were
groups of wooden houses and rude huts, and scattered sparsely over
the county were the clearings (_assarts_ or _rods_) and the _tons_
of the primitive settlers, with, in some districts, a wooden building
doing duty as a church. Except where the old Roman roads were still
in use, the means of passage from one place to another was difficult
and dangerous; the people were of many tribes and nations--remnants
of ancient British families, Angles, Saxons, Danes, Scandinavians,
and even Normans contributed to the general stock--and as there were
many tribes, so were there various religions, although Christianity
had now become the general accepted faith. But for all this, much had
been accomplished by time and experience to prepare the mind of the
people to accept the tenet that union is strength, and that only by an
undivided kingdom could come peace, wealth, and prosperity.

[Illustration]

[Footnote 39: Authorities differ as to this locality: one writer places
it on the Firth of Forth, another in Worcestershire.]

[Footnote 40: Pp. 36, 39.]

[Footnote 41: Sanderson's "History of England," p. 44.]

[Footnote 42: A.D. 923.]

[Footnote 43: After the death of Cnut, in 1035, the kingdom was again
divided, and Mercia and Northumbria fell to Harold. Harthacnut was (in
1039), however, King of all England.]

[Footnote 44: Vol. i., p. 12, 2nd edit.]

[Footnote 45: Coucher Book, Duchy Office, No. 78.]

[Footnote 46: Originally a tax paid to the Danes, but afterwards
appropriated to the King. It was always a very unpopular tax.]

[Footnote 47: Plan of this in Fishwick's "History of Rochdale," p. 66.]

[Footnote 48: "Eccles. Hist.," lib. iii., cap. 8.]

[Footnote 49: Baines' "Hist. of Lanc.," ii. 205, 2nd edit.]

[Footnote 50: The following account of it is compiled from an article
in _Archæologia_, vol. liii., part iii., by H. Swainson Cowper, Esq.,
F.S.A.]

[Footnote 51: See _Lanc. and Ches. Arch. Soc._, v. 1 _et seq._]

[Footnote 52: See _Lanc. and Ches. Arch. Soc._, v. 227.]

[Footnote 53: Saxon Chronicle and the Chronicle of Simon of Durham.]

[Footnote 54: _Arch. Journal_, vi. 74; and "History of Garstang,"
_Chetham Soc._, civ. 5.]

[Footnote 55: Fishwick's "History of St. Michael's-on-Wyre," _Chetham
Soc._, xxv. (new series), p. 2.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER VI.

THE NORMANS AND THE PLANTAGENETS (A.D. 1066-1485).


The stirring events which led up to the battle of Hastings, which took
place on October 14, 1066, and the subsequent complete conquest of
England by William of Normandy, did not perhaps immediately affect the
Northern part of the kingdom so much as they did those counties lying
nearer the scene of action.

We have now arrived at a period when we have more definite and reliable
evidence as to the actual position of Lancashire.

At the end of the year 1084 the King summoned his Great Council to meet
at Gloucester, with the object of devising means whereby a full account
could be obtained as to the state of the country, especially as to the
land--how much was cultivated, and by whom and on what authority it was
held. This is not the place more fully to describe the _modus operandi_
of preparing the Domesday Book, but it may be mentioned that by some
singular arrangement Lancashire as a county is not named, the southern
portion being included in Cheshire, the hundred of Amounderness in
Yorkshire, and the two northern hundreds in Westmorland, Cumberland,
and Yorkshire. The value of the information contained in the return
is threefold, as it records the state of the country in Edward the
Confessor's time, the way each manor, etc., was dealt with by William
on his taking possession, and the rateable value on the taking of the
Survey.

Unfortunately, we do not get from it anything like a census of the
whole country, but it will be useful for comparison to note that
Yorkshire had about 10,000 inhabitants, London some 30,000, and that of
the other counties Lincoln and Norfolk had the largest population. The
Survey was taken in A.D. 1085.

In West Derby Hundred the following places are named[56] as places
where there was land under such cultivation or occupation as to render
it rateable: Roby, Knowsley, Kirkby, Maghull, Aughton, Huyton, Torbock,
Toxteth, Sefton, Kirkdale, Walton-on-the-Hill, Litherland, Ince
Blundell, Thornton, Meols, Little Woolton, Smithdown (now Liverpool),
Allerton, Speke, Childwall,[57] Windle, Much Woolton, Wavertree,
Bootle, Formby, Ainsley, Down Hollard, Dalton, Skelmersdale, Raven's
Meols, Orrell, Lathom, Hurleston (in Scarisbrick), Melling, Lydiate,
Altcar,[58] Barton, Halsall. At this time Lancashire between the Ribble
and the Mersey was divided into six hundreds, viz., West Derby, Newton,
Walintone (_i.e._, Warrington), Blackburn, Salford, and Leyland. The
places just named, with the addition of Newton and Warrington, are all
that were recognised in the Great Survey, and many of these were manors
held in the time of Edward by Thanes whose names are not given; others
were doubtless in the hands of Saxons, Danes or Anglo-Saxons, who had
stuck to their holdings through all changes. Some of the surnames at
once suggest this; for example, we find Godiva, the widow of Leofric,
Earl of Mercia, returned as having three carucates of land in Melling.
Amongst the other tenants _in capite_ are Dot, Uetred, Chetel, Wibert,
etc. Edward the Confessor had in West Derby one manor and six berewicks
(sub-manors), a forest 3 miles long and 1½ miles wide,[59] and an aerie
of hawks. The whole of the land between the Ribble and the Mersey had
been given to Roger de Poictou as a reward for his services to the
Conqueror, but was forfeited to the Crown shortly before this date.
All the manors were rateable to the danegeld, but fifteen of them paid
nothing to the royal exchequer except that geld. The customary tribute
for the manors was two hora or ores of pennies for each carucate of
land;[60] the owners of the manors had also to assist in making and
keeping up the King's houses, fisheries, hays, and stations in the
forest; they were also to find mowers to reap the King's corn, to
attend the hundred court, and do other small services, under certain
fixed penalties for omission.

Roger de Poictou had granted land here to eight men, whose holding was
twenty-four carucates, and they had forty-six villeins, one radman,
and sixty-two _bordarii_, two serfs, and three maids. Their wood was
4½ miles long. The _bordarii_ at this time formed about thirty per
cent. of the entire population; their exact status has never been very
clearly defined. They were probably identical with the _cotarii_,
and were a class somewhat above the _villeins_ and _servi_, and were
allowed a _bord_ or cottage, and rendered occasional service to the
demesne lord.

In Newton fifteen berewicks were held by as many men, who were
described as _drenchs_ or _drings_, who were a kind of military
vassals, holding allotments as minor or sub-manors. The service they
gave was known as _drengage_. The manor had a church (Wigan), and St.
Oswald's (Winwick) had two carucates of land. Some of the manors had
curious exemptions from penalties; for example, Orrel, Halsall, and
Tarleton were not liable to forfeiture through their owners committing
murder or rape. The Warrington manor had been held by King Edward, who
had allotted land to thirty-four _drenchs_. St. Elfin (Warrington) was
free from custom except geld. In the whole of this division of the
county we have no towns, cities, or castles, and five churches are
mentioned in Childwall, Walton-on-the-Hill, Winwick (Newton), Wigan,
and St. Elfin (Warrington).

Concerning the hundred of Blackburn, the information given in the
Domesday Book is comparatively meagre. This portion of Roger de
Poictou's vast possession had, before he fell into royal disfavour,
been given by him to Roger de Busli and Albert Greslet. Edward
the Confessor held Blackburn, where there were two hides and two
carucates[61] of land; there was a wood 1½ miles long, and the usual
aerie of hawks. To this "hundred or manor" were attached twenty-eight
freemen, who held land for twenty-eight manors, and there was a
forest 9 miles long. In the same hundred King Edward held Huncote and
Walton-le-Dale. The church of Blackburn and St. Mary's, Whalley, also
held land. The whole manor with the hundred yielded the King a farm
rent of £32 2s. Leyland Hundred Edward the Confessor found to consist
of Leyland Manor, which contained a hide and two carucates of land, and
a wood 3 miles long, 1½ miles broad, with the customary aerie of hawks;
to it belonged twelve other manors, with woods 9 miles long and over 4
miles wide. The men of this manor were not bound to work at the King's
manor-house, or to mow for him in August. They only made hay in the
wood.[62] The whole manor paid to the King a farm rent of £19 18s. 2d.
The tenants named are Hirard, Robert, Radulph, Roger, and Walter, and
there were four radmen, a priest, fourteen villeins, six _bordarii_,
and two neat-herds. Part of the hundred was waste. Edward also had in
this hundred Penwortham (_Peneverdant_), where for two carucates of
land 10d. was paid, and it is briefly recorded that there was a castle
there (see p. 47).

In Salford Hundred the manor of Salford belonged to Edward, and in his
time it consisted of three hides and twelve carucates of waste land, a
forest over 4 miles long and the same breadth; the Confessor also owned
at Radcliffe a manor containing one hide of land. To Salford Hundred
belonged twenty-one berewicks, which were held as manors by as many
Thanes, whose land was put down as eleven and a half hides and ten and
a half carucates; the woods were said to be over 12 miles in length.
The only thane named is Gamel, who held Rochdale (see p. 47). Two
churches are mentioned, St. Mary's and St. Michael's, both as holding
land in Mamecestre, this being the only mention of this great city of
the North. The whole of the hundred paid £37 4s.

Certain land of this hundred had been given by Roger de Poictou to the
following knights: Nigel, Warin, another Warin, Goisfrid and Gamel.[63]
Living on these lands were three thanes, thirty villeins, nine
_bordarii_, one priest, and ten serfs.

In the six hundreds of Derby, Newton, Warrington, Blackburn, Salford,
and Leyland there were 180 manors, in which were 79 hides rateable to
the danegeld. In King Edward's time the whole was worth £145 2s. 2d. At
the taking of the Survey it was held by William the Conqueror, and he
appears to have granted certain lands in fee to nine knights.

Amounderness had also been part of the estate of Roger de Poictou,
and had been held by Earl Tosti, who at Preston had six carucates of
land rateable to the geld, along with which he had the following vills
in the hundred: Ashton, Lea, Salwick, Clifton, Newton-with-Seales,
Freckleton, Ribby-with-Wray, Kirkham, Treales, Westby, Little
Plumpton, Weeton, Preise, Warton, Lytham, Marton (in Poulton),
Layton-with-Warbrick, Staining, Carleton, Bispham, Rossall, Brining,
Thornton, Poulton in the Fylde, Singleton, Greenhalgh, Eccleston,
Eccleston (Great and Little), Elswick, Inskip, Sowerby, Nateby, St.
Michael's-le-Wyre (_Michelscherche_), Catterall, Claughton, Newsham,
Great Plumpton, Broughton, Whittingham, Barton (in Preston), Goosnargh,
Haighton, Wheatley, Chipping, Alston, Fishwick, Grimsargh, Ribchester,
Billsborough, Swainsett, Forton, Chrimbles, Garstang, Rawcliffe (Upper,
Middle, and Out), Hambleton, Stalmine, Preesall, Mythorp or Mythop.

There were, then, in this hundred sixty-two vills or manors, in sixteen
of which the Survey reports there were "but few inhabitants, but how
many there are is unknown," and the rest were waste. There were three
churches then in existence; the names of these are not given, but they
undoubtedly were Preston, St. Michael's, and Kirkham. Other churches
there probably had been, but they had shared in the general ruin (see
Chapter V.).

The names of places thus supplied give some clue to the early history
of the district. Out of sixty-two vills, over one-third are "tons";
there are also found the Anglo-Saxon and the Danish equivalent in the
"bys" and "hams." But the most significant fact recorded by the Survey
is that out of sixty-two settlements all except sixteen were deserted
and the land lying waste; this must be accounted for by the ravages of
constant intestine wars and revolutions, which were accentuated by the
downfall of Roger de Poictou.

The Lancashire part of Lonsdale is not in the Survey found alone,
but is mixed up with portions of Westmorland, Cumberland, and
Yorkshire; the same proprietors appear as in Amounderness, Roger de
Poictou and the Earl Tosti. The places named are Halton, Aldcliff,
Thornham, Millham, Lancaster, Church Lancaster (_Chercaloncastre_),
Hutton, Newton, Overton, Middleton, Heaton, Heysham, Oxcliffe,
Poulton-le-Sands, Torrisholme, Skerton, Bare, Slyne, Bolton, Kellet,
Stapleton-Terne, Newsome, Carnforth--all these vills belonged to
Halton; Whittington, Newton, Arkholme, Gressingham, Cantsfield,
Ireby, Barrow Leek--these and several others not in Lancashire
belonged to Whittington; Warton, Claughton, Wennington, Tatham,
Farleton, and Tunstall,[64] Killerwick, Huncoat, Sowerby, Heaton,
Dalton, Swarth, Newton, Walton, Leece, Santon, Roose, Hert, Glaston,
Stainton, Cliverton, Orgreave,[65] Marton (or Martin), Pennington,
Kirkby-Ireleth, Burrow, Bardsey, Willingham, Walney, Aldingham (in
Furness), Ulverston, Ashton, and Urswick; Melling, Hornby, and
Wennington, Cockerham, Ellet, Scotforth, Yealand-Conyers, and Berwick.

It would be interesting to know how much land in the entire county was
at this time under some kind of cultivation, but owing to uncertainty
as to the exact area included by several of the measurements given in
the Survey, and the absence of details, any calculation based upon
them would at best be uncertain, and might be misleading. With some
of the parishes, however, it is possible to come at something more
reliable; in the parish of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, Domesday gives twenty
carucates of land as rateable, the rest being waste; estimating a
carucate[66] at 100 acres, we have 2,000 acres accounted for out of an
area of 18,888 acres; upon the same basis, Kirkham, with 31,000 acres,
had a little over 5,000 acres under culture; whilst Garstang, out of
28,881, has only 1,400 acres.[67]

The amount of land usually held with these vills varied from two or
three hides to half a carucate, the general figure being one or two
carucates, so that it is quite clear that all over the county the great
bulk of the land was waste.

One of the immediate effects of the completion of the Conquest was
the introduction into England of Norman feudalism. By this system the
whole country (except what was given to the Church) was handed over to
tenants in chief or great vassals, who held their lands in fee and in
perpetuity direct from the Crown, in return rendering what was known
as knight's service, every estate of £20 a year being considered a
knight's fee, and liable to furnish for the King one mounted soldier;
the vassals or under-tenants of these barons, or _tenants in capite_,
were bound by an oath of allegiance not only to the King, but also to
the owner of the fee. These sub-tenants would in many cases consist
of such of the Saxon settlers as had not been expelled by the Norman
ruler; doubtless many of the great Saxon Thanes on losing their land
were expelled from or of their own will left the country. A detailed
account of the various changes in the ownership of the soil would
here be out of place, but it should be noticed that all the land
in private holdings shortly after the Conquest passed into fresh
hands--that is, as far as regards the tenure in fee direct from the
Crown. After the final defection and consequent banishment of Roger de
Poictou in 2 Henry I. (1101-2), West Derby Hundred went to the King,
and remained in royal hands until Stephen granted it to Henry, Duke
of Normandy; Leyland passed to King John (1199-1200); Blackburn had
been bestowed by the Conqueror on Ilbert de Lacy, who came over with
him from Normandy; Salford passed through several hands to the Earl of
Chester; Amounderness went to the Crown, and was by Henry I. or Stephen
presented to Theobald Walter, son of Herveus, another Norman chief,
but in 17 John (1215-16) it again fell to the Crown, and was granted
to Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster; and in Lonsdale we find that
in 1126 Stephen, Earl of Bologne (before he became King), made over a
large portion of the northern part to the monks of Furness, but the
history of the early grantees of this district is not very clear. From
these few chief lords were granted out various manors subject to rent,
suit, and service, some portions in each district being retained in the
King's possession.

In the case of the transfer of the honour of Lancaster to Edmund
Crouchback, it appears that the King had previously granted the custody
of the county of Lancaster to Roger de Lancaster, to whom, therefore,
letters patent were addressed, promising to indemnify him.[68]

The close of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth century
witnessed a considerable increase in the population of the county,
and the consequent advance in the importance of its now growing towns.
Lancaster in 1199 had become a borough, having granted to it the same
liberties as the burgesses of Northampton. Preston, a little before
this, had been by royal charter created a free borough, in which the
burgesses were empowered to have a free guild merchant, and exemption
from tolls, together with many other privileges that King John
confirmed in 1199, and granting the additional right to hold a fair of
eight days' duration. Cartmel is reputed to have had its market before
the time of Richard I. (A.D. 1189-1199). King John in 1205
granted to Roger de Lacy the right to hold a fair at Clitheroe,[69]
and also, in 1207, gave to the burgesses in the town of Liverpool all
the liberties and customs usually enjoyed by free boroughs on the
sea-coast. Henry III. granted further charters to both Preston and
Liverpool in 1227.

In or about the year 1230, Randle de Blundeville, Earl of Chester and
Lincoln, granted that the town of Salford should be a free borough, and
that the burgesses, amongst other privileges, should each have an acre
of land to his burgage, the rent for which was to be 3d. at Christmas,
and a like sum at Mid-Lent, the Feast of St. John Baptist and the Feast
of St. Michael. The barony of Manchester was at this time in the hands
of the Greslet family, one of whom, in 1301, gave a somewhat similar
grant to Manchester, save that the clause providing the acre of land
was omitted. From these two charters several items may be extracted,
as showing the position of burgesses in those days, and their relation
to the lord of the barony or manor. At Salford, no burgess was to bake
bread for sale except at the oven provided by the lord, and a certain
proportion of his corn was to be ground at the manorial mill. The
burgesses were to have common free pasture in wood or plain, in all
pasture belonging to the town of Salford, and not be liable to pay
pannage;[70] they were also allowed to cut and use timber for building
and burning.

A burgess dying was at liberty to leave his burgage and chattels to
whomsoever he pleased, reserving to the lord the customary fee of 4d.
On the death of a burgess, his heir was to find the lord a sword, or a
bow, or a spear.

The burgesses of Manchester were to pay 12d. a year in lieu of all
service. In both charters power is given to the burgesses to elect a
reeve from amongst themselves. The social difference between the free
burgess and the _villein_ is pointedly referred to in a clause which
provides that "if any villein shall make claim of anything belonging to
a burgess, he ought not to make answer to him unless he shall have the
suit from burgesses or other lawful [or law worthy?] men."

In Lonsdale, the monks of Furness obtained a charter dated July 20,
1246, authorizing the holding of an annual fair at Dalton, where a
market had previously been established. Edmund de Lacy, in 25 Henry
III. (A.D. 1240-41), obtained a royal charter for a market
and fair at Rochdale, and a little later (in 1246) Wigan became a
free borough, with right to hold a guild. Warrington,[71] Ormskirk,
Bolton-le-Moors, and Burnley, had each its established market before
the close of the century; whilst on the north of the Ribble we find
that Kirkham, which had as early as 54 Henry III. (1269-70) obtained
a royal charter for both a fair and a market, was in 1296 made into a
free borough with a free guild, the burgesses having the right to elect
bailiffs, who were to be presented and sworn: this right subsequently
fell into disuse. At Garstang, very early in the next century, the
abbots of Cockersand were authorized to hold both a market and fair.
Possibly some few other towns may have received similar privileges,
and the record thereof been lost; but we have clear evidence that
before the end of the reign of Edward I. (A.D. 1307) there
were not far short of a score of Lancashire market towns, each of
which doubtless formed the centre of a not inconsiderable number of
inhabitants, some of whom were free men, whilst others were little
better than villeins or serfs, their condition varying somewhat in the
different manorial holdings into which the district was divided.

Churches and monasteries had sprung up (see Chap. IX.), and a few
castles probably kept watch over the insecure places. The houses,
such as they were, timber being plentiful, were built of wood; the
occupation of the people was chiefly agricultural, and in the forests
were fed large herds of swine, the flesh of which formed a large
portion of the food of the inhabitants; but in each of the towns there
were small traders and artisans, among whom, in many cases, were formed
trade or craft guilds. The power of the great barons appears now to
have become somewhat less, and the land through various processes began
to be more divided, and we find in the owners of the newly acquired
tenures the ancestors of the gentry and yeomen of a later date.

The forests of Lancashire at this date were of immense extent; they may
be enumerated as these: Lonsdale, Wyresdale, Quernmore, Amounderness,
Bleasdale, Fullwood, Blackburnshire, Pendle, Trawden, Accrington, and
Rossendale. The law respecting forests dates back to Saxon times;
Canute, whilst he was King, issued a Charter and Constitution of
Forests. By this charter verderers were to be appointed in every
province in the kingdom, and under these were other officers known as
regarders and foresters.

If any freeman offered violence to one of the verderers he lost his
freedom and all that he was possessed of, whilst for the same offence a
villein had his right hand cut off, and for a second offence either a
freeman or a villein was put to death. For chasing or killing any beast
of the forest the penalties were at best very severe: the freeman for a
first offence got off with a fine, but a bondsman was to lose his skin.
Freemen were allowed to keep greyhounds, but unless they were kept at
least ten miles from a royal forest their knees were to be cut.

King John, whilst Earl of Morton, held the prerogatives of the
Lancashire forests, and he granted a charter (which, when he became
King, he confirmed) to the knights and freeholders, whereby they were
permitted to hunt and take foxes, hares and rabbits, and all kind of
wild beasts except the stag, hind and roebuck, and wild hogs in all
parts of his forests, beyond the demesne boundaries.

In the succeeding reign, however, the freemen were again troubled by
the arbitrary and harsh treatment of the royal foresters, and in vain
appealed to the King for relief. Edward I. to some extent relaxed the
rigour of the laws, but still assizes of forests were regularly held at
Lancaster, and presentments made for killing and taking deer, and the
like offences, but the penalties were not nearly so severe as formerly.

Many cases might be quoted. At the forest assize at Lancaster on
the Monday after Easter in 1286, Adam de Carlton, Roger the son of
Roger of Midde Routhelyne, and Richard his brother, were charged with
having killed three stags in the moss of Pelyn (Pilling in Garstang),
which was part of the royal forest of Wyresdale.[72] About the same
date, Nicholas de Werdhyll having slain a fat buck in the forest of
Rochdale,[73] the keepers of the Earl of Lincoln's forest came by
night, seized him, and dragged him to Clitheroe Castle, where he was
imprisoned until he paid a fine of four marks.[74]

Sometimes it was not the individual who was the offender, but the
whole of the inhabitants. Thus, in 34 Edward III. (1360-61) a sum of
520 marks was levied upon the men and freeholders within the forest
of Quernmore and the natives of Lonsdale, being their portion of a
fine of £1,000 incurred for their trespass against the assize of the
forest.[75] No doubt this was a convenient way of raising money.

The number of writs of pardon for trespasses against the forest laws,
which are still preserved amongst the duchy records belonging to the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, suggest that the offender had to
purchase his pardon. The religious men, as they were called, and the
clergy often had granted to them the right to hunt in the forests, as
well as other privileges. As an example of the latter may be named the
grant made in 1271 by Edmund Crouchback to the Prior and monks of St.
Mary's of Lancaster, to the effect that they might for ever take from
the forests in Lancaster,[76] except in Wyresdale, two cartloads of
dead wood for their fuel every day in the year, and have free ingress
and egress into the forest with one cart for two horses, or with two
carts for four horses, to seek for and carry such wood away. Gradually,
as the population increased, and as the personal interest of the Dukes
of Lancaster in the forests themselves became less, many of these old
forest laws fell gradually into disuse; but as late as 1697 a royal
warrant was issued to the foresters and other officers of the forests,
parks, and chases of Lancashire, calling upon them to give annually an
account of all the King's deer within the same, and also to report how
many were slain, by whom, and by whose authority.

The regulations as to fishing in the rivers of the county were not so
comprehensive as the forest laws; but the value of various fisheries
was fully recognised, and they became a source of revenue. In 1359 Adam
de Skyllicorne had a six years' lease of the fishing in the Ribble
at Penwortham, with the demesne lands, for which he paid six marks a
year, and in the succeeding year justices were assigned to inquire
into the stoppages of the passages in the same river, by which the
Duke's fishery of Penwortham was destroyed and ships impeded on their
way to the port of Preston. Fishing in the sea as a trade also met
with encouragement, for in A.D. 1382 a precept was issued to
the Sheriff to publish the King's mandate, prohibiting any person in
the duchy who held lands on the coast from preventing fishermen from
setting their nets in the sea and catching fish for their livelihood;
and in 13 Richard II. (1389-90) an Act was passed appointing a close
time for salmon in the Lune, Wyre, Mersey and Ribble.

Notwithstanding that the fishing rights on both sides the Ribble had
been leased or sold with the demesne lands, nearly 200 years later the
King still claimed all manner of wrecks and fish royal which were cast
upon the shore. On this point a suit in the duchy court appeared in
1536, in which the King's bailiff charged one Christopher Bone with
having taken away sturgeon and porpoises which had been washed ashore
at Warton, in the parish of Kirkham, whereas they of right belonged to
his Majesty.[77] It may be noted that at this time the porpoise was
considered "a dainty dish to set before the King."

The Normans did not, as has been frequently stated, introduce that
dreadful disease, leprosy, into England, as there were hospitals set
apart for leprosy at Ripon, Exeter, and Colchester some time before
their advent. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries leprosy was
very prevalent in the northern parts of Lancashire; and to meet the
requirements a hospital was founded at Preston in the time of Henry
III. How the lepers who were not in the hospitals were dealt with
we have no evidence to show, but that they were harshly, not to say
cruelly, treated, and were in a measure outcasts, may be safely assumed.

Shortly before April 10, A.D. 1220, Henry III. addressed a
letter to Hubert de Burgh, instructing him to order the Sheriff and
forester of Lancaster to desist from annoying the lepers there;[78]
and this not proving efficient, a royal writ was issued to the Sheriff
(dated April 10) directing that officer to see that they were no longer
molested by Roger Garnet and others, and that henceforth they were
to have their beasts and herds in the forest without exaction of ox
or cow, and also to be allowed to take wood for fuel and timber for
building.

From this it appears clear that these lepers lived apart from the rest
of the community, in houses or huts erected by themselves, and were
not allowed to enter even a church; hence the use of what are known as
leper windows, one of which still remains in the north chancel wall of
Garstang Church. Leprosy continued with great severity for upwards of
a couple of centuries, but towards the time of Henry VIII. it appears
to have gradually decreased, and in the days of his immediate successor
had almost died out.

The various Crusades of the twelfth century found many followers from
Lancashire, and even when the Christians were fast losing their Asiatic
possession it was thought worth while to appeal to this county for
help, as we find, in June, 1291, the Archbishop of York instructing the
Friars there to send three Friars to preach on behalf of the Crusades;
one was to address the people at or near Lancaster, another at some
place convenient for the Lonsdale inhabitants, and a third at Preston,
in such a locality as it was believed the greatest congregation could
be got together.[79]

The history of the wars between England and Scotland is a page of
the general history, but it will be necessary here to state that in
1290 there were thirteen claimants to the Scottish crown, and this
led to the beginning of the "Border warfare" between the people on
the two sides of the Solway Firth, the Cheviots and the Tweed. Edward
I., taking advantage of the position, put in a claim to the Scottish
throne, and afterwards took possession as suzerain of the disputed
feudal holding.

In 1292 Baliol was appointed King of Scotland with the consent of
Edward I., to whom, however, homage had to be done, and out of this
right of appeal, thus claimed by the King of England, arose that long
series of wars between the two kingdoms which began in the early part
of the year 1296, when Edward crossed the Tweed with an army of 12,000
men.

These wars were a great tax upon Lancashire, as, besides being subject
to constant invasions, and bearing its share of the subsidies, from
it were drawn from time to time large numbers of its bravest and best
men. In 1297 Lancashire raised 3,000 men, and at the battle of Falkirk,
in the vanguard, led by Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, there were
1,000 soldiers from this county. Another 1,000 foot soldiers were
raised in 1306, and this constant drain continued for many years.
After the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the victorious Bruce besieged
Carlisle, but after a long struggle he was obliged to retire, the
commander of the castle, Sir Andrew de Harcla, as a recognition of his
gallant services, receiving from the King the custody of Cumberland,
Westmorland and Lancashire.[80] Within a very few years, on a charge
of treason, he was hung, drawn and quartered at Carlisle, one of the
pleas raised against him being that he had allowed Bruce to pass into
Cumberland and Lancashire, where his army had plundered and marauded in
every direction; this was in July, 1322.

In the second half of this century we find several levies made upon
Lancashire for soldiers to march against the Scots, but after this
the county was not subjected to the frequent invasions with which its
inhabitants had been too long familiar. The most serious of these
invasions was the one in July, 1322, and of the effects of this and
other raids we have an authentic record in the _Nonarum Inquisitiones_,
taken (for North Lancashire) in 15 Edward III. (A.D. 1341).
The commission appointed to levy this tax on the corn, wool, lambs, and
other tithable commodities and glebe lands, were specially instructed
to ascertain the value in 1292 (Pope Nicholas' Taxation), and the
then value, and where there was a material difference between the
two, they were to ascertain the reason of such increase or decrease.
They reported that at Lancaster much of the land was now sterile and
uncultivated through the invasions of the Scots, that Ribchester and
Preston had almost been destroyed by them, and that at the following
places the value of the tithes was very seriously reduced through
the same agency, viz., Cockerham, Halton, Tunstall, Melling, Tatham,
Claughton, Walton, Whytington, Dalton, Ulverston, Aldingham, Urswick,
Pennington, Cartmel, Kirkham, St. Michael's-on-Wyre, Lytham, Garstang,
Poulton, Ribchester and Chipping; except the two latter, all these are
in Amounderness, and north of the Ribble; into none of the other parts
of the county do the Scots appear to have penetrated. In some cases
the reduction amounted to something like fifty per cent.; in fact, the
invaders must have set fire to buildings and laid waste the land all
along their line of march.

Clitheroe Castle, though perhaps never a very extensive fortification,
is one of the oldest foundations in the county, probably dating back
to Saxon times. It stands in a commanding situation on the summit of
a rock rising out of the plain, about a mile from Pendle Hill; in
Domesday Book it is described as the Castle of Roger (Roger de Lacy).
Of the original building nothing is now left but the keep, a square
tower of small dimensions. The honour dependent upon this castle
extended over a very large area, part only of which is in Lancashire;
it included Whalley, Blackburn, Chipping, Ribchester, Tottington (in
Salford Hundred), and Rochdale, and consequently the manors of all
these places were at one time held of the castle of Clitheroe. Henry
de Lacy, second Earl of Lincoln and great-grandson of Roger de Lacy,
was born in 1250, and, like his ancestor, he made this castle his
Lancashire stronghold and residence, and here each year his tenants
and the stewards of the various manors attended his courts to render
in their accounts and offer the suit and service required. The town
of Clitheroe must, on the occasions when the Earl was at the castle,
have put on a festive appearance, as the lord of the honour is said
to have assumed an almost regal state. Several of the accounts of the
stewards, parkers, and other servants of the Earl have fortunately been
preserved, and we are by them enabled to get a glimpse at the social
life of the Lancashire people between the years 1295 and 1305.[81] We
find that, besides the forests of Pendle, Accrington, Rossendale and
Trawden, there were parks at Ightenhill and Musbury, well stocked with
deer. There were over twenty vaccaries, or breeding farms, all of which
added to the Earl's income. On the estates were iron forges, and iron
smelting was practised, and of course coal was dug up from the seams
lying near the surface.

The following extracts from these rolls will serve to illustrate the
historical value of the details furnished.[82] Full allowance must be
made by the reader for the difference in value of money between the
thirteenth and the nineteenth centuries;[83] and it must be remembered
that labourers in addition to their wages generally received rations,
and were sometimes housed.


                                                            £ _s._ _d._
  82½ stone of cheese and 27½ stone of butter               2  10   2

  2 wagons, etc., and 2 axes                                0   3   9½

  Food and wages for a man leading the wagons and
    cart during one year, and carrying hay and fencing      1   5   5½

  Mowing 11½ acres of meadow                                0   5   9

  Threshing and winnowing 53 quarters                       0   3  10½

  Rebuilding and roofing a house                            0  19   0¾

  Rent of Colne and Walfred Mill, less tithe               12  16   0

    „       „   fulling Mill                                1  13   4½

  80 cattle of the Abbot of Whalley agisted[84] in
    Rossendale Forest                                       0  13   4

  A forge for iron, framed out in Rossendale[85]            3   0   0

  Tolls of fairs, markets, and stallage at Rochdale
  (1 year)                                                  2  13   8

  Old brushwood for a forge (for 13 weeks)                  0  13   0

  Winter herbage on Pendle Hill                             2  13   0

  Summer herbage there                                      2   5   0

  17 ash-trees                                              0  10   0

  A stray mare                                              0   3   0

  80 wild boars                                             3   6   1

  Rent of Burnley Mill (deducting tithe)                   10   0   0

  Fishery of Northmeols                                     1   6   8

  Rent (in lieu of  ½ lb. of pepper)                        0   0   6

   „   ( „   „      one pair of gloves)                     0   0   1½

   „   52 acres 1 rood of land at Accrington                1  11   9

  Accrington Hall, Kitchen and Grange (rent)                0   4   0

  3 vaccaries at Accrington (rent)                          5   3   1½

  Brushwood and ore sold to a forge at Accrington
    for 27 weeks                                            1  14   6

  Herbage of Clitherow Castle ditches                       0   1   6

   „   „     the garden and loft adjoining                  0   3   0

  Toll of the Fair and Market of Clitheroe                  8   0   6

  Produce of 27 vaccaries let out                          81   0   0

  Goods of Elias Thayn, a felon beheaded                    6  10   0

  Haymaking a three-acre meadow                             0   2   4½

  Wages of the parker of Ightenhill Forest                  2   5   6

  The Abbot of Salley for finding a lamp for the soul of
    Earl John [de Lacy]                                     0   6   8

  Fulling Mill at Burnley, built anew                       2  12   6½

  For merchat[86] of 2 women                                0  13   4

  3 oxen                                                    1  16   0

  Hides of 9 mares, 2 foals of the 3rd year, and 7 foals of
    the 2nd year                                            0   4   9

  4 quarters of oates                                       0   9   0

  Mowing 60½ acres of meadow                                0  17   7¾

  Making and stacking the hay                               0  12   7

  Reaping, gathering and binding 16 acres of oats           0   6   10½

  Making anew 2 waggons                                     0   2   8

  Food and wages of one harrower in seedtime                0   3   4

  Wages of 109 men reaping corn as if on one day            0  17   7½

  Wheat sold, 1 qr. 5 bus.                                  0  13   9

  213 oxen sold                                           105  13   2

  168 cows, 5 bulls and 2 calves sold                      67   8   4

  Wages for the porter of Clitheroe Castle ½ a year         1   2   9

  2 pairs of gloves and 1 pair of spurs (for rent)          0   0   5

  Iron ore (in Clivacher) for 10 weeks (sold)               0   6   8

  Expenses of 16 hawks at Clitheroe, and of grooms carrying
    them to London, with cocks bought for them              1   0   5½

  Carrying the Earl's bed to Denbigh                        0   1   8

  Making and planting nine hundred five score and six
    perches of paling round Musbury Park, with the
    carriage of the said palings in part from Tollington
    Wood                                                   60  10   5¼

  18 oxen bought for the carriage of the paling             8  17   9

  91 loads 6½ dishes of ore bought of the miners: 9 dishes
    make a load; price per load, 22d.                       8   8   1½

  9½ fothers 7 pieces 1 stone of lead brought from the
    same (of which 6 stone make a piece, and 25 pieces
    make a fother)                                         13  13   3

  Cutting down and cutting up wood for burning the said
    ore                                                     0   7   5

  Making a pair of bellows anew for burning the said ore    0   7   8

  Making and binding with iron a pair of scales for
    weighing the lead, and making other necessary utensils  0   2   6

  Making a shed for the lead and an enclosure for the ore   0   5   8

From these references to smelting of lead it is quite clear that the
operation was being performed here for the first time--probably as an
experiment; but where did the ore come from? A reference is made to
carrying ore from Baxenden (near Accrington) to Bradford (in Salford),
but there is no evidence that lead was ever worked or discovered there,
so probably the ore was imported from some lead-mining district.

Sea-coal (_carbones maris_) is thrice mentioned as being paid for in
the Cliviger and Colne district, where it had no doubt been dug up.

The Compotus of the Earl of Lincoln contains many details referring to
the various vaccaries in his holding; each of these was looked after
by an _instaurator_, or bailiff, who lived generally at the Grange,
whilst his various assistants occupied the humbler "booths." Accrington
vaccary may be accepted as a sample; there were there when the stock
was taken on January 26, 1297, 106 cows, 3 bulls, 24 steers, 24
heifers, 31 yearlings, and 46 calves.

In this, as in all the other vaccaries, many cattle died from murrain,
and some fell victims to the wolves which infested all the forests.

Toward the end of the year 1349 Lancashire was visited with the
pestilence known as the Black Death, which about this time broke
out again and again in almost every part of the civilized world. By
a fortunate accident a record of the dreadful ravages made by this
disease in the Hundred of Amounderness has been preserved.

It appears that the Archdeacon of Richmond (in whose jurisdiction was
the whole of Lancashire north of the Ribble) and Adam de Kirkham, Dean
of Amounderness, his Proctor, had a dispute relative to the fees for
the probate of wills and the administration of the effects of persons
dying intestate; the matter was referred to a jury of laymen, whose
report furnishes a return of the number of deaths from the plague, and
other details which may be accepted as at all events fairly correct,
although the district must have been at the time in such a state of
panic as to render the collection of statistical facts extremely
difficult.

In ten parishes in Amounderness, 13,180 died between September 8, 1349,
and January 11, 1349-50, and nine benefices were vacant in consequence.
The chapel of the hospital of St. Mary Magdalen at Preston was without
a priest for eight weeks, and in that town 3,000 men and women
perished; of these, 300 had goods worth £5, and left wills, but 200
others with the like property made no wills. At Poulton-le-Fylde the
deaths amounted to 800; at Lancaster 3,000 died, at Garstang 2,000, and
at Kirkham 3,000, whilst the other less thickly populated places each
lost more or less of its inhabitants.[87] How the rest of Lancashire
fared under this dreadful visitation is uncertain, but Manchester and a
few other places in the south of the county are said to have suffered
very heavily.

We have already seen that Edmund Crouchback, the favourite son of the
King, had given to him the honour of Lancaster, which was confirmed
by Henry III., who granted (in 1267) to him the castle of Kenilworth,
the castle and manor of Monmouth, and other territories in various
parts of the kingdom. The founder of the house of Lancaster died at
Bayonne in May, 1296, and Thomas, his eldest son, succeeded to his
vast possessions in Lancashire and elsewhere; and in 1297-98 he passed
through the county in company with his royal master on his way to
Scotland; in 1310 he married Alice, the sole daughter of Henry de Lacy,
Earl of Lincoln, and then got possession of the great estates in the
county which had for several generations belonged to the De Lacy family.

In 1316-17 one of the followers of the Earl of Lancaster, in order,
it is said, to ingratiate himself with the King, invaded some of the
possessions of the Earl, and the result was a pitched battle, which
took place near Preston, in which Banastre and his army were completely
defeated.

The subsequent quarrel between this celebrated Earl of Lancaster
and the King is well known, and need not be repeated here; finding
himself unable to meet the royal forces, he retired to his castle at
Pontefract, where he was ultimately retained as a prisoner, and near
to which town, after suffering great indignities and insults, he was
executed as a traitor, March 22, 1321-22. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster,
was succeeded by Henry his brother, who, on the reversion of the
attainder of the latter, had granted to him, in A.D. 1327,
the issues and arrearages of the lands, etc., which had belonged to
the earldom of Lancaster and Leicester. On the death of Henry, Earl
of Lancaster, the title went to his son Henry (called Grismond), who
became Earl of Lancaster, Derby, and Lincoln, and was, as a crowning
honour, for his distinguished military services, created in 1353 the
first Duke of Lancaster, for his life, having his title confirmed by
the prelates and peers assembled in Parliament at Westminster. He
was empowered to hold a chancery court for Lancaster, and to issue
writs there under his own seal, and to enjoy the same liberties and
regalities as belonged to a county palatine,[88] in as ample manner as
the Earl of Chester had within that county. Henry, who for his deeds
of piety was styled "the Good Duke of Lancaster," obtained a license
to go to Syracuse to fight against the infidels there; but being taken
prisoner in Germany, he only regained his liberty by the payment of a
heavy fine. Towards the close of his life he lived in great state in
his palace of Savoy, and became a great patron to several religious
houses, one of which was Whalley Abbey (see Chapter IX.). He died March
24, 1360-61, leaving two daughters, one of whom (Blanch) was married
to John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, fourth son of Edward III.; and to
her he bequeathed his Lancashire possessions, and on the death of her
sister Maud, the widow of the Duke of Bavaria, in A.D. 1362,
without issue, she became entitled to the remainder of the vast estates
of her late father.

After the death of the Duchess of Bavaria, John of Gaunt was declared
by Parliament to be Duke of Lancaster in the right of his wife--to have
and to hold the title and honour to him and his lawful heirs male for
ever.

John of Gaunt was born at Ghent, in Flanders (hence his surname), in
March, 1340. In A.D. 1369 he was sent over to France with a
considerable force, but owing to sickness in his camp he returned
to England, to find that his wife had during his absence died of
the plague, and been buried in great state in Westminster Abbey. In
51 Edward III. (1377), a grant of a chancery in his dukedom and all
the rights appertaining to a county palatine was made to him; and
he was ordered to send (when required) two knights to Parliament
"for the commonality," two burgesses for every borough in the said
county. Previous to this John of Gaunt had taken to himself a second
wife--Constance, one of the daughters and heiresses of Peter the Cruel,
King of Castile and Leon, whose arms he impaled with his ducal coat;
his attempt by force of arms to obtain a right to the kingly title,
however, failed. The life of the illustrious Duke of Lancaster is
written in the pages of English history: his many military exploits,
his bold bearing in opposing the bishops in the Wickliffe case, the
many offices which he held under the King, his unpopularity at the time
of the insurrection of Wat Tyler, his doings in Scotland and in Spain,
are all incidents in the career of one whose name must for ever be
remembered in the county where he held such power.

For his duchy he obtained in 13 Richard II. (1390) a right to have
an exchequer in the county, with barons and officers appertaining
thereunto, and also the right to appoint justices itinerant for the
pleas of the forests.

John, named Plantagenet King of Castile and Leon, Duke of Lancaster,
Earl of Leicester, Lincoln and Derby, Lieutenant of the King in
Aquitaine, and High Steward of England,[89] died in the year 1399.

Under this Duke, Lancaster Castle was partly rebuilt, and a
considerable portion of the gateway tower (which still bears his name)
added.

Henry Bolingbroke, who was now Duke of Hereford, was the next heir to
the dukedom, but as he was in exile for his supposed treason, the King
(Richard II.) seized the possessions of the late John of Gaunt, and
shortly afterwards proceeded to Ireland, where he learnt that during
his absence Bolingbroke had returned to England, and that the whole
kingdom had received him with open arms. The King's flight to Wales,
his surrender, first of his person and then of his throne, followed in
rapid succession, and on September 29, 1399, the head of the House of
Lancaster became King of England under the title of Henry IV.

It must be remembered that the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster
are not identical, as the latter comprises many places which are not
in Lancashire, but are scattered over fourteen counties in England and
Wales. The Duchy of Lancaster was held by Henry IV. as heir to his
father, but his right to the Crown of England was by no means of such
an indefeasible character. To remedy this defect, the King obtained
several Acts of Parliament, declaring that neither the inheritance
of his Duchy of Lancaster nor its liberties should be affected in
consequence of his having assumed the royal dignity; also that all
ecclesiastical benefices in the county should be conferred by himself
or his heirs; that the right of succession to the duchy after his
death should belong to his eldest son, Henry, Prince of Wales, and his
heirs, or, in default of such heirs, to his second son, Thomas.[90]
He also established the duchy court of Lancaster, which was held at
Westminster.[91] The county also held its Star Chamber, the decrees of
which were certainly not in accordance with the provisions of Magna
Charta. This court, with others of the same character, was abolished in
1640-41 by Act of Parliament. Henry V., who succeeded to the dukedom,
confirmed all that his father had done respecting the duchy. Henry VI.,
being pressed for money, mortgaged the revenues of his duchies of
Lancaster and Cornwall for a term of five years, and on their reverting
to the Crown in 1460-61, several new officers were appointed--amongst
others, a chancellor, a receiver-general, an attorney-general for the
duchy, and one for the county palatine.[92]

In 1461 Edward IV. obtained an Act of Parliament "for incorporating and
also for confiscating the Duchy of Lancaster to the Crown of England
for ever," and since then the ruling monarch has held the duchy with
all its liberties and privileges. In the time of Philip and Mary, in an
Act for enlarging the duchy, it is styled "one of the most Princeliest
and Stateliest peeces of our Sovereigne Ladie, the Queenes, auncyent
inheritance."

From the time of the creation of the palatinate, all justices of
assize, of gaol-delivery, and of the peace, have been made under the
seal of the county palatine, as are also the sheriffs for the county;
an almost complete list of the latter from A.D. 1156 to the
present time has been preserved.[93]

One of the privileges of a county palatine was that none of its
inhabitants could be summoned out of their own county except for
certain offences. This exemption, it appears, was not always observed,
and its non-observance led to several serious riots, and resulted
in the passing of an Act of Parliament in A.D. 1449, which
declared that anyone making a distress where he had no "fee, seigniory
or cause" in the Duchy of Lancaster should be treated as a felon.
Another Act passed in 1453 directed that, if a person was outlawed
in Lancashire, only his goods and lands in that county were to be
forfeited; this law was, however, repealed two years afterwards.

The population of Lancashire shortly before the Black Death in 1349 was
no doubt very much greater than it was for many years subsequently,
notwithstanding the very heavy levies made upon it for the various wars
in which the three Edwards were engaged. For the war in Wales, in 1282,
the Sheriff of Lancashire was instructed to call upon every person
owning land or rents worth £30 a year to provide a horse and armour and
to join the royal forces; whilst William le Boteler, of Warrington,
was ordered to meet the King at Worcester, and with the assistance of
others he was to raise in Lancashire 1,000 strong and able men to serve
in the Welsh war. Amongst the accounts of this campaign we find an
entry referring to this: "To Master William le Boteler for the wages
of one constable, two hundred and six archers, with ten captains of
twenties, from Saturday, January 16 [1283], to Wednesday, the 27th of
the same month, for twelve days, £22 4s."[94]

The Crusaders also had many followers from this county, whilst for the
wars with France and Scotland writ followed writ in quick succession,
all calling for men and arms. And again in the fifteenth century the
drain continued to be heavy, and culminated with the War of the Roses,
which began in 1455. None of the battles between the Houses of York
and Lancaster were fought within this county, but during the struggle
Lancashire must have sent some of her bravest sons to perish in that
ignoble strife between the roses red and white.

It should also be noted that in 1422 a second visitation of the plague
appeared in the north of Lancashire, which, though not so widespread
as it was in 1349, appears to have been quite as deadly, for on June
24, 1422, a precept was sent to the Sheriff to make proclamation in
all the market towns and elsewhere within the county, that the sessions
fixed to be held at Lancaster on Tuesday, the morrow of St. Lawrence,
would be adjourned to Preston, because the King had heard both by
vulgar report and the credible testimony of honest men, that in certain
parts of Lancashire, and especially in the town of Lancaster, there was
raging so great a mortality that a large portion of the people there,
from the corrupt and pestiferous air, infected with divers infirmities
and deadly diseases, were dying rapidly, and the survivors quitting
the place from dread of death, so that in many cases the land remained
untilled, and the most grievous desolation reigned where late was
plenty.[95]

The Parliamentary representation of Lancashire began in the thirteenth
century. Previous to this the King had three times a year called
together his Council, consisting of the barons, the heads of the
Church, and the military chief tenants of the Crown; but in 1213 King
John directed the sheriffs of counties to send four men of each shire
to confer with him on national affairs.[96] In 1254 the number was
reduced to two for each county; in 1261 Henry III. summoned three,
which was shortly afterwards again reduced to two. In 1265 Simon de
Montford, Earl of Leicester, in the King's name summoned to Westminster
two knights from each shire and two burgesses from each town. The
exact character of these meetings is unknown, as is the method of the
selections of the knights of the shire; but in 1290 they were formally
summoned to Parliament, and in 1294 became a necessary part of the
national council chamber.

From the earliest returns extant, we find that Lancashire only sent
two knights to Parliament. The first Lancashire returns extant are for
the Parliament of 1259, when the county was represented by Mathew
de Redman (who a year before had been the Member for Cumberland) and
John de Evyas, the lord of the manor of Samlesbury, in the parish of
Blackburn. For 1296 there are no returns, but in the following year
the knights of the shire were Henry de Kighley (probably one of the
ancestors of the Kighley of Inskip, in St. Michael's-on-Wyre) and Henry
de Boteler, eldest son of William de Boteler, Baron of Warrington. From
this time to the present a fairly complete list has been preserved.[97]
To the Parliament of 1295 were also summoned two burgesses from the
boroughs of Lancaster, Preston, Wigan and Liverpool; and the Sheriff
in making his returns volunteered the statement that there was no city
in the county. The first recorded members for these four enfranchised
boroughs were, respectively, for Lancaster, William le Despencer and
William le Chaunter; Preston, William FitzPaul and Adam Russell; Wigan,
William le Teinterer and Henry le Bocher; Liverpool, Adam FitzRichards
and Robert Pynklowe. The sending of representatives to Westminster was
at this time not always looked upon as a coveted honour, but rather as
a binding obligation to be got rid of at the first opportunity. True,
the members were paid for the whole time they were absent from home,
a knight getting four shillings a day, and a burgess two shillings;
but this amount and the long journey to and from London, with the
danger and difficulties to be encountered on the way, did not offer a
strong inducement for a burgess or a knight to leave his own home for
sometimes a considerable period. The fact that these early members were
selected from a class comprising the dispencer, the dyer, the butcher
and the "chaunter," shows that the title of "M.P." was rather at a
discount than a premium in this county, at all events. Lancaster and
Preston sent members until 1331, and did not again do so until 21 Henry
VIII. (1529). Liverpool and Wigan ceased to return to Parliament after
1307, and the privilege was not renewed until 1547; in the interval the
Sheriff's returns were to the effect that there "was no city or burgh
from which any citizen or burgess can be sent by reason of their low
condition and poverty." From this practical disenfranchisement it may
be inferred that after the visitation of the plague (see p. 74) the
towns of Lancashire were slow to recover their former position, and
that such trade as there had been in the early part of the fourteenth
century had not returned.

It has been frequently stated that soon after the Act passed by Edward
III. (in 1337), by which Flemish weavers and others were invited to
settle in England, a large number of them came to Lancashire and
established their trades in Bolton, Rochdale and other towns. This
statement is not borne out by facts; the trade of these districts did
not at, or soon after, this time rapidly develop, neither is there any
marked influx of foreign names, such as would naturally have followed
such an invasion,[98] and which are very noticeable in some of the more
southern parts of the country. In Lancashire were found now, as in "The
Vision of William concerning Piers Plowman," in 1362:

  Bakers, Bochers, and Breusters monye,
  Wollene websteris: and weveris of lynen,
  Taillours, tanneris, tolleres in marketes,
  Masons, minours, and mony other craftes,
  Dykers and Delvers.

and "Cokes [cooks] and knaves crieden, 'hote pies hote.'" There were
also drapers, needle-sellers, ropers, and various other traders, and
ale-houses in plenty.

The food of the poorer classes consisted of cheese, curds, therf-cake
(oat cake), beans, flavoured with leeks, parsley or cabbages, with
occasionally a little bacon or pork, and less frequently fish. The more
well-to-do classes fared much more sumptuously, as flesh, game and
fish were all obtainable. Lancashire had yet no seaport of any great
importance; the only two worth recording were Liverpool and Preston.
In 1338 all the ports in the country were required to furnish ships
according to their size and commerce. Liverpool could only send a
single barque with a crew of six men, and 200 years later this port had
only twelve vessels, carrying 177 tons and navigated by 75 men;[99] yet
in 1382 the port was important enough to warrant the issue of a precept
to the Mayor and Bailiffs of the town prohibiting them from exporting
corn.[100]

The ships which went to the port of Preston in the middle of the
fourteenth century (see p. 66) could not have been of large dimensions.

Though Liverpool as a town had not in the fifteenth century grown much
in size or importance, yet its castle, seated upon the rocky knoll
commanding the entrance to the Mersey, was of some importance; built
probably in the time of the Conqueror, it had ever since been kept
available for purposes of defence. In 1351 Henry, Duke of Lancaster,
appointed Janekyn Baret, his esquire, to be Constable of Liverpool
Castle, with an annuity of ten marks sterling for the term of his life,
and in 22 Henry VI. (1442-43) the duchy receiver accounted for £46 13s.
10¼d. which had been expended on repairs to this castle; it was about
this time that a new south-east tower was erected. During the reigns
of Henry V. and Henry VI. considerable sums were spent in keeping this
stronghold in repair, yet in a report made on its state in 1476 it is
described as being in a somewhat ruinous condition; the east tower
wanted repairing, for which purpose the walls of the bakehouse were
to be taken down, and the elder-trees growing on the walls within and
without the castle were to be cut away.

In 1476 further repairs were done, but the object of these appears to
have been rather of a domestic than military character. At this time
three towers are named: the new tower, the prison tower, and the great
tower.[101]

Besides the castles already mentioned, there were a few others of minor
importance. Hornby Castle, in the parish of Melling, may possibly
date back to the time of the Edwards, and is several times referred
to in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. On the western side of
the peninsula of Furness, which is separated from Cumberland by the
waters of the Duddon, lies the Island of Walney, which has near to it
several other small islands, on one of which was built the ancient
castle or peel long known as the Pile of Fouldrey. The waters near to
its site formed a natural harbour capable of floating, even at low
tide, the largest vessels at that early period in use, and to protect
that and the adjacent country this castle was erected. It is of great
antiquity; it was certainly there in the twelfth century, as appears
from a precept issued on March 13, 1404 to the escheator for the county
to "amove the King's hands from the island called Wawenay [Walney],
the cause of the seizure being insufficient." The reason why the King
had taken possession is then clearly stated, viz.: "That King Stephen,
having granted to the Abbot and Convent of the Monastery of St. Mary
of Furness certain lands and tenements in the island called Wawenay
[Walney] in Furness on condition of sustaining and keeping in repair a
certain castle or fortress called La Pele de Fotheray for the defence
of the country there, the said castle was now prostrated by John de
Bolton the Abbot and the Convent of Furness, to the great fear of all
the country."[102]

It was here that Lambert Simnel, the pretended son of the Duke of
Clarence, landed in 1487, and was joined by Sir Thomas Broughton. The
subsequent history of this stronghold is very obscure; in 1588 it is
described as an old decayed castle.

In the parish of Tunstall, Sir Thomas Tunstall, in the time of Henry
IV., built Thurland Castle on a rising piece of ground between the
Greta and the Cant.[103]

Of the religious houses and churches which had sprung up since the
coming of the Normans, it need only here be stated that they had now
spread all over the county, and that the Christian creed had become the
religion of the entire community (see Chapter IX.).

The impending final struggle between the rival Houses of York and
Lancaster would probably not excite any very great interest in the
minds of the people of this county, except that they had again been
called upon to find men for Lord Stanley's army, which the King had
commissioned him to raise in the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire;
this force is supposed to have been about 5,000 strong, and it
virtually decided the battle, as Lord Stanley, on the field, turned
against the King, and led his troops to the support of Richmond.

With the death of Richard III., the last Plantagenet King, on the
field of Bosworth, came an end of that system of government which had
existed for nearly 300 years, and the old feudal chain was soon to be
broken, and Englishmen were to become more their own masters and less
the blind followers of their social superiors; and, moreover, they
were soon to find themselves free from the tyranny of priestcraft and
superstitions, and prejudices were to be gradually dispersed by the
increase of civilization and freedom.

Towards this end the introduction of printing was a powerful lever, for
when John Caxton, in 1472, set up his press in London, the priest could
no longer prevent the spread of knowledge, and it was not long before
the printed books found their way into Lancashire.

With the spread of literature and knowledge came the spirit of
adventure and enterprise, which soon raised the country to a position
which it had not heretofore occupied.

[Illustration]

[Footnote 56: In the original document the names are often very
different to the ones now in use, but they have all been identified as
referring to the localities above given.]

[Footnote 57: "There is a priest there having half a carucate of land
in frank amoign."]

[Footnote 58: Said to be waste.]

[Footnote 59: Other forests are named at Latham, Aughton, Milling,
Lydiate, and other places.]

[Footnote 60: The hora was not a coin, but an equivalent for about 1s.
6d. or 1s. 8d.]

[Footnote 61: In South Lancashire it is believed that six carucates
made a hide. A carucate was about 100 acres, but was a variable term.]

[Footnote 62: This will serve as a proof that _foresta_ (= a wood or
forest) was not necessarily a dense mass of trees, but rather a place
where game of every kind abounded.]

[Footnote 63: Their individual holdings are 3 hides and half a
carucate, 2 carucates, 1½ carucates, 1 carucate and 2 carucates =
3 hides and 7 carucates. Their united holding is put down as 22
carucates, so that a hide in this case equals 5 carucates.]

[Footnote 64: Bentham (in Yorkshire), Wennington, Tatham, and Tunstall
are described as four manors, where there were three churches.]

[Footnote 65: Now Titeup.]

[Footnote 66: Authorities differ on the exact area, but probably the
above is not far from the figure.]

[Footnote 67: Fishwick's "History of St. Michael's-on-Wyre," _Chetham
Soc._, xxv. 3 (new series).]

[Footnote 68: Honour of Lancaster granted to him June 30, 1267, and
letters patent issued to the tenants of the honour to do their homage
and be obedient to him as their lord, February 16, 1268. In 1269 a
similar letter was sent to William le Boteler, and in 1270 to Henry de
Lacy, Robert de Stockfort, and the Abbot of Furness.]

[Footnote 69: Charters of duchy. See 31st Report of the Deputy-Keeper
of the Public Records, p. 6.]

[Footnote 70: Toll for swine feeding in the woods.]

[Footnote 71: A fair in 1255.]

[Footnote 72: Carta de Foresta: Record Office.]

[Footnote 73: Rossendale Forest adjoins this parish.]

[Footnote 74: Plac. de Quo War., Edw. I.: Record Office.]

[Footnote 75: Duchy Chancery Rolls, chap. xxv., A 2ᵇ.]

[Footnote 76: The honour of Lancaster.]

[Footnote 77: See Fishwick's "History of Kirkham," _Chetham Soc._,
xcii.]

[Footnote 78: Royal Letters, Henry III., No. 185.]

[Footnote 79: "Letters from _Northern Register_," p. 97.]

[Footnote 80: See "Popular History of Cumberland," p. 231.]

[Footnote 81: The original rolls are in the Record Office. They have
been printed by the Chetham Society, vol. cxii.]

[Footnote 82: All the extracts refer to the Lancashire part of the
honour, and to the years between 1295 and 1305.]

[Footnote 83: Authorities differ on this point, but all agree that
money in the thirteenth century was worth many times its present
equivalent coin. At the very least, it requires to be multiplied by
ten.]

[Footnote 84: _Agisted_ = allowed to graze in the forest.]

[Footnote 85: In 1338 the Abbot of Whalley charged certain persons
armed "with swords and bows and arrows" with having taken away his
goods, and, _inter alia_, 300 pieces of iron, and from the evidence
adduced it appears that near Whitworth (in Rochdale parish), which is
adjoining Rossendale, the Abbot and others were accustomed to dig up
the ironstone and smelt it. (See Fishwick's "History of Rochdale," p.
84.)]

[Footnote 86: _Merchats_ = fines paid to the lord for marriage of a
daughter. The above sum was the sum returned to the tenant because it
was found that the women were not daughters of villeins.]

[Footnote 87: Treasury Receipts, 21a/3 Record Office; also _English
Hist. Review_, 1890.]

[Footnote 88: Lancashire is said to have enjoyed the privilege of a
palatinate in the time of Roger de Poictou, but the evidence is not
convincing.]

[Footnote 89: So described on his tomb in Westminster Abbey.]

[Footnote 90: Baines' "History of Lancashire," i. 45 (second edition).]

[Footnote 91: The records of this court are preserved in the Record
Office.]

[Footnote 92: In 1850 the revenue account of the duchy shows a very
long list of estates in many counties. One half of the whole yearly
income was, however, derived from Salford, the largest rent being £285
for land in Pendleton. The Corporation of Salford still pay in lieu of
tolls a fixed rent of £5 a year. In 1850 the payments from the duchy to
the Queen amounted to £12,000, which in 1893 had increased to £48,000.]

[Footnote 93: See Baines' "History of Lancashire," i. 57 (second
edition).]

[Footnote 94: Meyrick's "Ancient Armour," i. 137.]

[Footnote 95: Report of Deputy-Keeper of Public Records, xxxiii. 21.]

[Footnote 96: Stubbs's "Select Charters," p. 40.]

[Footnote 97: See "The Parliamentary Representation of Lancashire," by
W. J. Pink.]

[Footnote 98: See "History of Rochdale," p. 33.]

[Footnote 99: Baines' "History of Lancashire," ii. 359 (second
edition).]

[Footnote 100: Report of Deputy-Keeper of Public Records, xxxii. 354.]

[Footnote 101: See detailed account of the plan of this castle in
_Lanc. and Ches. Hist. Soc._, vol. vi., new series.]

[Footnote 102: Record Office, Roll of Fines, etc., chap. xxv., A 7, No.
14; also Coucher Book of Furness.]

[Footnote 103: Turton Tower, near Bolton, claims to be a very ancient
foundation, but as its name never occurs in the ancient charters
heretofore discovered, it appears doubtful if it dates back beyond the
fifteenth century.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER VII.

LANCASHIRE IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS
(A.D. 1485-1603).


As soon as Henry VII. was firmly seated on the throne, he proceeded
to reverse the attainders which his predecessor had passed against
certain of the prominent adherents of the House of Lancaster, and at
the same time confiscating the estates of (amongst others) Sir Thomas
Pilkington, Lord Robert Harrington and Sir James Harrington, all of
whom took part in the battle of Bosworth Field, and were natives of
Lancashire, their properties were nearly all at once given to Lord
Stanley, who was at the same time created Earl of Derby, and elected
a member of the King's Privy Council. Not ten years after this, Sir
William Stanley, brother of the Earl, became mixed up with the Perkin
Warbeck rebellion, and notwithstanding the influence of the latter, he
was arraigned upon a charge of high treason, and, being found guilty,
was executed on February 15, 1495; his chief seat was at Holt Castle,
in Denbighshire.

It seems strange that, in the same year that this tragedy was enacted,
the King came in state to pay a visit to his mother, who was now the
second wife of the Earl of Derby. To entertain their Majesties (for the
Queen came also) with becoming dignity, the Earl spared no expense,
even erecting a new bridge across the Mersey, near Warrington, for
his special use, which bridge has since been used by the public. The
expenses incurred by the royal journey from Chester to Knowsley were
duly recorded, and are of interest:

  July 18 [1495]. At Winwick, 20ᵗʰ at Latham: To Sir Richard Pole for
  200 jucquetts, price of every pece, 1s. 6d., £15. 100 horsemen for
  fourteen days, every of them 9d. by day, £52 10s. For their conduyt
  for 3 days, every of them 9d. by day, £11 5s. For the wages of 100
  footmen for fourteen days, every of them 6d. by day, £35. For their
  conduyt for four days, every of them 6d. by day, £10. For shipping,
  vitailling and setting over the see the foresaid 200 men, with an
  100 horses, £13 6s. 8d. To the shirif awayting upon Sʳ Sampson for
  the safe conduyt of the foresaid souldeours, 2s.

   Aug. 2. To Picard a herrald of Fraunce in reward, £6 13s. 4d. To
  the women that songe before the Kinge and the Queene in rewarde,
  6s. 8d.

  3ʳᵈ. At Knowsley. 4ᵗʰ. At Warrington. 5. At Manchester.

Lancashire, in 1485, is said to have suffered considerably from the
"sweating sickness" which was at this time very prevalent in many parts
of the kingdom; but in the absence of contemporary notices of it, it
may be assumed not to have appeared here in its severest form.

Towards the £40,000 granted by the Parliament of 1504 to the King,
Lancashire's share was a trifle over £318; and the commissioners
appointed to collect it in the county were Thomas Boteler, John Bothe,
Pears Lee, Richard Bold, John Sowthworth, and Thomas Lawrence, knights,
and William Thornborough and Cuthbert Clifton, esquires.

We have now seen the close of the fifteenth century, which has been
described as "a blustering, quarrelsome fellow, who lived in a house
with strong barricades all round it, his walls pierced with narrow
holes, through which he could shoot his visitors if he did not think
they were approaching him in a friendly manner," and we are entering
on the sixteenth century, which "improved a little on this, but still
planted his house with turrets which commanded the entrance door, and
had an immense gate studded with iron nails, and unsurmountable walls
round his courtyard."

The days of building castles and strongly fortified houses was indeed
over, but still everyone looked with some suspicion on his neighbour,
and the old English saying,

  Let him keep who has the power,
    And let him take who can,

was not quite forgotten.

Of the class of fortified houses erected about this date, a good
example is afforded by Greenhalgh Castle. By a royal license granted
to Thomas, Earl of Derby, in 1490, he was authorized to erect in
Greenhalgh (in the parish of Garstang) a building or buildings with
stone or other materials, and to "embattle, turrellate or crenelate,
machiolatte," or otherwise fortify the same; authority was at the same
time given to enclose a park, and to have in it free warren and chase.
Camden says that the Earl built this to protect himself from certain
of the nobility of the county whose estates had been forfeited to the
Crown and bestowed upon himself. This account of the origin of this
castle is probably correct.

The great religious changes in Lancashire, brought about by what has
been called the anti-Papal revolt, and the subsequent Reformation, will
be reserved for a future page (see Chapter IX.).

The old strife between England and Scotland had now again been renewed,
and the conflict culminated in the battle of Flodden, where the
Lancashire archers, led by Sir Edward Stanley, almost totally destroyed
the Highlanders who composed the right wing of the Scottish army. The
other Lancashire leaders were Sir William Mollineux of Sefton, Sir
William Norris of Speke, and Sir Ralph Ashton of Middleton.

No wonder that this decisive victory should become a favourite theme
of the poet and the minstrel. There are several old poems referring to
the Lancashire men and the field of Flodden; one of these, which is
certainly 300 years old, has been printed by the Chetham Society;[104]
it consists of nearly 700 lines, of which the following will serve as a
sample:

  Lancashire, like lyons
    layden them aboute!
  All had been lost by our Lorde!
    had not these leddes [lads] bene.
  For the care of the Scottes
    increased full sore
  For their King was downe knocked
    and killed in their sight,
  Under the banner of a bishop
    that was the bold Standley!
  Ther they fetilde[105] them to fly
    As fast as they might.

Another long poem on the same subject is preserved in the Record
Office;[106] it gives also a glowing account of how the "lusty lads,"
led by the "lusty Stanley stout," went forth "in armour bold for battle
drest," and how--

  From Warton unto Warrington,
  From Wigan unto Wiresdale,
  From Weddecon [Wedacre] to Waddington,
  From Ribchester to Rochdale,
  From Poulton to Preston, with pikes,
  They with Stanley out went forth.
  From Pemberton and Pilling dikes,
  For battle billmen bold were bent.

In Middleton Church there was a brass to the memory of Sir Ralph
Assheton and his bowmen, and a painted window still remains to
commemorate the event. Of the general state of some of the larger towns
of the county, we have a brief record from the pen of that careful
antiquary John Leland, who went through Lancashire in 1533. Manchester
he says was "the fairest, best built, quickest [_i.e._, liveliest]
and most populous town in Lancashire; well set a worke in makinge of
clothes as well of lynnen as of woollen, whereby they have obtained,
gotten and come vnto riches and welthy lyuings, and have kepte and set
manye artificers and poor folkes to work;" and in "consequence of their
honesty and true dealing, many strangers, as wel of Ireland as of other
places within this realme, have resorted to the said towne with lynnen
yarne, woollen, and other wares for makinge clothes." So great a name
had Manchester now got for the making of woollen cloth that in an Act
passed in 1552 Manchester "rugs and frizes" are specially named; and
in 1566 it became necessary to pass another Act to regulate the fees
of the queen's _aulneger_ (measurer), who was to have his deputies at
Bolton, Blackburn and Bury. The duty of these officers was to prevent
"cottons, frizes and rugs" being sold unsealed. Cottons were not
what is now meant by this term, but were all of woollen.[107] Cotton
manufacture did not begin until a century later. Manchester at this
time probably consisted of some ten or a dozen narrow streets[108]
and lanes, all radiating from the old church; its water was from a
single spring rising in what is now Fountain Street, and which flowed
down Market Street to Smithy Door. The town business was conducted in
a building called the "Booths," where the court of the lord of the
manor was held, and near to which stood the stocks, the pillory and
whipping-post, and not far distant was the cucking-stool pool. These
streets were narrow, ill-paved, or not paved at all; the houses were of
wood and plaster, with the upper stories projecting and mostly roofed
with thatching. The only church in Manchester was the collegiate or
parish church, which stood on the site of the present cathedral in
the time of Edward VI.; the lord of the manor of Manchester was Sir
Thomas West, Knight, ninth Baron de la Ware. The early records of
the Manchester court leet[109] have been preserved, and furnish some
interesting details of the life of the dwellers in the town at this
period.

In 1522, amongst the officers of the court, were two ale-founders (or,
as they are generally called, ale-tasters or conners), two byrlamen
(lawmen) to overlook the "market stede," two for Deynsgate and four for
the mylne gate, wething greve, hengynge dyche, fenell street, and on to
Irkes brydge, and a score of people were named as "skevengers," whose
duty it was to see that the streets were kept clean. At the same court
an order was made that persons were not to allow their ducks and geese
to wander into the market-place, and certain other regulations were
enforced, showing that even at that date the sanitary arrangements of
the place were to some extent attended to.

In 1554 we have, beside the other officers, market overlookers for fish
and flesh, leathersellers, and men to see that no ox, cow, nor horse
goes through the churchyard; and it was ordered that all the middens
standing in the streets, between the conduit (which supplied the town
with water) and the market-cross, and all swinecotes in the High
Street, should be removed. The authorities appear to have had some
trouble to persuade the people that the street, or the front of their
own houses, was not the place for dunghills or middens, as the orders
to remove them appear at almost every court, in some cases the order
only being to erect a pale or hedge round, so that there be no "noyance
nor evil sight in the street."

In 1556 warning was to be given in the church that the inhabitants were
to bring their corn and grain to be ground at the Free School Mill.

Ale and bread in 1558 were to be sold only by the regulation measures
and weights. Archery had long been one of the recreations of the
people, so we are surprised to find that in 1560 the inhabitants
were ordered to have put up before the Feast of St. John the Baptist
(June 24) a pair of butts in Marketstede Lane, and another pair upon
Colyhurst Common; in the same year it was ordered that no person should
allow any carding or bowling in his house or garden, fields or shop,
"whereto any poore or handiecrafts men shall come or resort."

Provisions were also made for the traveller whose business brought him
to Manchester, for no man was allowed (in 1560) to brew or sell ale
unless he was able to "make two honest beddis [beds]," and he was also
to "put furth the syne of a hand." Later on it was ordered that this
sign was only to be used when the innkeeper had ale to sell. It is
curious to find an old Act passed in 1390 still enforced, viz., that no
one not being a forty-shilling freeholder shall keep a greyhound nor
any hound.

Ale was not to be sold to be drunk on the premises at more than 6d.
a gallon; for outdoor consumption the price was not to exceed 4d. a
gallon.

A singular order appears in the next year's record, to the effect that
no one shall sell bread which has any butter in it, although he was
permitted to bake it for his own use or to give to his friends.

About this time it appears to have been the custom at weddings and
other festive occasions to invite people to the feast--which was held
at an alehouse--and then collect from them a sum of money to defray
the expenses, and to stop this practice the court ordered that no one
should be called upon to pay more than 4d. for such entertainment.

No doubt the fairs of Manchester were now resorted to by considerable
numbers, hence the order made in 1565 that every burgess was to find
an able-bodied man, furnished with a bill (or axe) or a halberd, to
wait upon the steward of the manor at these gatherings. At this time
fruits, particularly apples, were sufficiently an article of commerce
as to necessitate the appointment an overseer to regulate their sale.
The manufacturers of "rugs" (a kind of coarse woollen cloth) were now
forbidden to wet their good "openly in the stretes," but to do it
either within their respective houses or behind the same.

Alehouses were frequently the subject of the court's regulation,
gaming, selling of ale during "tyme of morning prayer," and the like
offences being severely dealt with, whilst drunken men found abroad in
the streets at night were not only imprisoned in the "dungeon," but had
to pay 6d. to the constable for the poor, and the unfortunate ale-house
keeper, if found in a state of intoxication, was "discharged from
ale-house keeping."

The wearing of daggers and other weapons was found to lead to disorder,
and forbidden, and the law forbidding the wearing of hats[110] on
Sundays and holidays was enforced. Apprentices and male and female
servants were to be fined if found in the streets after nine o'clock at
night in the summer and eight o'clock in the winter.

The practice of archery towards the end of the century began to fall
off, and notwithstanding the Acts of Parliament passed to encourage it
here in Manchester, officers had to be appointed to see the burgesses
"exceryse [exercise] shootinge accordinge to the statute."

Although Manchester was not at the time a borough, yet it is evident
that the court leet was alive to many of the requirements of a growing
town, and that, although its industries were now only in infancy, it
had become a commercial centre, and was beginning to emerge from the
obscurity to which it had been relegated during the feudal system.

The plague of 1565 was succeeded in the year following by a great
dearth, when a penny white loaf only weighed 6 or 8 ounces.

Even at this date the Manchester church was often selected as the place
to be married at, although neither the bride nor the bridegroom lived
in the town, and on these occasions they were accompanied by "strange
pipers or other minstrels," who played up to the church doors and after
the ceremony at the ale-house. This raised the jealousy of the "town
waytes," who persuaded the court to order that they should come no more.

After Manchester, the next largest town was Preston, which was the
capital of the duchy and one of the oldest incorporated towns in the
county. Before the time of Elizabeth it had had no less than ten royal
charters, and within it were two religious houses and its very ancient
parish church; moreover, its "guild merchant" had been held every
twentieth year for centuries. The guild roll of 1542 contains the names
of over 200 burgesses, that of 1562 exceeds 350, and the one of 1602
gives 537 in burgesses, and 561 foreign or out burgesses. In the lists
for 1562 and 1582 we find enumerated drapers, pewterers, cordwainers,
glovers, masons, websters (weavers), tailors, mercers, butchers,
carpenters, barbers, tanners, saddlers, flaxmen, leadbeaters, cutlers,
schoolmasters, and other occupations which accompanied a well-to-do
town of this period. The sale of woollen cloth and fustians was at
this time a branch of Preston trade. Here also strict regulations
were enforced as to the accommodation at inns, no one being allowed
to retail ale unless he could lodge four men and find stabling for
four horses. It was such regulations as these that enabled Holinshead
(in 1577) to record that "the inns in Lancaster, Preston, Wigan and
Warrington" are so much improved "that each comer" is "sure to lie
in clean sheets wherein no man hath lodged; if the traveller be on
horseback his bed-cloth cost him nothing, but if he go on foot he hath
a penny to pay." Preston was one of the four Lancashire towns which in
1547 recommenced to send members to Parliament. Toward the end of the
sixteenth century Preston had a population of something like 3,000.

The chief town of the county for many centuries was Lancaster, though
in size and importance it had now been excelled by several other
towns. The old castle was the county gaol, and in this town until
quite recently the assizes were held, and, moreover, it was the oldest
corporate borough, dating back to the twelfth century; yet for all
this, in an Act of Parliament passed in 1544, it is reported as to
Lancaster that though there were many "beautiful houses" there, they
were all "falling into ruin," and in 1586 Camden reported that "it was
thinly peopled and all the inhabitants farmers, the country round it
being cultivated, open, flourishing, and not bare of wood." As a town
it consisted of only eight or nine streets, but there was a school,
fishmarket, pinfold, etc.[111] Lancaster returned two members in 1529,
and from 1547 continued to send that number.

Liverpool in the time of Henry VII. had begun to fall off in
importance, and we find that that monarch made a grant of the "Town
and Lordship of Litherpoole" at a rental of £14 a year; this was
renewed in 1528.

Henry VIII., always on the look-out for royal revenues, ordered in
1533 a return to be made of the King's rental in Liverpool, when it
was found only to amount to £10 1s. 4d., a sum equal to something like
£150 of the present money;[112] this was exclusive of Church property.
The streets of Liverpool were Water Street, Castle Street, Dale Street,
Moore Street, Chapel Street, Jugler Street and Mylne Street. The Act
of Parliament of 1544 reports of Liverpool as it had done of Lancaster
(p. 97), both towns being put down as having fallen into decay; and
yet both towns in 1547 returned two representatives to Parliament. Why
had these two ancient boroughs so decayed? One reason probably, in the
case of Liverpool, was its comparative isolation, as until centuries
after this there was no road to it for wheeled carriages, all inland
travellers having to go on horseback, and goods on packhorses, or by
barges on the Mersey, from Warrington.

All these ancient boroughs, provided they paid the dues to the national
exchequer, and to some extent carried out the statutes of the realm,
were at liberty to make their own laws for self-government, and it is
but natural to suppose that this arbitrary rule in some cases resulted
in success, whilst in others it led to results disastrous to the
community. Again, the visitations of the plague in some towns carried
away a large percentage of the population, whilst in others their
effects were slight. Either or both of these causes would be sufficient
to materially reduce the prosperity of one of these small boroughs.
In 1540 Liverpool is said to have been nearly depopulated by the
plague; and in 1556 there were only 151 householders left, which could
not represent a population of much over 1,000;[113] and in 1558 the
visitation of this scourge was so severe that all who were attacked
were ordered "to make their cabins on the heath," and to remain there
for nearly three months, and after that (until they had permission to
do otherwise) to keep on "the back side of their houses, and to keep
their doors and windows shut on the street side." This plague carried
off upwards of 240 of the already reduced inhabitants. At this time
we find warehouses for merchants named, and the Corporation had a
ferry boat to carry people and goods across the river. The port of
Liverpool was now claimed to be a dependency of the port of Chester,
and so indignant were the Corporation at this that they sent their
Mayor to London to represent to the Chancellor of the duchy that to
call Liverpool "the creeke of Chester" was not only to punish its
inhabitants, but was against the jurisdiction and regal authority of
the county palatine and duchy; and they also stated that Liverpool
had heretofore been reputed the best port and harbour from Milford to
Scotland, and had always proved so with all manner of ships and barks.
From the return made in consequence of this appeal, it appears that
Liverpool had only twelve vessels, the largest of forty tons burden.

The close of the sixteenth century did not find the town in a much
better position, for even the keeper of the "Common Warehouse of the
Town" was only to have £1 2s. 8d. for his wages, because of "the small
trade and trafique" that there then was, and a pious ejaculation is
added, "until God send us better traffique." The principal trade now
carried on was with Ireland and Spain or Portugal; to the latter
herrings and salmon were exported and wine brought back. Wool,
coatings (cottons), and tallow were exported in small quantities. Many
regulations referring to the sanitary arrangements of the town and the
suppression of drunkenness and gaming were almost identical with those
enforced by the court-leet of Manchester. A "handsome cockpit" was made
by the Corporation in 1567, and horse-racing was patronized ten years
later.

The only other town in Lancashire which in 1547 returned
representatives to Parliament was Wigan.

Leland, who paid a visit to Wigan about the year 1540, thus describes
the town: "Wigan pavid as bigge as Warington and better buildid.
There is one paroch chirch amidde the Towne, summe Marchauntes, sum
Artificers, sum Fermers. Mr. Bradeshaw hath a place called Hawe a myle
from Wigan; he hath founde moche Canel like se Coole in his ground
very profitable to hym." The vast underground wealth, which was in the
future to be of such importance to this county, would appear at this
time to be unworked, if even its existence was known. Wigan was one
of the few towns in the county with its Mayor and Corporation. The
population of Wigan would scarcely be as great as Warrington (which
was now about 2,000[114]), as in 1625 the number of burgesses entitled
to vote at the election was only 138. Warrington was not incorporated,
but was under the manor court. Its chief industry was the manufacture
of sail-cloth. Clitheroe, though a borough, was still (except for
its connection with the castle) a place of small importance, as was
also Blackburn; at neither place had as yet any textile industry been
introduced. At Bolton-le-Moors Leland found cottons and coarse yarns
manufactured, and here also they were accustomed to use "se cole, of
which the pittes be not far off." At Bury also yarns were made.

Rochdale was "a market of no small resort," says Leland, but he is
silent as to its commercial doings; nevertheless, if manufacture was
not carried on there, its inhabitants were doing a good business in the
sale of wool and coatings, as is proved by the fact that several cases
of dispute as to the non-delivery of goods of this kind were heard in
the duchy court. In the reign of Elizabeth the manufacture of these
articles soon followed, and before the end of the century this industry
was well established here. Some of the coal in this district lying
near the surface was now worked, and cutlery was also made in this
wide parish, as were also hats. Foot-racing was a favourite pastime in
Lancashire in the sixteenth century, and sometimes the stakes ran high,
as in the case of a race run near Whitworth (Rochdale) on August 24,
1576, when the match was for twenty nobles a side.[115]

Before the introduction of the woollen and cotton manufacture, and the
consequent rapid increase of population and buildings, this county
was very far from being amongst the least beautiful of England's
shires. Large unbroken forests, where still lingered the lordly stag,
surrounded with game of varied kinds, were yet to be seen; and the
dense smoke from the tall factory chimney was not there to blast and
wither with its poisonous breath the tender foliage of the stripling
oak. Its rivers then meandered through miles of pleasant lands, where
the lowing of cattle and the melodious songs of birds formed the only
accompaniment to the gentle rippling of the waters; no contaminating
dyeworks, chemical works, or other followers in the train of
commerce, had yet planted themselves along the banks; and the salmon,
the grayling and the trout, and other small fry, held undisputed
possession, unless they were molested by the otters, which were then
abundant.[116] In the northern parts of the county things still
remained much as they had been for centuries, except, of course, in
some districts a slight increase in population, and in all an improved
state of civilization and culture. Amongst these towns in the north may
be mentioned Kirkham, which claims to have been incorporated in the
time of Edward I., by the name of "the bailiffs and burgesses." This
claim was ratified by James I. They had a market and fair, but did not
send representatives to Parliament.

In the days when the monasteries and abbeys were young, no doubt the
education of the people was one of their recognised duties, but when
these religious houses became (as they often did) the homes of luxury
and licence, this duty was unfulfilled; and it was only after the
Reformation, when the religious excitement abated, that anything like
an attempt at national education was made, and at this time schools of
any kind were almost unknown in the county, and the mass of the people
were alike ignorant, untaught, and superstitious.

Preston was probably the first town in Lancashire which had a free
school regularly endowed; it is said to have been established in the
fourteenth century, but was certainly there in the time of Henry VI.,
as in 1554 a plaintiff in the duchy court spoke of it as having then
been in existence for "the space of 100 years,"[117] and the incumbent
of the chantry in the parish church, founded by Helen Houghton (about
1480), was required to "be sufficiently lerned in grammar" to teach the
scholars. Manchester was indebted to Hugh Oldham, the Bishop of Exeter
(a native of Lancashire), for its first free school. In 1515 the Bishop
conveyed certain lands to the Wardens of Manchester for the purpose
of paying a master and usher to teach the youth of the district, who
had, as the indenture sets forth, "for a long time been in want of
instruction, as well on account of the poverty of their parents as for
want of some person who should instruct them in learning and virtue."
Before his death, in 1519, he had built the school which has for so
long done honour to its founder.

At Kirkham a free grammar school had been, or was just about to be,
founded in 1551, when Thomas Clifton, of Clifton, bequeathed "towards
the grammar schole xxˢ." And in 1585 the parish authorities took
possession of the school-house in right of the whole parish. This
school appears subsequently to have fallen into decay or been given up,
for in 1621 Isabel Birley, who had been all her life an alehouse-keeper
in Kirkham, being "moved to compassion with pore children shee saw
often in that town," went to the church (where the thirty sworn men
were assembled) with £30 in her apron, which she wished to give for
the building of a free school; her example fired the others with
enthusiasm, and the requisite sum was soon raised. The history of this
well-known school is interesting.

When Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, besides these schools there
were free grammar schools at Prescot, Lancaster, Whalley, Clitheroe,
Bolton, and Liverpool, but within the next fifty years many more
were added, amongst them being those at Burnley, Hawkshead, Leyland,
Rochdale, Middleton, and Rivington (near Bolton). To most of these
early-founded schools libraries were attached, in some of which still
remain many valuable sixteenth-century books.

The belief in witchcraft and its kindred superstitions was firmly
rooted amongst the people; on this subject something will be said in
another chapter, but _en passant_ it may be stated that in 1597 a
pardon was granted to one Alice Brerley, of Castleton (in Rochdale),
who had been condemned to death for slaying by means of witchcraft
James Kershaw and Robert Scholefield.[118]

The condition into which Lancashire was thrown through the religious
crisis consequent upon the Reformation will be treated of elsewhere,
but it must here be noted that in the time of good Queen Bess churches
were said to be almost emptied of their congregations, alehouses were
innumerable, wakes, ales, rushbearing, bearbaits, and the like, were
all exercised on the Sunday, and altogether a general lawlessness
appears to have prevailed all over the county. In the reign of Henry
VIII. the old commissions of array (whose duty it was to get together
in each county such armed forces as were required from time to time)
were done away with, and their places occupied by lord-lieutenants.

In 1547 the Earl of Shrewsbury was Lord-Lieutenant of the county
of Lancaster and six other counties, but in 1569 the county had a
Lord-Lieutenant of its own in the person of Earl Stanley, third Earl
of Derby. The duties of these newly appointed officers of the Crown
were manifold; but one of their chief services was to assemble and levy
the inhabitants within their jurisdiction in the time of war, and to
prescribe orders for the government of their counties; and from the
proceedings of the Lancashire lieutenancy we may glean a few details
relating to the civil and religious life of the period.[119] For the
military muster of 1553 the quota required from the respective hundreds
was: West Derby 430, Salford 350, Leyland 170, Amounderness 300,
Blackburn 400, Lonsdale 350.

These numbers were to be raised by each town in the hundred in
proportion to the wealth or number of its inhabitants: West Derby,
Wigan, and Ashton, in the parish of Winwick, had to find 11 each,
whilst Liverpool only sent 5. In Leyland the greatest number (10)
came from Wrightington with Parbold; in Amounderness Preston found
26, whilst the parish of Kirkham contributed over 100. Blackburn
parish sent 113 men, and the parish of Whalley 175; unfortunately,
the particulars for the towns and parishes of Salford are wanting. In
1559-60 the county was called upon to raise no less than 3,992 soldiers.

During all these troubled times the highest hills in the district were
used as beacon stations, where a system of signalling was practised;
thus, in 1588 the hundred of Salford was called upon to pay £5 9s. 4d.
for watching the beacon on Rivington Pike from July 10 to September 30.

Some further details about this particular are furnished in the
original "accompt" of Sir John Byron, who was a Deputy-Lieutenant of
the county:

  1589.
                                                         £   _s._  _d._
  Paid for erecting a beacon                            20    0     0
   „    „  powder at Ormskirk for the trayninge          4    0     0
   „    „  two days trayninge of 300 soldiers           20    0     0
   „    „  18 rowles of matches                          0   10     8
   „   to  Robert Pilkington at two severall tymes for
             repayringe and kepinge the beacon at
             Ryvington Pyke                              5    7     4
   „   for 210 pounds of powder for the saide two dayes
             trayninge                                  14    0     0

Notwithstanding the wars and rumours of wars which were then so
common, and notwithstanding the religious excitement created by the
persecution, first of the Roman Catholics and then of the Puritans,
people seem to have prospered in the county. The towns and villages
greatly increased in number, size and importance, and the time of
Elizabeth especially witnessed the erection and rebuilding of some of
Lancashire's finest halls. The ancient domestic houses which had been
the residences of the old feudal lords were now remodelled or entirely
swept away, and the subdivision of the land brought out a new class of
proprietors, who, though not descended directly from the old owners of
the soil, soon took up the rank of gentry, and built for themselves
those smaller though not less interesting mansions which at one time
were found all over the county.

During the Tudor time were built such houses as Speke Hall, near
Liverpool; Ordsall Hall, near Manchester; Little Mitton, the home of
the Sherburns; Ince Hall, Cleworth Hall, Smithell's Hall, Lostock Hall,
Lydiate Hall, Rufford Hall, Belfield Hall, Rawcliffe, Rossal Grange,
and a host of others far too numerous to mention. Many of these date
back to very early days, and were originally built with a view to make
every man's house his castle; but with the end of the sixteenth century
other views began to obtain, and an Englishman, for the first time
probably in the country's history, commenced to feel that his house was
really his castle, and that it was defended for him by the strong arm
of the law.

The houses of the middle and lower classes were nearly always built of
wood and clay ("daub"); the richer people had houses which were usually
divided on the ground-floor into a common hall, a small withdrawing
room or parlour, and a kitchen, the upper stories being reached by wide
staircases, often with ornately carved oak banisters. The higher class
of houses or halls consisted of many chambers, and not infrequently
there was a private chapel, and the rooms were wainscoted. Many views
have been preserved of the exterior of most of our old halls (which
were highly picturesque), but of the interior and general domestic
arrangements we are left to glean such items as have been handed down
to us through the medium of inventories and kindred records. These
inventories, taken after the proving of wills, are often (where they
exist at all) meagre and incomplete, yet they furnish particulars which
we should look elsewhere for in vain. The inventory of the goods of Sir
Thomas Butler, of Bewsey (near Prescot), knight, taken in 1579, will
give some details of the contents of one of Lancashire's old houses.
The following are selected items:

  PLATE AND JEWELLERY.--Basin and ewer, silver engraved bowls, silver
  salts with covers, silver spoons, a crystal cross.

  LINEN, ETC.--Table-cloths, damask work, towels, napkins, flax
  sheets, bed-hangings, quilted and woollen blankets, mattresses,
  curtains of taffeta, curtains of darynx (a kind of damask made at
  Tournay), green silk coverlet, etc.

  FURNITURE, ETC.--Tables, chairs, stools, truckle beds, pair
  of playing tables, brass candlesticks, pewter in considerable
  quantities, and the usual kitchen and brewing apparatus.

  APPAREL.--Velvet hose, satin doublets, taffeta doublets, velvet
  breeches, riding-cloak lined with unshorn velvet, Spanish leather
  jerkins, a long gown of silk grogram (a silk material), velvet
  cloaks, black jersey stockings, a taffeta hat, a black felt hat.

  SUNDRIES.--Cross-bows, clock and bell, pictures of Christ and
  of the Queen's majesty, drinking glasses, "a sylver toth pyke,"
  armour, weapons, guns, corslets, "cote of plate," daggers,
  bucklers, "a black brydd and her cage, bought by Sir Thomas in
  London," "the honey and wax of certen hyves," an English Bible and
  other books (valued at £4), etc.

As a contrast to this house, furnished with all the luxuries of the
time, take the inventory of one John Rodes, a husbandman fairly
well-to-do, who lived at Inchfield, near Todmorden. By his will, which
was dated November, 1564, he left his goods to his children, together
with £5 apiece; his wains, carts and implements were also to go to his
children; he left over £25 in legacies, and he held a lease of a farm
for an unexpired term of years; yet, besides his horses and cows, hay
and corn, and other farm stock, all his goods consisted of:

  Bedding, £4 6s. 8d. (valued at); pans, £2 0s. 10d.; pots, 13s.
  4d.; pewter, 3s. 4d.; a tub, 2d.; "in husslements" (odds and ends)
  belonging to the household, and in iron gear, 10s.

This was no doubt a fair sample of the contents of the house of a
labouring farmer in these times; his household furniture was not
worth £10. In some of the moorland districts sheep were kept in large
quantities, and in some houses websters' looms were common enough
pieces of furniture, as many of the clothes worn were now home-made,
which also accounts for the presence of spinning-wheels and wool-cards.
In many of the wills of this period, even where no inventory has
been preserved, the bequests are often very numerous and defined, and
consist of every imaginable kind of household goods, so that from
them we are enabled to get a glimpse at the contents of the houses of
the testators. Articles of plate, amongst the wealthier classes, were
much prized, and often made the subject of special bequests, as was
frequently the case with gold rings and other jewellery. There often
occur such items as silver goblets, parcel-gilt goblets, salt-cellars
with and without covers, silver spoons "with the image of the twelve
apostles" and the like; and hanging in the hall were nearly always old
swords, old calverts, pistols, cross-bows and quivers with arrows, and
not infrequently more or less complete suits of armour.

From the very rare mention of books in either the wills or inventories,
it is evident that very few were among the possessions of the
sixteenth-century Lancashire householders. In the few instances where
books are named, they are referred to in a manner showing that they
were considered valuable and rare. The Rev. Richard Jones, Rector of
Bury, by his will, dated June 15, 1568, directed that his "four bokes
of Crysostum be chened [chained] in the churche, there to remayne for
ever." Another testator, in 1574,[120] left "one litle bible," which
he enjoined his son to see used every Sabbath day when there were no
sermons nor sacraments; and during the week-day this precious volume
was to be lent to his "poorest kinsfolk." Pictures were also very
uncommon, and those which adorned the walls of the rich were nearly
always sacred subjects; one article of furniture appears in nearly
every case--the old oak chest; sometimes it is simply called "a chist,"
at other times the "carven oak chest," and it was used invariably as a
store place for sheets and linen.

The representation of Lancashire in Parliament was slightly increased
in 1559 by the addition of two members--one for Clitheroe and another
for Newton-in-the-Willows; the latter was not a borough even by
prescriptive right, and the selection of its representative rested
almost exclusively with the lord of the manor as late as 1797, when a
contested election resulted in a poll of only 66 votes. Except some
slight alterations during the Commonwealth, the representation of
the county remained unchanged until the passing of the Reform Act in
1832. As illustrating the everyday life in Lancashire in the time of
Elizabeth, the following list of prices and wages is interesting. It
is taken from the steward's accounts of the Shuttleworths, of Gawthorp
Hall (near Burnley).

  PROVISIONS.--A salt salmon, a fresh salmon, a salt fish and two
  salt eels, 2s.; red herring and a hundred sprats, 1s.; a quart of
  vinegar, 4d.; a quart of wine, 6d.; a pound of figs, 4d.; a quarter
  of veal, 12d.; a quarter of mutton, 1s. 6d.; 10¾ gallons of claret
  wine, 14s. 4d.; for three quarters of sack, 2s.; five chickens,
  6d.; a pound of pepper, 4s.; thirty-two snipes, 22d.; four lapwings
  and two plovers, 8d.; half a fat lamb, 2s. 6d.; three geese, 15d.;
  half a peck of pears, 6d.; white wine, 2s. a gallon; ten woodcocks,
  22d.; fine couple of rabbits, 3s. 9d.; a peck of cockles, 4d.; a
  pike and a bream, 3s. 8d.; two dozen dace and a perch, 5d.; a peck
  of apples, 2s. 4d.; a peck of oysters, 6d.; a fat pig, 2s.; five
  eggs, 1d.; eight gosling, 20d.; a stone of butter, 3s. 4d.

  WAGES.--A smith, per day, 6d.; a day's mowing, 6d.; for ditching,
  4d. a rood; working in the delph (stone quarry) six days, 15d.; for
  blending and spinning 5½ stone of wool, 13s. 9d.; for weaving and
  colouring part of the said wool, 3s. 8d.; for fulling and dressing
  the said cloth, 4s. 10d.; soleing a pair of shoes, 5d.; spinning
  wool for blankets, 2s. a stone; weaving pieces of blankets, ¾d.
  a yard; whitewashing, 2d. to 4d. a day; a stonemason, 4d. a day;
  weaving 24 yards of canvas, 22d.

  SUNDRIES.--A load of wheat, 10s.; a cow, 26s.; twinters (calves two
  winters old), 22s.; an ox, £2 8s.; 100 bricks, 1s.; two sheepskins
  for arrow-case, 10d.; a quire of paper, 4d.; six chaldrons (of 36
  bushels each) of sea coal[121] at the ship, £4 16s.; for bringing
  the same to the house, 12s.; and for watching them one night, 1s.;
  three pairs of shoes for the children, 3s. 10d.

In considering the rate of wages, it must be borne in mind that at this
period the labourer often had board as well as wages.

As bearing upon the social condition of the people, it may be noted
that at the Herald's visitation of Lancashire in 1533 only forty-seven
families entered their descent, and even these furnished very meagre
genealogical particulars. This may in a great measure be accounted for
by the fact that the visitation was made at a time when the King was
struggling with the Pope for religious supremacy, and that the growing
feeling in favour of the Reformers had not yet made much progress in
this county, and consequently the Herald, though armed with a royal
warrant, was received with coldness, some families point-blank refusing
even to speak with him, whilst others, having granted an audience,
dismissed him "with the utmost rudeness."[122] The Herald appears to
have taken his revenge in full, and recorded of one well-known knight
(Sir Richard Houghton) that he "hath putt away his lady and wife, and
kepeth a concobyne in his house"; and he adds, "he gave me nothing
nor made me no good chere, but gave me proude woordes"; of another
gentleman (Robert Holt of Stubley) he reported "that he married an olde
woman, by whom he hedd no yssue, & therefore he wold not have her name
entered"; as for Sir John Townley of Townley, near Burnley, he "sogt
hym all day rydinge in the wylde countrey, & his reward was ijˢ of wʰ
the guyde hedde the most p'te," and he winds up with, "I hed as evill
a jorney as evʳ I hedd"; in addition to all this, Sir John refused to
tell him the name of his first wife, and asserted that there were no
gentlemen in Lancashire but Lord Derby and Lord Monteagle.

The next visitation was in 1567, when Elizabeth had been nearly ten
years on the throne, and the Roman Catholics and Puritans in this
county had become specially marked for persecution (see Chapter IX.);
notwithstanding this, 129 families entered their pedigrees, and most
of them claimed the right to bear arms. The marked increase between
1533 and 1567 bears evidence to the growing wealth and importance of
Lancashire. Arising from a desire to add "field to field" and found
county families, a custom had obtained a footing in Lancashire at this
time to marry children when of tender age. Many examples might be
quoted to illustrate this, but one will suffice. In 1562 two sisters,
Elizabeth and Anne, co-heiresses of Ralph Belfield, of Clegg Hall,
were married, at Middleton Church, respectively to Alexander Barlow
of Barlow and Richard Leigh of Highleigh; twenty-two years afterwards
both the couples applied for divorce, Barlow testifying that he did
not remember any marriage having taken place, and Anne Leigh, _née_
Belfield, declaring that at the time of her marriage she was only seven
years old, and that after it was celebrated she went to live with
her grandmother, whilst her youthful husband was sent to Shrewsbury
School, and whilst he was there she sent him a "gilt book," and he
sent her a knife, which she wore at her girdle: both marriages were
dissolved.[123] There were, however, many other instances where divorce
was neither obtained nor applied for.

The close of the Tudor age found Lancashire in a very different state
to that which marked its advent. Commerce with other countries across
the seas was beginning to show effects, and the wool and other products
of the county found a ready market. The population had greatly
increased, yet still there was no large town in the modern sense of the
word, and the manufactures of the day were mostly carried on in the
houses of the manufacturers, and the new fabrics composed of silk and
wool, introduced by the Flemish exiles at Norwich, had not yet been
added to any great extent to the trade of this district.

The social position was everywhere improved: a better class of domestic
architecture had supplanted the old order, and now the people lived in
fairly comfortable houses, built frequently of stone or brick, which,
though internally not furnished with the luxurious appliances of a
nineteenth-century villa, were yet princely palaces compared with the
wretched dwelling-places which had preceded them.

The glorious literature which distinguished the reign of the Virgin
Queen, and which embraced alike history, poetry, and the drama, must
have had some effect upon the Lancashire people, although as yet we
find no printing-press in any of her towns.

[Illustration]


[Footnote 104: Vol. xxxvii.]

[Footnote 105: _To fettle_ is an old Lancashire word.]

[Footnote 106: Harl. MSS., Cod. 3526. See Harland's "Ballads and Songs
of Lancashire."]

[Footnote 107: "Cottons" is probably a corruption of "coatings."]

[Footnote 108: Market stede Lane, Deansgate, Mylne Gate, Wething Greve,
Hanging Ditch, Fenell Street, Smythy Door, and St. Mary's Gate, are all
named in the Court Leet Records 1552-54.]

[Footnote 109: From 1522 to 1686, and from 1731 to 1846. The whole have
been printed by order of the Corporation, and edited by J. P. Earwaker,
Esq., F.S.A.]

[Footnote 110: Act passed in 1570 requiring persons to wear woollen
caps, made in England, on Sundays.]

[Footnote 111: Speed's Plan.]

[Footnote 112: Picton's "Liverpool Municipal Records."]

[Footnote 113: Corporation Records.]

[Footnote 114: Beamont's "Annals of Warrington."]

[Footnote 115: Fishwick's "History of Rochdale," p. 44.]

[Footnote 116: Fishwick's "Lancashire in the Time of Elizabeth" (Royal
Historical Society, vii. 191).]

[Footnote 117: Pleadings (Philip and Mary), Record Office.]

[Footnote 118: State Papers, Dom. Ser., cclxiii.]

[Footnote 119: _Chetham Soc._, xlix.]

[Footnote 120: Richard Entwysle of Foxholes. (See "History of
Rochdale," p. 408.)]

[Footnote 121: Local coal of very inferior quality appears to also have
been used. Such entries occur as "four loodes of cole at Hilton delve,
4s.," but this was probably only the cost of the carriage, as the coal
would belong to the Shuttleworths, and be got in the quarry.]

[Footnote 122: "Bibliotheca Heraldica," p. 582.]

[Footnote 123: See "History of Rochdale," p. 352.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER VIII.

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.


Allusion has been already made to the superstitious side of the
character of the Lancashire people; their belief in omens, charms,
witchcraft and demoniac possessions lingered long. This is a fitting
place to tell the tale of the "Lancashire Witches" and the so-called
"demoniac possessions."

The belief that demons or evil spirits took possession of human beings
is of very great antiquity, and the popular mind had firmly taken hold
of this; whenever a case of this kind occurred, the priest was called
in to exorcise the devil, and the Puritan divines were not slow in
asserting that if a Roman Catholic could perform a miracle, they at
least could turn out an evil spirit, and thus the superstition appears
to have been rather fostered than rebuked. One of these demoniac
cases[124] took place at an old half-timbered house called Cleworth
Hall[125] (in the parish of Leigh), where there lived Nicholas, the
eldest son of Edmund Starkie of Huntroyd (near Burnley); he had issue
a son John and a daughter Ann, who, with five others, were said to have
become "possessed," when John Darrell was called in to exorcise the
evil spirit. This Darrell was a graduate of one of the Universities,
and was subsequently domestic chaplain to Archbishop Whitgift, and
Rector of St. Mary's, Nottingham.

An account of this singular instance of ignorance and credulity was
written by Darrell and secretly printed in 1600. The various symptoms
described are not incompatible with many diseases now known to the
medical profession, and need not be described; to cure the patients,
however, a conjurer of the name of Hartley was called in, who for his
services was to receive 40s. a year and bed and board; but this did not
satisfy him long, and on being refused additional pay, in the shape of
a house and the land it stood on, he so affected the possessed ones
that (as Darrell puts it) they "sent forth such a strange supernatural
and fearful noyse and loud whupping as the like was neuer hard at
Cleworth nor in England."

Mr. Starkie was naturally not satisfied with the treatment, and having
applied to a Manchester physician in vain, he went to the famous Dr.
Dee, then Warden of Manchester, who advised him to consult "some godly
preachers" and get them to call a public or private fast day. The
eldest son's vagaries were certainly peculiar: he would at times act
like a madman or a mad dog, and he and his sisters, we are told (by
Darrell), would howl and bark and join in a chorus "like a ring of five
bells." The whole affair was doubtless a fraud, but, nevertheless,
it shows in a marked degree the dense ignorance even of some of the
well-to-do classes at that time: for we find that Mr. Starkie, after
his futile appeal to the Manchester physician, Dr. Dee, and others,
could only resort to the justices of the peace, who in their wisdom
sent Hartley to the Lancaster assizes, where he was in solemn manner
tried, condemned and hanged, not for the evident imposition and fraud,
but for witchcraft, the strongest evidence against him being that he
had on several occasions "drawn magic circles." But perhaps the most
curious circumstance about the case is that at his execution the rope
broke, whereupon, probably thinking to save his neck, he confessed that
he was guilty; the plea, however, failed, and he was quietly hung up a
second time. After Hartley's execution, John Darrell and the pastor of
Calke, in Derbyshire, were called to Cleworth (in 1596), and they with
thirty others spent a day in fasting and prayer, the result being (so
we are told) that the whole seven were dispossessed, the devil coming
out of their mouths in various forms, as a crow's head, a hedgehog, a
toad, etc.

This and other impostures practised by Darrell and his associates led
to a prolonged controversy, in which several pamphlets were printed
in London, the author of one of them being Samuel Harsnett, who was
afterwards Archbishop of York. Not very long after this, King James
issued his "Dæmonologie," in which he advocated the putting to death of
all witches.

In Pendle Forest, in the parish of Whalley, in a small cottage near
Malkin Tower, lived in the beginning of the century a woman known as
"Old Demdike," and her daughter; the mother's real name was Elizabeth
Southerns, her daughter was Elizabeth Device _alias_ young Demdike.
Old Demdike, who was over eighty years of age, was supposed to have
made her house into a meeting-place for all the witches in the
neighbourhood, and this led to a score of suspected persons (most of
them women) being arrested and tried at Lancaster. Eight of these
were known as the Witches of Samlesbury, the rest being associated
with Pendle Forest. This trial created so much interest in the county
that Thomas Potts, the clerk of the court, was ordered by the judges
to collect and publish the particulars of the case. From this scarce
book[126] may be obtained the full details of this notorious trial;
for our present purpose a few particulars must suffice. The wretched
old crone, Elizabeth Southerns, died in prison before the trial took
place, having first made a confession to the effect that the devil had
twenty years before appeared to her, and to him she had sold her soul,
and had thus obtained her power; she also described the well-known
method of taking away a man's life by means of the insertion of pins
into a "picture of clay like unto the shape of the person" upon whom
the revenge was sought. Anne Whittle, _alias_ Chattox, before the
assizes not only admitted that she was a witch, but gave the names
of many persons whom she had "bewitched to death," and several of
the others made similar confessions. It seems somewhat strange that
these prisoners should so easily be led to condemn themselves, and the
reason may be either that they expected by so doing to escape capital
punishment, or, what is equally likely, that they, having so long lived
by the profession of witchcraft, really did imagine that they had the
power they claimed to possess.

The whole trial appears to have partaken far more of the nature of
persecution than an attempt to ascertain the truth. The leader of this
persecution was Roger Nowell, of Read Hall, who, according to the clerk
of the court, was "one of his Majesty's Justices in these parts, a very
religious, honest gentleman, painful in the service of his country."
Another agent against the Samlesbury prisoners was a priest called
Thompson, who tutored the principal witness, Grace Sowerbutts, a girl
of fourteen years of age, to accuse three of the prisoners of having
bewitched her. To strengthen the evidence for the prosecution, Roger
Nowell produced the deposition taken before him at his house, and it
appears that he did not scruple to make the sons and daughters condemn
their parents, and thus make them instruments for their destruction.

On the indictment against Anne Whittle being read, she pleaded not
guilty, whereupon "Mr. Nowell, the best instructed of any man of all
these particular poyntes of evidence against her and her fellows,"
requested that the prisoner's own confession made before him should
now be "published against her," and this was forthwith done. Of the
character of the evidence given by the various witnesses, the following
are samples: Anne Whittle, to spite the wife of one John Moore, "called
for her Deuill _Fancie_ and bad him goe bite a browne cow of Moore's
by the head and make the cow goe madde; and the Deuill then in the
likenesse of a brown dogge went to the said cow and bit her, which
cow went madde accordingly and died within six weekes." Alice Chattox
"at a buriall at the new church in Pendle did take three scalpes of
people which had been buried, and then cast them out of a grave, and
took eight teeth out of the said scalpes," which were afterwards used
for purposes of witchcraft. They were not only accused of causing the
deaths of various people and cattle by charms, but also of being the
means of bringing about evil of every description. In the case of
Elizabeth Device (the daughter of old Demdike), her own child, nine
years of age, was "set upon the table in the presence of the whole
court," and there declared that she knew her mother to be a witch, for
she had several times seen her spirit in the shape of a brown dog come
to her at her house.

Another extraordinary piece of evidence was that of James Device, a son
of young Demdyke's, who first put himself out of court as a creditable
witness by confessing that he had recently stolen a sheep, and then
swore that he had seen a number of witches at his grandmother's house,
who first partook of the stolen mutton and then went out of doors,
where they "were gotten on horsebacke, like unto foales, some one
colour, some of another, and Preston's wife was the last, and when shee
got on horsebacke they all presently vanished out of sight."

Amongst the witches was one Alice Nutter, of the Forest of Pendle, whom
Potts describes as "a rich woman" with "a great estate and children of
good hope, and in the opinion of the world of good temper, free from
envy or malice," and he adds, "Whether by the means of the rest of the
witches or some unfortunate occasion shee was drawne to fall to this
wicked course of life I know not; but hither she is now come to receive
her triall both for murder and many other vile and damnable practices."
The witnesses against this prisoner were the other accused and members
of their families only.

At the conclusion of the trial, Alice Whittle, Elizabeth Device, Anne
Redferne, Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewet, John Bulcock, Jane Bulcock,
Aliza Device and Isabel Robey were found guilty and sentenced to be
hanged, which sentence was duly carried out. Margaret Pearson was
ordered to stand in the pillory in open market at Clitheroe, Padiham,
Whalley and Lancaster, on four market days; the other prisoners were
acquitted.

But this did not stamp out the Lancashire witches, for so long as the
people continued to believe in their supernatural powers, so long would
the supply be equal to the demand. In 1633 another batch of seventeen
witches of Pendle were commanded to take their trial at Lancaster
assizes, and, singularly enough, one of the convicting justices was the
John Starkie who in 1596 was himself the subject of demoniac possession
(see p. 114).

The chief witness in this case was a stonemason, who on oath declared
that he had seen two greyhounds, with which he tried to hunt a hare;
but they refused to run, and on his beating them, they immediately
became transformed, one into Dickonson's wife, and the other into a
little boy; the former put a kind of bridle on the head of the latter,
and he became a white horse, upon which she jumped, and, placing the
witness before her, she rode away with him to a place called Hoarstones
(in Whalley), which was about a quarter of a mile off, where he found
a number of persons coming, all riding on "horses of several colours."
After this interesting congregation had feasted in the house, they
adjourned to the barn, where he saw six of them kneeling and pulling
at six ropes fastened to the roof, "at or with which pulling came
flesh smoakeinge, butter in lumps, and milk." Whilst they were thus
exercised they "made such foule faces that feared him, so that he was
glad to steale out and run home." Margaret Johnson, though not one of
the accused, confessed that she had been at a meeting at Hoarstones,
where there were present between thirty and forty witches; she also
said that "men witches usually have women spirits, and women witches
men spirits," and that Good Friday was the "constant day for a yearly
meeting of witches." All these prisoners were found guilty by the jury,
but the judge delayed the execution of the sentence, and the matter in
the meantime coming to the ears of the King, four of the convicted were
sent up to London to be examined by the royal physicians and surgeons,
and ultimately were brought before the King himself. The result
of all this was an acquittal of the lot. It was upon this case of
witch-finding that Heywood and Broome founded their play of "The Late
Lancashire Witches," London, 1634, and Mother Demdike is one of the
characters in Shadwell's "Lancaster Witches," a comedy, London, 1682.
Harrison Ainsworth's novel, "The Lancashire Witches," has the same
subject. After this, the "profession" of witchcraft appears to have
gradually died out, but the demoniac possession was harder to slay,
as the exorcising of these spirits was a power highly valued alike by
Roman Catholic priest and Puritan divine. At Downham, near Clitheroe,
a case was reported, with the usual "godly minister" as voucher[127]
again, in 1696, and the Vicar of Walton-on-the Hill furnished an
account of another case which had taken place about half a century
earlier, and in which the priest at Madame Westby's (of Mowbrick in
Kirkham) and the Rector of Croston having failed to effect a cure, the
possessed one was sent to Dr. Sylvester, of Liverpool, who physicked
the "devil out of him."

Towards the end of the century several other cases are on record
where the priest is said to have exorcised the spirit. But the most
famous instance of this class of deceptions was what is known as the
"Surey demoniac," from its hero having lived at Surey, in the parish
of Whalley. The boy who was possessed was one Richard Dugdale, aged
nineteen, the son of a gardener, and he apparently had all the symptoms
required for the occasion, and acted the part required of him to
perfection. Amongst other things he was seen to vomit stones, silver
and gold curtain rings; he could make himself "as light as a feather
bouster," or as "heavy as a load of corn"; he had ventriloquial powers,
and could speak out of the earth, and all these were accompanied with
the more violent signs, such as convulsions, contortions, shoutings,
and the like. The curious part of this is the ready credence which was
given to it. Amongst those who subscribed their names to the account of
this youth's performances, and asserted their opinions that the whole
was true, and that this was a genuine case of diabolical possession,
which was beyond the reach of the medical man, and could only be dealt
with by prayer and fasting, were: the minister of Toxteth Chapel, near
Liverpool; Samuel Angier, minister of Denton; Richard Frankland,
M.A., sometime Vice-President of the Presbyterian College of Durham;
Thomas Jolly, ejected minister of Altham; Henry Pendlebury, minister
of Holcombe Chapel; Nathaniel Heywood, the ejected Vicar of Ormskirk;
and Dr. Robert Whittaker, of Burnley; and besides these over thirty
people gave evidence, many of them on oath, as to the truth of the
details furnished before Hugh, Lord Willoughby, and Ralph Egerton,
Esq., two justices of the peace. The first pamphlet, giving an account
of "Satan's Strange and Dreadful Actings in and about the Body of
Richard Dugdale," was published in London in 1697, and it called forth
replies and counter-replies, the Rev. Thomas Jolly being one of the
writers in support of the demoniac; and the Rev. Zachary Taylor, Vicar
of Croston, one of those who believed the whole affair a "fanatical
imposture."[128] For long years after this the belief in the efficacy
of certain "charms," as well as the tales of the fortune-telling
gipsies, lingered in the county, and even yet occasionally, on pulling
down old barns and farmhouses, there are found hidden away amongst
the rafters small boxes containing charms written on paper in a
peculiar cipher, mixed up with signs of the planets, etc., the whole
purporting to be all-powerful to drive away all evil spirits from the
building;[129] these writings are probably not more than 150 years old.

The visit of James I. to Lancashire cannot be passed over, as it was
in consequence of this visit that the King issued the famous "Book of
Sports," which created such indignation in the minds of some of his
subjects. Early in August, 1617, the King, on his return from Carlisle,
reached Hornby Castle, the seat of Lord Monteagle, from whence he went
to Ashton Hall, the home of Lord Gerard, and after staying there one
night he went on to Myerscough Lodge, the seat of Edward Tyldesley,
Esq. Here, on August 12, Sir Richard Hoghton, with a retinue of
gentlemen, went to meet the King, who arrived in his coach, and having
had pointed out to him where the forest began, his Majesty commenced
to hunt, and during the day he killed a buck. On the following day
the King again hunted in Myerscough Forest, and succeeded in slaying
five bucks, after which he made a speech to the gentlemen present on
the subject of "pipeing and honest recreation." On the 14th the town
of Preston was in a high state of excitement, preparing for the royal
visitor, and the good old town was full of strangers, who had come
to welcome King James. On the 15th the King arrived at Preston, and
proceeded to the cross in the market-place, where the Recorder made a
speech and the Corporation presented to his Majesty "a bowle." Perhaps
the good Prestonians were animated with a better spirit than that which
stirred the Mayor of Chester on a similar occasion, when he exclaimed:

  A cupp with gold unto your grace I'll bringe,
  In hope to us you'll give a better thinge;
  For Ile be sworne itt did not goe near our heart
  When from so manie gold angells wee did parte.[130]

The Corporation then feasted the King at the Guildhall, probably
at mid-day, as immediately afterwards the royal party repaired to
Myerscough, where another stag was killed. The next day James I. stayed
at Hoghton, where Sir Richard had invited a great company to meet
him. Before dinner, notwithstanding the great heat of the day, they
went out hunting, and after dinner (about four p.m.) the King went to
look at the alum-mines which his host had recently opened. After an
hour thus spent, they returned to the forest, and had varied fortune
until evening, when they returned to a late supper. The following
day was spent at Hoghton; there was no hunting. The Bishop of Chester
preached before the King, and after dinner there was a rushbearing
and piping in the middle court. This form of Lancashire wakes has
often been described. This was probably a simple rush-cart, with its
accompanying morris-dancers, etc., got up to entertain the King.
In the evening there was a mask, in which many "noblemen, knights,
gentlemen, and courtiers" took part; there were also some speeches
and dancing, including "The Huckler," "Tom Bedlo and the Cowp Justice
of Peace."[131] On this day a petition of the Lancashire people was
presented to the King. In this it was represented that "they were
debarred from lawful recreations upon Sunday after evening prayers, and
upon holy days, and praying that the restriction imposed in the late
reign might be withdrawn."

In May, 1618, King James issued a proclamation, in which he refers to
his progress through Lancashire, where he had "found it necessary to
rebuke some Puritans and precise people." These people, he thought,
were Jewishly inclined, because they affected to call Sunday the
Sabbath day. And the proclamation ends by declaring that his pleasure
was that in Lancashire, after the end of Divine service, the people
were not to be let or hindered or discouraged from any lawful
recreation, such as dancing, either men or women, archery, leaping,
vaulting, May games, Whitsun ales, morris-dancers, maypoles, or other
sports. Those recusants and others who did not attend Divine service
were, however, to be debarred from the sports. The latter clause was,
no doubt, introduced to please the Bishops and the clergy, who were
highly indignant at the proclamation itself. This order led to the
issue in 1618 of "The Book of Sports." Charles I. made a somewhat
similar order as to the due observance of wakes and fêtes on the
anniversary days of the dedication of churches. From Hoghton the
King went to stay with the Earl of Derby at Lathom House, from thence
proceeding to Bewsey Hall, the seat of Thomas Ireland, Esq.

During his visit he knighted William Massy, Robert Bindloes, Gilbert
Clifton, John Talbot, Gilbert Ireland, and Edward Olbaldeston.
Frederick, the son-in-law of James, was crowned King of Bohemia in
October, 1619, but after a very brief tenure he was dethroned in 1620,
and after the battle of Prague fled to Holland. The Puritan party in
this county had strong sympathy with the ejected "winter-king" as he
was styled, and James seized the opportunity to urge Parliament to
grant him two subsidies, one involving an assessment of 4s. in the
pound on land, and 2s. 8d. on goods and chattels; and when the new
Parliament met in 1624 a grant of £300,000 was made to recover the
palatinate lost by Frederick. For the war with the Roman Catholic
Powers which followed the Puritans were responsible.

Half the army raised for this service perished from sickness, and
altogether the result was disastrous; and just when the feeling of
discontent was beginning to manifest itself, the King died.

Charles I. was not slow to follow in the steps of his father in his
manner of rule: subsidy followed subsidy, sometimes with the authority
of Parliament, and sometimes without. And thus came about the contest
between the King and the Commons, which led to the attempt to rule
England without a Parliament. In 1635 the attempt was made to levy the
tax known as Ship-money, for the equipment of a naval force. Humphrey
Chetham was at that time High Sheriff of Lancashire, and to him was
sent the writ for the collection within the county; on the back of this
writ he wrote: "If you shall tax & assesse men according [to] their
estate, then Liverpool, being poore and now goes as it were a beginge,
must pay very little: letters patent are now forth for the same
towne."[132] The whole county was assessed at £475, of which Liverpool
had to find £15. In the same tax for 1636, Lancashire was put down to
find one ship of 400 tons burden, 160 men, and £1,000; towards this,
Preston was to raise £40, Lancaster £30, Liverpool £25, Wigan £50,
Clitheroe and Newton £7 10s. each. Comparing these figures with some
of those for the Yorkshire towns, it would appear that in this county
there was no borough as rich as either Hull, which paid £140, or Leeds,
which was called on for £200. In this same year (1636) Lancashire was
ordered to find 420 foot soldiers and 50 dragoons.

After eleven years' interval a Parliament was again summoned to meet,
on April 13, 1640, which only sat for three weeks; but on November
3 following the Long Parliament was convened, when Lancashire was
represented for the county by Ralph Ashton (Parliamentarian) and
Roger Kirby (Royalist); Lancaster, John Harrison and Thomas Fanshaw
(both Royalists); Preston, Richard Shuttleworth and Thomas Standish
(both Parliamentarians); Newton, Peter Leigh and Sir Roger Palmer
(Royalists); Wigan, Orlando Bridgeman (Royalist) and Alexander Rigby
(Parliamentarian); Clitheroe, Ralph Ashton and Richard Shuttleworth
(both Parliamentarians); Liverpool, John Moore (Parliamentarian) and
Sir Richard Wynn, Bart. (Royalist). If its members of Parliament
represented the county, parties here must have been equally divided, as
there were seven Parliamentarians and seven Royalists.

Amongst the first enactments of this Parliament which concerned this
county was the abolition of the Duchy Court of Star Chamber and the
repeal of the forest laws. The knights, squires, merchants, gentlemen
and freeholders of Lancashire at this time presented a petition to
Parliament representing that undue influence had been brought to bear
at the election of knights of the shire, and they prayed that those who
had been instrumental in bringing on arbitrary government should be
dismissed from office. The next step was taken in 1641, when Parliament
resolved to take command of the militia, and with this in view Lord
Strange was removed from his office of Lord-Lieutenant of the county
and Lord Wharton put in his place; at the same time a considerable
number of justices of the peace known not to be well affected to
the Parliament were struck off the commission and others appointed
in their stead; and Mr. Ashton, Mr. Shuttleworth, Mr. Rigby and Mr.
Moore, members of Parliament (all Parliamentarians), were despatched to
Lancashire to see that the ordinance of the militia was put into force.
We now find ourselves on the eve of those domestic struggles which ever
since have been known as the Civil Wars, and in which Lancashire was
destined to play no small part. At this time most of the old castles
and fortresses had long ago been allowed to fall into disuse and ruin,
but there still remained tenable the castles at Lancaster, Clitheroe,
Greenhaugh and Liverpool, and the smaller fortified houses of Thurland,
Hoghton, Latham and Greenhaugh, all of which were utilized to the
utmost. In 1641 the revolt in Ireland was causing considerable anxiety
in the minds of the Lancashire people, insomuch that they entreated
Parliament to appoint a fleet of small ships to guard their coast, to
prevent the Papists giving intelligence to the rebels, and to act as a
defence for the "petitioners and other Protestants who inhabited the
maritime parts opposite to Ireland."

The breach between the King and his Parliament gradually became
widened, and early in 1642 Charles removed his Court to York, where he
received a petition from Lancashire signed by 64 knights, 55 divines,
740 gentlemen, and about 7,000 freeholders, in which they express their
satisfaction that the measures taken by the King had "weakened the
hopes of the sacrilegious devourers of the churches patrimonie, and
provided against all Popish impieties and idolatries and the growing
danger of Anabaptists, Brownists, and other novellists," and then
proceed to say that there is one thing which "sads our hearts," which
is "the distance and misunderstanding between Your Majesty and Your
Parliament."

To check the strong party of Royalists in the county, orders were
issued to levy fines on the estates of the so-called "malignants," and
other means adopted to, if possible, render them powerless when the
struggle actually began. These precautions, however, were taken too
late to be really effective.

On January 20, 1642, the King made a last attempt to come to terms
with the House of Commons, and failing to arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion, Parliament ceased to seek for the royal assent to their
Bills, and by an "ordinance" of their own took the entire control
of the militia. In the meantime the King went to Yorkshire, but
was refused admission to Hull. Both parties were now making active
preparation for an appeal to arms, and when the King on June 2
indignantly refused to hand over all his powers to Parliament and
become a King in name only, the negotiations between the two came to an
end, and practically the Civil War began. On August 22, 1642, Charles
reared his standard on the walls of Nottingham Castle, and his herald
made the proclamation of war. Parliament now appealed to the King to
lower his standard, but it was of no avail, and on September 9 the
Commons published a declaration setting forth their view of the causes
of the war.

The great civil strife which followed was not one war, but many wars.
In Lancashire these were for the most part carried on by officers
and troops raised in the various districts, assisted sometimes by the
local militia; sometimes they besieged a town, and at other times only
attacked a private house, but in every case the issue was one and the
same--the King or the Parliament. Some time before actual war was
declared at Nottingham and London, the troubles had begun in Lancashire.

The first outburst appears to have taken place at Preston, on June 20,
1642, when Sir John Girlington, the High Sheriff of the county, had
convened a meeting at which to read the King's declarations and his
answers to the Lancashire petition. The number of people attending
this meeting was so great that it was adjourned to Preston Moor (just
outside the town), and amongst those present were Lord Strange, Lord
Molineux, Sir George Middleton, and Sir Edward Fitton. The meeting
broke up in confusion; the High Sheriff and some 400 others rode up and
down the moor crying, "For the King, for the King!" whilst the greater
number rallied round the opposition party, and remained to pray for the
uniting of King and Parliament.

From a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Commons, dated
June 27, 1642, and signed by Ralph Ashton, John Moore, and Alexander
Rigby, we learn that the High Sheriff had surprised the garrison at
Preston and carried away all the powder in the magazine there, and
that Lord Strange had taken away thirty barrels of powder and a great
quantity of matches from Liverpool, and had also, with many armed
forces, "repaired to a towne called Bury, about 20 miles distant
from his own house."[133] These proceedings alarmed the people of
Manchester, who at once took up arms, and many volunteers from the
surrounding districts were mustered and trained. These volunteers,
together with the militia, numbered some 7,000 men, who were said to
be well furnished with muskets and pikes, and when Alexander Rigby
witnessed these training, they were dismissed with shouts of "For the
King and Parliament!"

Whilst these warlike preparations were proceeding, it appears
incredible that Lord Strange, with Thomas Tyldesley, of Myerscough, and
a small retinue, should have paid a visit to Manchester; yet such was
the case, the ostensible reason of this being to attend a banquet (on
July 15)[134] in the house of Mr. Alexander Green, who lived in that
town.

During the dinner, Captains John Holcroft and Thomas Birch, who were
active Parliamentarians, entered the town with an armed force, and beat
to arms. Lord Strange, with his small band of followers, turned out,
and a riot ensued, in which a man called Richard Perceval, a weaver of
Levenshulme, was killed. This is said to have been the first blood shed
in Lancashire in these wars, but strictly speaking the great struggle
had not yet commenced. After this, the people barricaded the chief
approaches to the town with gates and earthworks, holding themselves
ready to withstand an invading force. At the same time Lord Strange
was busy mustering men in the royal cause on the moors near Bury,
Ormskirk and Preston, in consequence of which he was deprived of his
Lord-Lieutenancy of Chester and North Wales, and subsequently denounced
as a rebel guilty of high treason. Amongst the King's supporters, none
were more zealous than the members of those old Lancashire families who
had, on account of their adherence to the Roman Catholic religion, been
deprived of the right to bear arms.

Manchester, although it may have had within its boundaries many stanch
Royalists, was undoubtedly at this time an important stronghold of the
rebels, and it was the first place in Lancashire which Lord Strange
received instructions from the King to recover.

Manchester was ready for the attack, the town having been fortified in
a rough-and-ready way.[135] On the night of Saturday, September 24,
1642, Lord Strange, accompanied by Lord Rivers, Sir Gilbert Gerrard,
Lord Molyneux, Sir John Girlington, and others, with some 4,000 foot,
200 dragoons, and 100 light horse, marched to Manchester; they had also
with them six or seven cannon, which were placed so as to rake the
centre of Deansgate and on the lower end of the old Salford Bridge.
The main body of the Royalists were stationed on the south side of
the river, in the grounds of Sir Edward Mosley. On the Sunday, in the
middle of sermon, people were called out of church to witness several
"hot skirmishes," which continued to break out during all that day
and on the Monday, when the siege really commenced, and continued
during the whole week, and for all that time (if we must credit the
chronicler) the artillery kept up a continual fire upon the town, yet
did "little or no harm," save "killing one which stood gazing on the
top of a stile." During this siege, Lord Strange's father died, and he
then became Lord Derby. The command of the forces inside Manchester was
given to Captain Bradshaw and Captain Radcliffe, who were assisted by
Lieutenant-Colonel Rosworm; the inhabitants generally are said to have
helped the soldiers, whilst some of the gentlemen were engaged night
and day in making bullets. We are also told that the soldiers each day
had prayers and singing of psalms at the street ends.

During the siege several attempts were made to force an entrance into
the town; the troops in Salford made a vigorous attack on the old
bridge, but were repulsed by Lieutenant-Colonel Rosworm, who maintained
the post with thirty musketeers; another attack was directed against
the head of Market Street Lane, but with no success. On the evening
of the 27th Lord Strange sent a message to the townspeople, in which
he offered to retire his troops if Manchester would give up its arms,
and allow his force to march through the town, and give him £1,000
in money. To this a reply was sent to the effect that they were not
conscious of any act committed by them which should "in the least kind
divest" them of the "Royal protection, nor of any disobedience of his
Majestie's lawfull commands;" they expressed their wonder that Lord
Strange should come to them in this hostile manner to take away their
arms; and, being by no means assured of the safety of their persons and
goods if they delivered up their arms, they were resolved to retain
them in their own custody. This decided refusal to yield resulted in a
lessened demand, Lord Strange declaring that he would be satisfied if
they gave up a part of their arms; this also was refused, and the siege
was renewed.

On the last day of September the Earl of Derby, having received orders
to join the King's army at Shewsbury, raised the siege, and after
an exchange of prisoners withdrew his troops. It is impossible to
ascertain with any degree of certainty how many were slain during this
siege, but a Parliamentary authority gives the numbers as being on his
side only five or six, whilst the Royalists lost several officers and
200 common soldiers. Certainly one of the slain was Thomas Standish,
of Duxbury, a captain of the trained band of Leyland; he was shot by a
bullet fired from the church steeple.

This, the first victory on the Parliamentary side, brought forth a
declaration of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, in
commendation of the inhabitants of the town of Manchester for their
valiant resisting of the Earl of Derby, and at the same time assuring
them that payment should be made for all disbursements or losses.

The Commons also ordered that a public thanksgiving to God for the
deliverance of Manchester should be observed in all the churches and
chapels in Lancashire. The fortifications were now strengthened, and
Manchester became the recognised headquarters of the Parliamentary army
in this county, and the Earl of Derby, on his return from Warwickshire,
took up his position at Warrington, and at the same time garrisoned
Wigan. The Manchester people now raised several troops in their
immediate neighbourhood, which were occasionally employed to disarm
any place which it was thought might be used against them; thus the
town of Bury was disarmed, although it belonged to the Earl; and whilst
accomplishing this feat, they took the surplice from the church there
and put it on the back of one of the soldiers, and "caused him to rid
in the cart the arms were caried in, to be matter of sport and laughter
to the behoulders." Probably out of a spirit of revenge, the Manchester
people rased to the foundations the house of Sir Edward Mosley, called
the Lodge, where the Earl of Derby was quartered during the siege. At
the college they established a manufactory of gunpowder.

In December the Earl of Derby called a meeting of some of the leaders
on his side, and they resolved to raise £8,700, to be assessed on the
several hundreds of the county, and appointed collectors and treasurers
for the same, and they also fixed the pay to be given to the forces
raised; the rates were: captains of foot, 10s. a day; lieutenants,
4s.; "ancients" (_i.e._ standard-bearers), 3s. Horse soldiers received
rather higher pay, varying from a captain's 15s. a day to a trooper's
2s. 6d. per diem, while sergeants were paid 1s. 6d., drummers 1s. 3d.,
corporals 1s., and common soldiers 9d.

During the rest of the winter, except here and there a skirmish,
nothing of any great importance took place in Lancashire between the
two parties, but in almost all the towns active preparations were made
and garrisons stationed. Preston, Blackburn, Wigan, Bolton, and other
boroughs, all assumed a warlike aspect.

Some of the miniature wars which took place have a comic aspect, as
when Sir Gilbert Hoghton, on December 24, marched a body of men all
the way to within a quarter of a mile of Blackburn in order to disarm
that town, where they halted, when one of his men, having a small piece
of ordnance, "plaied" most of the night; but the only damage he did
was to knock the bottom out of a frying-pan. The recorder of this goes
on to say, "they were afraid of coming near one another," and upon
Christmas night Sir Gilbert withdrew his forces, and "his souldiers and
clubmen were glad of it, that they might eate their Christmas pyes at
home."[136]

Early in this month (December) there was a slight engagement at
Chowbent, near Leigh, of which an account was sent (dated December
9, 1642) to a "Rev. Divine in London" by one of the combatants,
from which it appears that as the people were going to church on the
previous Sunday a post rode through the country informing them that the
Earl of Derby's troops were coming. Whereupon "the countrey presently
rose, and before one of the clocke" they had mustered about 3,000
horse and foot, who set out to meet the enemy, "encountering them" at
Chowbent, and driving them back to Leigh, "killing some and wounding
many." During the attack some of the "youths, farmers' sons," allowed
their zeal to outrun their discretion, having "had little experience of
the like times before this." They, being mounted, overrode their foot
soldiers; and when the Earl's forces, having retreated to Lowton Moor,
discovered that the enemy's infantry was left a long way behind, they
turned about and began another assault, but were ultimately obliged
to fly, leaving many killed and a couple of hundred taken prisoners.
The scribe then goes on to say, if the attack should be repeated,
the people in the district would be found to be on their guard, as
the "naylers of Chowbent, instead of making nayles," had been busy
making bills and battle-axes, and that they were determined to take
as prisoners all the "greatest papists and most dangerous malignants,
and carry them to Manchester to keepe house with Sir Cecil Trafford,
that arch-papist who is there a prisoner. For now the men of Blackburn,
Paduam [Padiham], Burnely and Colne, with those sturdy churles in the
two forests of Pendle and Rossendale, have raised their spirits and
have resolved to fight it out rather than their beef and fatt bacon
shall be taken from them."

In the beginning of 1643 Sir Thomas Fairfax left Yorkshire, and for a
time made Manchester his headquarters, and from this time forward the
war in the county assumed a more serious aspect. Early in February Sir
John Seaton, the Major-General of the Parliamentary troops, set out
from Manchester, having under his command about 1,000 "firemen, horse
and foot," and 600 "bill men, halberdiers and club men." The route
taken for this march was by Bolton and Blackburn, from both of which
towns additional troops were obtained. Preston had all along been held
by the friends of the King--indeed, it had now become the headquarters
of the Royalists, and the inhabitants had spared neither time nor money
to render it, as they thought, safe and secure; around it they had
thrown up an outwork of earth, within which was a wall of brick. As
usual, we find considerable difference in the accounts of this attack
on Preston. The Vicar of Dean, who was "an eye-witness" of the fight,
writing to a divine in London, says that the assault was commenced
by Sir John Seaton a little before sunrise; that the three companies
from Manchester especially distinguished themselves, and that in an
hour's time Preston was taken. The account ordered to be printed by the
Commons in Parliament gives two hours as the time taken to effect an
entrance, and states that the Major-General (Sir John Seaton) "behaved
himself galantly at the end of Church Street, where the entry was
made," there beating down the sentries and the soldiers stationed in
the steeple of the church. Another authority[137] gives a more graphic
picture: The Parliamentary force, he says, somewhat late in the evening
of February 7, having passed the Ribble Bridge, drew up their main body
in the fields, whilst some of their companies, led by some who knew the
town well, were placed near the house of correction, so as to be ready
to force an entrance through the Friargate Bars, whereas the forces
generally were to assault the East Bars. The defending party fought
well and bravely, but after the entrance was gained the invaders were
allowed to march through the streets without resistance, yet as they
passed along the soldiers with their muskets and pikes broke all the
glass windows within reach.

The Parliamentary loss appears to have been slight, but of the
Royalists over 200 were slain. Amongst the first to fall were the
gallant Mayor, Adam Morte, and his son; the former was more than once
heard to declare that before he would surrender the town he would set
fire to it and begin with his own house.

Sir Gilbert Hoghton escaped and made his way to Wigan, but Lady
Hoghton, Lady Girlington and Mr. Townley were all taken prisoners, and
amongst the spoils taken were "three pieces of ordnance, a murdering
piece, a great quantity of musquiets, and many horses, with two or
three colours."

Most of the conquering forces remained in Preston and began to
strengthen its fortifications, and erected a strong sconce upon the
marsh outside Preston, so as to command the fords over the Ribble.
To keep alive the enthusiasm of the soldiers, as well as to disarm a
dangerous foe, an attack on Hoghton Tower was decided on, and with
this object three companies were despatched from Preston on February
14. This fine specimen of a baronial residence was well situated and
fortified; it was from its tower that Sir Gilbert Hoghton was wont to
light his beacon to call musters of the friends of the King; on its
walls were mounted "three great pieces of ordnance."

Sir Gilbert, as we have already seen, having escaped from Preston and
gone to Wigan, and his wife being a prisoner, it is not to be wondered
at that the little garrison at the Tower should be disheartened, and
after a short parley give up the place.

The soldiers at once took possession, and whilst they were searching
for arms and powder the place was blown up, and Captain Starkey and
some threescore of his men were killed. This explosion was at the time
put down as being caused by an act of treachery on the part of Sir
Gilbert's soldiers, but subsequently it appears to have been admitted
that it was due to the carelessness of the victorious forces. The
author of "Lancashire's Valley of Achor" distinctly states that it
was "fired by their neglected matches, or by that great souldier's
idoll, tobacco;" and he further adds that they were "burdened with the
weight of their swearing, drunkennesse, plundering and wilfull waste at
Preston."

Within a few days of the taking of Hoghton Tower, troops were sent to
reconnoitre Lancaster, where, finding the inhabitants either unprepared
to resist or more or less in sympathy with them, they at once attacked
the castle and took it, and thereupon released all the prisoners they
found there, whether they were in gaol for felony or debt. At the
castle were Roger Kirby, M.P. for the county, and Sir John Girlington,
who appears to have escaped on finding that the castle could hold out
no longer.

The town of Bolton had been left with only some 500 men, and
taking advantage of this, on February 16 the Earl of Derby and the
Major-General marched from Wigan towards it with about 1,000 horse
and foot and got within a mile of the place without being discovered
by the garrison, which, it seems, was "at prayer in the church." And
now the Earl's forces made a fatal mistake: instead of making straight
for the town, they went round by Great Lever, and in doing so their
presence was discovered, and the soldiers were at their posts ready to
receive the besiegers. The first assault took place at Bradshaw Gate,
where three forts had been erected. The contest was a severe one. The
fortification consisted of certain outworks and a mud wall, 2 yards
thick, on the inner side of which was an arrangement of chains, which
has not been clearly defined. One account says that the invaders, with
iron bullets of five or six pounds weight, shot through the mud walls;
whilst another faithful narrator scornfully reports that "they played
children's play, for they mortally hit but one lad," and he, common
report said, was one on their own side.[138] The same authority adds
that "hither their wittie malice brought a new invented mischievous
instrument," which consisted of "an head about a quarter of a yard
long, a staffe two yards long or more put into that head, twelve iron
pikes round about and one in the end to stab with. This fierce weapon
(to double their scorn) they called a _Roundhead_." The Royalists,
having forced the outworks, got possession of several houses, to some
of which they set fire; they were, however, ultimately driven back and
retreated to Wigan, taking along with them, it is said, two or three
cartloads of dead bodies.[139] When the fight was over, 1,700 men came
from Middleton, Oldham, Rochdale and Manchester to the assistance of
the besieged town. The officers in command of the garrison at Bolton
were Colonel Ashton, Captain Buckley, of Oldham; Captain Scoffield,
of Rochdale; Captain Holt, of Bury; and Captain Ashurst, of Radcliffe
Bridge.

The rebels had now got into their hands Manchester, Preston, Lancaster,
and Bolton, the Royalists having their headquarters at Warrington and
Wigan, whilst most of the other towns (including Liverpool) had as
yet not been called upon to take any prominent part in the struggle;
but it may be assumed that almost invariably the Roman Catholics, the
older gentry, and most of the freeholders, were on the King's side.
About this time an event took place which caused great excitement
in the northern part of the county, and which had some influence on
the future course of the war in that portion of the county. On March
4 a large Spanish ship appeared in sight, and being driven by the
wind into the waters of the Wyre near Rossall Point, the captain, not
knowing where he could land, put out his anchor and fired his cannon as
a signal of distress; on a pilot boat being sent out, it was discovered
that the ship was laden with ammunition intended for the use of the
Parliamentary forces. The ship, which was described as being of "a
great burden, such a one as was never landed in Wyre watter in any
man's memory," was forthwith seized by the Royalists and brought into
the mouth of the Wyre; whereupon the Earl of Derby with a troop of
horse came to Rossall, and finding there in or about the ship Colonel
George Dodding, of Conishead Priory, and Mr. Townson, of Lancaster,
both Parliamentary men, he took them prisoners and ordered the ship
to be burnt, which was accordingly done. The Preston commanders, for
whose use this ammunition was no doubt destined, in the meantime got to
know what was being done, and despatched four companies of foot towards
Rossall; they passed the night at Poulton-le-Fylde, and the next day,
sending out scouts, they discovered that the Earl and his men were on
Layton Hawes, and not liking to meet his horsemen, they marched on to
Rossall, where from the opposite side of the river they witnessed the
burning of the Spanish ship; this, as she was probably stranded, was
not complete, so that most of the guns which she carried (some being of
brass) were not destroyed, and this the Parliamentary officers were not
slow to take advantage of, and they forthwith sent up boats and carried
away the ordnance down the Lune to Lancaster, where they were stowed
away in the castle.

Whilst the Earl was in the Fylde district he was instrumental in
raising many more troops for the King's forces, and after doing so he
decided to attack Lancaster, and if possible recover the guns which
by his want of forethought had been taken by the enemy. Accordingly
on March 18 the Earl (according to his own account) presented himself
with a few forces before the town, and the Mayor having refused to
surrender, he (the Earl) "made bold to burn the greatest part of the
town, and in it many of their souldiers, who defended it sharply for
about two hours, but we beat them into the castle, and I seeing the
tower clear from all but smoke, spared the remainder of that town
and laid siege unto the castle." This attempt to recover the castle
he abandoned; having been informed that Sir John Seaton with a large
force was on his way from Preston, he resolved to steal a march on that
town, now left almost defenceless. The account of this destruction
of Lancaster as given by Major Robinson has a very different aspect;
he asserts that there were very few soldiers in the town, except
those in the castle, and consequently the firing of the houses was an
unnecessary piece of cruelty; in the centre of the town many of the
best houses were fired, and in one long street all the houses, barns,
with the cattle in their stalls, were entirely burnt.

When the Earl left Lancaster he took with him many prisoners of war,
amongst whom was the Mayor of that town. The Earl managed to march to
Preston by a different route to the one taken by Colonel Ashton, who
commanded the party sent to the relief of Lancaster, and thus on March
22 he reached Fullwood Moor, where he waited until after dark; in the
meantime, however, the scouts from Preston had discovered his advance,
and had alarmed the garrison. The Friarsgate Bar was strongly guarded,
but the nearer the enemy came to it, it is said, the "weaker it waxed,
for the townes men were generally disaffected to Parliament."[140] This
is probably true, as after, according to one authority, two hours'
fight[141] the town was regained. The next day many people from the
country around Preston came into the town shouting, "God bless the King
and the Earl of Derby!"

The Earl seemed now to be bent on recovering all that had heretofore
been lost, and within a week of the taking of Preston (on the 27th)
Bolton was again attacked, the Royalist force about two o'clock in the
afternoon being drawn up on the moor outside the town, and a message
sent to demand a surrender: this was refused, and towards dark the
"minister of the town prayed with a company of souldiers, most of them
townsmen. The end of prayer was the beginning of the fight."[142] The
enemy made several assaults during the night, and at one time got
close to the mud wall, but some forces from Bury coming to assist the
besieged, the enemy were finally repulsed. There was probably very
little loss on either side.

Colonel Ashton only arrived at Lancaster to find the town partially
in ruins; he then marched on to the neighbourhood of Whalley. On the
road he was followed by the Earl of Derby and his forces, and a slight
engagement took place, after which the Royalists took shelter in the
abbey, but were afterwards forced to retreat through Langho Green to
Ribchester. Colonel Ashton and his men then proceeded to Padiham,
where, "having a good minister, some hours were spent in thanksgiving"
for their great deliverance.

On April 1, Wigan, one of the headquarters of the Royalists, was
stormed and taken after a very short struggle by Colonel Ashton's
forces; but, according to Rosworm, owing to some treachery the place
was vacated the same night, the soldiers having first taken some
prisoners and much spoil, and having placed "great heaps of woollen
cloth of the drapers in the streets." Wigan was again taken on April
28 by Colonel Ashton, who, having burnt the gates of the town, took an
oath from the townsmen never again to bear arms against the King.

Warrington was now garrisoned by the Earl of Derby. It was defended on
one side by the river Mersey, which was crossed by a bridge of four
arches; over this bridge was a narrow roadway, and on the centre pier
stood a watch-house which had formerly been used by the Austin Friars
as an oratory. The other sides of the town were defended by mud walls,
with gates at the principal entrances; outside these walls outworks had
been thrown up. Against this stronghold Sir William Brereton's forces
and a large detachment from Manchester laid siege on April 1 (1643),
but they only succeeded in getting possession of Sankey Bridge and "a
fayre large house of one Mr. Bridgeman's."[143] They withdrew their
troops after a three days' siege and some smart fighting, the reason
alleged for this being that the Earl of Derby set fire to the centre of
the town, and threatened to burn down the whole place rather than it
should be taken.

Lancaster towards the end of April was again taken by the Parliamentary
forces, and the pieces of ordnance from the Spanish ship (see p.
139) were removed to Manchester, and very shortly afterwards (May
19) Warrington, after withstanding a week's siege, was obliged to
surrender, partly, it is said, because provision ran short. After these
various warlike proceedings, it is not astonishing that funds began
to fail, and for want of the sinews of war, many preferred to return
to their usual occupations, and thus the leaders of both parties were
surrounded with difficulties. Whilst the Parliament could and did order
the estates of the delinquents to be confiscated, the Royalists could
only levy voluntary rates, which fell heaviest on those whose estates
had thus been seized. The tide of war seemed now to have turned against
the Earl of Derby, who, to add to his other defeats, made an attempt,
and failed, to regain the magazine in Liverpool. The Royalists were
further disheartened by the removal from their midst of the Earl of
Derby, who was ordered by the Queen to betake himself to the Isle of
Man, which was then menaced by the enemies of the King; here he landed
on June 15, 1643. Shortly after this Hornby Castle[144] was taken
by the Parliamentary forces, and there now only remained Thurland
Castle and Lathom House in the hands of the Royalists; and as the Earl
of Derby, Lord Molyneux, and Colonel Thomas Tyldesley were all out
of the county, the enemy began to realize that they were almost in
possession of the whole county. Before the departure of these leaders
much plundering by the soldiers was reported in the Fylde district,
where Lord Molyneux and Colonel Tyldesley were for a time stationed; at
Kirkham, Clifton, St. Michael's and Laton, cattle were taken and houses
sacked. About this time Colonel Alexander Rigby (whose name hereafter
appears more prominently) came armed with a commission from the Commons
to raise forces in the hundreds of Leyland and Amounderness, and to get
the soldiers so raised ready for war in the least possible time. His
efforts were successful, and in nearly every parish in the district
he met with some support. Encouraged by this, he, about midsummer,
undertook to take Thurland Castle, which was then held by Sir John
Girlington,[145] who had around him "many disperat caviliers;" his
castle was well fortified and provisioned. Colonel Rigby was supplied
(in addition to the men he had raised) with forces from Salford and
Blackburn Hundreds. Alexander Rigby's own account of this siege is
that during the greater part of the conflict, which lasted seven weeks,
he was threatened by the forces of Westmorland, which were drawn up
within his view; to these forces were added the Royalists from the
Cartmel and Furness district. Having decided to deal with these forces
before attacking the castle, he took "500 foot, 2 Drakes, and 3 small
troops of horse" (part of his army which lay before Thurland), and
marched thirty miles "over mountain and sea, sands and water," and
when in sight of the enemy (near Dalton) they "committed themselves
to God's protection and began their worke with publike prayers." From
some cause, which is not recorded, he goes on to state that the enemy,
before a blow was struck, began to retreat, and were soon dispersed,
throwing away their arms, and leaving their guns and ammunition
behind them. Colonel Rigby took some 400 prisoners, including Colonel
Huddleston, of Millom. After this exploit the little band of soldiers
turned back to Thurland in the best of spirits, and endowed with such
enthusiasm that in a very short time Sir John Girlington surrendered,
on condition that he and his wife should be allowed free passage
into Yorkshire. The castle was at once demolished. A portion of the
ancient walls and an entrance doorway are all that now remains of this
fortified house of the Tunstall family.

The next step to be taken was, of course, to attack Lathom, which was
now the refuge and headquarters of the few Royalists left. This strong
fortress was built on the site of an older building in the time of
Henry VI., and according to the ballad of "Flodden Field," "this bright
bower of Lathom" had "nine towers on high": above these rose what was
known as the Eagle Tower; it stood on a flat, boggy piece of ground,
and was surrounded with a wall some 2 yards thick, on the outside of
which was a moat 8 yards wide and 2 yards deep. On each of the nine
towers there were six pieces of ordnance. Into this stronghold a few
faithful followers of the Earl of Derby (who was now in the Isle of
Man) had retreated, and were determined to assist the Countess in
maintaining it against all comers; with this in view, they proceeded
to garrison it and to procure from the surrounding neighbourhood
provisions to enable them to withstand a prolonged siege. These
precautions were not taken too soon, for on February 24, 1643-44, a
meeting was held in Manchester, when it was resolved that forthwith
an attack should be made on Lathom, the conduct of which was given to
Colonel Alexander Rigby (a lawyer), Colonel Ashton of Middleton, and
Colonel Moore of Bankhall.

On February 27, 1643-44, the Parliamentary forces took up their
position about two miles from the house, and on the following day a
letter from Sir Thomas Fairfax requiring the delivery of Lathom was
sent to the Countess, to which she replied that she "much wondered
that he wold require her to give up her Lord's house without any
offence on her part done to the Parliament," and she asked for a
week's consideration, "both to resolve the doubts of conscience and to
advice in matter of law and honor."[146] This modest request was not
at once granted, but after some further parley, and various proposals
having on both sides been made and rejected, her ladyship ended the
matter by saying "that though a woman and a stranger divorced from her
friends and rob'd of her estate, she was ready to receive their utmost
vyolence, trusting in God both for protection and deliverance."

The siege was now begun in earnest, though the object seems to have
been rather to starve out the garrison than to take the place by storm;
sorties were frequently made by the cavaliers, and from time to time
shots were fired at the walls and towers by the enemy. One chronicle
adds they were intended either to "beate down pinnacles and turretts,
or else to please the women that came to see the spectacle." After
the siege had continued for nearly a month, Colonels Ashton and Moore
appear to have begun to despair of success by ordinary weapons of war,
and thereupon addressed a letter to the ministers of Lancashire asking
them to "commend their case to God," so that "the Almighty would crowne
their weake endeavours with speedy success."

Towards the end of April another summons was sent to the Countess
demanding immediate surrender, to which she replied in person to the
messenger, "Carry this back to Rigby; tell that insolent rebell he
shall neither have p'sons, goods nor house; when our strength and
p'visions is spent, we shall find a fire more mercyfull than Rigby, and
then if the providence of God p'vent it not, my goods and house shall
burne in his sight; myselfe, children and souldiers, rather than fall
into his hands, will seale our religion and loyalty in the same flame."

During the last few days the only thing that gave any anxiety to the
gallant band within Lathom was a large mortar-piece from which the
besiegers were continually sending fireballs and grenades into their
midst. To get possession of this a sally was made, and after some smart
fighting it was captured and dragged within the walls.

After this the spirits of the invaders appear to have been somewhat
daunted, and at the end of nearly four months Rigby, hearing that
Prince Rupert was coming to Lancashire, withdrew his troops to
Eccleston Green, and ultimately marched them to Bolton. During this
siege Rigby is said to have lost 500 men. Prince Rupert, on his arrival
in the county, kept clear of Manchester, and marched straight towards
Bolton, near to which town he was met by the Earl of Derby. Bolton
was probably not well prepared to receive such a force as that led
against it by the Prince and the Earl; the town was also destitute of
ammunition, and had it not been for the timely appearance of Colonel
Rigby with the remains of his forces, resistance would have been out
of the question; but even as it was, the Boltonians gallantly and
successfully drove back the enemy on the first assault, who, however,
shortly rallied, and, returning to the attack, soon effected an
entrance into the town, where little or no opposition was offered.
This latter attack[147] was led in person by the Earl of Derby with
200 men, and after he had entered the town the other forces poured in
on every side. Rigby fled, leaving some 2,000 of his men behind him,
many (if not most of them) being slain on the spot, the Prince having
ordered that no quarter was to be given to any person in arms. Another
account accuses the Cavaliers of having "killed, stripped, and spoiled"
all the people they met with, regarding "neither the dolefull cries of
women nor children," and also of having brought out some "husbands on
purpose to be slaine before their wives' faces." Many other outrages
are said to have been perpetrated. All the records of this siege agree
that the return of killed and wounded was very heavy, and it may safely
be assumed that at least 1,500 were slain.[148] The colours from the
Bolton soldiers were sent in triumph to Lady Derby at Lathom. Prince
Rupert now marched on to Liverpool, where he found that Colonel Moore,
the governor of the town, was prepared to resist him, having a strong
garrison, and also being able to rely on the assistance of the sailors
in port. To find provisions for this garrison Colonel Clifton is said
to have taken all the sheep he could find on Layton Hawes (in Bispham).
In the early part of June the siege began, but not for three weeks
was the Prince able to take the town. The assaults were frequent, and
resulted in serious losses to the leaguers, but at last it became
evident that further resistance was useless, so the wary governor,
having first shipped off his arms, ammunition, and goods, left the
north entrance to the town undefended, and thus admitted the enemy,
who (according to Seacome) put to the sword all they met on their way
to the high cross (where the exchange now stands). A large number of
prisoners were taken, and the Prince seized the castle.

After a flying visit to Lathom, Prince Rupert continued his march
to York[149] at the head of 20,000 men, where he joined the Duke of
Newcastle. On July 2 the great battle of Marston Moor was fought,
which, if it did not decide the contest between the King and the
Parliament, left the cause of the Royalists in the North of England
utterly ruined and hopeless. After this event, Lord Fairfax, taking
advantage of the turn of tide in his favour, sent 1,000 horse into
Lancashire to join the forces from Cheshire and Derbyshire, for the
purpose of keeping a watch upon the movements of Prince Rupert, who had
withdrawn the King's army into Westmorland and Cumberland.

Parliament was not slow to perceive the importance of retaining
Lancashire, and at once ordered a grant of £3,000 for the soldiers
there, and provisions were made to provide pensions for widows and
children of those who had been slain; but this money was not to come
out of the general exchequer, but "out of the several sequestrations of
papists and delinquents within the respective hundreds of Blackburn,
Leyland and Amounderness, or out of the assessments provided for
that purpose; and no one was to receive more than four shillings and
eightpence per week." Prince Rupert again put in an appearance in
Lancashire, and engagements of a not very serious character took place
at Ormskirk, Up-Holland, near Wigan, and Preston. Liverpool being in
great danger of being lost to the Royalists, Lord Derby made an attempt
for its relief, but was repulsed with a heavy loss, and on November 1,
1644, the town was surrendered to Sir John Meldrum.

The close of the year 1644 found the Parliamentary forces in possession
of all the fortified places in the county, except Lathom House, and
in the following year the Royalists were defeated at Naseby and at
Rowton Heath, near Chester, the latter entirely putting to an end
the King's design, which was to march into Lancashire and attempt to
regain what had there been lost. In the meantime, the Parliamentary
party were determined to wrest from the Royalists their last holding
in the county, and for this purpose, in July, 1645, General Egerton,
with 4,000 men, began the second siege of this apparently invincible
stronghold; for a long time they were unable to approach near enough
to the house to enable them to use their heavy guns against it, but
were content to lie behind a ditch at some distance from the walls.
After withstanding this siege all the autumn, the garrison, for want of
provisions, was obliged to yield, and on December 4 Lathom House, which
was described as the glory of the county, was given up to the enemy.
The greater portion of the house was pulled down and cast into the
moat. The Earl and his Countess were now in the Isle of Man.

A little before this second siege, another of the Earl of Derby's
strongholds was taken and destroyed--Greenhaugh Castle, in Garstang
parish. Though small, this was said to be "very stronge, and builded
so that it was thot impregnable with any ordenance whatsoever," and,
moreover, it had only one door, and the "walls of an exceeding
thickness."[150] This castle was entirely demolished. As far as
Lancashire was concerned, the war for the present was over, but its
effects upon the people had, as may easily be imagined, been very
severe, and this fact was fully recognised by the Parliament, for on
the occasion of a general fast (September 11, 1644), it was ordered
that one-half of the money collected in London and Westminster was
to be sent for the relief of Lancashire, "where, in some parts, the
people had nothing left to cloathe them, or bread for their children
to eat, in consequence of the unheard-of spoil, rapine and cruelties,
lately committed by the enemie." In this year, the Parliament took to
itself the patronage of all the church livings in the duchy, and as the
Royalists had forcibly taken the duchy seal from the Vice-Chancellor
(Christopher Banister), a new seal was made.

The cause of the King was now considered as hopeless; nevertheless, one
further attempt was made to revive the spirit of loyalty to the Crown.
General Sir Marmaduke Langdale, having collected a considerable number
of men in the north of Lancashire and in Westmorland, joined them to
the forces raised in Scotland, and placed them under the command of the
Duke of Hamilton; this united army, consisting of 15,000 foot and 6,000
horse,[151] crossed the Border on July 4, 1648, and shortly afterwards
marched through Kendal, _en route_ for Lancaster and Preston, with a
view of ultimately reaching Manchester. In the meantime Cromwell had
started for the North, gathering forces as he went, and on August 16
he reached Stoneyhurst. The Duke of Hamilton's army was now stationed
near Walton-le-Dale, on one side the Ribble, and Sir Marmaduke
Langdale's forces on Ribbleton Moor on the other, so that the latter
held a position between the two main forces. Cromwell at once advanced
against Sir Marmaduke; the manner of doing so will be best told in his
own words[152]: "There being a lane very deep and ill up to the enemies
army and leading to the town, we commanded two regiments of horse, the
first whereof was Colonel Harrison's, and the next my own, to charge up
that lane; on the other side of them advanced the Battel, which were
Lieutenant-Colonel Reads, Colonel Deans, and Colonel Prides on the
right, Colonel Brights and my Lord Generals on the left, and Colonel
Ashton with the Lancashire regiments in reserve.

"We ordered Colonel Thornhaugh and Colonel Twisletons regiments of
horse on the right, and one regiment in reserve for the lane, and
the remaining horse on the left; so that at last we came to a Hedge
dispute, the greatest of the impression from the enemy being upon our
left wing; and upon the battel on both sides of the lane, and upon our
horse in the lane, in all which places the enemy was forced from their
ground after 4 hours dispute, until we come to the town, into which
our troops of my regiment first entered, and being well seconded by
Colonel Harrisons regiment, charged the enemy in the town and cleared
the streets.... Colonel Deans and Colonel Prides outwinging the enemy,
could not come to so much share of the action.... At the last the enemy
was put into disorder, many men slain, many prisoners taken, the Duke
with most of the Scots horse and foot retreated over the bridge, where,
after a very hot dispute betwixt the Lancashire regiments, part of my
Lord Generals and them being at push of pike, they were beaten from the
bridge, and our horse and foot following them, killed many and took
divers prisoners, and we possessed the bridge over Darwent and a few
houses there, the enemy being driven up within musquet-shot of us where
we lay that night.... In this posture did the enemy and we lie the
most part of that night; upon entring the town, many of the enemy's
horse fled towards Lancaster, in the chase of whom went divers of our
horse, who pursued them near ten miles, and had execution of them, and
took about 500 horses and many prisoners. We possessed in the fight
very much of the enemy's ammunition; I believe they lost four or five
thousand arms. The number of slain we judge to be about a thousand, the
prisoners we took were about four thousand."[153]

During the night the Duke, with the remnant of his army, retreated
towards Wigan, and though they were hotly pursued, after some fighting
by the way they got into that town, where they remained for the night,
and on the morrow continued their flight towards Warrington. Wigan,
Cromwell describes as "a great and poore town, and very malignant,"
and he adds that the Duke's army plundered the inhabitants "almost to
their skins." Cromwell followed the retreating foe, and the two armies
again engaged near Winwick, when another 1,000 of the enemy were slain,
the rest being driven on to Warrington Bridge, which they found so
well fortified that they faced about, and again prepared to meet their
pursuers. Cromwell, considering (as he put it) "the strength of the
pass," agreed to give quarter and civil usage, on the surrender of the
officers and soldiers of the town as prisoners of war; these terms
being accepted, the Duke and his army marched off into Cheshire.

The account of the fight at Preston given by Sir Marmaduke Langdale
does not materially differ from that of the Parliamentary leader,
but he frankly admits that his forces were utterly beaten, his foot
soldiers being totally lost. The inhabitants of the various districts
in which these battles had taken place again suffered most acutely, so
much so that the Mayor and Bailiffs of Wigan and several ministers in
the county sent to London an appeal for immediate relief. This appeal
refers to "the lamentable condition of the county of Lancaster, and
particularly of the towns of Wigan, Ashton, and the parts adjacent,"
and sets forth that these districts had borne the heat and burden of
both the wars "in an especial manner above other parts of the nation";
that the plague of pestilence had been raging for three years; that
there was a scarcity of all provisions, grain the most in use being six
times its usual price. All trade was utterly decayed, and it "would
melt any good heart to see the numerous swarms of begging poore and
the many families that pine away at home not having the faces to beg."
Some of the poor, being on the point of starvation, had eaten carrion
and other unwholesome food, "to the destroying of themselves and the
increasing of the infection," the plague being entirely attributed to
the "contagion from the wounded souldiers left there for cure."

Liverpool also suffered much from the wars. In July, 1648, letters were
received by Parliament from the Governor of Chester, representing the
sad condition of that garrison, especially as to the convenience of
the harbour and the revolt of the ships. The town itself was said to
be but small, "and much decayed," by reason of the war and the loss of
the Irish trade, and also by "the free quarter of the soldiers."[154]
The plague, also, about this time appeared in Liverpool and Warrington.
During the next month the Deputy-Lieutenants were ordered to keep some
horse soldiers near Lancaster, as that town was considered of special
importance from a military point of view.

In the early part of 1649 the danger of further disturbance in the
north appeared to have passed, and an order was given to demolish
Clitheroe Castle and to disband the forces in the county; but as some
of them refused to be broken up, Major-General Lambert was despatched
with orders to disband them, by force if necessary.

On January 30, 1649, the King was executed for high-treason, and the
Commonwealth established, and thus the long struggle was brought to a
close; but Lancashire had not yet seen the last of the Civil Wars; for
in August, 1651, Charles II., the uncrowned son of the "martyr King,"
passed through the county on his way to Worcester; and, as was no doubt
foreseen, this passage was not effected without a struggle with the
strong Commonwealth party in the county.

The young King's forces marched over Ellel Moor to Lancaster, where he
was proclaimed King at the market-cross; through Preston and Chorley,
and on to Warrington bridge, where their progress was opposed by a
company of foot, who were soon overwhelmed by numbers and forced
to retreat, allowing the King and his followers to pass over into
Cheshire. Cromwell in the meantime was in pursuit with an army of some
10,000 men, which at Preston was increased by another 6,000 under the
commands of Generals Lambert and Harrison. On the other side, the Earl
of Derby, having been sent for from the Isle of Man, was endeavouring,
but almost in vain, to raise men in Lancashire. With such forces as he
could get together (probably not more than 1,500 men), the Earl marched
to Wigan, where he was met (in Wigan Lane) by Colonel Lilburne, and
after a short but sanguinary battle he was slightly wounded and his
followers utterly routed. The fighting was so severe that the Earl lost
five colonels, the adjutant-general, and four lieutenant-colonels.
With some thirty men as an escort the Earl escaped and made his way
to Worcester to join the King. After the battle of Worcester the
Lancashire Earl was again a fugitive, and on his way to Knowsley he
was taken prisoner on the road, about half a mile from Nantwich in
Cheshire, by Captain Oliver Edge, and lodged in the castle at Chester.
Notwithstanding that Captain Edge, on the Earl's surrendering, had
given him a promise of quarter, he was tried by court-martial at
Chester, and found guilty, the sentence being that he should be
beheaded in the market-place of Bolton, which sentence was carried out
on October 15 (1651), in the presence of a large crowd of people, who
are said to have been "weeping and crying and giving all expressions of
grief and lamentation."[155]

The Civil Wars were now over, and attention was again turned to local
matters. Manchester was one of the first towns to dismantle its forts,
throw down its outer walls, and remove its gates; this was done in
1651. In the same year the court-leet ordered a gibbet, which had been
erected in the corn market-place "for the punishment of the souldiers,"
to be taken down. Manchester, as a reward for her adhesion to the
Parliamentary cause, was allowed to return a member of Parliament in
1654.

One would have thought that the dire troubles through which Lancashire
passed would for a time at least have removed all desire to again take
part in the contest between King and Parliament; but the spirit of
some of the old Royalists still remained, and on the death of Cromwell
(September 3, 1658) a league was formed to restore the monarchy, in
which Lancashire was to have taken a prominent part; the son of the
renowned Sir Marmaduke Langdale was to command the forces of this
county, and amongst his supporters were the son of the "martyr Earl,"
Sir Thomas Middleton, and others. This crude attempt was frustrated by
a signal defeat in a short engagement at Northwich, where the fugitives
were scattered in all directions, some to Manchester and some to
Liverpool, where they found no sympathy but met with hard blows.

The religious condition of the county during the Commonwealth will
be dealt with hereafter (Chapter IX.). Amongst the other effects of
the events of the last ten years was the lowering of the whole social
tone, the retarding of anything like education, or mental or material
progress. Art, science, trade, commerce, and every branch of industry,
must have been almost stagnant, whilst sickness, poverty, and crime
were enormously increased. It was reported in 1655 that alehouses had
become the very bane of the county. In the hundred of Blackburn alone
over 200 of these had "to be thrown down."[156]

Manchester having been all through the Civil Wars a stronghold of
the Parliament, it probably did not suffer quite as much as some of
the other towns, and we are therefore not surprised to find that
many improvements were made there very shortly after the close of
the troubles; thus, in August, 1653, was established there the first
public library, the origin of which was the gift by John Prestwich "of
severall Bookes unto the inhabitants of the towne of Manchester, to be
kept in some convenient place for a liberarie for the use of the said
towne."

From an indenture bearing the afore-mentioned date, it will be seen
that the Pendleton or Jesus Chapel, on the south side of the collegiate
church, had been selected for the repository for these books; but being
now in "great ruine and decay, the roofe thereof being fallen," the
holders of the inheritance of it conveyed it to trustees, to the intent
that it should be repaired and afterwards used for a library. This
collection of books has now long ago been dispersed, and was probably
never a large one.

In 1656 the first town-hall was built; previous to that date the old
wooden booths were used for the court-leet, etc. In these days, when
football has become such a popular game as to render it one of the
great national sports, it is interesting to find that in 1655 the
Manchester Jury ordered all persons to be prosecuted who were found
playing football in the streets. Nearly fifty years before this it
had been found necessary to have "officers for yᵉ football" regularly
appointed. This playing in the streets was not confined to Manchester;
indeed, at Kirkham on Christmas Day, until quite a recent date, the
streets were entirely given up to the followers of this popular pastime.

At the Restoration Manchester was prepared to welcome the newly-crowned
King, and on April 22, 1661, the train-bands, under John Byrom, and the
auxiliary band of Nicholas Mosley, together some 360 men, assembled
in the field "in great gallantrie and rich scarffes, expressing
themselves with many great acclamations of joy." They afterwards
marched to the collegiate church, preceded by forty boys, "all cloathed
in white stuffe, plumes of feathers in their hats, blew scarffes,
armed with little swords hanging in black bells and short pikes
shouldered." In the church was a large concourse of people, who, says
the chronicler,[157] "civilly and soberly demeaned themselves all the
whole day, the like never seen in this nor the like place." A sermon
was preached by the Warden, Richard Heyrick, and a civic procession
afterwards paraded the town. On arriving at the conduit which supplied
the town with water, there was a long halt, in order that the
"gentlemen and officers" might drink his Majesty's health "in claret
running in three streams from the conduit." This stream afterwards ran
for the public use until after sunset. Lancaster celebrated the event
by presenting to the King "their small mite as a token of their joy by
surrender of their fee farm rents of £13 6s. 6d., which they purchased
of the late powers."

On October 7 following, 582 of the inhabitants took the oath of
allegiance. In 1688 an assessment for the town gives the names of
500 ratepayers, who lived in seventeen streets or lanes; eighteen
years later (in 1679), when the oath of allegiance was again taken,
there were about 800 attestors. These figures give some idea of the
population of Manchester at this period. The trade of the town was now
very much extended, a considerable business being done with Ireland
and London. From the former yarn was purchased, which was woven and
returned; and from the Metropolis cotton wool was purchased, which came
from Cyprus and Smyrna, and was manufactured into fustians, dimities
and other fabrics. The appearance of the town towards the end of the
century underwent a great change; its old narrow streets and lanes were
somewhat widened, and the time-worn houses of wood and plaster gave
place to more substantial erections of stone and brick. There had also
been established, by the bequest of one of Manchester's merchants,
Humphery Chetham, of Clayton Hall and Turton Tower, the Chetham
Hospital and Chetham Library, the latter being the first really free
library opened in England.

Preston had now greatly increased, and was a prosperous town of about
6,000 inhabitants. In 1682 Kuerden describes it as being "adorned with
a large square or market-place," and its streets as being "so spacious
from one end thereof to the other, that few of the corporations of
England" exceeded it. In the centre of the town was "an ample, antient
and well-beautifyed gylde hall," under which were "ranged two rows of
butchers' shops", and here once a week was a market for linen cloth,
yarn, fish, and general agricultural produce, as well as cattle,
sheep and pigs, and here and there were the houses of the wealthy,
mostly built of brick and "extraordinarily addorning the streets."
Preston had also its workhouse, public almshouse and school, and the
old building formerly occupied by the Grey Friars served as a kind of
reformatory for "vagabonds, sturdy beggars, and other people wanting
good behaviour."

During the reign of Charles II. two guilds were celebrated at Preston,
to which people came from all parts of the county. Liverpool towards
the end of the reign of Charles II. began rapidly to develop. Blome,
writing in 1673, states that Liverpool was a bold and safe harbour, in
which ships at low water could ride at 4 fathoms, and at high water 10
fathoms, and that amongst the inhabitants were many eminent merchants
and tradesmen, whose commerce with the West Indies made it famous.
Emulating Manchester, it had then recently erected a town-hall, which
was "placed on pillars and arches of hewn stone," having under it an
exchange for merchants. This hall was built on the site where the old
market cross had stood for a very long period. In the middle of this
century (1650) the town consisted of Water Street, near to which was
the tower, owned by the Stanley family, the Custom-house, Dale Street,
Castle Street, Chapel Street, Tithebarn Street, Oldhall Street, and
Jaggler's Street, and on its rocky eminence, looking down upon the
town, still stood the castle. In 1654 the first attempt to light
the streets was made, the order given by the authorities being that
"two lanthorns with two candles burning every night in the dark moon
[_i.e._, when there was no moon] be set out at the High Cross and at
the White Cross, and places prepared to set them in every night till
eight of the clock."

A very large portion of the land on which Liverpool stood at this
time belonged to Edward Moore (afterwards Sir Edward), of Bankhall,
and from his "rental"[158] we may gather much curious detail as to
the tenure and character of the various lessees; the rent appears to
have been paid partly in cash and partly in kind or service--thus,
one tenant paid £1 a year, three hens, and three days' shearing;
another, £1 6s. 8d. and the same boon hens and service. The pool from
which the town took its name is frequently mentioned, and a note
singularly foreshadows a branch of trade which subsequently became very
advantageous to Liverpool. Moore called one of his tenements Sugar
House Close, because a great sugar merchant from London came to treat
with him for it; and it was agreed that he was to build up to the front
street a goodly house four stories high, and at the back a house for
boiling sugar.

At a little later period the establishment of extensive potteries in
Liverpool introduced a new trade, but as early as 1665 a coarse kind of
earthenware was made at Prescot, and the carting of it through the town
was said so to "oppresse and cut out the streets," that the Corporation
levied a toll of 4d. for every cartload. The Liverpool potteries are
said to have been the earliest works of the kind in England.

The question of what to do with the wandering beggars appears to have
met with a rough-and-ready answer from the Liverpool authorities, and
in 1686 they sent round the bellman to warn the inhabitants not to
relieve any foreign poor, and, to prevent any mistake, they ordered
that all those on the relief list should wear a pewter badge; and so
strictly were these regulations enforced, that a burgess was fined 6s.
8d. for harbouring his own father and mother without giving due notice
to the officials.

The first regular post-stages between the various parts of Lancashire
and the rest of England were slow in developing, as we may infer from
the fact that in 1653 three merchants (two Londoners and a Cornishman)
made a proposal to the Government to work the inland and foreign letter
office, and to establish a stage between Lancaster and Carlisle. This
arrangement was probably not carried out. The roads all over the county
were at this period in a dreadful state, and were not materially
improved until the establishment of the turnpike system.

The educational advantages had now somewhat improved, the increase in
public schools towards the close of the century being considerable.
The experience of one boy will serve as a sample of how, no doubt,
fared others. William Stout, the son of a well-to-do farmer, who lived
at Bolton Holmes, near Lancaster (where his ancestors had lived for
generations), records[159] that he was first sent to a dame school, and
afterwards to the Free School at Bolton (about the year 1674), but when
he was between ten and twelve years of age he was, especially in the
spring and summer season, taken away for the "plough time, turf time,
hay time and harvest, in looking after the sheep, helping at plough,
going to the moss with carts, making hay and shearing in harvest;" so
that he made small progress in Latin, and what he learnt in winter he
forgot in summer; as for writing, he depended upon a writing-master
who came to Bolton during the winter.[160] One of the earliest
recollections of the writer just quoted was of his sister being sent up
to London to be touched by Charles II., on which occasion she received
a gold token worth about 10s., which she afterwards wore round her
neck, "as the custom then was." The royal touch was not in this case
efficacious. William Stout afterwards settled in Lancaster as a kind of
general dealer and merchant, especially in groceries and ironmongery,
and from his diary may be gleaned several interesting details of the
state and trade of Lancaster, which at that time (end of seventeenth
century) did a considerable shipping business to London, Ireland,
Virginia, Barbadoes, and other ports.

In 1689 the war with France much interfered with this trade, and the
cheese from Cheshire and Lancashire, which required twenty ships yearly
to carry it to London, had all to be taken by land. The rate for the
carriage in this way was from 3s. to 5s. a hundredweight in summer.
Iron was obtained in the crude state from the bloomeries of Cartmel
and Furness. Tobacco was largely imported into Lancaster directly from
Virginia, the trade being carried on partly by exchange of goods; thus,
one John Hodgson, of Lancaster, sent out £200 value of English goods,
for which he obtained in Virginia 200 hogsheads of tobacco, and made by
the barter a net profit of £1,500, tobacco then selling at 1s. a pound.
Sugar bought at Bristol and Liverpool was refined at Lancaster, but
none seems to have been imported at this time. Our diarist in 1695 was
collector of the land-tax of Lancaster, which was 4s. in the pound, and
amounted to £120, so that the rateable value was only about £600.

One curious funeral custom is worth recording. "I went" (writes Stout)
"to Preston fair to buy cheese," the market for cheese being mostly
at Garstang and Preston fairs. "At this time we sold much cheese to
funerals in the country, from 30 lbs. to 100 lbs. weight, as the
deceased was of ability; which was shrived into two or three" (slices
or pieces) "in the lb., and one with a penny manchet given to all
attendants. And it was customary at Lancaster to give one or two long
biscuits, called Naples biscuits, to each attendant, by which from
20 to 100 lbs. was given." The providing of the penny manchet at the
funeral often formed a paragraph in the deceased person's will, and
the doles given to the poor on these occasions were often considerable.

The last Herald's visitation to the county was made in 1664-65 by Sir
William Dugdale, and from it we discover that many old families of
the last century have entirely died out, whilst others of more humble
origin have succeeded them. The incompleteness of the pedigrees (to
say nothing of their glaring inaccuracies) is striking, and one is
surprised to find how many families, undoubtedly entitled to bear
arms, neglected to enter their descents. The seventeenth century saw
the birth of a new order of men in Lancashire, who in many cases rose
to opulence and became the founders of what developed into county
families; there were the clothiers--they in many instances sprang from
the lowest social grade, but by industry and thrift acquired their
positions. The clothier purchased the wool (or kept large quantities
of sheep), and delivered it to persons who took it to their own
homes, and having there made it into cloth, returned it then to their
employers. This business was usually carried on in the towns of the
county, which were now rapidly springing up, and the demand for the
kind of labour required quickly drew workmen from the surrounding
agricultural districts. Amongst the most prominent centres for this
trade were Manchester, Oldham, Bolton, Rochdale, Ashton, Bury, and
Blackburn. In the manorial and other records of this period we find
frequent references to "loomhouses," "bleachouses," "woolmen," and
"clothmakers." These pioneers of the wool trade, the clothiers, often
lived in large town-houses, adjacent to and communicating with which
were their warehouses for the wool and manufactured goods. The contents
of one of these establishments is furnished by the inventory attached
to the will of Anthony Mosley, of Manchester, clothier, proved at
Chester, April 30, 1607. The will itself, after providing for the
family of the testator and bestowing several hundred pounds for
charitable purposes, concludes with a clause to the effect that the
testator's "walke millers" (_i.e._, fullers) shall each have a cloak
of 10 or 11 shillings a yard; that every one of his servants shall
have 40s. each; that at the funeral a dinner shall be provided, and
"a dealing to the poor of 2d. a piece"; and finally that the parson
who shall make the funeral sermon is to be rewarded with 20s. for his
pains. The dwelling-house consisted of the hall, the parlour, and the
kitchen, with chambers over them; also a chamber over the warehouse,
a brewhouse, a "bolting-chamber,"[161] an upper loft, and cellars.
The stock of cloth in the warehouse was valued at £255, and the stock
at various fulling-mills was estimated at another £740, whilst the
various trade debts owing to the deceased amounted to £1,260. The
household effects are not given in detail, but are given as "household
stuffe and cloth," and valued at nearly £600, beside £22 of plate. In
1613 there was a heavy decline in the wool trade, to remedy which a
Royal Commission was appointed, and subsequently Acts of Parliament
passed to remove the impost on cloth, which had been put on by the
Merchant Adventurers' Company, who for some years had an almost
complete monopoly of dyeing cloth. The establishment of a free trade
in dyeing once more revived the trade, and dyers were found in all our
Lancashire towns where woollen cloth was manufactured, and alongside
them were found fulling, or, as they were then called, walk mills.
Coal, ironstone, and flags where obtainable also now began to find a
ready market. Towards the close of the century the making of fustian
and other so-called cotton[162] goods, which had almost been confined
to Manchester, began rapidly to be taken up by the surrounding towns,
one of the first of these being Bolton.

Lancashire had not yet established a printing-press,[163] though
booksellers and stationers were not unknown in the larger towns; and a
fair number of authors from this county had furnished materials for the
printers of the Metropolis, amongst whom were Isaac Ambrose, Vicar of
Preston and Garstang; John Angier, pastor of Denton; Nehemiah Barnet,
minister of Lancaster; William Bell, minister at Huyton; Seth Bushell,
Vicar of Preston; Henry Pigott, Vicar of Rochdale; Charles Earl, of
Derby; Edward Gee, minister at Eccleston; John Harrison, minister of
Ashton-under-Lyne; William Leigh, Vicar of Standish; Charles Herle,
Vicar of Winwick; Richard Hollingworth, a Fellow of Manchester College;
and Richard Wroe, Warden of Manchester; Joseph Rigby; Alexander Rigby;
William Moore, Vicar of Whalley; Jeremiah Horrox, the astronomer;
Nathaniel Heywood, Vicar of Ormskirk; and a number of writers for and
against Quakers (see Chapter IX.). One reason, perhaps, of this absence
of the printing-press was that not until 1695 was the censorship of
printed matter swept away.

On the restoration of Charles II., as a reward for faithful services to
the House of Stuart during the Civil War, it was intended to establish
a new order of knighthood; this intention was ultimately abandoned,
but those in Lancashire who were to have been honoured were Thomas
Holt, Thomas Greenhalgh, Colonel Kirby, Robert Holt, Edmund Asheton,
Christopher Banastre, Francis Anderton, Colonel James Anderton, Roger
Nowell, Henry Norris, Thomas Preston,--Farrington,--Fleetwood, John
Girlington, William Stanley, Edward Tildesley, Thomas Stanley, Richard
Boteler, John Ingleton, and C. Walmesley, all of whom had an estate of
the value of at least £1,000.

William III., on his way to Ireland, before the battle of the Boyne,
embarked from Liverpool on June 14, 1690, and he probably met with
but a poor reception from the Lancashire people, as everywhere in the
county the Roman Catholics were dissatisfied at the expulsion of the
Stuarts by the House of Orange. The unpopularity of the King gave
rise to many plots against him, the last of which was known as the
"Lancashire Plot," which, according to one authority,[164] was not only
the parent but the companion of all the other conspiracies, and its
origin was owing to the politics of James II., who, hoping to regain
the crown, concerted with his friends, before his departure for France,
that they should raise a ferment in England, and that some trusty
person should be commissioned to carry out this scheme.

The person selected for this commission was Dr. Bromfield, who, to
suit his purpose, passed himself off as a Quaker,[165] and passed
rapidly through the North of England to Scotland, sowing the seeds of
discontent as he went along. From Scotland he proceeded to Ireland,
and then returned to Lancashire, intending to make that county the
centre of action. Caryl, Lord Molyneux, had, in 1687, been appointed
Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire in the place of Lord Derby; and it was to
his house at Croxteth that Dr. Bromfield first proceeded on his return
from Ireland; and here he found at all events a sympathizer, if not an
active partisan.

From Croxteth he went to an inn at Rhuddlan, in Flintshire, where he
stayed for some time, and soon had a considerable number of visitors.
From this place he made frequent visits to Ireland, by this means
keeping up a safer communication with the exiled King and his friends
in Lancashire. Suspicion having fallen on him, the vessel in which he
crossed to Ireland was seized, but with the assistance of the landlord
of the inn at Rhuddlan he made his escape and repaired to Ireland,
where King James made him a Commissioner of the Mint. The Lancashire
Plot included the murder of the King, and Colonel Parker, according
to De la Rue, was the person who first propounded this portion of the
plot to Lord Melford. Dr. Bromfield now found it absolutely necessary
to have an active agent, who was to be at once unscrupulous and
trustworthy. Such a man he thought he had secured in John Lunt, an
Irishman by birth, but who was successively a labourer at Highgate, a
coachman, a licensed victualler at Westminster, and one of King James's
Guards, with a promise of a captaincy. Moreover, he was not a man of
good character, as he had been tried for bigamy.

This Lunt, having followed the King to France soon after his
abdication, was sent from thence with the rest of the guards to Ireland
in May, 1689, and there renewed his acquaintance with Bromfield. Being
assured that the people in Lancashire only waited the King's commission
to rise in arms on his behalf and restore him to the throne, he at
once undertook to be the bearer of the commission. Meanwhile the
conspirators in Lancashire, evidently being eager for the rising, sent
over to Ireland Edmund Threlfall, of Ashes, in Goosnargh, to fetch the
needful commissions, and accordingly he and two others embarked in
a "pink" (_i.e._, a small ship) called the _Lion of Lancaster_, and
sailed down the Lune by night without any Custom-house certificate.
This vessel had been used to fetch cattle from the Isle of Man for the
Earl of Derby, and the sailors were led to believe that this was again
their destination on this occasion; but Threlfall induced the captain
to make for Dublin, where they duly arrived, and having received the
commission and obtained a passport from Lord Melford, they re-embarked
on board the pink, which, to prevent suspicion, was laden with iron
pots and bars and other commodities, and they anchored in the Lune
near to Cockerham on the morning of June 13, 1689. Whilst in Dublin,
Threlfall and Lunt had met, and had now returned together in the pink,
and as soon as she was anchored in the Lune they were put ashore,
before the arrival of the Custom-house officers, whose practice and
duty it was to go on board every vessel as she entered the harbour.
Lunt, with that carelessness which so often distinguishes conspirators,
left on board his saddle-bags, which contained some of the commissions,
and finding out after he got ashore that he had done so, he asked one
of the sailors who was returning with the cock-boat to the ship to
bring them after him to Cockerham; but before this could be done the
officers came on board, and discovering the papers, set off in pursuit
of their owners; but not finding them, they handed the documents over
to the authorities.

The discovery of these papers caused considerable excitement, and
they were carefully examined by the Earl of Devonshire, the Earl of
Macclesfield, the Earl of Scarborough and Lord Wharton, who were all
in Manchester on army business, and they recommended that warrants
should be issued to apprehend Lunt and Threlfall. In the meantime the
two conspirators had taken shelter at Myerscough Lodge, near Preston,
where lived Thomas Tyldesley, who was one of the foremost supporters
of their cause. Here they divided such of the commissions as they had
brought with them, Lunt setting off to deliver those for Lancashire,
Cheshire and Staffordshire, whilst Threlfall took those for Yorkshire
and Durham.

Lunt afterwards went to London to buy arms and enlist men to be sent to
Lancashire. At this time Irishmen came into the county in such numbers
as to rouse suspicion, and in October the justices of the peace at the
adjourned quarter sessions at Manchester sent a letter to the Secretary
of State, in which it was stated that the gaols were full of Irish
Roman Catholics, that many others were staying at Popish houses, and
that boxes with scarlet cloaks, pistols and swords had been sent from
London to Roman Catholic gentlemen now absent from home.

The warrants against Lunt and Threlfall were, no doubt, issued, but
it was not until August that an arrest was made, when Lunt and Mr.
Abbot, the steward of Lord Molyneux, were apprehended at Coventry
when they were returning from London. They were cast into prison as
enemies to the King, and soon afterward Charles Cawson, the master of
the ship which brought Lunt and Threlfall from Ireland, was arrested
on a similar charge. Cawson was taken from Coventry to London, where
he gave evidence before the Privy Council as to his taking Threlfall
to Ireland, and bringing him and Lunt back, also as to the papers
left in the pink at Cockerham. Meanwhile Threlfall, having despatched
his business in Yorkshire and Durham, where he assumed the name and
title of Captain Brown, and probably not knowing that a warrant had
been issued against him, returned home to Goosnargh, where he remained
for some time concealed, waiting for a chance to get away to Ireland.
Ashes, which had been the home of this family for several generations,
was well adapted for a place of concealment, not only from its retired
situation, but from its peculiar structure, its centre wall being
at least 4 feet thick, and containing two cavities large enough to
hide half a dozen men in; add to these advantages that the house was
surrounded by a moat, and on every side were sympathizing neighbours.

All things considered, perhaps Threlfall was as safe here as anywhere
had he used ordinary caution, but on August 20 (1690) he was surprised
near his house by a party of militia, and as he offered to resist, he
was killed by a corporal who was one of the party. At the trial in
Manchester in 1694, one John Wilson, of Chipping, made a deposition
that Threlfall had told him that he had twenty Irishmen ready for his
troop, who had been at his house and in the county waiting for several
months.

In the February following a deposition was made before the Mayor of
Evesham, in Worcestershire, that divers persons in that neighbourhood
had received commissions from King James to raise two regiments of
horse, two of dragoons, and three of foot for Lancashire, and that in
various places were hidden arms, etc., especially in the houses of Mr.
Blundell, of Ince, and John Holland, of Prescot; and further, that the
deponent had seen and heard read a letter from the late Queen in the
hand of Lord Molyneux's son, which gave assurance from the French King
of assistance in arms and men. This information led to the imprisonment
of several leading Lancashire Roman Catholics.

In the May following, Mr. Robert Dodsworth declared on oath to the Lord
Chief Justice Holt that the troops in Lancashire were to be joined by
the late King's forces for Ireland, while the French were to land in
Cornwall, and the Duke of Berwick was to cause a diversion in Scotland,
but that no rising was to take place until the late King landed in
Lancashire, which he had promised to do within a month.

John Lunt in November was committed to Newgate, where he was kept for
twenty weeks, and then bailed out to appear at the Lancaster Assizes,
where he appeared in August, 1690, and was then committed to Lancaster
Castle on a charge of high-treason. Here he remained until April,
1691, when he was brought to trial and acquitted, partly because the
Custom-house officers were unable to swear to the papers, and partly
because Charles Cawson, the master of the ship, had in the meantime
fallen sick and died. Lunt, notwithstanding his long imprisonment and
narrow escape from the scaffold, appears almost immediately to have set
about raising men and collecting arms for the proposed insurrection.
The destruction of the French fleet off the Hague on May 20, 1692,
dispersed all thoughts of an invasion and for awhile partially arrested
the designs of the conspirators.

The progress of the conspiracy was now slow and spasmodic, and was
seriously checked in May, 1694, by the arrest and committal to the
Tower of Walter Crosby, on whom were found papers containing many
details of the proposed insurrection; but more fatal even than this was
that Lunt turned traitor, and on June 15, 1694, made a full confession
of all he knew to one of the Secretaries of State. This, then, is the
Lancashire Plot as given by the Court advocates, who, if they erred
at all, would certainly not do so in favour of the conspirators. As
far as Lancashire is concerned, the whole matter was at an end, except
that the following gentlemen were all tried at Manchester in 1694,
viz.: Caryl, Lord Molyneux, Sir William Gerard, Sir Rowland Stanley,
Sir Thomas Clifton, William Dicconson, Esq., Philip Langton, Esq.,
Bartholomew Walmsley, Esq., and Mr. William Blundell.[166]

It is but fair to add that the various accounts published regarding
this so-called Lancashire Plot contain many variations and
inconsistencies, and it is no easy matter to decide which of these
various writers is correct; a full account of the trials is now,
however, in print, to which the curious reader is referred.[167] The
result of these trials was that the prisoners were acquitted, the
witnesses not being considered worthy of credit; but subsequently the
House of Commons, by a vote of 133 to 37, resolved that there were
grounds for the prosecution of the gentlemen at Manchester, as it
appeared that there was a dangerous plot carried on against the King
and his Government; this resolution was also confirmed by the House of
Lords.

The Lancashire gentlemen at the next assizes prosecuted Lunt and two
others, who were the chief witnesses against them, and they were all
three convicted of perjury.

During the reigns of James I. and Charles II. several towns applied
for and got fresh powers by royal charter; this was the case with
Preston and Liverpool and several smaller towns--amongst the latter
were Kirkham and Garstang. At a very early period a market was held
at Garstang, but it was not incorporated until 1680, when Charles II.
granted a charter whereby the inhabitants were declared to be a "body
corporate by the name of the Bailiff and burgesses of the Borough of
Garstang." From 1680 to the present time the Bailiff has regularly been
elected.

The birth of many new trades in Lancashire dates from the seventeenth
century, although many of the national industries were followed here
at a much earlier period. We now find numerous references to various
trades on the tokens, which were somewhat extensively issued in
Lancashire in consequence of the great scarcity of small change shortly
after the execution of Charles I. Some of these local tokens were of
superior workmanship, and of material calculated to stand the wear to
which they were subjected. They represented pennies, half-pennies and
farthings.

About 150 varieties of these Lancashire tokens were issued before the
close of the seventeenth century,[168] some of which indicate the
trade followed by the issuer, and thus furnish some clue to the spread
of certain industries within the county. A study of them gives the
following results:


SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY TOKENS.

  -----------------+-------+-------------------------------------------
      TOWN.        |NUMBER |          TRADE INDICATED.
                   |ISSUED.|
  -----------------+-------+-------------------------------------------
  Ashton-under-Lyne|   4   | 1 mercer, 1 tallow-chandler, 2 unclassed.
  Blackburn        |   6   | 4 mercers, 2 apothecaries.
  Bolton           |   5   | 2 dealers in tobacco, 3 unclassed.
  Burnley          |   1   | a mercer.
  Bury             |   1   | ? a saddler.
  Chadderdon       |   1   | an innkeeper.
  Cheetham         |   1   | a farrier or blacksmith.
  Chorley          |   5   | 1 dealer in tobacco, 1 cordwainer,
                   |       |   3 unclassed.
  Chowbent         |   1   | a woolman.
  Clitheroe        |   5   | 1 dealer in tobacco, 1 grocer, 1 draper,
                   |       |   2 unclassed.
  Colne            |   1   | a merchant.
  Crosby           |   1   | a draper.
  Garstang         |   1   | a tallow-chandler.
  Halliwell        |   2   | 1 dealer in tobacco, 1 unclassed.
  Halton           |   1   | unclassed.
  Haslingden       |   1   | unclassed.
  Heaton           |   1   | a tallow chandler.
  Holland          |   1   | unclassed.
  Huyton           |   1   | a grocer.
  Kirby            |   1   | a vintner.
  Kirkham          |   2   | 1 grocer, 1 unclassed.
  Lancaster        |   8   | 1 apothecary, 1 woolman, 6 unclassed.
  Little Lever     |   1   | unclassed.
  Liverpool        |  12   | 1 sugar merchant, 2 merchants or
                   |       |   shop-holders, 1 grocer, 1 apothecary,
                   |       |   1 draper, 6 unclassed.
  Manchester       |  15   | 1 chapman, 4 grocers, 2 apothecaries,
                   |       |   1 innkeeper, 7 unclassed.
  Milnrow          |   2   | 1 shoemaker, 1 unclassed.
  Newton           |   2   | 1 dealer in tobacco, 1 unclassed.
  Oldham           |   1   | unclassed.
  Ormskirk         |   6   | 1 grocer, 1 draper, 4 unclassed.
  Poulton-le-Fylde |   1   | a draper.
  Prescot          |   2   | 1 mercer, 1 unclassed.
  Preston          |   8   | 7 grocers, 1 apothecary.
  Risley           |   1   | a dealer in tobacco.
  Rochdale         |   6   | 1 grocer, 1 dealer in woollen goods, 4
                   |       |   unclassed.
  Shaw             |   1   | unclassed.
  Tarleton         |   1   | unclassed.
  Turton           |   1   | unclassed.
  Warrington       |  17   | 2 clothiers, 2 woollen-drapers, 2
                   |       |   apothecaries, 1 sugar-dealer, 1
                   |       |   draper, 1 grocer, 8 unclassed.
  West Houghton    |   1   | unclassed.
  Whalley          |   2   | unclassed.
  Wigan            |   8   | 1 apothecary, 1 armourer, 1 grocer,
                   |       |   1 tallow-chandler, 4 unclassed.
  -----------------+-------+-------------------------------------------

Amongst the unclassified several tokens bore religious emblems, such
as "the bleeding heart" and the "dove and olive branch"; and the
"eagle and child" was a favourite design. Crests or family arms were
also often used, but in these cases there is nothing to indicate the
occupation of the person who issued the token.

During the century to which the Lancashire plot just recorded formed
a fitting close, Lancashire had witnessed many stirring events--the
monarchy had been destroyed, the Commonwealth set up, and the rule of
kings again established; Roman Catholics had persecuted Protestants,
and Puritans had tried their best to repress Roman Catholicism; and
in each and every case this county had done its share: if battles
were to be fought, the Lancashire lads were in the thick of them; if
religious creeds had to be repressed, in their mistaken zeal, there
again were the people of this county to the fore. But, notwithstanding
wars, plagues, persecutions, insurrections, and a host of minor evils,
Lancashire still progressed, her towns increased in number and in size,
and her sons were leading the van in all matters of trade, commerce
and enterprise. Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, and other large towns
were attracting to them men, not only from the surrounding districts,
but from all civilized countries; whilst the woollen and other
goods manufactured in the county had already obtained a world-wide
fame. Amongst other industries introduced during this century was
bell-founding, which trade was carried on in Wigan with considerable
success as early as 1647, and many church bells in the surrounding
districts came from this foundry.

[Illustration]

[Footnote 124: The author read a paper on "The Lancashire Demoniacs"
before the Hist. Soc. of Lanc. and Ches. (vol. xxxv.), in which this
subject is more fully gone into.]

[Footnote 125: This case does not belong to the seventeenth century,
but it is inserted here as bearing upon the subject, and only occurred
four years before the century began.]

[Footnote 126: "The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the County
of Lancaster, with the arraignment and trial of nineteene notorious
Witches, etc., etc.; London, 1613." Reprinted by the _Chetham Soc._,
vol. vi., old series.]

[Footnote 127: See _Lanc., and Ches. Ant. Soc._, x. 215.]

[Footnote 128: Some of these tracts are now very scarce.]

[Footnote 129: One of these was found near Rochdale a few years ago.
(See "History of Rochdale," p. 535.)]

[Footnote 130: Satirical poem, Hopkinson's MSS., xxxiv. 85.]

[Footnote 131: "Nicholas Assheton's Journal," _Chetham Soc._, xiv.]

[Footnote 132: Liverpool Municipal Records.]

[Footnote 133: The _Chetham Society_, vols. ii., xlii., and lxvi.,
contained full details of the Civil War in Lancashire. From this source
many of the following particulars are taken.]

[Footnote 134: In a tract dated July 5, 1642, entitled "The Beginning
of the Civil Warres in England, or Terrible News from the North," Lord
Strange is reported to have approached Manchester with a considerable
armed force on July 5, and drawing up at a little distance from the
town, demanded that the inhabitants should deliver up their magazines.
On their refusal to give them up, he marched against the town, outside
of which he was met by "ten small companies set in a faire battalion,"
and a skirmish took place, which lasted several hours, and resulted in
the withdrawal of the Royalist forces with the loss of twenty-seven
men. The tract then states "that this is the beginning of the Civill
Warre, being the first stroke that hath been struck, and the first
bullet that hath been shot." There is much reason to doubt the
correctness of this reported fight, as no mention of it is made by
contemporary authorities.]

[Footnote 135: These fortifications consisted of posts and chains,
and barricades of mud. They were erected under the superintendence of
Lieutenant-Colonel Rosworm, a German engineer, at a cost of £30.]

[Footnote 136: A slightly different version of this is given in
"Lancashire's Valley of Achor."]

[Footnote 137: Major Edward Robinson, "A Discourse of the Warr in
Lancashire," _Chetham Soc._, lxii.]

[Footnote 138: "Lancashire's Valley of Achor."]

[Footnote 139: "A punctuall relation of the passages in Lancashire this
week" (February 14, 1642).]

[Footnote 140: This is Major Robinson's statement.]

[Footnote 141: Major Robinson says he "discharged that little pece of
ordenance they carried with them divers times," and then walked into
the town.]

[Footnote 142: "Lancashire's Valley of Achor."]

[Footnote 143: Edward Bridgeman, late M.P.]

[Footnote 144: This castle was afterwards ordered to be dismantled. Its
position rendered it difficult to attack, as it stood on an eminence
from which the ground sloped rapidly in every direction. It was entered
by the large windows on the east side, and the entrance thus gained,
the victory was assured.]

[Footnote 145: This castle was first taken by Colonel Ashton, in June,
1643, but Sir John Girlington, having got hold of it, reoccupied it.]

[Footnote 146: For full details of these two sieges see "Civil War
Tracts," _Chetham Soc._, ii.]

[Footnote 147: Seacome's "Memoirs of the House of Stanley."]

[Footnote 148: In Salford Chapel, "for poor distressed Bolton," the
very large sum of £140 was collected ("Vicar's Chronicle").]

[Footnote 149: By way of Blackburn and Colne; at the latter place a
slight skirmish took place on June 25. At Kirkham, between May and
September, 1644, no accounts of the vestry were kept, because "Prince
Rupert's army" had command of the county, and many of the parishioners
had fled. In 1642 the soldiers "pulled asunder the organ pipes in the
church."]

[Footnote 150: "A Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire."]

[Footnote 151: Another authority gives 32,000 (Burghall's "Civil War in
Cheshire").]

[Footnote 152: Lieut.-General Cromwell's letter to the Hon. William
Lenthall.]

[Footnote 153: Burghall put the killed and wounded at 4,000, and adds
that they took 6,000 prisoners!]

[Footnote 154: Cal. State Papers, Dom. Ser., 1648-9, p. 219.]

[Footnote 155: For full details of this historic incident see "Stanley
Papers," "Civil Warr in Lancashire" (Chetham Society), Seacome's
"Memoirs," Hughes' "Boscobel Tracts," etc.]

[Footnote 156: State Papers, Dom. Ser., iv. 240.]

[Footnote 157: Heawood's "Coronation."]

[Footnote 158: Published by Chetham Society, vol. xii., old series.]

[Footnote 159: "Autobiography of William Stout"; London, 1851.]

[Footnote 160: A few years afterwards he was sent to a school in
Westmorland, where he was taught both Latin and Greek.]

[Footnote 161: The place where the meal was bolted = sifted.]

[Footnote 162: The cotton trade had not yet arisen. These goods were
coatings, and made of wool.]

[Footnote 163: One solitary book, "A Guide to Heaven from the Word,"
is said on doubtful authority to have been printed at Smithy Door,
Manchester, in 1664.]

[Footnote 164: Kingston's "True History of the Several Designs and
Conspiracies against his Majesty's Person and Government, as they were
carried on from 1688 to 1697."]

[Footnote 165: For full details of this "plot" see the late Mr.
Beamont's introduction to "The Jacobite Trials in Manchester, 1694"
(_Chetham Soc._, xxviii.), and also Dr. Abbadie's "True History of the
Late Conspiracy," etc.; London, 1696.]

[Footnote 166: All well-known Lancashire men, except Sir Rowland
Stanley, who lived in Cheshire.]

[Footnote 167: _Chetham Soc._, xxviii.]

[Footnote 168: See _Lanc. and Ches. Ant. Soc._, vol. v.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER IX.

RELIGION.


Of the non-Aryan tribes who at some remote period lived in the North
of England we do not know sufficient to even conjecture what was their
religion, if they had any; but judging from analogy, it may be presumed
that they had some kind of belief in a super-human power.

The tribes who next succeeded these rude savages in effecting
settlements in this country were all of the Aryan race, and all that
we are able to ascertain as to their religious faith is that when
Julius landed in Britain he found that the inhabitants were pagans,
and followed a mysterious kind of worship known as Druidism, and that
their priests were called Druids, and were not only the arbitrators in
disputes, but also judges of crime.

One of the tenets of this religion was a belief in the immortality of
the soul, and also in its transmigration. As to the nature of their
gods we know little or nothing, except that to them were offered human
sacrifices, who were sometimes criminals and at other times prisoners
of war. Of temples they appear to have had few, but to have performed
their mystic rites in the secluded groves of oak which were then found
on every side. The Druids were exempt from military service, and were
at once priests, lawgivers, and teachers. From the time the Romans
penetrated into Northumbria (see p. 15) near the beginning of the fifth
century, the religion of the people of that district (which includes,
of course, Lancashire) must have undergone a gradual change, as the
polytheism of the Romans made itself apparent.

At all their large stations the conquerors erected temples dedicated
to their gods, and altars to their various deities were put up in
every direction, and thus, no doubt, year by year the influence of the
Druidical priesthood diminished, and was probably finally extinguished
by the more attractive worship which found favour in imperial Rome.

After the Romans vacated Lancashire, the conversion of Constantine
the Great to Christianity (see p. 17) had no doubt some effect upon
religious thought even in Northumbria. But long after the Roman Empire
became a Christian State, the tribes which were then struggling for
supremacy in Britain still adhered to the old pagan worship, and
_Thor_, the god of thunder, _Wodin_, the god of war, _Eostre_, the
goddess of spring, and a host of others, were numbered amongst their
deities. They believed, however, in a future state, as their warriors
slain in battle were supposed to inhabit a bright and happy palace
called _Valhalla_. Near the end of the sixth century, King Æthelbert,
who ruled in Kent, married the daughter of King Charibert of Paris, and
by the terms of her marriage contract she was to be allowed to enjoy
the exercise of Christian worship, which she did in a small chapel
near Canterbury. With her, from France, came a Frankish Bishop named
Liuhard, who was soon followed by a Roman Abbot named Augustine, who
came by instructions from Pope Gregory I., accompanied by some forty
monks, who were to establish the Christian religion in Kent; they
ultimately persuaded the King to be baptized, and this event may be
regarded as the foundation of the Christian religion in England. Little
by little the new religion spread, and in A.D. 627 Edwin, the
King of Northumbria, became a convert through the instrumentality of
his wife, who was a daughter of Æthelbert, (see p. 42), and Paulinus,
one of the company who came to Britain with Augustine. He had been
consecrated to the episcopate by Justus, Archbishop of Canterbury,
"in order that he might be to Ethelburga, in her Northern home, what
Liuhard had been to her mother in the still heathen Kent."[169] On the
authority of Bede, Paulinus was a man of striking appearance, being
tall, though slightly stooping, with black hair, but of worn and wasted
visage; his nose thin, but curved like an eagle's beak, and altogether
a presence to command respect and veneration.

The tale as told by Bede, of the dramatic events which led up to the
conversion of Edwin, must be received with caution, mixed up as it
is with such incidents as a spiritual visitor with whom the narrator
held familiar converse; nevertheless, the main facts of the story are
probably correct, allowing for the fact that the account was written
nearly 100 years after the events took place, and by one who was
prone to mix with history incidents which would only at the present
time be classed with legends and superstitions. The story, briefly
told (omitting the apparition), is that Edwin for a long time refused
to abandon his old faith, but after an attempt had been made to
assassinate him, the birth of a daughter and a victory over his enemy,
the King of the West Saxons--all of which events were turned to account
by the wily Bishop (who was trying to convert him)--he consented to
call a council of leading men and to lay the matter before them, and if
they agreed with him they would together be baptized and admitted into
the Church.

At this meeting, a chief priest of one of the pagan temples, Coifi by
name, declared himself against his old faith on the simple grounds that
after all his long devotion to his gods he was still without that
worldly success for which his soul thirsted; and, therefore, as he had
nothing to lose and everything to gain, he should vote for giving the
new religion a trial.

Another of the council spoke, and in simple but striking words reminded
his hearers how they had often on a winter's night, gathered round the
fire, when all outside was dark and dreary, the wind howling and the
rain beating against the latticed windows, when a door for a moment
opened admitting a poor little bird seeking shelter from the storm.
But a moment only it stays, flies across the hall, and is gone. This,
he continued, is a fit emblem of man's life; he appears for a little
season, and having finished his appointed course is gone; but no
earthly wisdom has told us from whence he came, or has illuminated
his departure. And so, he concluded, if the new teacher can tell us
anything with assurance of certainty as to man's origin or future
destiny, his words ought to be received and accepted. Paulinus then
addressed the assembly, at the conclusion of which Coifi, with all the
fanatic zeal which might be expected from such a man, volunteered to
enter the temples of the gods and to take therefrom what he heretofore
had held to be sacred, and having been armed and mounted he rode to
Goodmanham, a place of the highest pagan sanctity, and there tore
down the idols of Thor and Wodin with shouts of joy and gladness.
Bede adds, the people stood awe-struck, and thought that their chief
priest had gone mad. But Coifi knew what he was about; he had only
determined (like many a better man had done before) to keep himself on
the winning side, for he saw clearly enough that paganism had received
its death-blow, and however little his gods had done for him in the
past, they would certainly do less in the future. Edwin, with the
enthusiasm of a new convert, now set about erecting a small church,
or more probably an oratory, in the city of York. This was made of
wood, and within this building the Northumbrian King was baptized by
Paulinus on Easter Day, A.D. 627 (April 12). This oratory
was not long afterwards enclosed within a larger structure which was
built of stone, and upon the site of which was afterwards erected the
stately Minster of York. It is said that shortly after the baptism of
Edwin a large number of his barons and subjects followed his example.
Paulinus and his friends now lost no time in spreading through the
length and breadth of Northumbria the tenets of the Christian religion,
and under the patronage of the King and Queen no doubt many proselytes
were obtained, not a few of whom were dwellers on Lancashire soil.
This missionary work proceeded uninterruptedly for six years, but was
then destined to receive a very severe check by the war between Edwin
and Penda (see p. 42), in which the King of Northumbria was defeated
and slain on October 12, A.D. 633, and subsequently the whole
of his kingdom was overrun by pagan soldiers, who, according to Bede,
slaughtered the Christians without regard to either age or sex. The
head of Edwin was taken to York by some of his friends, and placed
within the church which he had so recently built. Ethelburga, the
Queen, and her two children, escorted by Paulinus, fled into Kent, and
Paulinus was afterwards presented to the See of Rochester.

He was never Archbishop of York (as by some supposed), although the
Pope offered that dignity to him; the letter was addressed to Edwin,
who was dead before it was delivered. Paulinus died at Rochester
October 10, A.D. 644. Cædwallon ruled over Northumbria for
only a few years, and his successor, Oswald, who had probably passed
some years in the monastery of Iona very early in his reign, sent over
to that community for help towards the revival of Christianity in this
kingdom.

The first priest who was sent returned reporting that the people were
impracticable and refused to be converted, whereupon a priest called
Aiden was consecrated Bishop, and despatched to Northumbria in the year
635.

Oswald did not, as might have been expected, place Aiden at York, but
gave to him a small island on the coast of Durham known as Holy Island,
and here was founded the abbey of Lindisfarne, which was destroyed by
the Danes in A.D. 795; from this centre the missionary work
in the North of England emanated. The basilica at York was finished
by Oswald, and by erecting other churches and granting lands for the
sites of religious houses this King did much to establish the Christian
religion in the North. But after eight years of comparative peace
Northumbria again passed into pagan hands (see p. 43), and not until
Penda in A.D. 655 was defeated and slain did paganism receive
its death-blow. Oswy, on gaining this final victory, fulfilled the vow
which he had made--that if he was successful in this war he would give
twelve sites for as many monasteries, and give his infant daughter to
serve the Lord in holy virginity. The monasteries were founded, but
none of them appear to have been on the western or Lancashire side of
the Pennine Hills. Early in A.D. 665 the bishopric of York was
re-established, when Wilfrid was consecrated as Bishop at Compiègne
in France; but having delayed his coming to his see for nearly twelve
months, he was not a little astonished to find that in the meantime
Chad's consecration had taken place and he was already in possession.
For a few years only he held the office, and on his retirement to the
monastery of Lastingham, Wilfrid took his place.

Of the dispute with Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the
temporary expulsion of Wilfrid from the See of York and his subsequent
visit to Rome, where he saw the Pope, and obtained from him a decree
which was to reinstate him, little need here be said, except that on
his return to York, and a "witan" having been called, the Pope's order
was treated with scorn by the assembly, and Wilfrid was cast into
prison, where he remained for nine months.

The real point at issue was the supremacy of the Pope, Egfrid, the
King of Northumbria, being strongly opposed to it, whilst Wilfrid and
his friends were just as firmly decided in its favour. Wilfrid had for
some years been the sole Bishop of Northumbria, his diocese extending
from the Firth of Forth to the Humber, and from the Firth of Clyde to
the Mersey. Through the entreaty of an aunt of the King's, who was
Abbess of Ebba, Wilfrid was at length liberated, but banished from
the kingdom. Whilst these disputes were going on, Bosa occupied the
episcopal chair of York, and was followed by John of Beverley, who died
May 7, A.D. 721. Before this date several monasteries are
believed to have been established in Lancashire. Wilfrid II. held the
see from 718 to 732, when he was succeeded by Egbert, to whom Bede,
now an old man, addressed a letter, the contents of which show clearly
that already many abuses had crept into the Church, and that in some
of the so-called religious houses luxury and license were more the
rule than the exception. Land granted for purely religious purposes,
and thus free from secular claims, was used to erect houses, religious
in name, but really only dwelling-places for the founders and their
people. Egbert, in A.D. 735, was appointed by Pope Gregory
III. Archbishop of York, and thus became Primate of the Northern
Province, and a few years afterwards his brother, Eadbert, became King
of Northumbria. Towards the middle of the ninth century began the
invasions of the Danes (see p. 44), which continued until A.D.
867, when the whole of Northumbria was in their possession, and for
many years before and after this event the ecclesiastical history
of the kingdom is almost a blank. The new occupiers of Northumbria
were mostly from Denmark, and were a wild, lawless set of pirates,
distinguished for courage, ferocity, and a violent hatred to the
newly-established faith. The religion these tribes professed was a
worship of Odin and other kindred gods. A great point of difference
between the conquerors and conquered (who had both descended from the
same race) was that whilst the Danes had continued to worship the gods
of their forefathers, and had not forsaken their old profession of
sea-pirates, the settlers in Britain had devoted themselves to peaceful
pursuits, and had to a great extent adopted the new religion.

It may therefore be taken for granted that amongst the first objects
upon which they wreaked their vengeance would be the newly-erected
churches, and in all probability not one was left untouched.
Persecution would follow as a natural consequence, and the religious
progress made during the last two centuries was not only arrested, but
almost annihilated. During the troubled times which intervened between
this period and the election of Edward the Confessor Christianity
made some progress, as even the Danes to some extent yielded to
its influence, and a Bishop of Danish blood (Oskytel) occupied the
episcopal chair of York, and his kinsman Oswald, in A.D. 972,
was Archbishop, and held the see until his death in A.D.
992.[170] With the Conquest came another change, and the Bishops of
York were selected from Norman ecclesiastics. Up to this period, except
as part of the Diocese of York, we have found but scanty records
referring to the religious history of Lancashire, but, nevertheless,
it is absolutely certain that in some few of its scattered villages
churches were built and Christian colonies established. But in
considering this question it must be borne in mind that in what we
call Lancashire there were at that time no large towns, nor even any
number of considerable-sized villages; the inhabitants were mostly
engaged in agricultural pursuits, and the religious requirements
were administered from York. In Yorkshire and other parts of ancient
Northumbria we know that churches and monasteries had been so long
established that into the latter many abuses had been introduced even
as early as A.D. 732, but we have no evidence to lead us to
suppose that such was the case in Lancashire.

In the middle of the eleventh century, on the reliable testimony of
the so-called Domesday Survey, we have positive evidence that in
Lancashire there were then at least a dozen churches; however many
more were left unnoticed, or had existed and been destroyed by the
ravages of the Danes, we can only conjecture, but there are not wanting
indications in that direction which leave little room for doubt that,
at all events, some half-dozen others are wanting to complete the list.
The Great Survey was not in any way intended to furnish such a list,
and its object might have been attained almost without the mention
of a single ecclesiastical building; it is therefore not improbable
that other churches existed, of which no trace, nor even tradition,
has been handed down to us. Beginning with the early churches in the
north of the county, and coming down to the Mersey, we shall be able in
some measure to trace the local rise and development of the Christian
religion in the county. In the Lancashire part of Lonsdale no church
is named as a building, but as we have after the word Lancaster[171]
_Church Lancaster_ (_Chercaloncastre_), it is evident that this
ancient town had at that time, at all events, its church (to which
we shall refer again hereafter); and from the fact that to the four
manors of Bentham (in Yorkshire), Wennington, Tatham and Tunstall were
attached three churches, it is clear that not less than two of them
were in Lancashire, and these were at Tatham and Tunstall. The church
at Tatham, like many others of these early foundations, has now no
village near to it, but stands at the extreme north of the parish; it
is mentioned in the _Valor_ of 1291, and it has been more than once
rebuilt, but a Norman doorway remains, and an archway said to belong to
the Saxon period.

Tunstall was the site of a small Roman station (see p. 36), and
therefore the more likely to be afterwards used as the settlement of a
Saxon community. The early history of this church is obscure, but it
was recognised in 1291, and shortly afterwards appears to have belonged
to the Abbot of Croxton Keyrial, in Leicestershire; it has been at
least three times restored; it was originally dedicated to St. Michael,
but the more modern dedication is to St. John. Thurland Castle, which
is not far from the church, is supposed to have taken its name from
a Saxon Thane. At Kirkby Ireleth one can scarcely avoid coming to
the conclusion that at some time during the Saxon Heptarchy a church
existed, though all material trace of it was soon afterwards swept
away. The present parish church is dedicated to St. Cuthbert, who, in
A.D. 685, had given to him by the King of Northumbria "the
land called Cartmel and all the Britons there" ("terram quæ vocatur
Cartmel et omnes Britannos cum eo"),[172] and as Kirkby Ireleth is
only some ten miles from that place, it is at least probable that here
Cuthbert erected a church, which afterwards being destroyed, left only
a tradition of its founder.

A few miles to the west of Lancaster, at Heysham, on high ground
overlooking the waters of Morecambe Bay, undoubtedly once stood a Saxon
church, on the site of which, in Norman times, was erected the present
building, portions of which, notably a doorway and part of the north
wall, are of undoubted Saxon architecture. In the churchyard is a very
ancient runic cross with a richly carved scroll and rude figures of
the Virgin and Child, and on the bare rock, a little above the church,
are several excavations of coffin-like shape, in which at some very
distant date human bodies were interred. The hog-backed stone in the
churchyard, with elaborate carvings, has formed the subject of much
learned argument, but whilst there are several opinions as to the
correct story intended to be represented by the sculptor, all agree
that this relic is of very great antiquity, and probably belongs to
the sixth or seventh century.[173] The original church, which was only
24 feet long and 7½ feet wide, was dedicated to St. Patrick, and has,
on that account, been thought to have been established by a colony
of Irish monks who, about that period, are said to have visited this
district.

Coming back to "time-honoured Lancaster," the only vestige of the Saxon
church which has been preserved is a small stone cross discovered in
1807 in the churchyard; it is almost complete, and bears an inscription
in Anglian runes, of which the generally accepted reading is (when
translated): "Bid" (_i.e._ pray ye) "for Cunibalth Cuthbœrehting"
(Cuthbert's son). This is, by the best authorities, ascribed to the
seventh century. At the time of the Conquest Lancaster had fallen
from its former high estate, and was returned in the Domesday Book
as a dependency of Halton. The church, which stood not far from the
castle and some little distance from the town, was no doubt of small
dimensions, and was the property of Roger de Poictou, who just before
the close of the eleventh century (A.D. 1094) conveyed it to
St. Martin of Sees, in Normandy, by the name of the church of St. Mary
of Lancaster, with all things pertaining thereunto, including part of
the land of the _vill_, from the old wall (of the town) to the orchard
of Godfrey and as far as Prestgate, and near to Lancaster two mansions,
Aldcliffe and Newton.[174] The charter which made this grant to the
monastery of Sees was, in fact, the charter which established the alien
priory of St. Mary of Lancaster, which consisted of a Prior and five
monks, with three priests, two clerks, and the usual servants--the
monks were all drawn from the parent Norman monastery.

Amongst other endowments of this religious house, given to it by its
founder, were the patronage and temporalities of a number of churches,
many of which had only been recently erected in Lancashire; these were
Heysham, Croston, Eccleston, Childwall, Preston, Kirkham, Melling,
Bispham, Bolton (near Lancaster), and Poulton-le-Fylde. By charter
dated March 26, 1200, King John took into his hands the custody,
protection and maintenance of the church of St. Mary of Lancaster, and
the Prior and monks there "serving God and St. Mary," with all their
lands and possessions.

In 1260 Pope Alexander issued a Papal Bull in which he expressed a
desire that "the church of the Monastery of Lancaster, of the Order of
St. Benedict, of the Diocese of York," might be "filled with fitting
honours," to accomplish which, "in the mercy of God and the authority
of the blessed Peter and Paul his apostles, he mercifully" remitted
to all "true penitents and the confessed" who approached the church
for the sake of devotion annually on the feast of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, "to whose honour it was asserted the church was dedicated," a
hundred days of the penance enjoined on them. And in the 10 Kal.,
March, 1292, Pope Nicholas granted relaxation for one year and forty
days of the enjoined penance to those penitents who visited the church
of Lancaster on the feasts of the Blessed Virgin and St. Nicholas, in
their octaves, and on the anniversary of the dedication.[175]

In 1246 a dispute was settled between John Romanus, Archdeacon of
Richmond, and the Abbot and convent of Sees. The matter had been
referred to the priors of Kirkham and Bridlington by the Pope, and
through this intervention a compromise was arrived at, the terms of
which were that the right of patronage with the pension of three
marks, and all right which the Abbot and convent had in the church of
Bolton in Lonsdale, should be yielded up for ever, and that the moiety
of the church of Poulton, with the appurtenances which Alexander de
Stanford possessed, when it became vacant, should be ceded to the
priory of Lancaster to its own uses, provided that in the said church
the vicarage should be taxed "by good men chosen by each party" from
the goods of the same church to the value of 20 marks; to the vicarage
the Abbot and convent of Sees to present their own clerk for ever, who
shall find hospitality for the Archdeacon and support all other due and
customary burdens.

It was also settled that the Archdeacon should confirm the church of
Lancaster to the priory for ever as they formerly held it, and that
neither he nor his successors should "compel" those so appointed to
the vicarage, unless it shall please them, saving, nevertheless, to
the Archdeacon and his successors in all things their archidiaconal
rights in the same. This agreement was afterwards confirmed by the
Archdeacon and the Archbishop of York. A few years later we find Gerard
de Wipensis (or Vyspeyns), Archdeacon of Richmond, granting to the
Abbot and convent, Prior and monks, at Lancaster, that they may in
future hold and possess in full right the church of the Blessed Mary at
Lancaster, with all lands, tithes, possessions, and chapels belonging
to it, namely, the chapels of Gressingham, Caton, Overton and Stalmine.
Also, as the monks by themselves or by fit chaplains administered
continually day and night in the said church of Lancaster and the
parish of the same, and laboured perpetually in the cure of souls, so
they should not be compelled by anyone to make or ordain a vicarage or
vicar in the said church against their will, as none existed therein.
From this it is clear that at this time no vicar was appointed, the
entire duties being executed by the monks or their chaplains.

The number of grants made in the thirteenth and following century to
the church of Lancaster, and the Prior and monks there serving, is
considerable, and it is impossible here even to catalogue them; one
or two will, however, serve to show how strong the influence of the
religious men had become. By deed dated at Caton in 1256, Roger, son of
Vivian de Heysham, granted to God and the church of the Blessed Mary of
Lancaster, and to the Prior and monks, etc., for the safety of his soul
and the soul of Wymark his wife, and for the souls of his ancestors
and successors, the third part of his corn-mill at Caton, also of his
fulling-mill there, with the pond and free water-course to the said
mills, with free common in the wood of Caton for repairing the said
mills, to be held for ever.

By another charter, without date, but executed in either 1261 or 1272
(one of the witnesses being Ralph Dacre, the High Sheriff, who held
that office in those two years), John, son of Roger Gernet, of Caton,
for the safety of his soul, etc., gave a piece of land in Caton,
lying from the north corner of Cottescroft, going northwards as far
as the root of the burnt oak, next to the sun, and so to the stream
running between the land of William de Bensted and the land of Adam
de Lee, to the priory to be held for ever free of all customs. About
the same date, Helewise, daughter of Adam, son of Gilbert de Bolton,
gave the church of the Blessed Mary of Lancaster, and the Prior and
monks serving there, all the land in the vill of Bolton which she had
received from her father, to be held by them for ever, but subject to
the usual services to the lord of the fee.

One of the large landowners in Bolton (in Lonsdale) at this time
was Thomas de Capernwray, who about A.D. 1261 gave to the
church of Lancaster and the Prior and monks all his lands, buildings,
services, and rents in the vill of Bolton, except certain land
previously granted to Adam, son of Robert Kellet. Many other similar
grants followed, and, as already stated, the advowson of nearly all the
churches in the district fell into their hands.

After the alien houses were suppressed in 1414, most of the possessions
of this priory went to the monastery of Syon in Middlesex, the
foundation-stone of which was laid on February 22, 1415, by the King
in person, who endowed it with £110 a year, to be paid out from the
farm of the Lancaster Priory lands. Giles Lovell, the last Prior of
Lancaster, died in 1428. The priory itself was granted to Syon in frank
almoigne in 1432. Thus the Abbot and convent of Syon became the patrons
of the Lancashire churches held by the priory. Probably Syon appointed
Richard Chester Vicar of Lancaster, who in 1430-34 also held the
rectory of South Wollyngham in Lincolnshire, and had protection granted
to him on going in that year to the Council of Basle, in the retinue of
Robert, Bishop of London.[176]

At Lancaster there was also founded, late in the twelfth century,
a small hospital of the Augustine Order; it was dedicated to St.
Leonard's in or about the year 1357. It was annexed to the nunnery
of Seton in Cumberland; at one time its accommodation was limited to
a master, his chaplain, and nine persons, three of whom were to be
lepers. There was also here a small monastery of the Grey Friars,
about which little is known. The century succeeding the Conquest was
distinguished by the rise of monasteries and convents, and with them
rose many of the ancient churches in which Lancashire is so rich. It
is, however, a mistake to suppose that the abbots built these; history
rather shows that the monasteries absorbed the lesser ecclesiastical
foundations, or, more frequently still, they received them as part and
parcel of their own endowments.

The great monastic institution in this part of the country was Furness
Abbey, which was not only a great religious centre, but from it sprang
many other abbeys of note. Furness Abbey is near to the town of Dalton,
but lies in a sheltered nook, so that it is cut off, as it were, from
the neighbouring towns. The abbey of Savigni in Normandy was founded
in 1112, and within a few years of its foundation (in 1126-27) Stephen
gave Furness to this monastery, but only, it would seem, in order that
St. Mary's of Furness should by this order be established; with this
object, he endowed it with very large tracts of land, including the
whole of Furness, Dalton, Ulverston, and Walney Island, in addition
to such rights and privileges as made them veritable lords over all
the district. And here was built that abbey which even in its ruins
is majestic and beautiful. This institution was originally founded in
July, 1123, at Tulket, near Preston, and the monks remained there for
over three years, when, finding a more suitable site, they migrated to
Furness. About the year 1148 the monks of Furness, with other followers
of Savigni, joined the Cistercian Order. The monks of Furness were an
immense power in the district, and, notwithstanding that they suffered
like the rest of the people from the ravages of the Scots, must have
enjoyed a very large revenue. Not only were they breeders of cattle
and rearers of horses, sheep, and oxen, but they had on their demesne a
considerable number of iron furnaces and salt works, all of which, if
not worked by the community, were a considerable source of income. As
in the case of other monasteries, as time went on, numerous benefactors
arose, and lands and tenements all over the district were added to the
possessions of the already opulent institution, and the patronage of
Urswick Church and almost every other church for miles around fell to
them. Very shortly after their settlement at Furness these monks began
to send out colonies to other places; one of the earliest which they
established was in Wyersdale, where, however, the monks did not remain
very long, as about 1188 they removed to Withney in Ireland; but whilst
they were in Lancashire they obtained the patronage of the church of
St. Michael's-on-Wyre.

The last Abbot of Furness was Roger Pele, or Pile, who was elevated to
that dignity in about the year 1532; he surrendered the abbey to the
King, April 9, 1537. The suppression of Furness Abbey must have been
for a time very severely felt by the inhabitants of the district, as
from it emanated much hospitality, and to it all the natives looked
for the education of their children and for such religious help as
was usually obtained from these houses. Between the abbots and their
tenants there appears to have been carried on a system of barter and
exchange, some of the details of which are preserved in the evidence
brought forward in support of a petition made in the duchy court in
25 Elizabeth (1582-83) by the tenants of Walney against the Queen's
Attorney-General, who had obtained a lease of the late dissolved
monastery. One of the witnesses, who was then seventy-eight years old,
said that they (the petitioners) and their ancestors, whose estates
they severally held, used to pay and deliver to the Abbot certain
"domestical" provisions, such as calves, sheep, wheat, barley,
oats, and the like, and for recompense they not only enjoyed their
burgages or messuages, but also received from the abbey great relief,
sustentation, and commodities for themselves and their children, viz.,
all the tenants had weekly one ten-gallon barrel of ale; the tenants
of Newbarns and Hawcoat had all the worthings[177] of all the horse
and oxen (except those at the Abbot's stables); the tenants had also
a weekly allowance of coarse wheat bread, iron for their husbandry,
gear and timber for the repairs of their houses. In addition to these
grants, all tenants who had a plough could send two men to dine at
the monastery on one day in each week from Martinmas (November 11) to
Pentecost (Whitsunday); and the children of the tenants who had found
the required provision were educated in the school of the monastery
free, and allowed every day a dinner or a supper; and if any of them
became good scholars, they were often made into monks. The question
at issue between the tenants and the Attorney-General was that whilst
he demanded the provisions, he claimed exemption from making the
recompenses, alleging that the abbots had merely given the food out
of benevolence and devotion to their neighbours. The result of the
petition was in favour of the tenants.

The condition of the abbey itself in 1774 is thus described by
West[178]: "The magnitude of the abbey may be known from the
dimensions of the ruins, and enough is standing to show the style of
the architecture, which breathes the plain simplicity of taste which
is found in most houses belonging to the Cistercian monks which were
erected about the same time with Furness Abbey.

"The round and pointed arches occur in the doors and windows. The fine
clustered Gothic and the heavy plain Saxon pillars stand contrasted.
The walls show excellent masonry, are in many places counter-arched,
and the ruins show a strong cement.

"The east window of the church has been noble; some of the painted
glass that once adorned it is preserved in a window in Windermere
Church (Bowness). The window consists of seven compartments or
partitions. In the third, fourth and fifth are depicted, in full
proportion, the Crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary on the right and the
beloved disciple on the left side of the cross; angels are expressed
receiving the sacred blood from the five precious wounds; below the
cross are a group of monks in their proper habits, with the Abbot in a
vestment; their names are written on labels issuing from their mouths;
the Abbot's name is defaced, which would have given a date to the
whole. In the second partition are the figures of St. George and the
dragon. In the sixth is represented St. Catharine, with the emblems
of her martyrdom, the sword and wheel. In the seventh are two figures
of mitred abbots, and underneath them two monks dressed in vestments.
In the middle compartment above are finely-painted quarterly the arms
of France and England, bound with the garter and its motto, probably
done in the reign of Edward III. The rest of the window is filled up by
pieces of tracery, with some figures in coat armorial, and the arms of
several benefactors, amongst whom are Lancaster, Urswick, Warrington,
Fleming, Millum, etc. On the outside of the window of the abbey, under
an arched festoon, is the head of Stephen, the founder; opposite to it,
that of Maud, his Queen, both crowned and well executed. In the south
wall and east end of the church are four seats adorned with Gothic
ornament. The chapter-house is the only building belonging to the abbey
which is marked with any elegance of Gothic sculpture; it has been a
noble room of 60 feet by 45. The vaulted roof, formed of twelve ribbed
arches, was supported by six pillars in two rows at 14 feet from each
other.

"Now, supposing each of the pillars to be 18 inches in diameter,
the room would be divided into three alleys or passages, each 14
feet wide. On entrance the middle one only could be seen, lighted
by a pair of tall pointed windows at the upper end of the room; the
company in the side passage would be concealed by the pillars, and
the vaulted roof that groined from those pillars would have a truly
Gothic disproportionate appearance of 60 feet by 14. The northern
side alley was lighted by four small pointed side-windows, besides a
pair at the higher end, at present entire, and which illustrate what
is here said. Thus, whilst the upper end of the room had a profusion
of light, the lower end would be in the shade. The noble roof of this
singular edifice did but lately fall in; the entrance or porch is still
standing--a fine circular arch, beautified with a deep cornice and a
portico on each side.

"The only entire roof of any apartment now remaining is that of a
building without the enclosure wall, which was the schoolhouse of the
Abbot's tenants. It is a single-ribbed arch that groins from the wall.

"A remarkable deformity in this edifice, and for which there is no
apparent reason or necessity, is that the north door, which is the
principal entrance, is on one side of the window above it. The tower
has been supported by four magnificent arches, of which only one
remains entire. They rested upon four tall pillars, whereof three are
finely clustered, but the fourth is of a plain unmeaning construction.
The west end of the church seems to have been an additional part
intended for a belfry to ease the main tower, but that is as plain as
the east. The east end of the church contained five altars besides the
high altar, as appears by the chapels, and probably there was a private
altar in the sacristy.

"In magnitude this abbey was second in England belonging to the
Cistercian monks, and the next in opulence after Fountains Abbey in
Yorkshire. The church and cloisters were encompassed with a wall, which
commenced at the east side of the great northern door and formed the
straight enclosure; and a space of ground to the amount of 65 acres
was surrounded with a strong stone wall, which enclosed the mills,
kilns, ovens and fish-ponds. The inside length of the church from east
to west is 275 feet 8 inches; the thickness of the east end wall and
the depth of the east end buttress is 8 feet 7 inches; the thickness
of the west end wall 9 feet 7 inches; the extreme length of the church
is 304 feet 6 inches; the inside width of the east end is 28 feet, and
the thickness of the two side walls 10 feet. The inside width of the
cloister is 31 feet 6 inches; the area of the quadrangular court is 338
feet 6 inches by 102 feet 6 inches."

Since this description was written many researches have been made,
and much light thrown on various points of interest. The church is
ascribed to the time when John de Cauncefeld was Abbot--_i.e._, about
A.D. 1160. Of the parts of the church still remaining in fair
preservation, the most conspicuous are the transepts, which are 126
feet long, by 28 feet wide. At the north end of the transepts is a
Transitional doorway which is rich in its ornamentation and mouldings;
above it is a magnificent window, probably inserted in the fifteenth
century.

Various monuments have been discovered, one of which is probably the
effigy of William de Lancaster, the eighth Baron of Kendal, whose
Inquisition is dated 31 Henry III. (1246-47).

The beautiful groined roof of the chapter-house was intact until the
end of the last century. Beyond the chapter-house was the fratry, or
monks' common room, which was 200 feet long, and over it were the
dormitories. Near the western tower the walls of the hospitium, or
guest-house, may still be traced. At the south end of the ruins there
is a building with a groined room which has generally been called the
school-house, but many authorities now consider that it was a small
chapel, as it contains a large east window and a piscina; if this be
so, then it was without doubt the Abbot's private chapel. The date
assigned to it is early in the fourteenth century.

Near to the abbey the Preston family, to whom the site was granted
soon after the dissolution,[179] built their mansion, and part of
this house now forms the Furness Abbey Hotel. In 26 Henry VIII.
the rentals belonging to the abbey amounted to £942 per annum, of
which tithe offerings and ecclesiastical fines came to £182. In 1540
these possessions were annexed to the Duchy of Lancaster, and were
not finally alienated therefrom until the time of James I. From the
Prestons it passed by marriage to Sir William Lowther, Bart., whose
son and heir married Lady Elizabeth, the daughter of William, Duke of
Devonshire; his son and heir, dying without issue in 1756, bequeathed
all his estates to his cousin, Lord George Augustus Cavendish.

The coucher book of Furness is still preserved in London; it is a
handsome volume containing 293 folios. On the seizure of the abbey in
1537 this volume and other memorials, trussed in three packs, were sent
by Cromwell on the back of three mules to London, and £1 15s. 4d. was
expended on their conveyance. It was afterwards placed in the duchy
office, and ultimately handed over to the Record Office.[180]

Before the end of the twelfth century a new religious order was formed,
of which the first house in England was the priory of SS. Julian and
Botulph in Colchester, in 1105 (or 1107). This was the canons regular
of St. Augustine, who subsequently held 175 religious houses in Great
Britain. At Cartmel a priory of this order was founded in 1188 by the
Earl of Pembroke; it was dedicated to St. Mary, and displaced the
ancient parish church, which, if not of Saxon origin, was certainly a
very early foundation. One of the privileges of this house was that
it had the exclusive right to furnish guides to conduct travellers
over the treacherous sands across the estuary of the Kent. To the
fact that this parish church became the priory church we no doubt owe
its preservation, as at the dissolution of the monasteries it did not
share the fate of so many fine examples of early Church architecture,
but still remains a noble monument of the past. At Coniston, in the
extreme north of the county, in 1188 was founded a small hospital for
lepers, and it would thus appear that even to that remote district
leprosy had spread. This hospital was given in charge of some monks
of St. Augustine's Order, who converted it into a priory, at the same
time appropriating to themselves the church of Ulverston, over 40
acres of land, and other possessions. It is, however, only fair to add
that they took charge of the lepers when there were any. Though never
of any considerable size or importance, yet in its early days its
establishment consisted of over a dozen canons and a Prior, and the
usual number of attendants. After its dissolution in 1536 every trace
of it was swept away. Of the Præmonstratensian Order there were two
houses in Lonsdale Hundred--one at Cockersand, and the other at Hornby.
Amongst this order--which was introduced into England in 1120--a
greater strictness of discipline and a less external code of duties
prevailed than amongst the Austin canons.

The history of Cockersand is somewhat obscure, but at an early period
there was here a hermitage, which was afterwards a hospital, presided
over by a Prior, and dependent upon the abbey at Leicester, founded
by William of Lancaster; but in 1190 it became an abbey of the
Præmonstratensian canons. It was one of the lesser houses which were
given to the King in 1536, when it consisted of 22 religious men and 57
laymen, with an annual income of about £200 arising from a rather large
rent-roll and customary boons and services.

The establishment at Hornby was scarcely worthy of the name of a
priory, but was rather a hospital or cell with a Prior and three canons
dependent on the abbey of Croxton, in Leicestershire. It was dedicated
to St. Wilfrid, and had a small endowment of £26 a year.

In the hundred of Amounderness the Great Survey only refers to three
churches, and these, though not named, were undoubtedly Preston,
Kirkham, and St. Michael's-on-Wyre; and in the absence of proof to
the contrary we must assume that none others were then in existence,
though possibly others may have been erected in Saxon times, but, like
the district upon which they stood, were then lying waste (see p. 57).
Poulton is dedicated to St. Chad (a Saxon saint), and Garstang may
possibly have been the site of a pre-Conquest church, although its
proximity to St. Michael's renders it somewhat improbable.

Preston Church was originally dedicated to St. Wilfrid, and was
probably built in the tenth century; Kirkham,[181] or the church
village, may even be of an earlier foundation than Preston, for from
the time that Roger de Poictou granted the church to St. Mary of
Lancaster (see p. 187) to the present date its history is clear and
fairly complete; no trace of the Saxon building has, however, been
discovered.

At St. Michael's, also, all material evidence of the pre-Norman period
has long ago disappeared. In Amounderness only two religious houses
were established--one at Preston, the other at Lytham. At Preston was
a Franciscan convent of Grey Friars, or Friars Minor, built in 1221
by Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. Within the precincts of this house was
buried Sir Robert Holland, who impeached Thomas, Earl of Lancaster
of treason. Little is known concerning this friary; in 1379 letters
were addressed to the Warden of the order of Preaching Friars there,
asking them to pray for the Duke of Lancaster on his going abroad.
There was also at Preston a hospital for lepers, which must have been
established early in the twelfth century, as Henry II. took it under
his protection, as did also King John; there was a chapel attached
dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen. The cell at Lytham was dependent upon
the Priors of Durham from its foundation in 1190 to 1443, when it
became partly independent. They were black monks.

In the hundred of Leyland no churches are mentioned in Domesday Book,
but there was almost certainly one at Croston and another at Eccleston,
as both these were given to the priory of Lancaster in 1090 (see p.
187), and if not in existence at the taking of the Survey one can
scarcely avoid coming to the conclusion that long before that date
churches had been erected at Eccleston, Leyland and Standish, the
latter being dedicated, like Preston, to St. Wilfrid.

On a site on the opposite side of the river Ribble to Preston stood the
priory of Penwortham. Its situation was picturesque, commanding as it
did an exclusive view down the valley, through which the river flowed,
and not far from it were the parish church and castle. It was founded
as a dependent upon the abbey of Evesham, in the county of Worcester,
in 1087, by two brothers, Warine and Albert Busset, with the approval
of Pope Alexander III., and it was for 400 years regularly supplied
with monks from the parent house. The monks were Benedictines, or black
monks, and their home in Lancashire was but sparsely endowed, although
it included the churches of Penwortham, Leyland and North Meols. At
the dissolution it was rated at a little over £100. No great number
of churches were erected in this hundred during several succeeding
centuries.

In Blackburn Hundred two churches are named in the Survey--St. Mary's
at Whalley and St. Mary's at Blackburn--and the only other parish at
all likely to have had a church earlier than this period is Ribchester.
The present church is dedicated to St. Wilfrid, and tradition adds that
its original foundation was laid in Saxon times; it certainly is built
close to the walls of the ancient Roman castrum (see p. 27). Another
very early foundation was that of Chipping, said to have been built in
1041. St. Mary's of Blackburn is still the parish church, but there is
no evidence to prove that its foundation dates back to pre-Norman times.

The church at Whalley is perhaps the most interesting church in
Lancashire, not only from its undoubted great antiquity, but from
its association with the abbey, which was second only to Furness in
importance, but about the history of which much more is known.

John, Constable of Chester, in 15 Henry II. (1163), founded a monastery
of the Cistercian Order at Stanlawe, in Cheshire, and having endowed
it, he instructed that it should be called _Locus Benedictus_. The
situation selected was not a happy one, as not only was the soil
barren and unfruitful, but a considerable portion of it was liable
to periodical encroachments by the sea, which at spring tide almost
surrounded it. After almost a century, the monks--when the monks had
become considerably richer by the acquisition of properties, chiefly
in Lancashire--decided to remove the abbey to a more convenient site,
and ultimately fixed upon Whalley. This translation was, no doubt,
hastened by the destruction of a great part of Stanlawe Abbey by
fire in 1289, but it was not until April 4, 1296, that Gregory, the
eighth Abbot of Stanlawe, and his convent took formal possession of
the parsonage of Whalley, where they continued to live until the
new monastery was erected. Here they found one of the oldest church
foundations in Lancashire, which probably dated back to the time when
Christianity was first introduced into the district; it was originally
known as the White Church, and in its churchyard still remain three
very fine specimens of Saxon crosses. The church was another of the
Northern erections dedicated to St. Wilfrid, and at the time the monks
settled there it had been rebuilt, and was a good sample of Norman
ecclesiastical architecture.

Amongst their other possessions the monks held the impropriate
rectories of Whalley, Blackburn and Rochdale, with the right of
presentment to their vicarages and chapels of ease. Attached to Whalley
were the chapels of Clitheroe, Colne, Burnley, Altham, Downham,
Church and Haslingden. Whalley now (to quote the language of its
historian)[182] "became the seat of an establishment which continued
for two centuries and a half to exercise unbounded hospitality and
charity; to adorn the site which had been chosen with a succession of
magnificent buildings; to protect the tenants of its ample domains
in the enjoyment of independence and plenty; to educate and provide
for their children; to employ, clothe, feed and pay many labourers,
herdsmen and shepherds; to exercise the arts and cultivate the learning
of the times; yet, unfortunately, at the expense of the secular
incumbents, whose endowments they had swallowed up and whose functions
they had degraded into those of pensionary vicars or mendicant
chaplains."

Notwithstanding the great abuses that gradually crept into these
and the other monastic houses, and ultimately brought about their
destruction, there is still much truth in the _dictum_ of the learned
author.

The charters whereby lands were conveyed to Stanlawe and Whalley are
very numerous, and have all been printed.[183] They extended over a
very large area, and included lands in Rochdale, Blackburn, Whalley,
Childwall, and other places in Lancashire and Cheshire. The full
complement of monks belonging to this abbey was twenty, exclusive of a
Lord Abbot and a Prior; in addition to this there were ninety servants,
twenty of whom belonged to the Abbot. That these monks lived well, and
probably entertained strangers on a liberal fare, may be inferred from
the following table of animal food consumed: for the Abbot's table,
75 oxen, 80 sheep, 40 calves, 20 lambs and 4 pigs; for the refectory
tables, 57 oxen, 40 sheep, 20 calves and 10 lambs; whilst 200 quarters
of wheat, 150 quarters of malt and 8 pipes of wine were annually
consumed.

The dissolution of this house in 1539 was accompanied by a tragic
event. John Paslow, the last Abbot, with many of his followers, had
taken part in that rebellion known as "the Pilgrimage of Grace," by
which this and the county of York were for some time greatly agitated,
and on its final suppression Paslow, with others, was lodged in
Lancaster Castle, from whence he was taken back to Whalley, and on
March 12, 1537, was executed in front of his own monastery along with
John Eastgate, one of his monks, who was hung, drawn and quartered,
whilst a third brother of his order was on the following day hung on a
gallows at Padiham. Of this stately building comparatively little now
remains.[184] The whole area of the close contains nearly thirty-seven
statute acres, and is defined by the remains of a deep trench which
surrounds it. The abbey was approached through two strong and stately
gateways yet remaining. These gateways were of the usual plain,
substantial character which was common with the Cistercian brotherhood.
The central portion of the north-west gateway is almost entire, and is
a fine specimen of the late Decorated architecture, probably of the
middle of the fourteenth century. It is of two stories, the higher
being supported on stone groining springing from wall corbels. To this
upper room, however, there is now no staircase; access must have been
gained from apartments lying on the north and south of the existing
portions, but no trace of these is left. The north-east gateway is of
much later date; it has a spiral staircase in an angle turret which
leads to the second story and roof. The house itself stood on the bank
of the Calder; it consisted of three quadrangles, besides stables and
offices. Of these the first and most westerly was the cloister court,
of which the nave of the conventual church formed the north side;
the south transept, sacristy, chapter-house, penitentiary, and part
of the refectory, the east; the kitchens, principal refectory, etc.,
the south; and the guest-house the west. The roof of the cloister
was supported on wooden posts, the corbels for bearing the rafters
being still visible. The area within was the monks' cemetery, and
some ancient gravestones are still remembered to have been there.
In the south wall of this quadrangle is a wide arched recess, which
was the lavatory. The groove where the lead pipe was placed is still
conspicuous.

Of the building to the south nothing is now left but a portion
of the north wall of the refectory, etc., but the eye rests with
satisfaction on the beautiful doorway of the chapter-house, with its
numerous pateras and the richly-moulded and traceried windows on
either side, with many shafts and an amount of carving which serves
to illustrate the peculiar care which was bestowed on the decoration
of the building. The south-west angle of the day-room is ornate and
picturesque. The predominating style is that of the transition from the
Decorated to the Perpendicular. The guest-house is almost entire, and
is now used as a barn and cow-house. To the east is another quadrangle,
one side of which is formed by what is believed to have been the
Abbot's house. On the southern side of this is a ruin presenting a very
beautiful window of the Transitional character, which was probably part
of the Abbot's private chapel.

The conventual church would rank amongst the finest of the Cistercian
Order in Europe, and exceeded many cathedrals in size. It was almost
demolished soon after the suppression, though not entirely, for in the
account books of Sir Ralphe Assheton we find in 1661 and 1662 several
items such as, "Pᵈ for pulling down the old walls over the inner close,
£1 0s. 6d. Pulling down the old abbey walls. Pulling down the old part
of the steeple and those sides adjoining at 3d. per yard. For taking
down the great window or door at the head of stairs in the cloisters."

Near to Ribchester was a small institution belonging to the
Hospitallers. Very little is known concerning its early history, but
it was founded at a very early date; it is referred to in the coucher
book of Salley as the Hospital sub-Langreg, and Dugdale also calls it
the _Hospital sub Langrigh_, and merely mentions two bequests made to
it, one by Alan de Syngleton, and the other by Walter, son of Walter de
Mutun. There were, however, several other endowments. This religious
house was, no doubt, at one time of not inconsiderable size and
importance, and was, it is believed, dedicated to our Saviour and the
Blessed Virgin Mary.

Alan de Syngleton, son of Richard, gave to God and our Saviour for a
hospital four acres of land in Dilewhe (Dilworth), and Walter de Mutun,
of Ribelchester, granted in the time of Henry III. all the lands which
his father, Walter, had bequeathed to the same hospital. In a charter
of the time of Henry VII. it is called the House of St. Saviour at Sted.

Nicholas Talbot by will, dated 1501, appointed a priest to sing for
twelve months at Stede, where his father and mother were buried.

After the dissolution the manor of Stede [Stydd], with all its rights,
in 1544, was granted to Sir Thomas Holt, of Grizzlehurst. From
this grant it appears that Stydd was then a house of preceptories,
consisting of Knights Hospitallers dependent on the house of Newland,
near Wakefield. One of the provisions of this charter was that out
of the revenues of the manor, etc., was reserved 40s. a year for the
payment of a curate to perform divine service at the church at Stydd.

It was, no doubt, at this time that all the buildings except the small
chapel were demolished. From the time of the Reformation until quite
recently service was only performed here three or four times a year,
although the church was endowed with the tithes of eleven farms in the
township of Dutton.

The church as it now stands is at once striking and picturesque; it
is composed of gray grit stone, and is almost covered with ivy. Small
as it is, there were evidently three entrances to it, one of which,
on the north side, is of very early Norman character. The principal
entrance is in the west end, and its proportions and mouldings mark it
as of Anglo-Norman date. The effect of this doorway is partly destroyed
by a rude porch, which at a comparatively recent date has been added
to it. The east window is of fine proportions; the compartments are
lancet-shaped without cuspings, and contain three lights. The window
on the interior of the mullions has been ornamented with painting in
polychromy, now hardly visible. On the south side is a long, narrow
aperture, which was probably used as a hagioscope or squint. The
interior of this interesting little building looks cold and bare, as
it is unseated and almost without the usual church furniture.[185] It
contains several tombstones of great age, one of which is to the memory
of a Lord and Lady of Salesbury Hall, who were living in the time of
Edward III., and another is embellished with the double cross of the
Knights Templars. The head of this stone is richly ornamented, and is a
fine specimen of its kind. The stone font is a massive octagonal piece
of work, and is probably of the fourteenth century.[186]

In West Derby Hundred, the Domesday Book mentions five churches:
Childwall and Walton-on-the-Hill, Wigan, Winwick and Warrington; but
there had probably been at some earlier period churches at Kirkby and
Ormskirk, and very soon afterwards others were founded at Prescot,
Huyton, Sefton, and North Meols. The church of Warrington calls for
special notice on account of its dedication to St. Elfin (see p. 55), a
saint whose name does not occur in the Romish calendar, and is unknown
to history. Beamont[187] conjectures that it is the name of some local
benefactor, canonized by the people for the good deeds which he had
done; a cognate name was that of Elfwin, the brother of Egfrid, and the
nephew of King Oswald, who was slain fighting with Ethelfrid in the
battle on the banks of the Trent in A.D. 679.

At Warrington, probably towards the end of the thirteenth century, a
friary of the Augustine or Hermit friars was established, but the name
of its founder and the exact date of its foundation are alike unknown;
it was not on a very extensive scale, and was dissolved with the other
lesser houses in 1535. The third house established in Lancashire by
the Austin canons was the priory of Burscough, which was founded in
honour of St. Nicholas, by Robert Fitz-Henry, Lord of Lathom, in about
1124. To this priory was granted a charter in 1286 to hold a weekly
market and a five days' fair in their manor of Ormskirk; amongst its
endowments were the advowsons of the churches of Ormskirk, Huyton and
Flixton, and lands in many parts of West Derby. At the time of the
dissolution (about the year 1536) it contained a Prior, five monks, and
forty dependents, and its temporalities were then worth about £1,000 a
year, according to the present value of money. There was here a priory
church with several altars, a chapter-house, and a hospital, into
which Henry de Lacy, Constable of Chester, agreed with the Prior for a
perpetual right to send one of his tenants. Very little of this ancient
priory has been left by the destroying hand of Time.[188]

A small Benedictine priory, dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury, was
founded at Upholland, near Wigan, by Sir Robert Holland, in 1318, and
to it were impropriated the churches of Childwall in Lancashire and
Whitwick in Leicestershire.

In the great hundred of Salford, the Domesday Book only names two
churches, both of which were in Manchester, and dedicated to St.
Michael and St. Mary, and it is somewhat remarkable that even the
sites of these buildings are now only a matter of conjecture. The
probability is that one stood in Aldport and the other in Acres Field,
near to the end of the present St. Mary's Gate. When or why these
churches were pulled down history does not tell us, but for centuries
after the Conquest Manchester was a rural deanery, and probably was
the ecclesiastical centre of the ten parishes comprised in the county
division. Baines says (and others have repeated) that the church at
Bury was named in the Great Survey; this is not the case, but before
the end of the twelfth century there were churches not only at Bury,
but at Ashton-under-Lyne, Prestwich, Middleton and Flixton, and a
little later saw the rise of the churches of Radcliffe, Bolton and
Eccles. Rochdale Church was certainly built before 1194, and was almost
certainly a Saxon foundation.

In 1421 (August 5) the parish church of Manchester was, at the
instigation of Thomas la Warre, twelfth Lord of Manchester, made into
a collegiate church, to be governed by one warden and eight fellows,
four clerks, and six choristers, and it was ordained that divine
service should be celebrated there every day for the good health of the
King, of the Bishop, of Thomas la Warre, and for the souls of their
ancestors, and for the souls of all the faithful departed for ever.
This collegiate church in 1540 obtained the privilege of asylum (as had
also Lancaster), whereby any criminal resorting to it for sanctuary
should be assured his life, liberty and limbs. At the beginning of the
fifteenth century the church of Manchester was a wooden building, on
the site where now stands the cathedral.

The only monastic institution in this great division of Lancashire was
the priory of Kersal, near Manchester, which consisted of a cell to the
Cluniac house of Lenten, near Nottingham. The manor and cell of Kersal
was granted by Henry II. (1154-1189) to Lenten, and both passed into
the hands of Henry VIII. at the dissolution.

During the two centuries which immediately followed the Norman
Conquest, a vast change came over the religious aspect of Lancashire;
the commissioners who compiled the Domesday Book found here and there a
small church and other evidences of the growth of the Christian faith;
but in all directions they found great tracts of country--especially
in the northern parts--lying waste, with few or no inhabitants.
British settlements had been followed by Roman camps, and these in turn
had been destroyed by the Scots, the Saxons and the Danes, in their
struggles for supremacy; but, still, it is clear beyond dispute that
the teachings of Paulinus, and Bede, and Wilfrid had taken firm hold of
the minds of the people, and the time was ripe for a great missionary
effort. The opportunity was seized, and in every direction colonies
of monks and friars were sent out, and religious houses founded, one
effect of this being that gradually a very large number of the existing
churches were passed over to and became part of the possessions of the
newly-established institutions. There were, of course, exceptions,
but as a rule, where the patronage of a church was not held by the
King, it was owned by some religious house. One result of this was the
appointment of non-resident vicars, many of whom held several livings,
the care of which was handed over to others.

One example of this may be cited. In 1289 the patronage of St.
Michael's-on-Wyre was vested in the King, and in the December of that
year the Pope granted an indulgence to Walter de Languethon, the King's
clerk, Rector of St. Michael's, to hold an additional living: in 1290
he held also the Rectory of Croston, and had a dispensation granted
to enable him to accept a third, and in the following year he got an
indulgence to retain two of these for five years without residing
there or _being ordained priest_, whilst he was engaged in the King's
service, the churches in the meantime to be served by vicars. Another
vicar of this parish in the next century was also acting as receiver
for John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; and at Preston, a long series of
Rectors probably never were within sight of the church of which they
held the living.

The establishment of these religious houses does not appear to have
been immediately followed by any considerable increase in the number
of churches, though here and there a new one was erected; the number
added to those recognised by the valuation of Pope Nicholas in 1291 was
very small indeed.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries many chantries were founded
by private individuals in the parish churches, very few of the older
foundations being without one or more of these altars, nearly all of
which were more or less endowed, and there were buried their founders
and their successors, to whose memory stately monuments were therein
erected. With the birth of the sixteenth century, it was evident
that serious abuses had crept into the monastic institutions, which
prepared the way for and finally led to their suppression. The change
brought about by the violent measure taken by Henry VIII. must have
been greatly felt in Lancashire, where then, as now, great difference
in opinion must have existed as to its wisdom or otherwise. There are
those who now declare that history justifies the course then taken,
whilst there are others who maintain that "neither among the friars,
with their public ministry and their international character, nor
among the Cistercians of Furness and Whalley, with their industries
and agriculture, nor among the regular canons, Augustinian and
Præmonstratensian, nor among the Benedictines, with their large place
in the national history, their local ties, and their varied work,
was there found, when the end was at hand, anything to warrant their
wholesale suppression."[189] Into this question it is not necessary
to enter, but it may be briefly stated that most historians agree
that, although many of these houses were well managed and regulated,
the abbots and priors were often more concerned about the temporal
possessions of their orders than for the spiritual benefit to the
community, which alone justified their continued existence. And no
one can read the literature of those times without coming to the
conclusion that, at all events in the popular mind, there was then a
strong conviction that the lives of the monks were not regulated by the
high standard of morality aimed at by the original founders of their
institutions.

Acting upon powers given by Parliament, the King took possession of the
religious houses in Lancashire, and with no loss of time conveyed all
their lands and tenements to willing purchasers, the abbeys, priories,
and other buildings being in nearly every instance unroofed and more
or less destroyed, and even the silver shrines, the church plate, and
the richly embroidered vestments, were all converted into money, which
found its way into the royal coffers.

The Reformation was now accomplished, and the Pope was no longer head
of the English Church, which was now controlled by Henry VIII., who
not only regulated the appointment of its clergy, but to some extent
dictated its form of ritual as well as its teaching: images and holy
relics were swept away, as well as many forms of worship considered
of Popish origin. Edward VI., to make the matter complete, suppressed
the private chantries, and converted their endowments to his own use;
and soon afterwards (in 1552) inventories of all church goods were
taken, and such as were not deemed necessary to carry on divine service
according to the reformed method were to be sold. These lists for
Lancashire have been preserved;[190] as a sample of the then furniture
of a church, the case of Ormskirk may be taken: in it there were found
2 chalices, 1 cope of old green velvet, 2 copes of old blue silk, a
vestment of silver velvet, 1 of tawny velvet with yellow crosses, 1
vestment of green satin bridges,[191] with 2 other vestments, 3 albs,
2 altar-cloths, 1 towel, 3 corporases,[192] 5 bells, 2 cruets,[193]
3 sacring bells, a pair of organs. Organs were now not very common in
parish churches; they were, however, found in the churches at Rochdale,
Middleton, Preston, and Liverpool; in the latter place the Mayor and
Bailiffs in 1588 ordered that there should be a hired clerk who could
sing his plain song and prick song and play on the organs. At the time
of the suppression of the chantries the number of clergy, including
the chantry priests, was considerable in some of the larger parishes;
thus we find twenty in Manchester, fourteen in Winwick, fourteen in
Blackburn, and eleven in Prescot.

Many of these cantarists, as they were called, were now pensioned off
for life. In Lancashire at this time there was a very strong party in
favour of the old form of religion; and this wholesale doing away with
the institutions which had so long been established in their midst met
with almost open rebellion, and thus it was that again progress was
arrested in the county.

It has already been stated that during the monkish rule little was
done in church-building; indeed, in what is now the Diocese of
Manchester,[194] between 1291 and the suppression of the monasteries,
there were not a dozen churches erected, whilst during the reign of
Henry VIII. seven were built, several of which would perhaps be more
properly described as chapels-of-ease; they were Ashworth, Denton,
Blakley, Douglas, Hornby, Rivington, and Shaw. On the accession of Mary
in 1553, there was a return to the old order of things, and Popery
being once again established, the Lancashire Catholics were not slow
in taking advantage of the opportunity; thus, we find that in 1558 the
Mayor and Bailiffs of Liverpool ordered that the priest of St. John's
altar should say Mass daily between the hours of five and six in the
morning, that all labourers and well-disposed people might attend.
During the troubled times which followed, two of Lancashire's sons
became martyrs in the cause of the Protestant religion. John Bradford
was a native of Manchester, where he was born in the early part of the
century; he became Prebendary of St. Paul's and chaplain to Edward VI.,
but on his refusal to give up preaching the reformed doctrine he was
sent to the Tower, and after an examination before the Lord Chancellor
and the Bishop of London, and repeated appeals to conform, he was
pronounced to be a heretic, and on June 30, 1554, he was burnt at
Smithfield in the presence of a vast concourse of people. On reaching
the place of execution he walked firmly up to the stake, and after a
short prayer he took up a faggot and kissed it, and took off his coat
and delivered it to his servant, and then, turning towards the people,
he held up his hands, and exclaimed: "O England, England, repent thee
of thy sins! Beware of idolatry, beware of antichrists, lest they
deceive thee!" His hands were then tied and the fire lighted, and
amidst the flames he was heard to say, "Strait is the way and narrow is
the gate which leadeth unto life, and few there be that go in thereat."
Fuller describes Bradford as "a most holy man, who, secretly in his
closet, would so weep for his sins, one could have thought he would
never have smiled again, and then, appearing in public, he would be so
harmlessly pleasant, one would think he had never wept before."

During his imprisonment he wrote to his mother, then living in
Manchester, and tried to console her by the assurance that he was not
going to die "as a thiefe, a murderer, or an adulterer," but as "a
witness of Christ, hys gospel and veritye." He left several sermons
which, together with his letters and an account of his life, were
afterwards published.

George Marsh was a native of Dean, near Bolton, where he was born about
the year 1515, and was brought up to follow agricultural pursuits;
but having lost his wife when he was about thirty years old, he left
his young children with his father, proceeded to Cambridge, and
became a student at the University, and being subsequently ordained,
was appointed Curate of Allhallows', Bread Street, in London, by
the Rev. Mr. Saunders (the martyr), then Rector of that church. In
1555 he appears to have been persecuted for his zeal in the reformed
religion, and contemplated leaving the country; but before doing so he
paid a visit to his mother and his children, and on this occasion the
Earl of Derby sent a letter to Mr. Barton, of Smithell's Hall,[195]
near Bolton, to apprehend him and send him to Latham. This order was
duly carried out, and after an examination before the Earl, he was
imprisoned in what he describes as a "cold windy stone house, where
there was very little room," and where he remained for two nights
without bed, "save a few great canvas tent-clothes." This was in March,
1555. He remained here for over a fortnight, and on Low Sunday (with
some others) was removed to Lancaster Castle. After a time the Bishop
of Chester came to Lancaster, and, according to Marsh's statement,
he refused to have anything to do "with heretics so hastily," but at
the same time he "confirmed all blasphemous idolatry, as holy-water
casting, procession gadding, mattins, mumbling, mass-hearing, idols
up-setting, with such heathenish rites forbidden by God." Subsequently
Marsh was sent to Chester, and brought before the Bishop (Dr. Cotes),
and there was charged with having preached at Dean, Eccles, Bolton,
Bury, and many other places in the diocese, against the Pope's
authority, the Catholic Church of Rome, the blessed Mass, the Sacrament
of the Altar, and many other articles; whereupon he did not deny
the preaching, but asserted that he had only, as occasion served,
maintained the truth touching these subjects. Having firmly refused
to recant, the Bishop "put his spectacles on his nose," and read out
his sentence, after which he added, "Now will I no more pray for thee
than I will for a dog." He was then delivered to the sheriffs of the
city, and put into prison at the North Gate. On April 24, 1555, he was
taken thence to Spittle-Broughton, near the city, being escorted by the
sheriffs and their officers, "and a great number of poor simple barbers
with rusty bills and poleaxes."

When at the stake he was again asked to recant, but again refused,
whereupon he was chained to a post, and "a thing made like a firkin,
with pitch and tar" in it, was placed over his head, and the fire
lighted.

The religious persecution was now going on all over the kingdom, and
many Protestants from Lancashire, in company of thousands from other
parts of England, fled for shelter to foreign countries, there to seek
that liberty of conscience which was denied them at home. They mostly
went to Geneva, Strasburg and Holland. Towards the end of Mary's reign,
Pope Paul IV. began to insist on the reinstitution of the abbeys and
monasteries in England; but it was found that those who now owned these
estates declined to part with them "as long as they were able to wear a
sword by their sides."

The war with France following, when the Pope took sides against the
Queen, and in which England lost all her dominions in that country,
only for a time stayed the persecution of heretics, and in October,
1558, it was again renewed; but the death of the Queen on the 17th
of November in the same year closed this dreadful chapter of English
history.

The Church was now again freed from the authority of the Pope, and
gradually restored to what it was in the time of Henry VIII.; but
in order not to hurt the Roman Catholics too much at first, a small
number of Catholic ministers were retained in her Majesty's Council.
Commissioners were appointed to visit each diocese and to report
on the state of things, especially as to the effects of the late
persecutions. Amongst those selected for the Northern visitation was
the Earl of Derby. The commissioners commenced their work on August
22, 1559, and were directed to minister the oath of recognition; they
received many complaints from clergymen who had been ejected from their
livings for being married and other causes, and in some cases these
were reinstated. In Lancashire the oath of supremacy was ordered to be
taken by a proclamation to the Chancellor of the duchy, dated May 23,
1559, both clergy and laity being required to take it. At the same time
all the restored chantries were only to be now used in accordance with
the Reformed Church: the Host was not to be elevated, and the Lord's
Prayer, the Creed, and the Gospels were to be read in English.

The progress of the Reformation was rapid in the South of England,
but in Lancashire the feeling in favour of the old form of religion
was so strong that for some years little or no permanent change was
effected, as nearly all the oldest and most powerful families in the
county were rigid Roman Catholics. It is a remarkable fact that when
England, under Elizabeth, again became Protestant, and almost all
the bishops gave up their sees, the great majority of the clergy in
Lancashire agreed rather to accept the new form of religion than to
resign their livings, the result being that in many parishes the vicars
or rectors were really Papists in disguise, and had shown themselves
but ill qualified shepherds to have the care of such large, scattered,
and disunited flocks. But this exhibition of pliant and accommodating
consciences was put in the shade by the rapidity with which the Earl
of Derby changed front, and we now find the persecutor of Marsh every
whit as keen in running to earth the recusant Roman Catholic. But in
all extreme movements there is generally a reaction; so the harsh
measures taken by Queen Mary laid the seeds for the formation of a new
body of malcontents, to whom the reform meted out to the Church was not
sufficient; and this, at first a mere sect, soon rose into a powerful
party, which was recognised under the general title of Puritans. Queen
Elizabeth hated a Puritan only with a less bitter hatred than she did a
Catholic; so as both these were represented in Lancashire, this county
was at once marked out for persecution; and it was not long before we
hear of 600 recusants being presented at one assize at Lancaster, and
that all the prisons were full.[196]

Catholics were forbidden to leave the country, and Puritans were not
allowed to meet together to worship anywhere except in the church.
In 1567 the Queen addressed a letter to the Bishop of Chester, in
which she says: "We think it not unknown how, for the good opinion we
conceived of your former service, we admitted you to be bishop of the
diocese; but now, upon credible reports of disorder and contempts,
especially in the county of Lancaster, we find great lack in you. In
which matter of late we writ to you, and other our commissioners joined
with you, to cause certain suspected persons to be apprehended, writing
at the same time to our right trusty and well-beloved the Earl of
Derby, for the aid of you in that behalf.

"Since that time, and before the delivery of the said letters to the
Earl of Derby, we be duly informed that the said earl hath, upon small
motions made to him, caused such persons as have been required to be
apprehended, and hath shown himself therein according to our assured
expectation very faithful and careful of our service."

The letter concludes with instruction to the Bishop to make a personal
visitation into the most remote parts of his diocese, especially in
Lancashire, and to see for himself how the various church-livings are
filled.

Notwithstanding this reproof to the Bishop, he had before this had
many times to deal with rebellious clergy and their congregations.
Many instances might be quoted. In 1564 the curate of Liverpool was
admonished to warn the people "that they use no beades," and that they
"abolish and utterly extirpate all manner of idolatrie and superstition
out of the Church immediately;" and at the same time the curate of
Farnworth was presented "for showing and suffering candles to be burnt
in the chapel on Candlemas daye, accordinge to the old superstitious
custom." In the same year complaints were made to the Archbishop of
York that in all the livings in Whalley and Blackburn the clergy were
neglecting their duty, and very seldom preached to their flocks. The
Bishop made a visitation in the summer of 1568, but he has left little
record of it, except that he was well entertained by the gentry, the
only drawback to his perfect enjoyment being the excessive heat of the
weather. The disaffection increased, and there was a determination on
the part of a large portion of the community not to attend church nor
to hear sermons, but to have Mass celebrated, and otherwise to act
against the laws of the land; indeed, there is not wanting evidence to
show that it would at this time not have required much excitement to
have resulted in open rebellion.

Many of the Lancashire gentry, hoping to again establish the Catholic
religion, openly espoused the cause of Mary, Queen of Scots. The
Bishop of Carlisle, writing to the Earl of Essex in 1570, gives an
account of the state of Lancashire in that year; he writes: "Before
my coming to York, Sir John Atherton arrived there from Lancashire,
where he long resided, and not being able to come to my house through
infirmities, he sent to my father and declared to him how all things in
Lancashire savoured of rebellion; what provision of men, armour, horses
and munition was made there; what assemblies of 500 or 600 at a time;
what wanton talk of invasion by the Spaniards; and how in most places
the people fell from their obedience and utterly refused to attend
divine service in the English tongue. How since Felton set up his bull
so the greatest there never came to any service, nor suffered any to be
said in their houses, but openly entertained Louvainists massers with
their bulls."[197] And the same year the Bishop wrote to Sir William
Cecil (afterwards Baron Burleigh), that in Lancashire the people were
falling from religion altogether, and were returning to "popery and
refused to come to church."

Ten years later things seem little improved, as Sir Edmund Trafford
writes in 1580 to the Earl of Leicester, informing him that the state
of the county was "lamentable to behold, considering the great disorder
thereof in matters of religion, masses being said in several places."
And he winds up with a request that the Government will cause the
offenders to be rigorously dealt with.[198] Possibly in reply to this
appeal a Royal Ecclesiastical Commission was now appointed, consisting
of the Bishop of Chester, Lord Derby and others, which was to bring the
offenders "to more dutiful minds;"[199] and about the same time an Act
was passed by which absentees from church for a month were to be liable
to a penalty of £20. A contemporary Roman Catholic writer, commenting
upon the appointment of Sir Edmund Trafford as Sheriff of Lancashire,
describes him as a man "so thoroughly imbued with the perfidy of Calvin
and the phrensy of Beza, that it might be said he was merely waiting
for this very opportunity of in every way pursuing with insult all that
professed the Catholic religion, and despoiling them of their property.
For the furious hate of this inhuman wretch was all the more fiercely
stirred by the fact that he saw offered to him such a prospect of
increasing his slender means out of the property of the Catholics, and
of adorning his house with the various articles of furniture filched
from their houses." He then goes on in the same strain to describe the
manner in which the Sheriff's officers took possession of Rossall,
and expelled therefrom the widowed mother and sisters of Cardinal
Allen.[200] The persecution in Lancashire now became more severe,
and very few of the old families adhering to the unreformed religion
escaped punishment. Amongst those who were imprisoned were Sir John
Southworth, Lady Egerton, James Labourne, John Townley, Sir Thomas
Hesketh, Bartholomew Hesketh and Richard Massey.

In 1582 the prisoners, on the ground of recusancy, were ordered
to be sent to the New Fleet prison in Manchester, instead of, as
heretofore, to Chester Castle. At this time numerous amateur detectives
seem to have made out lists of recusants and forwarded the same to
the Government officials, so that no man knew who was his accuser;
but once his name got down on the list, persecution and fine or
imprisonment invariably followed. In 1585 the sanguinary law against
Jesuits, seminary priests, and others was enacted, and by it all
such were ordered at once to quit the country, and anyone harbouring
them was to be adjudged guilty of high-treason. This brought a new
crime into existence, and many Lancashire people became the victims.
Priest-harbouring was soon amongst the most prolific causes of arrest
and imprisonment. As samples of the working of this Act in Lancashire,
the following are selected from a long list:


  -------------------+----------------------+--------------------------
     NAME OF PRIEST. |    WHERE RECEIVED.   |     BY WHOM PRESENTED.
  -------------------+----------------------+--------------------------
  Sir Evan Banister, | Jane Eyves, of       | Ralph Serjant,
     an old priest.  |   Fishwick.          |   churchwarden of Walton.
                     |                      |
  "Little Richard."  | Mr. Regmaidens, of   | Vicar of Garstang.
                     |   Weddicor.          |
                     |                      |
  Robert Woodroof,   | Jenet Woodrof,       | Curate and churchwarden
    senr., priest.   |   Burnley.           |   of Burnley.
                     |                      |
  Divers priests.    | Rafe Home, of        | Vicar of Dean.
                     |   Chequerbent.       |
                     |                      |
  Jas. Darwen,       | Richard Blundell, of | Curate of Sefton.
     senr., priest.  |   Crosby.            |
                     |                      |
  Evan Bannister.    | Wm. Charnocke, of    | Thos. Sharpell.
                     |   Fullwood. (Mass    |
                     |   done on our Lady   |
                     |   day in Lent last.) |
  -------------------+----------------------+--------------------------

The following year (1586-7) no less than 128 gentlemen in various parts
of the country were in custody for recusancy, amongst whom were several
from this county, who were released on giving bond to yield themselves
up on ten days' notice.

In 1591 a report was sent to the Council, from which it appears that
the Lancashire commission had made "small reformation," and that,
notwithstanding the rigour of the law, the churches were still empty,
and there were still "multitudes of bastards and drunkards"; in fact,
the county was in a worse state than ever; the people, it is added,
"lack instruction, for the preachers are few: most of the parsons
are unlearned, many of them non-resident, and divers unlearned daily
[are] admitted into very good benefices." But even a greater evil is
yet added, for the young "are for the most part trained up by such as
profess Papistry. The proclamation for apprehension of seminaries,
Jesuits and Mass priests, and for calling home children from parts
beyond the sea" is not executed, neither are the instructions to the
justices to summon before them "all parsons, vicars, churchwardens
and sworn men," and to examine them on oath how the statutes of 1 and
25 Elizabeth, as to resorting to churches, are obeyed. It is further
reported that some of "the coroners and justices and their families
do not frequent church, and many have not communicated at the Lord's
Supper since the beginning of her Majesty's reign." Some of the clergy
have "refrained from preaching for lack of auditors, and people swarm
in the streets and the ale-houses during divine service time," and
many churches have only present "the curate and the clerk," and "open
markets are kept during service time," and "there are about many lusty
vagabonds." Marriages and christenings are celebrated in holes and
corners by seminary and other priests. Cock-fights and other games are
tolerated on Sundays and holidays during service, at which ofttimes
are present justices of the peace, and even some of the ecclesiastical
commissioners. The report concludes by stating that Yorkshire and the
other adjoining counties cannot "be kept in order so long as Lancashire
remains unreformed."

Another report of about the same date, made by several of the
Lancashire clergy,[201] confirms this account; they state that Popish
fasts and festivals were everywhere observed, and that "crosses in the
streets and waies, devoutly garnished, were plentiful, and that wakes,
ale, greenes, May games, rushbearings, bearbaits, doveales, etc.,"
were all exercised on the Sabbath, and that of the number of those who
came to church many do more harm than good by their "crossinge and
knockinges of theire breste and sometimes with beads closely handled"
(_i.e._, partly concealed), and that at marriages they brought "the
parties to and from churche with piping, and spend the whole Sabbothe
in daunsinge," and that the churches generally were in a ruinous
condition, being "unrepaired and unfurnished," whilst the "churches of
ease (which were three times as many as the parish churches)" were many
of them without curates, and in consequence were growing into "utter
ruin and desolation." This report, which has a strong Puritanical tone
about it, was signed by a Fellow of the Manchester Collegiate Church,
the rectors of Bury, Wigan, Warrington and Middleton, the vicars of
Poulton-in-the-Fylde, Kirkham and Rochdale, and other clergy.

One of the signatories of this document knew well the truth of at all
events part of the statement, for in his own parish (Kirkham) was
situated the chapel of Singleton, the curate of which in 1578 had been
presented because he performed no services, kept no house, did not
relieve the poor, nor was he diligent in visiting the sick, he failed
to teach the catechism, preached no sermons, churched fornicators
without penance, and, to crown his offences, he made "a dunge hill in
the chapel yeard and kept a typling hous and a nowty woman in it."[202]

At this date it was customary at most of the Lancashire parish churches
to ring the curfew at seven o'clock in the evening from All Hallows'
Day (October 31) to Candlemas Day (the Purification of the Virgin),
February 2; another duty of the sexton was to whip the dogs out of
church. The curfew was tolled in some of the churches up to quite a
recent date. Thomas Heneage, Chancellor of the duchy, gave testimony in
1599 that in consequence of the smallness of many of the livings in the
county, and the fact that the parsonages were in private hands, there
were "few or no incumbents of learning or credit," and the priests were
drawing even those from their duty.

The report led to the ordering of salaries to be paid to certain
preachers (afterwards called King's preachers), who were to deliver
sermons in various parts of the county. In the commencement of the
seventeenth century things became somewhat more settled, but still
the agents of the Government often met with great opposition in their
efforts to carry out their instructions, and this continued to the
very end of the reign of Elizabeth, for in 1602-3 the Bishop of London
complains that "in Lancashire and those parts, recusants stand not
in fear by reason of the great multitude there is of them." Likewise
he had heard it "reported publicly that amongst them they of that
country had beaten divers pursuivants extremely, and made them vow
and swear that they would never meddle with any recusants more. And
one pursuivant in particular, to eat his warrant and vow never to
trouble them nor any recusants more."[203] On the accession of James
to the throne, both the Catholics and Puritans hoped to obtain some
redress, or at any rate more freedom from oppression and persecution;
but instead of this hope being realized, they soon heard of new penal
regulations being issued which in no way encouraged either party.
The Puritans in Lancashire were offended by the issue of the "Book
of Sports" (see p. 123), and the Catholics were still obliged to
resort to all kinds of strategy to avoid arrest and imprisonment or
fines. Nor did either of the two great religious factions receive much
better treatment under Charles I., in whose reign two (if not more)
Catholics suffered for their religion the extreme penalty of the law at
Lancaster. One of these was Edmund Arrowsmith, a priest of the Order
of Jesus; he was hung, and afterwards beheaded and dismembered. This
was in 1628. At Bryn Hall (lately pulled down), until very recently,
was preserved what was said to be the hand of Father Arrowsmith, the
tradition being that just before his death he requested his spiritual
attendant to cut off his right hand, which should then have the power
to work cures on those who were touched by it and had the necessary
amount of faith. Accounts of the miraculous cures worked by this hand
were printed as recently as 1737.[204]

It will here be a suitable place to notice briefly a peculiar form
of vestry which in the sixteenth century was common in the hundred
of Amounderness and recognised as "sworn men." Preston, Kirkham,
Goosnargh, Poulton, St. Michael's-on-Wyre, Garstang, Lancaster and
Ribchester, each had this executive body, though the number varied; but
most of the parishes had twenty-four sworn men. The oath taken by these
officers was to the effect that they would keep, observe and maintain
all ancient customs as far as they agreed with the law of the realm and
were for the benefit of the particular parish or chapelry. Their duties
were numerous: they levied the rates, elected the parish clerk in some
cases, appointed churchwardens, and even laid claim to nominate the
vicar, and in a general way they not only looked after the fabric of
the church, but regulated its ceremonies and attended to the welfare of
the parish. These men were not re-elected annually, as in the case of
churchwardens, but, once appointed, they held office for life, unless
they left the parish or were disqualified by becoming Nonconformists or
other sufficient reason. The best men in the parish often were included
in the list, and in many cases sons succeeded fathers for several
generations.[205]

During the years immediately preceding the Civil Wars, Puritanism had
gone on increasing, and at the opening of the Long Parliament, in
1640, it was felt that some change in the form of religious worship
had become an absolute necessity to meet the clamorous demands heard
on all sides. Lancashire, just as it had for long been a stronghold
of Catholicism, now became a centre of Puritanism; and for many years
to come the intolerant spirit of both parties helped to retard the
progress of free religious thought.

Parliament distinctly for some time fostered Puritanism, which
ultimately led to the adoption of the Presbyterian form of Church
government, which was developed between the years 1643 and 1648. A
modern writer[206] truly remarks that, "If Puritanism anywhere had
scope to live and act, it was here" (in Lancashire); "if anywhere in
England it was actually a force, it was in Lancashire. There is no
other part of England that can furnish so complete an illustration
of the true spirit of this seventeenth-century Puritanism as it was
manifested in actual practice, and it is this that gives such a
peculiar value to the records of the religious life of the county
during the years 1643-60."

The actual change of Church government did not much affect the
county, until the Assembly at Westminster replaced the Book of Common
Prayer by the Directory; this was effected on January 3, 1645, when
it was sanctioned by Parliament: other orders rapidly followed.
Altars, raised Communion-tables, images, pictures, organs, and "all
superstitious inscriptions" were soon swept away, and the energies of
the Presbyterian party became concentrated against the clergy, the
churches, and their endowment. In 1646 the titles of archbishops and
bishops were abolished, and their possessions placed in the hands
of trustees, and not long afterwards the "title, dignity, function,
and office" of dean, sub-dean, and dean and chapter were done away
with. Under the Act for providing maintenance of preachers, passed in
1649, the issues of Church livings were employed to pay preachers
appointed by Parliament or the presbytery. The Church Survey of the
Lancashire parochial districts was begun in June, 1650, and from it
we learn the state of each parish through the evidence brought before
the commissioners, who had sixteen sittings in the county; they met
three times at Manchester, six at Wigan, three at Lancaster, three at
Preston, and once at Blackburn. There were then in the county 64[207]
parish churches, 118 chapels-of-ease, of which no less than 38 were
without ministers, chiefly for want of maintenance. All the churches,
with one or two exceptions, had curates, pastors, or ministers, as they
called themselves. The parishes in many instances were said to be very
large, and subdivision was recommended, whilst some of the chapels were
so far from the mother church that it was suggested that they should be
made into parish churches.

The survey furnishes the names of all the ministers, and their fitness
or otherwise for the office they held; as most of them were said to be
"godly preaching ministers," or were "of good lyfe and conversation,
but keept not the fast-days appointed by Parliament," it may safely be
inferred that the old vicars and curates had mostly either conformed
or been superseded by the then holders of the livings. On September
13, 1646, a petition was sent to both Houses of Parliament, styled
"The humble petition of many thousand of the well-affected gentlemen,
ministers, freeholders, and other inhabitants of the county palatine
of Lancaster." This petition set forth that, "through the not
settling of Church government, schism, error, heresy, profaneness,
and blasphemy woefully spread"; separate congregations being "erected
and multiplied, sectaries grew insolent, confidently expecting a
toleration." The petitioners then go on in the true spirit of those
times to pray that some speedy course should betaken "for suppressing
of all separate congregations of Anabaptists, Brownists, heretics,
schismatics, blasphemers, and other sectaries" which refused to submit
to "discipline and government," and, further, that such "refusers and
members of such congregations" should not only be removed from, but
kept out of "all places of public trust." Shortly after this (October
2, 1646) the county was divided into nine classical presbyteries, as
follows:

1. The parishes of Manchester, Prestwich, Oldham, Flixton, Eccles, and
Ashton-under-Lyne. The members nominated consisted of eight ministers
and seventeen laymen.[208]

2. The parishes of Bolton, Bury, Middleton, Rochdale, Deane, and
Radcliffe. Its members, ten ministers and twenty laymen.

3. The parishes of Whalley, Chipping, and Ribchester. Its members,
eight ministers and seventeen laymen.

4. The parishes of Warrington, Winwick, Leigh, Wigan, Holland, and
Prescot. Its members, fourteen ministers and twenty-eight laymen.

5. The parishes of Walton, Huyton, Childwall, Sefton, Alcar, North
Meols, Halsall, Ormskirk, and Aughton. Its members, fifteen ministers
and twenty-three laymen.

6. The parishes of Croston, Leyland, Standish, Ecclestone, Penwortham,
Hoole, and Brindle. Its members, six ministers and fourteen laymen.

7. The parishes of Preston, Kirkham, Garstang, and Poulton.[209] Its
members, six ministers and thirteen laymen.

8. The parishes of Lancaster, Cockerham, Claughton, Melling, Tatham,
Tunstall, Whittington, Warton, Bolton-le-Sands, Halton, and Heysham.
Its members, eight ministers and eighteen laymen.

9. The parishes of Aldingham, Urswick, Ulverston, Hawkshead, Colton,
Dalton, Cartmel, Kirkby, and Pennington. Its members, five ministers
and eleven laymen.

The names of all these members have many times been printed. It does
not necessarily follow that all the persons nominated as "fit to be
of" each classis absolutely acted in that capacity; indeed, it is well
known that many refused the office.

These classes at once took upon them the management and control of
things ecclesiastical. The Manchester classis first met on February 16,
1646/7, when Richard Heyricke, the Warden of the collegiate church,
was appointed Moderator, although he had formerly been one of the
warmest supporters of the Church and King; at their second meeting,
on March 16, 1646/7, they passed a resolution to the effect that all
who preached within the classis who were not members of it were to be
called to account, as were also all ministers or others who permitted
them so to preach. A considerable part of the time of the successive
meetings was taken up by the inquiry into cases of immoral conduct and
social scandals affecting the members of the various congregations:
candidates for the ministry were examined by the Presbyters of each
classis, and, if approved, were duly ordained; and it was also part of
their work to see that improper persons were not admitted to the Lord's
Supper.

From two remarkable papers, signed by a large number of the Lancashire
ministers, in 1648 and 1649, we gather something of the spirit of
the age. One of these is "the Harmonious Consent of the Ministers of
the Province within the County-Palatine of Lancaster, etc., in their
testimony to the truth of Jesus Christ and to our solemn League and
Covenant; as also against the errours, heresies, and blasphemies of
these times and the toleration of them"; the other is, "The Paper
called the Agreement of the People taken into consideration, and the
lawfulness of Subscription to it examined and resolved in the negative,
by Ministers of Christ in the Province of Lancaster, etc." In the
"Harmonious Consent"[210] toleration is thus dealt with: "We are here
led to express with what astonishment and horrour we are struck when
we seriously weigh what endeavours are used for the establishing of
an universal toleration of all the pernicious errours, blasphemies,
and heretical doctrines broached in these times, as if men would not
sin fast enough except they were bidden"; such a toleration, it is
urged, would be "a giving Satan full liberty to set up his thresholds
by God's thresholds and his posts by God's posts, his Dagon by God's
Ark"; and further, "it would be putting a sword in a madman's hand,
a cup of poyson into the hand of a child, a letting loose of madmen
with firebrands in their hands, an appointing a city of refuge for
the devil to fly to, a laying of a stumbling block before the blind,
a proclaiming of liberty to the wolves to come into Christ's fold
to prey upon his lambs; a toleration of soul-murther (the greatest
murther of all others), and for the establishing whereof damned souls
in hel would accurse men on earth." The petitioners also dreaded
"to think what horrid blasphemies would be belched out against God,
what vile abominations would be committed, how the duties of nearest
relatives would be violated"; they then express their opinion that "the
establishing of a toleration would make us to become the abhorring and
loathing of all nations," and after adding the words, "we do detest the
forementioned toleration," they conclude by praying that Parliament may
be kept from "being guilty of so great a sin" as the granting of it
would be.

This petition was signed by eighty-four ministers who had in their
charge the principal parishes in the county. The other paper is quite
as rabid in its tone, and bears the signature of nearly as many divines
as the "Harmonious Consent." It sets forth clearly the points at issue,
one of which was that it was proposed that "such as profess faith in
God by Jesus Christ (however differing in judgement from the doctrine,
worship or discipline publiquely held forth) shall not be restrained
from, but shall be protected in their profession of their faith
and exercise of religion, according to their consciences." To this
proposition the minister of the province of Lancaster exclaims: "Thus
all damnable heresies, doctrines of devils, idolatrous, superstitious
and abominable religions, that ever have been broached, or practised,
or can be devised (if the persons owning them will but profess faith in
God by Jesus Christ) are set at liberty in this kingdom; nay, not only
granted toleration, but enfranchisement, yea, protection and patronage."

We now find practically all the churches and chapels in the hands
of the Presbyterians, and governed by the various classes, which
met periodically at central places. These classes sent delegates to
attend the provincial synod which met at Preston twice a year. In
little less than three years after the formation of these classes
difficulties arose in their working, not only because some places,
such as Denton, Salford and Oldham, became disaffected, but in other
places several members declined to continue their membership. A great
cause of division amongst the various congregations was the conduct of
the ministers and elders as to the admission of communicants. Oliver
Heywood gives an account of the proceedings on this point at Bolton;
he says: "There were two ministers, with whom were associated twelve
elders, chosen out of the parish. These sat with the ministers, carried
their votes into effect, inquired into the conversation of their
neighbours, assembled usually with the ministers when they examined
communicants, and though the ministers only examined, yet the elders
approved or disapproved. These together made an order that every
communicant, as often as he was to partake of the Lord's Supper, should
come to the ruling elders on the Friday before, and request and receive
a ticket which he was to deliver up to the elders immediately before
his partaking of that ordinance. The ticket was of lead, with a stamp
upon it, and the design was that they might know that none intruded
themselves without previous permission. The elders went through the
congregation and took the tickets from the people, and they had to
fetch them again by the next opportunity, which was every month. But
this became the occasion of great dissension in the congregations, for
several Christians stumbled at it, and refused to come for tickets; yet
ventured to sit down, so that when the elders came they had no tickets
to give in."

This state of things was not confined to a single parish, but was
widespread, so that in some churches, rather than administer the
Sacrament "promiscuously," the minister declined to administer it at
all, and it was in a few places suspended for several years.

Whatever may be said as to the general dogmatical and narrow-minded
views of the Lancashire Puritan clergy, they certainly did make
great efforts to institute and maintain a high moral tone amongst
their flocks. The every-day life of each member was subjected to
rigid inquisitorial supervision, and his sins were dealt with in no
half-hearted manner, excommunication being a frequent punishment, and
even after the offender's death a funeral sermon was preached and the
"occasion improved." Lancashire is fortunate in having had preserved
several of the diaries of her Puritan divines, and these all bear
strong testimony to the almost childlike faith which these men held as
to the special interference of Providence in the events of everyday
life. If a minister was to be tried at Lancaster, God graciously took
away the judge by death; if he journeyed to London, the weather was
specially arranged to suit; and if anyone was more than ordinarily
rebellious against the Church's discipline and he thereabouts died, it
was without the slightest hesitation attributed to a special judgment
of God. We have seen with what signs of rejoicing the people of
Lancashire (see p. 157) welcomed the restoration of Charles II. The
country had got tired of the Commonwealth, and as to the religious
feeling, the Episcopalians and Presbyterians were alike glad to have
a return to the old form of government; yet the old rancour against
Papists was still there, and to it was added a hatred of Anabaptists,
Quakers and Independents: against the latter the Puritans were
specially exercised.

The passing of the Act of Uniformity in 1662 put the clergy of the
county to a severe test, the result being that sixty-seven of them
refused to conform, and were summarily ejected from their livings.
This act of injustice led to the commencement of Nonconformity in
Lancashire, for amongst the ejected were many zealous and pious men,
who through honest conviction could not conform to all the conditions
required, and were not willing to abandon the views which they held.

Amongst these were Nathaniel Heywood, John Angier, Harry Newcome, Henry
Pendlebury, Isaac Ambrose, Robert Bath, Richard Mather, John Harrison,
and many others, all of whom soon had around them the nucleus of a
future congregation. At first these men preached in private houses with
impunity, but the passing of the Conventicle Act and the Five Mile Act,
and the presence of large numbers of Roman Catholics, pressed hard upon
them, and the amount of persecution and suffering which followed was
extreme. For the next few years Nonconformists were persecuted with
a vindictiveness worthy of the Dark Ages. Surrounded with spies on
every hand, they were driven to hold secret meetings in out-of-the-way
places, where they often met in the night-time. Those who were most
zealous, or the most careless of discovery, were often apprehended at
once, marched off to Lancaster, and sometimes, as in the case of Thomas
Jolley (ejected from Altham), detained nearly twelve months in prison.

Perhaps no sect suffered more severely in Lancashire than the Quakers,
who took no care to hide their meetings, and from them not only were
fines enforced and goods sold, but many of them were for long periods
locked up in gaol with felons and other criminal prisoners. Dr.
Halley[211] says that although "their sufferings were cruelly severe,
it must be acknowledged that they provoked much of the persecution
which they so patiently endured, and repelled the assistance which good
men of other parties would have been ready to afford them. A modern
Friend, mild, pleasant, neatly dressed, carefully educated, perfected
in proprieties, is as unlike as possible, except in a few principles,
to the obtrusive, intolerant, rude, coarse, disputatious Quaker of
the early days of their sect." The Society of Friends may almost be
said to have arisen in Lancashire, so great was the support which it
received here in the days of its infancy. In 1652 George Fox made a
visit to Swarthmore Hall, near Ulverston, when he made a convert of
the young wife of Judge Fell, and by their united efforts they soon
obtained a considerable number of followers in the district of Furness
and Cartmel, whose sympathies were no doubt quickened by the knowledge
of the cruel persecutions of these "children of the light" (as they
were sometimes called) constantly being enacted in Lancaster Castle.
Margaret Fell, after the judge's death, became the wife of George
Fox, and she was subsequently the writer of several treatises, and
journeyed to London to deliver a copy of one of them to the King. The
Lancashire Quaker literature of the seventeenth century is remarkable
not only for the quantity of it, but for the light it throws on the
religious thought of those writers for and against the teachings of the
early pioneers of the sect.[212]

Of the cruel persecutions to which many of this sect in Lancashire
were subjected, many examples might be cited; indeed, at one time the
castle at Lancaster was said to be almost full of them, that town being
one of their centres. In November, 1660, the Quakers of Lancaster,
being assembled at one of their meetings, were surprised by a party
of soldiers, who entered the room where they were with "drawn swords
and pistols cockt," and took the whole of them prisoners. A Lancaster
Quaker called John Lawson, in 1652, was seized at Malpas (in Cheshire),
where he had been preaching in what he called "the Steeple House[213]
Yard." He was set in the stocks for four hours, and afterwards
imprisoned for twenty-three weeks; but shortly after his release he
repeated the offence in the Lancaster churchyard, for which at the
assizes he was fined £20 or in default one year's imprisonment; and
again in 1660 he was sent a prisoner to the castle for refusing to take
the oath tendered to him in court. Another example of the treatment
which the early converts in Lancashire to this sect met with is found
in the case of John Fielden, of Inchfield, near Todmorden, who in 1664
was fined £5 for attending a Quakers' meeting, and his goods were
seized by the churchwarden and sold to pay the church-rate. In 1668 he
was kept in prison thirty-one weeks for being absent from church, and
this kind of persecution continued until he was quite an old man, as
seventeen years later we find him in Preston House of Correction, where
he was retained for eight weeks, the offence being his having attended
a meeting of the Society of Friends at Padiham. Very many similar cases
might be quoted.

In 1689 the Toleration Act was passed, which recognised all the various
forms of Dissent, which now became entitled to a place amongst the
religious institutions of the county.

No time was now lost in establishing meeting-houses all over the
county, and in almost every parish there soon arose Presbyterian or
Independent chapels; many of the former ultimately passed to the
Unitarians.

From a list prepared for Dr. Evans in 1715, it would appear that there
were then in Lancashire forty-three Presbyterian and Independent
congregations, consisting of 18,310 regular hearers; and that in
Manchester there were 1,515 Dissenters, in Liverpool 1,158, in Bolton
1,094, and in Chowbent 1,064. Bishop Gastrell,[214] writing a little
later, reports that in Rochdale there were no Papists, but about 200
Dissenters, who had a meeting-house; Bolton he puts down as having only
400 Dissenters, and to Manchester he gives 233 Dissenting families.

Many of these early chapels have interesting histories, which cannot
be dealt with here.[215] Amongst the oldest ones may be named the
following: Elswick Chapel, in the parish of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, was
built as a sort of chapel-of-ease to the parish-church, by a party of
Presbyterians a little before 1650, and a minister appointed by the
classis. At the Restoration it was probably vacated; but in 1671-72 it
was duly licensed as a place to be used for such as did not conform
to the Church of England, who were "of the persuasion commonly called
Congregational". Shortly after this an Act was passed repealing
this and similar licenses, whereupon the meeting at Elswick became
illegal, and the chapel was closed until the passing of the Act of
Toleration in 1689, since which time it has been regularly used as a
Nonconformist chapel. At Wymondhouses a small chapel was built by the
Rev. Thomas Jolley (who was ejected from Altham) in 1689. The chapel of
the Presbyterians at Cockey Moor was one which obtained a license in
1672. The first Dissenting chapel in Manchester was in Cross Street;
it was built in 1672 for the congregation of the Rev. Henry Newcome.
This chapel was destroyed in 1714 (see p. 242). The Independents had
no chapel in Manchester until 1761, when the one in Cannon Street was
erected.

Toxteth Park or Dingle Chapel, near Liverpool, existed certainly in
the early part of the seventeenth century, and is believed to have
been built by the Puritans living in the district. Richard Mather (the
grandfather of Dr. Cotton Mather) was for some time minister here,
but was silenced by the Archbishop of York in 1633, and his successor
was a Conformist, who was probably removed by the Presbyterian
classis, 1646; in 1671-72 it was licensed under the Indulgence Act.
From this congregation arose the Renshaw Street Unitarian Chapel in
Liverpool[216] about the year 1687. Meeting-houses, as they were
called, were established in almost every town under the Indulgence Act,
and in most cases before the close of the century regular chapels were
erected.

The Society of Friends, notwithstanding the persecution to which
they were subjected, began to build meeting-houses even before the
indulgences were granted. At Lancaster a Quakers' meeting-house was
erected in 1677, at which time there was no other Nonconformist place
of worship in the town.

A few years later the Mayor found it necessary to place a guard at
the door of the house to prevent a meeting being held. In 1708 this
meeting-house was found to be small, and a much larger one was erected.
The meeting-house at Swarthmoor was built in 1686 upon land given by
George Fox, who also endowed it with land free from tithes, so that (to
quote his letter) "Friends may be sure of a meeting-house for ever that
is free and will maintain itself, and which is the Lord's." In this
meeting-house is still preserved George Fox's folio Bible, to which is
attached the chain with which it was formerly fastened to the pulpit.
The number of meeting-houses of the Society of Friends was never very
great in Lancashire, and in the larger towns there were very few built
before the early part of the eighteenth century. Most of them had
graveyards attached, and in some cases (as in Manchester) these remain,
whilst the meeting-houses have been pulled down.

Wesley made many visits to all parts of Lancashire; but the growth
of Methodism was at first slow in the county, as it met with much
opposition from many quarters, and in several towns the appearance
of its founder led to disorder and riots. Methodism began in a very
humble way in Lancashire, the handful of converts forming themselves
into "classes," and often meeting in small cottages. In Manchester
the first gatherings were held in a small room in a house near the
Irwell, where a woman lived, having in the room her spinning-wheel, her
coals, her bed, chair and table. Some of the earlier societies (about
the year 1744) were called "William Darney's societies." Another man
who assisted Wesley in Lancashire was John Bennet of Derbyshire, who
introduced Wesleyanism into Rochdale a little before 1746.

Methodism was not introduced into Preston until 1750, and in some
districts it did not obtain a footing until a much later period; but
long before the close of the century its chapels were found in almost
every large town as well as in isolated rural districts.

Early in the seventeenth century Baptist chapels were erected in
several parts of the county. Of the many sects which have arisen within
the last hundred years, it is not our province to record either the
origin or progress, as Lancashire, in common with all the country,
has now inhabitants who worship under many forms; but there no longer
exists that bitter, antagonistic feeling between one denomination and
another which has for so many centuries been a blot upon the pages of
England's history.

In 1819 there were in Lancashire 77 Roman Catholic chapels, and in
1823 the Dissenting chapels included: 68 Independent, 27 Baptist, 32
Unitarian, 4 Scotch Kirk, 3 Scotch Presbyterian, and 180 Wesleyan.

[Illustration]


[Footnote 169: Bright's "Early English Church History," p. 111.]

[Footnote 170: Lancashire was subsequently included in the Diocese of
Lichfield and Coventry until the establishment of the See of Chester,
in 1541, the northern portion being in the Archdeaconry of Richmond, in
the Diocese of York.]

[Footnote 171: Lancaster parish is partly in Lonsdale and partly in
Amounderness.]

[Footnote 172: Symeon of Durham's "Life of St. Cuthbert," _Surtees
Soc._, li. 141.]

[Footnote 173: See _Lanc. and Ches. Ant. Soc._, vol. ix.]

[Footnote 174: Aldcliffe Hall is on the south of the river. Of Newton
all trace is lost. See "Materials for History of the Church of
Lancaster," _Chetham Soc._, xxvi., new series.]

[Footnote 175: Calendar of Papal Reg., A.D. 1193-1304, and
chartulary of the priory.]

[Footnote 176: Calendar of French Rolls; 48th Report of Deputy-Keeper
of Records.]

[Footnote 177: Worthings = manure.]

[Footnote 178: "Antiquities of Furness."]

[Footnote 179: Probably granted for a term of years.]

[Footnote 180: Printed by the Chetham Society (new series, vols. xiii.,
xiv., xv.).]

[Footnote 181: A compound of "kirk," the Danish or Scandinavian for
church, and the Anglo-Saxon "ham," a village or a dwelling.]

[Footnote 182: Whitaker's "History of Whalley."]

[Footnote 183: Chetham Society, Coucher Book of Whalley.]

[Footnote 184: See Whitaker's "History of Whalley," from which this
description is taken.]

[Footnote 185: Recently forms have been placed in the church.]

[Footnote 186: For detailed drawing of Stydd Church see "The History of
Stydd Chapel and Preceptory," by George Latham; London, 1853.]

[Footnote 187: Warrington Church Notes.]

[Footnote 188: For details of remains of Burscough, see _Lanc. and
Ches. Hist. Soc._, 1889.]

[Footnote 189: Dom. Gilbert Dolan, O.S.B. (_Lanc. and Ches. Hist.
Soc._, vols. vii., viii., p. 231).]

[Footnote 190: Partly printed by Chetham Society, cvii. and cxiii.]

[Footnote 191: Bridge = a kind of thread.]

[Footnote 192: Communion-cloths.]

[Footnote 193: A glass bottle to hold oil.]

[Footnote 194: Created in 1848, and includes all Lancashire, except
parts of West Derby which are in Chester Diocese, and the Furness and
Cartmel districts, which were added to Carlisle.]

[Footnote 195: Near the door of the dining-room is a small hole in
the flag floor, somewhat like the impress of a human foot, which
tradition says marks the place where George Marsh stamped his foot as
he protested to the truth of his faith.]

[Footnote 196: State Papers, Dom. Ser., 1547-1565.]

[Footnote 197: State Papers, Dom. Ser., addenda xix., p. 525.]

[Footnote 198: _Ibid._, p. 161.]

[Footnote 199: _Ibid._, cxxxviii., p. 18.]

[Footnote 200: See "History of Poulton-le-Fylde" (Fishwick), Chetham
Society, viii., new series.]

[Footnote 201: _Chetham Society_, xcvi., p. 1.]

[Footnote 202: Chester Presentments at York. See also "History of
Kirkham" (Fishwick), _Chetham Society_, xcii. 45.]

[Footnote 203: State Papers, Dom. Ser., Eliz., vol. cclxxix., No. 86.]

[Footnote 204: "A True and Exact Relation of the Death of Two
Catholics," etc.; London, 1737.]

[Footnote 205: See "History of Kirkham," _Chetham Society_, xcii., also
article in "Bygone Lancashire"; London, 1892.]

[Footnote 206: "Bygone Lancashire": London, 1892.]

[Footnote 207: Including North Meols, which is omitted in the survey.]

[Footnote 208: The names were those who were considered "fit to be of
the classis."]

[Footnote 209: St. Michael's-on-Wyre and Lytham are left out.]

[Footnote 210: Written by the Rev. Richard Heyricke. Both these tracts
are now very scarce.]

[Footnote 211: "Lancashire: its Puritanism, etc.," i. 465.]

[Footnote 212: "Lancashire Quaker Literature" (Fishwick), _Trans. of
Lanc. and Ches. Ant. Soc._, 1887.]

[Footnote 213: They so designated the church.]

[Footnote 214: "Notitia Cestriensis," _Chetham Society_, xix.]

[Footnote 215: See "Lancashire Nonconformity," by the Rev. B.
Nightingale also Dr. Halley's "Lancashire Puritanism," etc.]

[Footnote 216: The original meeting-house was at Castle Hey.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER X.

THE REBELLIONS.


The most striking event in Lancashire in the beginning of the
eighteenth century was the rebellion of 1715, which arose out of
the Highland feeling in favour of the elder Stuart line, and the
discontent of the lairds with the recent Parliamentary union. Those
who planned the insurrection were in hopes of obtaining the support
of the Roman Catholics in the North of England, who still owned the
Pope as the supreme head of their Church. In September, 1715, the
Earl of Mar raised the royal standard of "James VIII. and III." at
Braemar, and was shortly afterwards at Perth with an army of 12,000.
In the rising, of which this was the prelude, the Presbyterians in
Lancashire attached themselves to the Whig party, whilst the Roman
Catholics took the side of the Tories. A writer on this subject[217]
says: "That the Roman Catholics in Lancashire should have appeared in
arms during the movement of 1715 can excite no surprise whatever. They
were stimulated by a deep recollection of long bygone persecutions, to
which, as a cause, they referred their existing political and religious
grievances. This historical retrospect comprises in its earliest date
the persecutions and degradations which they underwent in the reign
of Elizabeth, and the sympathy which they subsequently met with from
the unfortunate Charles, who was the first to show concern for their
sufferings and civil disabilities."

The Roman Catholics who joined the Jacobite party in 1715 were strongly
opposed, not only to the Whigs, but also to the Presbyterians, as
they no doubt considered that to one or other of these factions they
owed much of the persecution of past years. In Lancashire there were
still many Roman Catholics, and it is not a matter of surprise that
they should be ready to welcome any attempt to restore the succession
of the Stuarts, in whose cause they had, during the Civil Wars, shed
their blood and sacrificed many of their ancestral estates, especially
as they were indignant at the attempts made by King William to meet
the wishes of the Nonconformists. But perhaps the greatest excitement
amongst the Tories was caused by King George's determination to
continue the Toleration Act. In Manchester the feeling was very strong,
and there, on June 13, 1715, a considerable mob assembled, which was
led by Thomas Syddal, a peruke-maker, and continued daily to meet
"with beat of drum" for several days, during which they ravaged many
of the houses of those favourable to the Government, and ended by
almost destroying the Presbyterian chapel in Acres Field (now Cross
Street), which was at that time the only Dissenting place of worship in
Manchester, and which in derision was called "St. Plungeons."

The Manchester mob having been joined by men from Warrington and the
surrounding towns, they marched into Yorkshire, demolishing several
meeting-houses which they passed on their way. Similar mobs were doing
the same thing in several other parts of England at or near this date.
Strong measures being taken by Parliament, by the end of July these
riots for the time were suppressed. Syddal and a man known as the
colonel of the mob at Manchester were captured; they were tried at
Lancaster in the August following, and were sentenced to imprisonment
and to stand in the pillory.

The breaking out of the rebellion in Scotland and the rising in
Northumberland were soon followed by a threatening attitude assumed by
the people of Manchester, which was the chief centre of High Church
Toryism; to foster this feeling and to obtain active assistance, Lord
Widdrington and other Catholics visited the town; they were not only
received with enthusiasm, but were promised at least 20,000 men, when
once the Scottish force had entered Lancashire. In the north of the
county there were a considerable number of adherents to the cause of
the Chevalier de St. George, amongst them being many members of some of
the oldest and most powerful families in the district.

On November 6, 1715,[218] the insurgents were at Kirkby Lonsdale, and
being told that the town of Lancaster had ceased to make preparations
for defence, they decided to march on to that place, outside of
which they arrived the day following, being met by Lord Widdrington
and others, who roused their drooping spirits with the intelligence
that the Lancashire gentlemen were willing to join them, and that
Manchester (as an instalment towards the 20,000 promised) had got
arms for 50 men besides other volunteers. The Lancaster people were,
it appears, waiting for some dragoons from Preston which did not
arrive, so that although Sir Henry Hoghton was prepared to defend the
town, he was powerless to do so; and on November 7 the Scottish army
entered Lancaster with swords drawn, drums beating, colours flying,
and bagpipes playing; at the head of the troops rode Lord Wintoun. At
the market cross the Pretender was proclaimed King. The next thing
they did was to release all the prisoners on the Crown side in the
castle, amongst whom were Thomas Syddal, the Manchester mob leader,
and his "colonel," both of whom joined the rebels. Besides these, John
Dalton[219] of Thurnham Hall, John Tyldesley of the Lodge, Richard
Butler of Rawcliffe, and a few others of the Roman Catholic gentry,
were added to their ranks. The only inhabitants of the town who
volunteered were a barber and a joiner. On November 8 service was held
in the church, when, the Vicar declining to pray for the Pretender, the
Rev. William Paul,[220] who was with the insurgents, read the prayer.

A writer, friendly to the rebels, narrates how the gentlemen of the
army, "trimed in their best cloathes," went to take "a dish of tea with
the ladyes" of Lancaster, who "apeared in their best riging" in honour
of the occasion.

On November 9 the forces set off for Preston. The day proved wet, and
as the ways were deep and heavy, one may easily realize that the march
was disagreeable and dispiriting, so much so that at Garstang the foot
were allowed to stay all night, with instructions to follow the horse
troops on to Preston the following day. Here, no doubt through the
influence of Thomas Tyldesley, Roger Moncaster, an attorney and Town
Clerk of the Corporation, joined the standard of the Chevalier; with
him also went some half dozen more from the same district.

At Preston on November 10 the Pretender was proclaimed at the
cross, and all authorities agree that here the army was joined by a
considerable number of gentlemen, with their tenants and servants;
but they were all Roman Catholics, the High Church party being still
conspicuous by their absence. Amongst the volunteers were Richard
Townley, Sir Francis Anderton of Lostock, Richard Chorley of Chorley,
Gabriel Hesketh of Whitehill (in Goosnargh), Ralph Standish of
Standish, John Leybourn of Nateby, and many other men of high position
in the county. The total strength of the rebel force has been estimated
at 4,000 men. What had the Government been doing all this time? News
then travelled slowly, and it appears that while the rebels were at
Lancaster General Carpenter was with his soldiers at Newcastle. He
afterwards set off towards Lancashire.

The insurgents knew of this, but they appeared to have been ignorant
of the movements of General Wills, the commandant of the Chester
garrison, who was sending out forces to Wigan. On November 8 Wills was
at Manchester, where he found it would require a regiment to prevent
a rising, and having provided against this emergency by sending to
Chester for the militia, he set off with his troops to Preston. On
November 10 Pitt's horse and Stanhope's dragoons reached Wigan, where
they were quickly followed by other regiments, who were arranged in
readiness to advance to Preston. The rebels in the interior were
having a fine time of it in "proud Preston," where they found the
"ladys so very beautifull and so richly atired" that they minded
"nothing but courting and feasting." Whilst General Wills was at Wigan
he appealed to Sir Henry Hoghton to raise some recruits, who, it
appears, considered that the most likely party to find them was the
Presbyterians; and with this in view he wrote to the Rev. James Woods,
pastor of Chowbent, in the following terms:

"The officers here design to march at break of day to Preston;
they have desired me to raise what men I can to meet us at Preston
to-morrow, so desire you to raise all the force you can--I mean lusty
young fellows, to draw up on Cuerden Green, to be there by ten
o'clock, to bring with them what arms they have fit for service, and
scythes put in streight polls, and such as have not to bring spades and
billhooks for pioneering with. Pray go immediately all amongst your
neighbours, and give this notice.

  "I am your very faithful servant,
  "W. HOGHTON."
  "Wigan, November 11, 1715."

This James Woods was the son of the Rev. James Woods, who, as the
Nonconformist minister of Chowbent, was imprisoned in 1670. To the
appeal of Hoghton, Woods hastily responded, and in his efforts met with
ready assistance from two neighbouring pastors, John Walton of Horwich
and John Turner of Preston, and they and their volunteers are reported
to have done good service to the Hanoverian cause. So enthusiastic
was the pastor of Chowbent that he obtained the sobriquet of "General
Woods." It seems almost incredible that all this time the commanders
of the forces at Preston were unaware of the approaching enemy; yet if
they did know of it, they at all events very considerably underrated
the strength of General Wills's army.

On Saturday, November 12, at daybreak, the vanguard of General Wills's
forces arrived at Walton-le-Dale, where the river only separated them
from Preston.

On this being discovered, Lieutenant-Colonel Farquharson was sent with
a detachment of 100 men to defend the Ribble Bridge, but afterwards
it was deemed advisable to abandon this position in order that an
advantage might be given to the Scotch troops in forcing the invaders
to meet them in or near the town instead of near the open plain, where
their want of sufficient horse and artillery would, it was thought,
tell heavily against them; beside which, they would be able to fight
under cover of the barricades which they had hastily thrown up near
the centre of the town. Notwithstanding that the Government troops
got possession of the houses of Sir Henry Hoghton and Mr. Ayres, the
rebels held their position during the whole of the Saturday; but on the
following day General Carpenter's troops came up and encamped round the
town. The insurgents having discovered that Carpenter and Wills had now
made a simple cordon round Preston, and that every avenue of escape was
closed, made overtures for surrender. The reply of General Wills was:
"I will not treat with rebels! They have killed several of the King's
subjects, and they must expect the same fate. All that I can do for you
is, that if you lay down your arms and submit yourselves prisoners at
discretion, I will prevent the soldiers from cutting you to pieces, and
give you your lives until I have further orders; and I will allow you
but one hour to consider these terms."

To this proposal some of the English were inclined to submit, but the
Scotch troops would not listen to it; and there arose a strong division
amongst the insurgents, which led to something like a fight between the
two parties.

After some parley, however, on November 13 Preston was surrendered,
and the swords of the insurgent officers were given up, some in
the churchyard and others at the Mitre Inn. Afterwards the lords,
officers and the gentlemen volunteers were taken prisoners, and placed
under guards in the inns known as the Mitre, the White Bull, and the
Windmill; the Highlanders and other troops, having laid down their
arms, were marched into the church, and placed under a strong guard.
The total number thus taken prisoners is stated as 1,550, of which
over 1,000 were Scotch. During the whole engagement the number killed
probably did not reach 200. As far as Lancashire is concerned, this
closed the rebellion. Amongst the prisoners taken at Preston were the
Earl of Nithsdale, the Earl of Cornwall, the Earl of Winton, and the
Viscount of Kenmure, and over 200 other Scots noblemen and gentlemen;
of the English there were the Earl of Derwentwater, Lord Widdrington,
and over 70 gentlemen. After some little delay (awaiting instructions),
about 400 rebels were sent to Lancaster Castle, where they slept on
straw and were allowed for maintenance per man each day 2d. (for bread
and cheese 1d., and 1d. for small beer); other of the prisoners were
removed to Chester, Liverpool, and Wigan. Some of the officers of the
royal army were tried by court-martial at Preston for desertion, and
taking arms against the King; four of their number were convicted and
shot, viz., Major Nairn, Captain Philip Lockhart, Ensign Erskine,
and Captain John Shaftoe. Lord Charles Murray, though convicted,
was ultimately reprieved. Towards the end of the month some of the
prisoners at Wigan were sent off to London.

Nothing now remains to be told except to briefly state the fate of
some of the rebel prisoners. The Earl of Derwentwater and Lord Kenmure
were beheaded on Tower Hill, February 24, 1716; and of the prisoners
condemned in Lancashire, sixteen were hanged at Preston, five at Wigan,
five at Manchester, four at Garstang, four at Liverpool, and nine at
Lancaster. Amongst the Lancashire victims were: Richard Shuttleworth,
of Preston, gentleman; Roger Muncaster, Town Clerk of Garstang; Thomas
Goose, who tradition says was arrested at Garstang for calling out
as the rebel army passed, "Hev ye on, me lads, and you'll take the
crown with a distaff"; William Butler, of Myerscough, gentleman; John
Wadsworth, of Catterall, gentleman; Thomas Syddal, the Manchester
peruke-maker; William Harris, of Burnley; and Richard Butler, of
Rawcliffe.

The rebellion was followed by strong measures being taken against
Roman Catholics, as it gave another pretext for the seizing of their
estates by the Commissioners, more particularly the properties of
those who had died just before the events of 1715; and there is no
doubt but that many of their descendants were harshly and unjustly
dealt with. The oaths of supremacy and allegiance were now urged upon
both clergy and laity, and all Roman Catholics and Nonjurors were
compelled to register the value of their estates. The returns made by
the Commissioners showed that in Amounderness there were 73 estates,
worth per annum £2,260; in Lonsdale, 25, yielding £1,432; in Blackburn,
29, yielding £972; in Leyland, 54, yielding £1,463; in Salford, 17,
yielding £721; in West Derby, 122, yielding £5,901. From this return
it appears that the yearly value of the Nonjurors' estates (chiefly
Roman Catholics) in Derby and Amounderness was nearly twice as much as
all the rest of the county put together; and the numbers of estates in
these two hundreds, though not quite in the same proportion, was very
much greater than that in the other parts of Lancashire.

Shortly after the events just narrated, a strong controversy arose
in Lancashire and other parts of the kingdom as to what was spoken
of as the _Divine right of kings_, the Nonjurors maintaining that no
circumstances whatever could justify an insurrection against the King,
and therefore no one but a descendant of James II. could claim from
them an oath of allegiance. The holders of this doctrine were plentiful
in Lancashire, and in Manchester particularly, and there were many who
at once espoused the cause of Prince Charles Edward (the son of the
Pretender), when in August, 1745, he landed in the Hebrides on his
way, as he fondly hoped, to the throne. On November 16 following, the
Young Chevalier, with a small army, got possession of Carlisle, and was
proclaimed King of Great Britain.

Leaving Carlisle, the Young Pretender marched through Penrith to
Lancaster, where he arrived on November 24, at the head of about 5,000
men, chiefly Highlanders; from thence they passed on to Preston, which
was reached on November 27, and by a forced march they arrived at
Manchester the following day. Here for the first time during their
passage through Lancashire they obtained some substantial assistance,
by the addition to their forces of some 200 men, which were placed
under the command of Colonel Francis Townley, and were designated the
Manchester Regiment. The Jacobites of Manchester received the Prince
with public demonstrations of joy. From Manchester the insurgents went
to Derby, where they ascertained that they were in danger of being
hemmed in by two armies of the Government, and therefore they wisely at
once began to retreat, passing again through Manchester, Preston, and
Lancaster, and crossed the Scottish Border on the 20th, having marched
200 miles in fourteen days.

The arrival of the Duke of Cumberland and his forces in Lancashire soon
re-established public peace and confidence. The rebellion terminated at
the battle of Culloden, on April 16 following. The Prince ultimately
escaped to France. Amongst those taken as prisoners-of-war there were
several Lancashire men, who had mostly been part of the unfortunate
so-called Manchester Regiment, although, according to one account, it
was by no means composed solely of men from that town.

Francis Townley was a Roman Catholic, and a son of one of the Townleys
of Townley, but, owing to some family circumstance, he had for a time
before the rebellion been living in France. On coming to Manchester
he made friends with some of the leading Jacobites, amongst whom was
Dr. Byrom. He appears to have joined the Prince at Carlisle, and
accompanied him through England. In the rapid retreat which followed,
he went as far as Carlisle, and was there left with some 400 men, while
the Prince and the main body of Highlanders went over the Border. By
this time nearly two-thirds of the Manchester Regiment had deserted.
Thomas Syddal (the son of the Syddal executed after the 1715 rebellion)
(see p. 248), was also left in Carlisle, and acted as adjutant, for
which post, being like his father a peruke-maker by trade, he could
scarcely be qualified, neither could Captain George Fletcher, who
heretofore had managed his mother's drapery shop in Salford.

Another Manchester man was Thomas Cappoch (the son of a well-to-do
tailor), who joined the Pretender as chaplain, and during the
occupation of the capital of Cumberland by the rebels was appointed
as "Bishop of Carlisle."[221] There were also three sons of the
nonjuring Dr. Thomas Deacon. On the surrender of Carlisle, the officers
of the Manchester Regiment, twenty in number, and ninety-three
non-commissioned officers and privates, were all taken prisoners and
conveyed in waggons to London,[222] and placed in Newgate.

On the trial, which began July 16, 1746, all the prisoners were found
guilty, and nine were ordered to be executed, which sentence was duly
carried out on Kennington Common on July 20. The heads of Townley and
George Fletcher were placed on Temple Bar, but the heads of Syddal
and Thomas Deacon were sent to Manchester, and there fixed on spikes
on the top of the Exchange; and it is said that one of the first who
came to look at them was Dr. Deacon himself, who, taking off his hat,
expressed his satisfaction that his son had died a martyr. After this
no Jacobite passed the Exchange (so long as the heads remained there)
without reverently removing his hat.

Thomas Cappoch and eight others were hung, drawn and quartered at
Carlisle on October 18, 1746.

Many of the other Lancashire men, though convicted of high-treason,
were afterwards pardoned.

[Illustration]

[Footnote 217: S. Hibbert Ware, M.D. See _Chetham Society_, v. (old
series), from which many of the facts concerning this rebellion are
taken.]

[Footnote 218: Works consulted: Patten's "History of the Rebellion,"
Rae's "History of the Rebellion," "Lancashire Memorials of 1715"
(_Chetham Soc._, v.), "Manchester Collectanea" (_Chetham Soc._,
lxviii.), "History of Garstang," etc.]

[Footnote 219: His real name was Hoghton.]

[Footnote 220: A clergyman of the Church of England.]

[Footnote 221: "The Authentic History of the Life and Character of
Thomas Cappoch (the rebel Bishop of Carlisle), etc."; London, 1739.]

[Footnote 222: One of Dr. Deacon's sons died on the road.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XI.

PROGRESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.


The general appearance of the chief Lancashire towns in the early part
of the eighteenth century has been graphically described by a lady who
rode through England on horseback;[223] and from this source we take
our descriptions of Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Wigan, Preston,
and Rochdale.

Manchester consisted of not very lofty, but substantially built houses,
mostly of brick and stone, the older houses being of wood; from the
churchyard you could see the whole of the town. The market-place was
large, and took up the length of two streets, when it was kept for the
sale of the "linnen-cloth and cottontickens," which were the chief
manufactures of the place.

Liverpool was also mostly of brick and stone, but the houses were "high
and even that a streete quite through looked very handsome"; in fact,
the fair equestrienne describes it as "London in miniature," and was
much struck with its Exchange, standing on eight pillars, and over it
"a very handsome Town-hall," from the tower of which you could see the
whole country round. Lancaster was "old and much decayed," and some
of the carved stones and figures belonging to the dissolved priory
were still to be seen. The town was not much given to trade, though
within it various trades were carried on; some of the streets were
"well pitch'd and of good size." Preston was a very good market-town,
leather, corn, coals, butter, cheese, and garden produce being exposed
for sale. At the entrance to the town was a lawyer's house, all of
stone, with fine windows in the front, and "high built, according
to ye eastern buildings near London; on each side of it were neatly
kept gardens. There were in some parts of the town some more of these
handsome houses, and the streets were spacious and well pitch'd."
Wigan is described as another "pretty market town, built of stone and
brick," and as being the place where the "fine channell coales" are in
perfection, and the writer adds, "Set the coales together with some
fire, and it shall give a snap and burn up light." The Wigan people at
this time were in the habit of making salt-cellars, stand-dishes, and
small boxes out of cannel, and these were sent to London as curiosities.

Rochdale is described as a "pretty neate towne, built all of stone."
The ride over Blackstone Edge is well described; the author mentions it
as "noted all over England," and, after referring to the ascent from
the Yorkshire side, says, "Here I entred Lancashire; the mist began
to lessen, and as I descended on this side ye fogg more and more went
off, and a little raine fell, though at a little distance in our view
the sun shone on ye vale, wᶜʰ indeed is of a large extent here, and ye
advantage of soe high a hill, wᶜʰ is at least 2 mile up, discovers the
grounds beneath as a fruitfull valley full of inclosures and cut hedges
and trees. That wᶜʰ adds to the formidableness of Blackstone Edge is
that on ye one hand you have a vast precipice almost the whole way
one ascends and descends, and in some places ye precipice is on either
hand."

Of the state of the roads in Lancashire this writer has somewhat to
say; her ride from Wigan to Preston, though only twelve miles, took
her four hours; and she adds, "I could have gone 20 miles in most
countrys" in the same time; but she found one good thing in the county
roads, which was, that at cross-roads there were posts with "hands
pointing to each road, wᵗʰ ye names of ye great towns on." Daniel
Defoe, passing over Blackstone Edge in 1724, complains that the road
was "very frightful narrow and deep, with a hollow precipice on the
right," and that after he had gone a short distance this hollow got
deeper and deeper, and, though they led the horses, they found it "very
troublesome and dangerous." Yet this was the direct and only road to
Yorkshire from the Rochdale valley. The turnpike system,[224] before
the advent of the nineteenth century, had not been adopted in any part
of Lancashire, but, with the commencement of the new industries and
commercial enterprises of the period, it soon became apparent that the
old "pack and prime"[225] ways were no longer adequate to carry on
the business which had now to be done. Some of these old roads were
little better than footpaths, which the repeated tread of long strings
of pack-horses had worn deep into the soil, so that in rainy weather
they served at once as roads and water-courses, and these were often
crossed by rivers, which at flood-times were both deep and rapid, and a
constant source of danger to travellers and their goods.

In 1753 all the roads in the county were infested with highway
robbers, and to guard against them travellers went in groups. Thus,
every Tuesday a gang of horsemen set off from London, and arrived at
Liverpool on the Monday following. Goods were carried on stage-waggons,
and were usually from ten days to a fortnight in coming to Lancashire
from the Metropolis.

As late as 1770 Arthur Young passed along the road for Preston and
Wigan, and thus refers to it: "I know not in the whole range of
language terms sufficiently expressive to describe the infernal
highway. Let me most seriously caution all travellers who may
accidentally propose to travel this terrible country to avoid it as
they would the devil, for a thousand to one but they break their necks
or their limbs by overthrows or breakings down. They will here meet
with ruts which I actually measured four feet deep and floating with
mud only from a wet summer! What must it, therefore, be in winter!"

The earliest Turnpike Act was passed in 1663, and referred to the great
north road through the counties of Hertford, Cambridge, and Huntingdon,
and near the end of the century similar Acts were adopted for other
districts, but none of them applied to Lancashire. Of the main roads
through Lancashire at this period we have little information, but there
was one from Chester which passed through Warrington, Manchester,
Rochdale, and over Blackstone Edge to York; another from Manchester
to Buxton and on to London; and a third from Lancaster to Skipton
in Yorkshire. There was also one from Warrington, through Wigan,
Preston, and Lancaster, to Kendal. Of course there were several other
cross-roads, but these were the main trunks. The great Northern centre
of these roads was Chester; between there and Liverpool was all but
impassable at this time with anything like a waggon.

The first Turnpike Act for Lancashire was passed in 1724, and
applied to the road from Buxton to Manchester, which is described
as the nearest road from London to Manchester. Other districts soon
followed this example, and Acts were obtained for turnpiking the road
from Liverpool to Prescot in 1725; Wigan to Warrington and Preston
in 1726; Rochdale to Elland (over Blackstone Edge) in 1734;[226]
Preston to Lancaster, 1750; Salford to Warrington and Bolton, 1752;
Rochdale to Burnley, 1754; Manchester to Rochdale, 1754; Liverpool to
Preston, 1771; Clitheroe to Blackburn, 1776; Bury, and Haslingden to
Blackburn, 1789; Rochdale to Edenfield, 1794; Rochdale to Bury, 1797;
and other lines of route. So that before the century closed the county
was intersected[227] in all directions by turnpike roads, which were
maintained and formed under the regulations of their several Acts,
and no longer dependent upon the uncertain measure of repair formerly
reluctantly furnished by the local rates, which had often to be paid
by those who used the road the least. Some of the preambles to these
local Turnpike Acts furnish curious particulars as to the then state
of the roads. For example, in 1750 the road from Crosford Bridge (near
Sale), which passed through Stretford and Hulme to Manchester, is
described as being "a common High road and part of the Post road from
London to Manchester; and by reason of the nature of the soil and the
many and heavy carriages passing the same, the said road is become so
exceedingly deep and ruinous that in the winter season and frequently
in summer it is very difficult and dangerous to pass through the
greatest part thereof with waggons, carts, and other wheel carriages;
and travellers cannot pass without danger and loss of time. And whereas
some part of the said road lying next to Crosford Bridge is many times
overflowed with water and impassable; whereby the Post is delayed, and
severall persons in attempting to pass through the same have lost their
lives."

Towards the end of the century many parts of the old roads were
abandoned, and shorter routes adopted, thus materially contributing
to that ready access between town and town and the county with the
Metropolis which was now becoming an absolute necessity. In places
where the Turnpike Act had not been adopted it was now often found
necessary to enforce the law as to repairs by indicting the parish at
quarter sessions, where the justices ordered a fixed sum to be paid,
which had to be levied by rates. The vast improvements made in the
highways led to a very rapid development of the stage-coaches and
stage-waggons.

An adventurous Manchester man advertised in 1754 that his flying coach,
"however incredible it may appear, will actually (barring accidents)
arrive in London in four days and a half after leaving Manchester."

In 1756 the "Flying Stage" coach left Warrington on Mondays, and got
to London on Wednesdays, the inside fare being two guineas, with an
allowance of fourteen pounds of luggage.

It was not until 1760 that a stage-coach began to run between Liverpool
and London direct.

Between Manchester and Liverpool a stage-coach was established in 1770,
which ran twice a week.

But along with the improvement of roads other schemes were being
developed which ultimately led to the formation of the navigable canals
which now intersect the county. The first of these is the one known as
the Bridgewater Canal, which was commenced in 1758, when the Duke of
Bridgewater obtained power to construct a water way from Worsley to
Salford and to Hollinfare (or Hollin Ferry), on the river Irwell, and
also to carry his canal across that river through Stretford into the
town of Manchester. This work, which was then considered a masterpiece
of engineering, was carried out under the direction of James Brindley.
In addition to the aqueduct over the river, which is upwards of 200
yards long, there were other difficulties to be overcome, amongst them
a tunnel of three-quarters of a mile in length. The bridge over the
Irwell consists of three arches, the centre one 63 feet wide and 38
feet high, thus admitting barges to go through with masts standing,
and, as Baines put it (writing in 1836), affording the spectator the
"extraordinary sight, never before witnessed in this country, of one
vessel sailing over the top of another." In 1761 a much bolder scheme
was commenced by the Duke, which, when completed, formed a canal nearly
30 miles long, from Stretford to Runcorn on the Mersey. This took
five years to construct, and it had the effect of at once lessening
the cost of carriage by water between Manchester and Liverpool by at
least fifty per cent. But this first Lancashire canal was not used
only for the conveyance of goods; boats on the model of the Dutch
_trekschuyt_ were used daily to take passengers from Manchester to the
places on the line of route. A branch from Worsley to Leigh was cut
in 1795. Before the establishment of canals powers had been obtained
in 1720 to render navigable the Irwell and Mersey from Liverpool to
Manchester, and in 1726 the river Douglas (_alias_ Asland), from
Wigan to the Mersey. These river improvements were made at great
cost, and at the best were not found to work in a very satisfactory
manner, and were soon superseded by the ordinary canals. One of the
first Lancashire canals was the Leeds and Liverpool, which was begun
in 1770, when it was considered one of the boldest schemes which had
ever been undertaken in England. Its length from Leeds to Liverpool
is 107 miles. Dr. Aiken, writing near the close of the century, says
of this canal: "On a cursory survey, the tract of country through
which it passes will probably appear not extremely inviting to such an
undertaking. It is but lightly peopled, and though the great towns at
the opposite extremities abound in objects of commercial importance,
yet their connection with each other is not very intimate, nor does it
seem likely to be much promoted by such a circuitous communication.
Coal and limestone are the chief natural products of the intermediate
country; and as the districts abounding in the one often want the
other, a considerable transport of these articles on the canal may be
expected, as well as other useful kinds of stone found in quarries near
its course."

After the American War, which ended in 1783, Manchester showed great
activity in pushing forward various schemes for the extension of the
water-communication with the surrounding districts. Amongst the canals
made before the end of the century were those to Bolton and Bury,
Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham; Manchester to Rochdale and Yorkshire;
Kendal to Lancaster, Garstang, Preston, and West Houghton. On the
latter packet boats conveying passengers to Preston went daily for many
years.

The only place in the county where the maritime trade was increasing
was Liverpool, where in the last decade of the century some 4,500
vessels arrived annually, their tonnage being about one-fifth that of
the ships which reached London each year. The chief trade was with
Africa and the West Indies, at least one-fourth of the Liverpool
vessels being employed in the slave trade. From Lancaster, before the
stagnation of trade set in, about forty-seven vessels were trading with
foreign ports, their chief cargoes being mahogany furniture and goods
made in Manchester and Glasgow. The Ribble was not much used by boats
of any considerable burden.

To the cotton trade and all its developments must we look for the vast
increase in the commercial prosperity of Lancashire which so strongly
marked the last fifty years of the eighteenth century. The first
invention which led to the present mode of spinning wool was the patent
taken out in 1738 by Lewis Paul,[228] of Birmingham, for spinning of
wool or cotton by machinery. The preamble to this grant sets forth that
the machine was "capable of being set so as instantaneously to spin
wool, cotton waste and wick-yarn to any degree, size, or twist with the
greatest exactness, and is to be worked without handling or fingering
the matter to be wrought, after the same be once placed in the machine,
and requires so little skill that anyone, after a few minutes'
teaching, will be capable of spinning therewith; and even children of
five or six years of age may spin with the same, by which means the
poorest of the clothiers will be enabled to supply their customers
without suffering under the encumbrance of a dead stock of yarn, and
the weavers may be supplied with such yarn as they shall want for their
several occasions without that loss of time which often happens to
them."

The principle of this and a later patent taken out by Paul covered the
invention of what is technically known as roller-spinning, but which
required further improvement before it could be profitably used. John
Kay, a native of Walmersly, near Bury, where he was born July 16, 1704,
was the undoubted inventor of the fly-shuttle which was patented in
1733, and of several other important machines connected with the trade.
His melancholy history cannot here be repeated, but his life was one
long struggle against ignorance and ingratitude. The people who were
most to be benefited by his invention broke up his machines and drove
him homeless to France. His appeal to Government was in vain, and even
those who adopted the fly-shuttle refused to pay for its use. He died
an exile from his country in obscurity and poverty.

Let us take a glance at the daily work carried on by the cottagers
and small farmers in Lancashire at the time when Kay made known his
great invention. Samuel Bamford, of Middleton, who was well able to
give testimony on this subject, writes: "The farming was generally
of that kind which was soonest and most easily performed, and it was
done by the husband and other males of the family, whilst the wife and
daughters and maid-servants, if there were any of the latter, attended
to the churning, cheese-making, and household work; and when that was
finished, they busied themselves in carding, slubbing and spinning
wool or cotton, as well as forming it into warps for the looms. The
husband and sons would next, at times when farm labour did not call
them abroad, size the warp, dry it, and beam it in the loom, and
either they or the females, whichever happened to be least employed,
would weave the warp down. A farmer would generally have three or
four looms in his house, and then--what with the farming, easily and
leisurely though it was performed, what with the house-work, and what
with the carding, spinning and weaving--there was ample employment for
the family. If the rent was raised from the farm, so much the better;
if not, the deficiency was made up from the manufacturing profits."
William Radcliffe, himself an improver of the power loom, gives another
account of the life of the hand loom weaver. In 1770, he says, "the
land [in Mellor, near Manchester] was occupied by between fifty and
sixty farmers ... and out of these there were only six or seven who
raised their rents directly from the produce of the farms; all the
rest got their rents partly in some branch of trade, such as spinning
and weaving woollen, linen or cotton. The cottagers were employed
entirely in this manner, except for a few weeks in harvest. Being one
of those cottagers, and intimately acquainted with all the rest, as
well as every farmer, I am better able to relate particularly how the
change from the old system of hand labour to the new one of machinery
operated in raising the price of land. Cottage rents at that time,
with convenient loom-shop and a small garden attached, were from one
and a half to two guineas per annum. The father would earn from 8s. to
half a guinea, and his sons, if he had one, two, or three alongside of
him, 6s. or 8s. a week; but the great sheet-anchor of all cottagers
and small farms was the labour attached to the hand-wheel; and when it
is considered that it required six or eight hands to prepare and spin
yarn, of any of the three materials I have mentioned, sufficient for
the consumption of one weaver, this shows clearly the inexhaustible
source there was for labour for every person, from the age of seven to
eighty years (who retained their sight and could move their hands), to
earn their bread, say from 1s. to 3s. per week, without going to the
parish."

A weaver at this date had frequently to walk many miles to collect from
various spinners the quantity of weft required to keep his hand-loom
going, but the invention of the fly-shuttle made matters no better
for him, as, although he could now turn out with the same labour as
heretofore double the amount of pieces, he found no material increase
in the product of the spinning-wheel. Here, then, was a block, to
get over which there was only one way, and that was a corresponding
increase in the production of the weft.

Many attempts were made to bring the old spinning-wheel up to the
requirements of the day, but not one of them proved efficacious.

It may be noted here _en passant_ that, whilst most of the patents
taken out at this period were intended to improve the processes in
cotton manufacture, Kay's fly-shuttle was first applied in the weaving
of woollen, but was afterwards made adaptable for cotton. Another great
improvement was what was known as the "drop box," which was invented by
Robert Kay (a son of John Kay) in 1769.

This difficulty in keeping the woollen and cotton looms at work was
brought before the Society of Arts in 1763, when its members, fully
recognising the importance of the crisis, offered a prize of £50 for
"the best invention of a machine that would spin six threads of wool,
flax, hemp or cotton at one time, and require but one person to work
and attend to it." This incentive caused many model spinning-wheels to
be submitted for approval, none of which furnished what was required.

The solution of the difficulty was reserved for James Hargreaves, a
weaver of Stanhill, near Blackburn, a town which had then about 5,000
inhabitants, many of whom were employed in making a kind of cloth
known as "Blackburn gray." Hargreaves for several years was engaged
in making improvements in the carding machines, which displaced the
hand-cards then in use for clearing and straightening the cotton fibres
preparatory to their being spun; but in 1765 he turned his attention
to the mechanical operation for spinning yarn, and having matured his
ideas, he had a machine secretly made in his house, where he afterwards
used it to great advantage. The machine was subsequently called the
spinning-jenny, and did for the spinner even more than the fly-shuttle
did for the weaver. Several of these machines were soon privately sold
to some of his neighbours, who were not slow to discover the immense
advantages which they furnished. Of course, an invention like this
could not long be kept secret, and when it became known that here was
a machine by which one spinner, instead of working with one thread,
could, with equal ease, work with sixteen or even twenty threads,
and that henceforth much of the female labour at the spinning-wheel
would no longer be wanted, the unreasoning and ignorant populace began
to rise against it and its inventor. The result was that, on a fixed
day, weavers from Darwen, Mellor, Tockholes and Oswaldtwistle met in
Blackburn (where their numbers were greatly augmented), and from thence
made their way to Hargreaves' house; but not finding the inventor at
home, they broke to pieces the spinning-jenny, and totally destroyed
the household goods and furniture. They then proceeded to a mill of
Robert Peel's, where the jenny was used, and reduced the place to
ruins. After this, Hargreaves fled to Nottingham, and in 1770 took out
his first patent for the machine which may almost be said to be the
foundation of the cotton trade.

Like most other great inventors, Hargreaves did not make much money
from his invention; but after a vain attempt to protect his patent,
he settled down at Nottingham, and, in partnership with Thomas James,
a joiner of the town, erected a small building which they ultimately
used as a cotton factory, and which is believed to have been the first
cotton mill in the world;[229] it was originally 40 feet long and 20
wide, and consisted of three stories. Hargreaves died at Nottingham in
the spring of 1778.[230]

Notwithstanding the working-man's opposition to the spinning-jenny,
before 1771 it had been adopted by nearly every spinner in Lancashire.
Riots against the "jenny" continued, however, for a time to break out
in the neighbourhood of Blackburn for several years after Hargreaves'
death.

Another Lancashire inventor was Richard Arkwright, a barber, who was
born at Preston, December 23, 1732, and was said to have been the
youngest of thirteen children. About the year 1750 he, having married
a daughter of Robert Holt, of Bolton, removed to that town, where, in
1769, he so far improved upon the invention of Lewis Paul (see p. 261)
for spinning cotton by rollers, as to make it not only practicable but
profitable, and thus at once opened a new era in cotton manufacture.
Taking warning from the treatment which Hargreaves had received, he
removed to Nottingham, where he had a small mill worked by horses,
which was subsequently abandoned and a new factory built at Cromford,
in Derbyshire, where the river Derwent supplied the water-power. The
dispute and connection between Kay and Arkwright need not here be
detailed.[231] Arkwright was also the inventor of other mechanical
improvements in the manufacture of cotton.

Amongst other mills built by Arkwright was one at Chorley, and this
was one of those selected for destruction by the mobs in 1779, of
the doings of which the _Annual Register_ for October 9 in that year
records: "During the week, several mobs have assembled in different
parts of the neighbourhood, and have done much mischief by destroying
engines for carding and spinning cotton wool (without which the trade
of this country could never be carried on to any great extent). In
the neighbourhood of Chorley the mob destroyed and burned the engines
and buildings erected by Mr. Arkwright at a very great expense. Two
thousand or upwards attacked a large building near the same place on
Sunday, from which they were repulsed, two rioters killed, and eight
wounded taken prisoners. They returned strongly reinforced on Monday,
and destroyed a great number of buildings, with a vast quantity of
machines for spinning cotton, etc. Sir George Saville arrived (with
three companies of the York Militia) whilst the buildings were in
flames. The report of their intention to destroy the works in this
town--Manchester--brought him here yesterday noon.

"At one o'clock this morning two expresses arrived--one from Wigan and
another from Blackburn--entreating immediate assistance, both declaring
the violence of the insurgents, and the shocking depredations yesterday
at Bolton. It is thought they will be at Blackburn this morning, and
at Preston by four this afternoon. Sir George ordered the drums to
beat to arms at half after one, when he consulted with the military
and magistrates in town, and set off at the head of three companies
soon after two o'clock for Chorley, that being centrical to this
place, Blackburn and Wigan. Captain Brown, of the 24th Regiment, with
70 invalids--pensioners, presumably--and Captain Thorburn, of Colonel
White's Regiment, with about 100 recruits, remained at Preston; and for
its further security, Sir George Saville offered the justices to arm
300 of the respectable house-keepers, if they would turn out to defend
the town, which was immediately accepted. In consequence of these
proceedings, the mob did not think it prudent to proceed to any further
violence."

These riots, which were pretty general in the district where machinery
was used, arose from a temporary depression of trade, which the
spinners mistook for the effects of the introduction of the recent
inventions.

At Bolton £10,000 worth of mill property was destroyed. This dread of
machinery was not entirely confined to the operatives, for some of the
middle and upper classes connived at these appeals to brute force, if
they did not actually encourage them.[232] Arkwright for many years
suffered from attempts to infringe upon his patents, and his name often
appeared in the law courts as plaintiff or defendant; but the details
are of too complicated and technical a character to find a place in
these pages, beyond stating that, notwithstanding that in 1785 his
patents were declared by the Court of King's Bench to be null and void,
he amassed a large fortune, in the year following was knighted, and in
1787 was made High Sheriff of Derbyshire. He died on August 3, 1792,
leaving property estimated at half a million sterling.

One other of the pioneers of the Lancashire staple trade remains
to be noticed. Samuel Crompton was the son of a farmer living at
Firwood, near Bolton, where he was born on December 3, 1753. Soon
after the birth of his son, the elder Crompton removed to a house near
Bolton, known as "Hall-in-the-Wood," which has since become famous
as the birthplace of the "mule," which was to enable the spinner to
produce a yarn out of which delicate fabrics could be woven such as
heretofore had defied the skill of the English manufacturer. Crompton
is said to have been five years in bringing his cherished scheme to
perfection, during which time he worked secretly at his machine, and
often prolonged his labour far into the night. In the memorable year
when the rioters were busy destroying all the spinning-jennies they
could find, Crompton completed his model, and, to hide it from the
sight of doubtful visitors, he contrived to cut a hole through the
ceiling of the room where he worked as well as a corresponding part of
the clay floor of the room above, and had thus always ready a place
in which he could hide the evidence of his patient industry. Part of
Crompton's model had been in a measure anticipated by Arkwright; but
"the great and important invention of Crompton was his spindle-carriage
and the principle of the thread having no strain upon it until it was
completed. The carriage with the spindles could, by a movement of the
hand and knee, recede just as the rollers delivered out the elongated
thread in a soft state, so that it would allow of a considerable
stretch before the thread had to encounter the stress of winding
on the spindle. This was the corner-stone of the merits of his
invention."[233]

Crompton's "mule" was at once a success; but instead of securing
himself by a patent, he vainly endeavoured to work with it in secret,
but was at length reduced, he tells us, "to the cruel necessity
either of destroying my machine altogether or giving it to the
public. To destroy it I could not think of; to give up that for which
I had laboured so long was cruel. I had no patent, nor the means
of purchasing one. In preference to destroying I gave it to the
public." In taking this step he was acting under the advice of a large
manufacturer of Bolton, who was doubtless fully aware of the merits of
the machine, and, in order to induce Crompton to make this valuable
concession, some eighty firms and individuals of that town promised
each to pay to him one guinea; but, as a matter of fact, the total sum
received did not much exceed £60, or scarcely enough to cover the cost
of the construction of the model, which he also gave up.

Leaving Crompton for the moment, we must note that in 1784 the Rev.
Edmund Cartwright took out his first patent for the invention of a
power-loom, for which he obtained a grant from Parliament of £10,000.
This loom never came into general use. It was not until some years
later, and after several futile attempts, that a power-loom was made
adaptable. Crompton, after much trouble and anxiety, did ultimately
get from the House of Commons £5,000, which he afterwards lost in the
bleaching trade, which was at that time making considerable progress.
When he had reached his seventy-second year, some friends raised for
him an annuity of £65, which he only enjoyed for a short time, as he
died in Bolton on June 26, 1827, aged seventy-four years. Thus was
treated another of Lancashire's greatest benefactors, who, whilst he
lived, was left to feel that "chill penury" which "froze the genial
current of his soul," but who after his death was thought worthy of a
statue in copper-bronze, which cost nearly £2,000, and now forms one of
the chief monuments of the town of Bolton.

So rapid was the result of these various means of developing the
manufacture of cotton that in 1787 there were over forty cotton-mills
in Lancashire, and seventeen in Yorkshire; those in other parts of
England increased the aggregate to 119, whilst the value of cotton
goods manufactured rose from £600,000 in 1766 to £3,304,371 in 1787,
showing the increase in twenty-one years to be five and a half fold.

In the last decade of the century a stop to further progress appeared
imminent, as nearly all the sites where water-power was available had
been utilized to the utmost; but fortunately, while Arkwright and
Crompton had been perfecting the machinery for cotton manufacture,
Watts was completing his labours to render steam-power available for
rotative motion.

Before 1782 steam-engines had been used exclusively for pumping water
out of mines, but in 1785 Boulton and Wall erected a steam-engine
to work the cotton mill of Messrs. Robinson, at Papplewick, in
Nottinghamshire, and four years later Manchester had its first
steam-engine applied to cotton manufacture. In 1790 in Bolton a cotton
mill was turned by steam, and before the end of the century this motive
power was adopted in a few other places in the county. Cotton-mills
worked by horse and water power were now common enough in all the large
towns where textile manufacture formed part of the trade carried on.
This enormous increase in local textile manufacture led at once to a
similar development of the manufacturing of machinery, the raising of
coals, and of all other industries required to carry on the now staple
trades.

Before closing the account of Lancashire in the eighteenth century,
some reference must be made to its press, and this must always afford
some clue to the character of the people. In the time of Elizabeth
there was in Lancashire a secret press from which were issued a few
Roman Catholic books; this was probably located at Lostock Hall, near
Bolton. There was also the wandering press from which came the Martin
Marprelate tracts; this press was seized by the Earl of Derby at Newton
Lane, near Manchester.[234] In 1719 Roger Adams was established in
Manchester as a printer; from his press came "Mathematical Lectures:
being the first and second that were read to the Mathematical Society
at Manchester." Adams also, in that same year, printed and published
the _Manchester Weekly Journal_, which in 1737 became _Whitworth's
Magazine_; this periodical enjoyed a run of twenty years. Whitworth
published a considerable number of books, some of which were of more
than local interest. In 1738 a second Manchester periodical was
published entitled _The Lancashire Journal_, of which only about sixty
numbers were printed. After this date, Manchester-printed books were
pretty numerous.

A newspaper called _Orion Adams' Weekly Journal_ was started here in
1752; it was followed by Harrop's _Manchester Mercury_ and Whitworth's
_Manchester Advertiser_. Liverpool probably began to print a year
or two before Manchester; the first book known to have been issued
there is a volume of "Hymns sacred to the Lord's Table," by Charles
Owen--"Leverpoole, printed by S. Terry, for Daniel Birchall, 1712."
After this very few books can with certainty be placed to the credit
of the Liverpool press, but in 1736 appeared Seacome's "Memoirs of
the House of Stanley," and subsequently many other works bearing the
imprint of Liverpool. Terry in 1712 published the _Leverpoole Courant_,
and in 1756 appeared _Williamson's Liverpool Advertiser_. Its price
was originally 2d., the stamp being one halfpenny. It appears to have
had a considerable circulation; on the first page of the issue for
October 17, 1760, is the following announcement: "The publisher of
this paper begs leave to return his grateful thanks to his friends and
readers in the northern parts of Lancashire for their kind indulgence
in promoting and encouraging this paper; and, as he has been at the
continued expense of expresses to meet the London post, in order to
be as early with the news as possible, and messengers to distribute
the paper, which have entirely taken away all profits arising from the
sale, he presumes that his customers in Ormskirk, Preston, Lancaster
and adjacent neighbourhoods, will further indulge him by advancing the
price of the paper to 2½d., as no other newspaper in England of the
same size and make is sold under that price." Its size was small folio,
and it consisted of four pages; it contained no leading article, and
did not report the meetings of Parliament.

In 1799 Liverpool had three weekly newspapers. The smaller towns were
somewhat later in setting up the printing presses, but the following
names of places, with the dates of the first issue of books with
their imprint, will give some idea of the respective rate of progress
in this direction: Warrington, 1731; Preston, 1740 (and probably a
little earlier); Wigan about 1760; Bolton about 1761; Prescot, 1779;
Lancaster, 1783; Kirkham, 1790; Blackley, 1791; Blackburn, 1792; Bury,
1793; Haslingden, 1793; Rochdale, 1796, and Burnley, 1798. At Preston
several attempts were made to establish newspapers in the eighteenth
century, but neither the _Preston Journal_, in 1744, nor the _Preston
Review_, in 1791, proved successful.

From the literature of Lancashire we may turn to its amusements. In
Liverpool, a theatre was opened in 1772. Manchester's first theatre
was built of wood, which was afterwards, in 1753, superseded by a
regular theatre, which stood somewhere near the top of King Street;
but this proving too small, forty gentlemen subscribed £50 each, and,
having obtained an Act of Parliament, erected a larger playhouse in
1775 in Spring Gardens, which was burnt down in 1789, but was rebuilt
and again opened in 1790.

Towards the close of the century Rochdale had its theatre, and probably
several other towns; and where such buildings did not exist, the
strolling players, during the season, acted their parts in assembly or
other convenient rooms. Horse-races were now very popular, and meetings
were regularly held at Manchester, Preston and Liverpool. Kersal Moor
Races, near Manchester, were begun in 1730. Cock-pits were also found
in nearly all our large towns, and bull-baiting was a common amusement.
But there was not wanting evidence of a higher taste. Subscription
libraries were being established, and few towns were without regular
organized musical, literary or scientific societies.

On all sides the growth of trade was calling into existence new
villages and towns, and the rapidly increasing number of wealthy
families led to the formation of that now world-renowned place of
resort--Blackpool. Here, in 1750, there were a few scattered clay-built
cottages with thatched roofs, which could by no effort of imagination
be called a village, when one Ethart Whiteside ventured to open a
house of entertainment, which consisted of a long thatched building,
which he subsequently converted into an inn. Nineteen years afterwards
there were only in its neighbourhood twenty or thirty cottages, but
not a single shop. In 1788 W. Hutton records that "about sixty houses
grace the sea; it does not merit the name of a village, because they
are scattered to the extent of a mile"; yet in August of that year
there were 400 visitors; and for their entertainment there were
bowling-greens, "butts for bow-shooting," and many of the company
"amused themselves with fine ale at number three"; and for the evening
the threshing-floor of a barn was turned into a theatre, which when
full held six pounds. Of bathing-machines there were but few; a bell
was rung when ladies went to bathe, and if, during the time set apart
for them, a gentleman was seen on the beach, he was fined a bottle of
wine. The price charged for boarding at one of the hotels was 3s. 4d. a
day.

From this date the progress of this town was very rapid, and it soon
became the great fashionable resort (during the season) of not only
Lancashire, but all the North of England.

From this period many of the towns in Lancashire date their rise from
the obscurity of small villages. Oldham, in 1794, had only a population
of some 10,000, and within its area were at most a dozen small mills.
Middleton did not get a right to hold its market and fair until 1791,
whilst Bury at that date had not more than 3,000 inhabitants. The
population of the municipal borough of Blackburn in 1783 was 8,000; the
four townships, on the corners of which now stands St. Helens, in 1799
did not contain more than 7,000 souls. Over Darwen had in 1790 about
3,000 inhabitants, and Lower Darwen not more than half that number. The
now prosperous town of Burnley had in 1790 certainly not above 2,000
inhabitants, whilst its neighbouring towns of Colne and Accrington had
even a less number. Haslingdon, Newchurch, Bacup, and other towns in
the Forest of Rossendale, were at this time mere villages; indeed, the
entire population of the Forest did not, in 1790, exceed 10,000.

As a guide to the varied extent of business transacted in Manchester
at the end of the century, much information may be gleaned from the
local directories which were published from time to time, between 1772
and 1800. The first directory, prepared by Mrs. Elizabeth Raffald,
appeared in 1772, and contained a list of all the merchants, tradesmen,
and principal inhabitants, "with the situation of their respective
warehouses"; also a list of stage-coaches, waggons, carriers, and
vessels to Liverpool "upon the old navigation and Duke of Bridgewater's
Canal."

There were 119 country manufacturers having warehouses in Manchester.
The coaches went to London in two days during the summer, but in winter
they required one day more. Coaches also went to all the surrounding
districts; in some cases once a week, in others thrice.

Twenty-one vessels went to Liverpool by the Mersey and Irwell
navigation ("the old navigation"), and eleven by the Duke of
Bridgewater's Canal. Manchester had then one bank and one insurance
office. Passing over a quarter of a century to 1797, the directory
of that year gives about 5,600 names, many of whom are engaged in
trades not mentioned in the earlier list, such as twist manufacturers,
cotton-spinners, cotton-merchants, bleachers, and printers. The list
of country manufacturers and others who attended the Manchester
market gives the names of 332 individuals or firms. The names of the
officers of the Infirmary and the magistrates acting in the Manchester,
Rochdale, Middleton, and Bolton divisions of Salford Hundred are also
furnished. The coach-service had considerably improved, as we now find
that the Royal Mail, "with a guard all the way," left Manchester every
morning, and reached London in twenty-eight hours, the fare being £3
13s. 6d.

One other trait in the eighteenth-century character of the Manchester
men deserves a passing notice, that is, their patriotism. In 1777,
on the breaking out of the American War, they raised a fine body of
volunteers, which was enrolled as "The 72nd, or Manchester Regiment,"
and did some service at Gibraltar under General Elliott; they were
disbanded on their return home in August, 1783, their colours being
deposited with much ceremony in the collegiate church. The year
following, Sir Thomas Egerton, of Heaton Park, raised "The Royal
Lancashire Volunteers," and in 1782 the inhabitants of Manchester
raised another volunteer corps of 150 men to serve in the American
War. Several other corps were afterwards raised in the locality and
incorporated with the regular army. On August 25, 1796, there was a
review on Kersal Moor of volunteers from Rochdale, Stockport, and
Bolton. The end of the eighteenth century gives us a remarkable
standpoint from which to glance at the then position of the county.
The rebellion had passed through its midst and excited its people to
a greater degree than was probably the case in any other county. The
prolonged struggles between Puritan, Presbyterian, Episcopalian and
Romanist had at length died out; and although war and rumours of war,
ever and anon, obscured the political atmosphere, and good times and
bad times followed each other in trade and commerce, yet there was an
ever-increasing feeling that the days had for ever gone when tyranny
and oppression could flourish in the land. New industries on every
hand were being developed, and one invention followed another in rapid
succession; no sooner was a want declared than someone was ready to
supply the requirement, thus opening out bright prospects for the
future. The highways had been vastly improved, canals cut from north
to south and from east to west in the county; machinery was at work
which far more than realized the hopes of its inventors, and everywhere
there were signs of coming prosperity. During this century Manchester
and Liverpool had enormously increased in population and in commercial
importance; and some other of our towns had to a considerable extent
followed in the same direction, whilst here and there little quiet
villages had seen rise in their midst the one small mill which was
destined to be the forerunner of many others which would in no very
long period make the insignificant village into a large and prosperous
town.

Religion had widened out her views, and now denominations heretofore
unheard of had arisen, and churches and chapels were multiplying in
every community. Some feeble attempts were being made for popular
education; but the press was almost the only means then at command,
and that, whilst so many of the poorer classes could neither read
nor write, was at best but of small avail. But there was a future
opening out when much of the intellectual darkness--which had so long
prevailed, not only in Lancashire, but all over the land--should
become a thing of the past, and the workman should cease from being a
mere machine and become an educated and enlightened citizen. Nothing
but the utter want of knowledge of the simplest elements of political
economy could justify or account for the manner in which each of the
great inventions which were to bring about such gigantic results were
received; there was scarcely one of the great improvements of the age
which was not, on its introduction, opposed by disorder and riot by
the very people who were in the long-run to be most benefited by its
adoption.

Nevertheless, the close of this century witnessed a tremendous progress
in the direction which led to the results which placed the trade of
Lancashire in the position which it ultimately attained.

[Footnote 223: "Through England on a Side-saddle," by Celia Fiennes;
London, 1888. The date ascribed to this journey is the time of William
and Mary. This, strictly speaking, is in the last decade of the
seventeenth century, but it is near enough to the eighteenth century to
serve as an illustration.]

[Footnote 224: See article by Mr. W. Harrison in the _Lanc. and Ches.
Hist. Soc._, vol. iv.]

[Footnote 225: These roads were not cart-roads, but intended for horse
and foot passengers, and in Lancashire were paved with narrow blocks of
millstone grit, which are still in places to be seen, the centre deeply
worn by the tread of the horses.]

[Footnote 226: Another, A.D. 1766.]

[Footnote 227: See Mr. Harrison's List of Turnpike Roads (_Lanc. and
Ches. Ant. Soc._, x.).]

[Footnote 228: This invention is by some attributed to John Wyatt, of
Birmingham, but recent research gives the credit to Lewis Paul. (See
Espinasse's "Lancashire Worthies.")]

[Footnote 229: Some authorities assert that Arkwright's mill in
Nottingham was built prior to Hargreaves'.]

[Footnote 230: He did not, as has been frequently stated, die in
poverty. He left property worth £4,000.]

[Footnote 231: See Guest's "Compendious History"; Baines's "History of
Cotton Manufacture"; Espinasse's "Lancashire Worthies," etc.]

[Footnote 232: _Quarterly Review_, No. 213, p. 64.]

[Footnote 233: Kennedy's "Brief Memoir of Crompton"; see also French's
"The Life and Times of Samuel Crompton," and Espinasse's "Lancashire
Worthies."]

[Footnote 234: Article by Mr. W. E. A. Axon, _Lanc. and Ches. Ant.
Soc._, vol. iv.]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XII.

THE DAWN OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.


The cotton trade of Lancashire was now fairly established; steam was
just beginning to be commonly used as the motive power instead of the
old water-wheel, and consequently the sites suitable for factories
were no longer limited, and this at once led to a further very great
development of textile manufactures. This rapid growth was not
unattended with intermittent periods of depression, which the working
men of the day were not always prepared to attribute to the right
cause, and thus riots and disturbances were of frequent occurrence
in the manufacturing districts. One of the most serious of these
terminated in what has ever since been known as "the Peterloo." In
1816 the staple trades of Lancashire were in a very depressed state,
and this led to the formation of political union societies, one of the
chief objects of which was to obtain annual parliaments and universal
suffrage. These societies met in St. Peter's Fields, Manchester, in
October, 1816, when all passed off quietly and orderly, but on March
10 following a larger meeting was held at the same place, at which
about 1,000 men appeared with blankets over their shoulders, and with
the avowed intention of marching to London to lay their grievances
before the Prince Regent. This meeting was dispersed by the military,
and several of the _Blanketeers_ (as they were called) were taken
to prison. The popular feeling was, however, not appeased, and the
turn-out for an advance of wages of the spinners, weavers and colliers,
towards the end of 1818, added fuel to the fire. Led on by Henry Hunt
of London and others, it was decided to hold a mass meeting in St.
Peter's Fields on January 18, 1819, which meeting was held, and a
resolution passed calling for the immediate repeal of the Corn Law. In
the August following, the borough reeve and constables of Manchester
refused to call a public meeting to consider the best means of
obtaining a reform of the House of Commons, although 700 householders
had signed the requisition. The result was that the requisitors
themselves summoned the meeting, which was held near St. Peter's Church
on August 16, Henry Hunt being called upon to preside.

This meeting was attended by members of the societies from Oldham,
Rochdale, Middleton, Ashton, Stockport, and all the surrounding
villages, each contingent being accompanied by its band of music. The
magistrates, being determined to disperse the vast assembly, called to
their aid 200 special constables, the Manchester and Cheshire Yeomanry
Cavalry, the 15th Hussars, and a detachment of the 88th Regiment of
Foot, some pieces of artillery also being ready if required.

The mob was unarmed, but carried a plentiful display of banners with
inscriptions more or less revolutionary. Acting under the orders of
the magistrates, the Manchester Yeomanry and the hussars, with drawn
swords, dashed through the crowd in the direction of the temporary
platform, where they captured Henry Hunt and others. The would-be
reformers fled in every direction, and the arrival of the Cheshire
Yeomanry assisted rapidly to clear the field. After this onslaught--for
it could not be called a fight--three or four people were found to have
been killed, and twenty-two men and eight women were carried off to
the infirmary; but it subsequently transpired that eight persons were
killed and several hundreds were wounded. Henry Hunt was tried for
sedition, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but some of his
friends got off with a lesser penalty.

When the times again became settled, there was a vast increase in the
population of the towns and villages where factories and workshops were
established, and this increase came from all the surrounding districts
and from other counties, whose sons, hearing of the rise of new trades
and industries, came with their families and settled in Lancashire.

A careful study of the surnames of any of our manufacturing towns
will show that about this time a very large number of names now for
the first time appeared in these districts, a small percentage of
which were of foreign origin, but the greater proportion were English.
The tendency was, therefore, to concentrate the scattered population
around certain centres; thus it came about that in some parishes
which remained purely agricultural, the population for years remained
stationary, or even decreased. Thus we find, in the extensive parish of
St. Michael's-on-Wyre, the population between 1801 and 1871 had only
risen from 1,197 to 1,290, whilst that of Goosnargh shows an actual
decrease of 545 inhabitants between 1821 and 1861. The railway system
was first introduced into Lancashire in 1830, when the line between
Manchester and Liverpool was opened, which ceremony was marred by the
fatal accident to William Huskisson, which happened at Parkside, near
Newton-le-Willows. The cost of this railway up to June 30 previous
to its being opened for traffic was £820,000, but before the end of
1838 the total expenditure had reached £1,443,897; other railways
soon followed, and before a generation had passed away the county was
intersected in every direction by these iron roads. Steam packets were
in use before the railways were started; they first plied on the canals
in 1812.

The sudden progress in commercial affairs could not be accomplished
without some inconveniences and evils following in its course. The
overcrowding of towns brought a condition of social life which took all
the powers of the local authorities to grapple with. Some of the sleepy
old towns with ill-lighted and worse-paved streets, with their old
tumble-down dwellings and their utter want of anything like sanitary
arrangements, were ill adapted to receive suddenly large additions to
their population. Then, again, the time-honoured grammar schools and
the few sparsely endowed free schools were all inadequate to meet the
educational requirements.

Very early in the century a few schools were started on Dr. Bell's
system, and subsequently what were called national schools became
common in large towns, and to supplement them the Sunday-schools (which
were first started about the year 1782) were giving an elementary
education to many who did not or could not give regular attendance
on the week-day. Another great evil rising out of the increase in
manufactories was that men, women, and especially children, all worked
too many hours a day, which, had not a wise Legislature stepped in
to arrest, would soon have told dreadfully on the physical, moral,
and mental condition of the labouring classes. With the necessary
improvements of the sanitary condition of our towns came the
introduction of the use of gas for illuminating purposes, and our
streets became safe by night as well as by day.

To trace the growth of the various towns and villages of Lancashire
during the present century is outside the scope of the present volume,
and if it were not so, it would be quite impossible to do anything like
justice to the subject within the limits assigned to this series of
"Popular Histories." It must therefore suffice to say that in all the
grand movements achieved by Great Britain in the nineteenth century,
Lancashire has done its share, and that in trade, commerce, education,
and every modern advance in moral, religious, or social life, the
county has been in the van. Before closing this very brief notice of
the present century, a few statistics may with advantage be given which
will serve to illustrate the enormous growth of material progress
and the ever-increasing numbers of its teeming population. Preston,
in the first twenty years of this century, doubled its population,
and between 1821 and 1868 it rose from 24,000 to 90,000, and in the
latter year there were in the town seventy-seven cotton-mills, which
gave employment to 26,000 persons. Through this important centre--just
before the railways were opened--there passed daily seventy-two stage
coaches. In Bolton the population rose from 11,000 in 1791 to 105,414
in 1881. Wigan, through the large coal-fields in the neighbourhood,
advanced from 25,500 in 1801 to 78,160 in 1861, and about the year 1831
6,000,000 tons of coal were annually raised in the parish; other of the
now large towns increased in the same proportion. But Liverpool and
Manchester were the two centres in the county.

Liverpool, very early in the century, began to exhibit that spirit of
enterprise which soon placed that city in the foremost rank in the
maritime world. It was only in 1815 that the first steamer appeared on
the Mersey, yet in 1835 there had been constructed docks which extended
for two miles along the shore, with a water area of 90 acres; these
docks have now a frontage of considerably over six miles.

In 1834 the total number of bales of cotton imported into this country
and landed in London was 40,400, whilst at Liverpool the number was
839,370; in 1868 at the latter were landed 3,326,543 bales, and it has
been estimated that in 1834 the value of the export trade of Liverpool
reached £20,000,000, the goods mostly consisting of woollens, linens,
and cotton goods; the imports in the same year were put down as being
worth £15,000,000. The dock dues paid in 1812 amounted to £44,403, and
in 1862 to £379,528. The number of vessels which entered the port in
1802 was 4,781, with a tonnage of 510,691; in 1832 there were 12,928
vessels, with 1,540,057 tonnage; and in 1862 the vessels numbered
20,289, their tonnage being 4,630,183. The population of Liverpool in
1801 was 77,653; in 1861 it was 269,742.

Manchester and Salford, though one is now a city and the other only
a borough, are in some senses almost inseparable: they both made
rapid progress, following the rise of the staple trades, and both
received their charters of incorporation as Parliamentary boroughs
in 1832; their united population in 1801 was only 112,300, in 1831
it was 270,963, and in 1861 it had risen to 529,245. Manchester has
been well described as the centre of the largest and most populous
area in the world; it has on all sides large and increasing towns
and villages, all of which are engaged in the staple trades of the
district. The following figures will illustrate: In Manchester itself
there are 2,708,000 spindles, in Oldham 11,500,000, Bolton 4,860,000,
Ashton-under-Lyne 2,013,000, Rochdale 1,914,000, Blackburn 1,435,000,
and there are some other towns in the neighbourhood each of which has
close on a million spindles. Without detailing the marked progress in
the other districts, it will perhaps equally well show the fact if we
quote the population returns for the whole county.

In 1801 there were 673,486 persons, in 1851 there were 2,026,462, being
an increase in fifty years of 1,352,976 persons; this is considered one
of the most remarkable features in the official returns of England in
1851. In 1831 the population was 1,336,854, so that in twenty years it
was nearly doubled. According to the returns of the last census (1891)
Lancashire is the most densely populated county except Middlesex, and
to every square mile of its surface there are 1,938 people.

We have now traced the history of the county palatine of Lancaster
from the time when it was first inhabited by mortal man, through all
its varied and not uneventful course, until we now leave it with, we
may hope, a bright future dawning upon it--a future that will still
find it, as it for so long has been, an important power in that great
kingdom on whose domains the sun never sets.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]




CHAPTER XIII.

MISCELLANY.


There are many traditions relating to the county, some of which are
worth preserving; others are only the result of some fertile brain
which first invented the tale and then told it as a tradition. Several
of Roby's "Traditions of Lancashire" are of this class; others are of
considerable antiquity and of historic interest.

Scattered all over Lancashire are the remains or traces of roadside
crosses, which at one period must have been very numerous, many of
them being of great antiquity. At Burnley, near to the church, is one
of these, which is of undoubted Saxon origin; it is known as Godly
Cross, and associated with it is a tradition to the effect that long
before the church was built religious rites were celebrated on the spot
indicated by the cross, and that Paulinus baptized his converts in the
waters of the Brun, which flows close by. The legend further asserts
that upon an attempt being made to build an oratory on an adjacent
site, the stones were nightly removed by supernatural agents, in the
form of pigs, to the place where ultimately the church was erected.
Similar traditions as to the removal of foundation-stones obtain as to
the parish churches of Winwick, Rochdale, and one or two others. Very
few parishes in Lancashire are without some trace (if only in a name)
of these ancient crosses. The following furnishes a good example of
the use to which these relics of a past age were applied as late as
1624. John Stirzaker and others, on July 25 in this year, confessed
to the Bishop of Chester that they had been present and assisted in
carrying the corpse of Thomas Bell of Garstang to the parish church
there, and that they were in the company and consented "to the settinge
downe of the said corse att crosses and yielding obeysance to the same
superstitious manner as they went alonge, and that they carryed, or
agreed thereto, the sayd corps by the church porche, and afterwards
it was buryed without the mynister's ayd or any prayers made at the
buryall thereof." The Bishop's sentence was that the offending parties
should acknowledge their faults "in their accustomed apparel on the
Sundaie next, being att Morning Prayer tyme," and also be prepared
to receive the Holy Communion before the Feast of St. Michael, or in
default they were to be excommunicated.

In this same parish of Garstang there still exists near Cross House the
socket of one of these crosses, about which a curious bit of folklore
obtains, to the effect that any persons troubled with warts or similar
excrescences would get instant relief by washing their hands in the
water from time to time collected in the hollow place where the base of
the upright shaft once stood.

In the town of Wigan is a portion of a very ancient stone cross, known
as Mab's Cross. The origin of the cross itself is unknown, but its
name is derived from a family tradition connected with the Bradshaigh
family, one of whom, Sir William Bradshaigh, in the time of Edward II.,
having been absent from home for ten years, on his return found that
his wife Mabel (daughter of Hugh Norres of Haghe) had married a Welsh
knight, who, on hearing of the first husband's return, took to flight,
but was overtaken and slain by Sir William. For her unfaithfulness,
Mabel was enjoined by her spiritual adviser to walk barefooted and
barelegged once every week to the cross at Wigan, and there to do
penance.

The most interesting monument in Wigan Church is the tomb of Sir
William and Lady Mabel Bradshaigh.

In a county where there are so many ancient private houses, the
successive owners of which led not unadventurous lives, it is no wonder
that there are not wanting those old legends which add a charm and
an interest to the remaining vestiges of what were once the family
mansions of the oldest settlers in the county. Of these traditions a
selection only can be taken.[235] At Kersall Hall, near Manchester (see
p. 209), Peverill, the last Saxon owner, is said to have been slain
whilst defending his ancestral home against the Norman intruder, who
forthwith caused his dead body to be cast into the Irwell, and having
taken possession, he retired for the night. But before the dawn he was
called to account by ghostly visitors, and was found dead next morning
on the threshold of the hall, and on his brow was written in blood
a warning that all future intruders would meet with a similar fate,
which threat the legend records was carried out against a succession
of occupiers of the old dwelling-place. Not far from Bolton is a small
farmhouse called Timberbottoms, which is also known as the Skull House,
in consequence of the tradition that the taking away of two human
skulls which had for generations been kept there would bring bad luck
to the inhabitants; the tale goes that many times and oft had these
relics been buried at Bradshaw Chapel, but they had always found their
way back to their old quarters.[236] The dragon often figures as the
hero of legendary lore, and associated with particular localities.
The dragon of Rusworth is the only legend of the kind referring to
Lancashire. At Rusworth is a house at one time owned by the Rusworths,
one of whom in the remote past is supposed to have slain the beast
which was devastating the district. In the house are several old oak
carvings illustrating the event. In connection with Townley Hall, near
Burnley, the spirit of some former owner, who demands a life every
seven years, was supposed to wander about the demesne crying:

  "Lay out, lay out
  Horelaw and Hollinhey Clough."

The late Mr. Harland, in his "Lancashire Legends," quotes this as a
singular instance how these old tales frequently have some foundation;
for in 1604 James I. granted by letters patent to Charles, Lord
Mountjoy, the Earl of Devon, for services rendered in the time of
Queen Elizabeth, _inter alia_, "all that parcel of land called Horelaw
Pasture, abutting on Hollinghey, part of the Duchy of Lancaster, and
formerly inclosed by John Townley." Here was evidently the source of
the legend. Townley had without authority inclosed the land, and on the
King reclaiming it, an imaginary grievance was created.

Turton Tower had its ghostly visitant--a lady in white, who passed
from room to room in rustling silken dress. Samlesbury Hall had a
similar apparition, which was accounted for by the reputed murder of
the lover of one of the daughters of the house. Osbaldeston Hall (like
Holyrood) has in one of its rooms traces of blood which cannot be
washed out; the story told is that at a large family feast a quarrel
arose, which by the interference of friends was apparently made up,
but later in the evening Thomas Osbaldeston met his brother-in-law in
this particular room, and at once drew his sword and murdered him in
cold blood. For this he was outlawed, and ever since the place has
been haunted by the ghost of the victim, who walks through the silent
rooms with uplifted hands and blood-stained clothes. How many of these
old superstitions arose cannot ever be explained, but there is scarcely
an old hall in the county but has associated with it a "ghost story."
In Lancashire still linger many very ancient bits of folklore and
superstitious beliefs, but a large proportion of these are not peculiar
to the county, but are also common in Yorkshire and other Northern
parts of the country. Some are, however, purely local, and are worth a
passing note. In Ashton-under-Lyne is an annual festival known as the
_Gyst-ale_ or _Guisings_, at which is performed the ceremony of "riding
the black lad," which is said to have had its origin from a grant made
to Rauf and Robyn Assheton in 1422.

The custom is still observed in a modified form. An effigy of a man in
armour is fixed on horseback, and led through the streets, after which
it is dismounted and made to supply the place of a shooting butt, at
which all kinds of firearms are discharged.

Rushbearings have already been referred to (see p. 123). They have
now practically become a thing of the past; the people who formerly
remained at home to celebrate these old rites now go away by the
numerous cheap trips which mark the dates when the fairs were held.

Most of the old grammar schools had several customs, strictly observed
by many generations of scholars--_inter alia_, barring out (Burnley
Grammar School), which consisted in an assumed right for the boys
at the end of each term to exclude the masters from the school, on
which occasion a tallow candle was used to illuminate each pane of
glass in the windows. Cock-penny was an annual present claimed by the
head-master from each boy; this was probably intended as a payment
for the game-cocks which in former years were provided. One of the
statutes of the Manchester Grammar School, made about 1525, appears to
have been especially designed to put a stop to this custom; it runs:
"He" (the master) "shall teach freely and indifferently[237] every
child and scholar coming to the same school, without any money or other
reward taking therefor, as cock-penny, victor-penny, etc." Another
clause provides that the scholars shall "use no cock-fights nor other
unlawful games, and riding about for victors, etc."

The payment of the cock-penny was continued in some places until a few
years ago.

At funerals many old customs not common in other parts of the country
were here observed, and, indeed, have not yet quite died out.

The promiscuous giving of the penny manchet (often provided for by
will) was almost universal amongst the richer classes; but the gift
to each person who was "bidden" to the funeral, of a cake called the
"arval cake," was not quite so common.

These cakes were generally given with ale, provided at the nearest
public-house. In the neighbourhood of Burnley guests attending a
funeral are met at the door by an attendant, who offers spiced ale (or
other liquor) from a silver tankard. In some districts, those who went
round to invite the guests to the funeral presented each of them with
a sprig of rosemary; this inviting was sometimes called "lathing." At
Poulton-le-Fylde, at the beginning of this century, the older families
always buried their dead at night by torchlight, when every householder
in the streets through which the cortège passed placed a lighted candle
in his window. In the seventeenth century a singular privilege was
given to women dying in childbed, their bodies being allowed interment
within the church without the usual fee.[238]

The peculiar rites appertaining to All Hallows' Eve (October 31) are
well known; but in the Fylde district it was celebrated by the lighting
of bonfires, and it was locally known as Teanlay, or Teanley, night.
Pace-egging in the same district is called "ignagning."

In Rochdale, Good Friday, some fifty years ago, was called "Cracknel
Friday," as on this day people regaled themselves with small thin cakes
called cracknels. St. Gregory's Day (March 12) in the northern parts of
the county is characterized as _the_ day on which onion seed must be
sown, or no crop will be yielded. Lancashire is rich in this kind of
folk-lore.

Bury simnels are now known all over the country; they are a kind of
cake, which derives its name from having originally been made from the
finest part of flour, which in mediæval times was called "siminellus."
They are used on Mid-Lent or Mothering Sunday. This day in other parts
of Lancashire is called Bragot or Bragget Sunday, and on it a peculiar
drink known as bragot was used; it consisted of spiced ale, which was
always taken hot.

Did space permit, this chapter might well be extended, as the county
is rich in old tales, ancient superstitions, "wise saws and modern
instances," charms, divinations and omens, many of which, however, are
not of local historical interest, as they are more or less common to
other parts of the country.

[Illustration]

[Footnote 235: See Roby's "Traditions of Lancashire"; Harland and
Wilkinson, "Legends and Traditions of Lancashire," etc.]

[Footnote 236: A somewhat similar tradition obtains of Wardley Hall,
where the skull of Roger Downes, who was slain in London in 1676, was
preserved for centuries.]

[Footnote 237: A curious instance of the alteration in the meaning of
words. Of course, by "indifferently" is meant _alike to all_.]

[Footnote 238: See "History of St. Michael's-on-Wyre," p. 64.]

[Illustration]




INDEX.


  Abbadie, Dr., 166

  Abbey of Cockersand, 198, 199

  „ of Whalley, 3, 201-205

  Accrington, 3, 274

  „ Forest, 63

  „ Hall, 72

  Adams, Roger, 27

  Aerie of Hawks, 47, 54, 55

  Æthelbert, 42, 177

  Æthelburga, 42

  "Agreement of the People, The," 231, 232

  Agricola, 15, 22, 27

  Aiden (Bishop), 181

  Aiken, Dr., 259

  Ainsley, 53

  Ainsworth, Harrison, 119

  Alcar, 53, 229

  Aldcliff, 58

  Aldingham, 58, 230

  „ Moat Hill, 48

  Alehouses, 95

  Alfred and Guthrum's Peace, 44

  Allectus, 17

  Allen, Cardinal, 221

  Allerton, 53

  All Hallows' Eve, 291

  Alston, 57

  Altham Chapel, 202, 235

  Ambrose, Rev. Isaac, 165, 234

  Amounderness Hundred, 2, 52, 57, 60, 199, 249

  Ancoats, 21

  Anderton, Sir Francis, 165, 245

  „ Colonel James, 165

  Angier, John, 165, 234

  „ Rev. Samuel, 121

  Angles, The, 41, 42, 51

  Anglo-Saxon "burh," 49

  Antoninus Pius, 36

  Appleby Slack, 10

  Archers at Flodden, 90, 91

  Archery butts, 94, 95

  Arkholme, 58

  Arkwright, Richard, 265-268

  Arrow-heads, Flint, 7

  Arrowsmith, Edmund, 225

  Arval cake, 290

  Asheton, Edmund, 165

  Ashton, 57, 58, 153

  „ Colonel, 138, 140, 143, 145, 146

  „ Hall, 121

  „ in Makerfield, 36

  „ Ralph, Sir, 91, 92, 125, 128, 205

  „ Rauf, 289

  „ Robyn, 289

  Ashton-under-Lyne, 163, 173, 229, 260, 283, 289

  „ „ „ Church, 209

  Ashurst, Captain, 138

  Ashworth Chapel, 213

  Asiaticus, Marcus, 31

  Assarts, or "Rods," 51

  Athelston, son of Edward, 45

  Atherton, Sir John, 220

  Aughton, 53, 54, 229

  Augustine, St., 177

  Authors, Seventeenth Century, 165

  Ayres, Mr., 247


  Bacup, 274

  Bamber Green, 36

  Bamford, Samuel, 262

  Banastre, Christopher, 165

  Banister, Christopher, 150

  „ Sir Evan, 222

  Bannockburn, Battle of, 68

  Baptist Chapels, 240

  Bardsey, 58

  Bare, 58

  Baret, Janekyn, 84

  Barlow, Alexander, 111

  Barnet, Rev. Nehemiah, 165

  "Barring out," 289

  Barrow-in-Furness, 2

  Barrow-in-Leck, 58

  Barton, 53, 57

  „ Lodge, 36

  Barton, Mr., 215

  Bath, Rev. Robert, 234

  Beacon Stations, 105

  Beamont, Mr., 166, 207

  Bede, Venerable, 44, 178, 210

  Belfield Hall, 106

  „ Ralph, 111

  Belisama Estuary, 12

  Bell-founding, 175

  Bell, Thomas, 286

  „ William, Rev., 165

  Bennet, John, 239

  Bensted, William de, 189

  Bergerode, 46

  Bernicia, 42

  Beverley, John of, 182

  Bewsey Hall, 124

  Billington, 50

  Bindloes, Robert, 124

  Birch, Captain Thomas, 129

  Birkrigg Common, 10

  Birley, Isabel, 103

  Bispham, 2, 46, 57

  „ Chapel, 187

  Blackburn, 2, 3, 92, 133, 134, 148, 163, 173, 203, 219, 257, 264,
    265, 267, 274, 283

  „ Church, 55, 201, 213

  „ Hundred, 53, 55, 57, 60, 143, 200

  „ Press, 273

  „ Rectory, 202

  Black Death, The, 74

  Blackpool, Rise of, 273, 274

  Blackstone Edge, 7

  „ „ Road over, 38, 39, 255

  Blakley Chapel, 213

  "Blanketeers, The," 279

  Bleaberry Haws, 9

  Bleasdale Forest, 2

  Blundel, Mr., 170

  Blundell, Richard, 222

  „ William, 171

  Blundeville, Randle de, 61

  Boadicea, Queen, 14

  Bocher, Henry le, 82

  Bold, Richard, 89

  Bolton, 4, 7, 8, 92, 103, 133, 134, 173, 229, 232, 267, 269, 270,
     271, 275, 276, 282, 283, 287

  „ Church, 209, 216

  „ Market, 62

  „ Press, 272

  „ Sieges of, 137, 138, 146, 147

  „ Gilbert de, 190

  „ John de, 86

  Bolton-le-Sands, 58, 229

  „ „ „ Church, 187, 188, 190

  „ „ „ Free School, 161

  Bone, Christopher, 66

  Book of Sports, The, 121, 123

  Bootle, 53

  _Bordarii_, 54, 56

  Borwick, 58

  Boteler, Thomas, 89

  „ Richard, 165

  „ William le, 60, 80, 82

  Bothe, John, 89

  Boulton and Watt, 270

  Bowness Church, 193

  Bradford, John, 214, 215

  „ (in Salford), 73

  Bradshaigh, Sir William, 286, 287

  Bradshaw, Captain, 131

  Bragot Sunday, 291

  Brerley, Alice, 103

  Bridgeman, Orlando, 125

  Bridgewater Canal, 21

  Briercliffe, 11

  Brigantes, 8, 17, 133

  Bright, Colonel, 151

  Brindle, 229

  Brindley, James, 259

  Brining, 57

  British Cairns, 11

  „ Canoes, 9

  „ Forts, 11

  „ Implements, 11

  „ Mural huts, 9, 10

  „ Pottery, 10

  „ Settlements, 9, 11, 12

  „ Tumuli, 11

  Britons, The, 13, 16, 18, 40, 41

  Brockhole Eses, Tumulus at, 50

  Bromfield, Dr., 166, 167

  Bronze torque, 11, 12

  Brook, 36

  Broughton, 36, 46, 57

  „ Sir Thomas, 86

  Brown, Captain, 169, 267

  Bruanburgh, Battle of, 45

  Bryn Hall, 225

  Buckley, Captain, 138

  Bulla, Roman, 26

  Burgh, Hubert de, 66

  Burial mounds, 10, 11

  „ by torchlight, 290

  Burnley, 3, 7, 8, 49, 103, 134, 173, 222, 248, 274, 285, 290

  „ Chapel, 202

  „ Grammar School, 289

  „ Market, 62

  „ Press, 272

  Burrow, 58

  Burscough Priory, 4, 208

  Bury, 4, 47, 92, 100, 130, 163, 173, 229, 257, 274

  „ Church, 209, 216, 224

  „ Press, 272

  „ Tunnels, 291

  Bushell, Rev. Seth, 165

  Busli, Roger de, 55

  Bussel, Albert, 200

  „ Warine, 200

  Butler, Richard, 244, 248

  „ Sir Thomas, 106

  „ William, 248

  Buxton, 21

  Byrom, Dr., 105, 157, 250


  Cædwallan, 42, 180

  Cæsar, Julius, 13

  Cairns, British, 9, 10

  Caledonians, The, 16

  Canal, Duke of Bridgwater's, 258, 259

  Canals, 259, 260

  Canterbury Church, 42

  Cantsfield, 58

  Canute the Dane, 45

  Capernwray, Thomas de, 190

  Cappock, Thomas, 251, 252

  Caracalla, 16, 31

  Caractacus, 14

  Carausius, 16

  Carinus, 16

  Carleton, 57

  Carlton, Adam de, 64

  Carnforth, 58

  Carpenter, General, 247

  Cartismandua, Queen, 14

  Cartmel, 2, 8, 69, 144, 162, 185, 230

  „ Church, 198

  „ Market, 61

  „ Priory, 2, 198

  Cartwright, Rev. Edmund, 269

  Carus, Emperor, 16

  Castle Holme, 33

  Castleton in Rochdale, 47

  Caton, 38

  „ Chapel, 189

  Catterall, 57

  Cawson, Charles, 169

  Cecil, Sir William, 220

  Cell at Lytham, 200

  Celtic implements, 8

  „ Races, 8

  „ Torque, 11

  _Cenimagni_, The, 13

  Chadburn, 33

  Chadderton, 38, 173

  Chadwick, 46

  Chantries suppressed, 212, 213

  Charibert, 42

  Charles II. in Lancashire, 154

  Charnocke, William, 222

  Chattox, Alice, 117

  Chaunter, William le, 82

  Cheetham, 173

  Chester, Rev. Richard, 190

  Chetham Hospital, 158

  „ Library, 158

  „ Humphrey, 124, 158

  Childwall, 4, 53, 55, 203, 229

  „ Church, 187, 207, 208

  Chipping, 57, 69, 229

  „ Church, 201

  Chlorus, Constantius, 17

  Chorley, 3, 152, 173, 266

  „ Richard, 245

  Chowbent, 173, 237

  „ in Civil Wars, 133, 134

  Christianity, Introduction of, 42

  Church Chapel, 202

  Church goods in 1552, 212, 213

  „ Named in Domesday, 184, 199, 200, 201, 207, 208

  „ Survey (1650), 228

  Churches built, 46

  Cists, Stone, 10

  Civil Wars, 127-155

  "Classis," The Lancashire, 229, 230

  Claudius, 13

  Claughton, 36, 57, 58, 69, 229

  „ Saxon remains at, 50

  „ Tumulus, 50

  Cleworth Hall, 113

  Clifton, 57

  „ Colonel, 147

  „ Cuthbert, 89

  „ Gilbert, 124

  „ Sir Thomas, 171

  „ Thomas, 102

  Clitheroe, 100, 103, 173, 257

  „ Castle, 3, 65, 70, 72, 126, 153

  „ Chapel, 202

  „ Fair, 61

  Cliverton, 58

  Cliviger coals, 73

  Clothiers, 163, 164

  Cloth trade, 163, 164

  Coaches, Stage, 258, 275

  Coal-fields, 4

  „ Worked, 71, 73, 100, 101

  Cockerham, 46, 58, 168, 169, 229

  Cockersand Abbey, 63, 198, 199

  Cock-fighting, 223

  Cock-penny, 289

  Coifi (pagan priest), 178, 179

  Coins, Roman, 16, 26, 27, 30

  Colchester, 14

  Collyhurst Common, 94

  Colne, 134, 173, 271

  „ Chapel, 207

  „ Skirmish at, 148

  Colton, 230

  Coninger Tumulus, 49

  Conishead Priory, 2, 139

  Coniston, 9

  „ Leper's Hospital, 198

  „ Old Man, 2, 10

  „ Water, 2

  Constantine, 17

  Convent at Preston, 199

  Cornwall, Earl of, 248

  Cotes, Dr., 215

  Cotton goods, 270

  „ Manufacture, 92, 101

  „ Mills, rise of, 3, 270

  „ Spinning, 261, 262, 263-271

  „ Trade, 3, 261, 270, 282-284

  Cottons, 92-99

  Cowper, H. S., 10, 48

  Cracknel Friday, 291

  Cromford, 266

  Crompton, Samuel, 268

  Cromwell, Lieutenant-General, 151

  Crosby, 170

  „ Walter, 171

  Crosses, Road-side, 286

  Croston, 3, 229

  „ Church, 3, 187, 200

  Crusades, The, 68, 80

  Cuerdale, Coins found at, 49

  Cuerden, 8

  Cumberland, Duke of, 250

  Curfew bell, 224

  Cuthbert's son, 186

  „ St., 185


  Dacre, Ralph, 189

  Dalton, 2, 53, 58, 144, 191, 230

  „ Fair, 62

  „ John, 244

  Danegeld, 47, 54

  Danes, The, 44, 45, 53, 182, 183

  „ _See_ Chap. V.

  „ Pad, 35

  Danish bishop, A, 183

  „ Remains. _See_ Chap. V.

  Darney, William, 239

  Darrell, John, 114

  Darwen, 26, 265

  „ James, 222

  Deacon, Dr., 251

  Dean Church, 215

  Dee, Dr., 114

  „ Estuary, 15

  „ River, 42

  Defoe, Daniel, 255

  Deira, Kingdom of, 41-43

  Demoniac possessions, 113-121

  Denton, 232

  „ Chapel, 213

  Derbei, 4

  Derby, Countess of, 145-147, 149

  „ Charles, Earl of, 165

  „ Earl of, 88, 90, 104, 111, 131-134, 137, 139, 149, 217-220

  „ „ „ Capture of, 154, 155

  „ „ „ Execution, 155

  „ Hundred, 2, 53, 56

  „ Lord, 166

  Derwentwater, Earl of, 248

  Despencer, William le, 82

  Device, Elizabeth, 115, 117

  „ James, 117

  Devonshire, Duke of, 197

  „ Earl of, 168

  Dicconson, William, 171

  Dilworth, 205

  Dingle Chapel, 237

  Diocletian, 17

  Directories, Eighteenth Century, 275

  Dodding, Colonel G., 139

  Dodsworth, Robert, 170

  Dolan, Dom. Gilbert, 211

  Domesday Book, 52, _et seq._, 184

  Douglas Chapel, 213

  „ River, 259

  Downham, 120

  „ Chapel, 202

  Down Holland, 53

  _Drenchs_, or _Drings_, 54, 55

  "Drop box," Invention of, 264

  Druidism, 176, 177

  Duddon Estuary, 6

  Dugdale, Richard, 120

  „ Sir William, 163

  Dunnerdale Fell, 10


  Eadbert, 182

  Earth dwellings, 7

  Eastgate, John, 203

  Ebba, Abbess of, 182

  Eccles Church, 209, 215

  Eccleston, 46, 57, 229

  „ Church, 3, 187, 200

  „ Green, 146

  Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, 200

  Education, 193, 281

  Edward the Confessor, 45

  Edwin, 4, 178, 179

  Egbert, 44, 182

  Egerton, General, 149

  „ Lady, 221

  „ Ralph, 121

  „ Sir Thomas, 276

  Egfrid, 43, 207

  Eighteenth century progress. _See_ Chap. XI.

  Elfwin, 207

  Ellabarrow, 49

  Ellel, 58

  „ Moor, 152

  Elswick, 46, 57

  „ Chapel, 237, 238

  Engines for carding, 266

  Englishmen, First so named, 41

  Entrenchments, Early, 9

  Entwysle, Richard, 108

  Erskine, Ensign, 248

  Ethelburga, 178, 180

  Ethelfrid, 207

  Evyas, John de, 82

  Eyves, Jane, 222


  Failsworth, 21

  Fairfax, Sir Thomas, 134, 145

  Fanshaw, Thomas, 125

  Farleton, 58

  Farnworth, 219

  Farquharson, Lieutenant-Colonel, 246

  Fell, Margaret, 235

  Fenny, 35

  Fielden, John, 236

  Fiennes, Celia, 253

  Fish, Royal, 66

  Fisheries, 66, 72

  Fishwick, 46, 57, 222

  Fitton, Sir Edward, 128

  Fleetwood, 46

  „ Submerged forests at, 6

  Flemish weavers, 83

  Fletcher, Captain George, 251

  Flint instruments, 7

  Flixton, 8, 229

  „ Church, 208, 209

  Flodden, Battle of, 90-92

  Fly-shuttle, Invention of, 261

  Folk-lore, 289

  Football, Playing in streets, 157

  Foot races, Sixteenth century, 101

  Forests, 2, 8, 15, 54-56, 63-67, 70

  „ Laws, 65

  Formby, 46, 53

  Fox, George, 235, 239

  Frankland, Richard, 121

  Freckleton, 57

  Friary of Warrington, 207

  Friends, Society of, 235-237

  Frisii, The, 24, 25

  Fullwood Forest, 2

  „ Moor, 34, 140

  Funeral customs, 19, 162, 290

  Furness, 2, 144, 162

  „ Abbey, 2, 85, 191-197

  „ District, 9, 10

  „ Iron furnaces, 192

  „ Monks of, 60, 62

  „ Saltworks, 192

  Fustian manufacture, 164

  Fylde, The, 33, 34, 139, 291


  _Galacum_, 35

  Galgate, 33, 35, 36

  Gamel, The Thane, 47, 56

  Garnet, Roger, 67

  Garstang, 2, 8, 59, 69, 74, 173, 222, 225, 229, 244, 286

  „ Incorporated, 172

  „ Church, 199

  „ Market, 62, 162

  Gawthorp Hall, Steward's accounts, 109

  Gee, Rev. Edward, 165

  Gerard, Lord, 122

  „ Sir Gilbert, 130

  „ Sir William, 171

  Gernet, John, son of Roger, 189

  Geta, 16

  Giant's grave (in Furness), 10

  Girlington, John, 165

  „ „ Sir, 128, 130, 137, 143, 144

  „ Lady, 144

  Glaston, 58

  Gleslet, Albert, 55

  Glodwick, 21

  Godiva, widow of Leofric, 53

  Godley Cross, 285

  Goose, Thomas, 248

  Goosnargh, 57, 167, 169, 226, 280

  Grammar Schools customs, 289

  „ School, _temp._ Elizabeth, 103

  Graygarth Fell, 1, 12

  Great Lever, 137

  Great Plumpton, 57

  Green, Alexander, 129

  Greenhalgh, 57

  Greenhalgh, _or_ Greenhaugh, Castle, 90, 126

  Greenhalgh, _or_ Greenhaugh, Castle destroyed, 149

  Greenhalgh, Thomas, 165

  Gregory I., Pope, 177

  Gressingham, 58

  „ Chapel, 189

  Grimsargh, 57

  Guilds at Preston, 159

  "Guisings" at Ashton, 289


  Hadrian, 26, 27, 38

  Hadrian Wall, 16, 17

  Hagioscope at Stydd, 207

  Haighton, 57

  Hall-in-the-Wood, 268

  „ Park, 9

  Halliwell, 173

  Halsall, 49, 53, 58, 69, 173, 186, 229

  Hambleton, 57

  „ Duke of, 150

  Harcla, Sir Andrew, 68

  Hargreaves, James, 264, 265

  Harkirke in Sefton, 50

  "Harmonious Consent, The," 230, 232

  Harrington, Sir James, 88

  „ Lord Robert, 88

  Harris, William, 248

  Harrison, Colonel, 151-154

  „ John, 125

  „ Rev. John, 165, 234

  „ William, 8, 258

  Harsnett, Samuel, 115

  Harthacnut, 45

  Haslingden, 173, 257, 274

  „ Chapel, 202

  „ Press, 272

  Hatfield, Battle of, 42

  Hawcoat, 193

  Hawkshead, 9, 103, 230

  „ Park, 10

  Haydock, 36

  Heaton, 58, 173

  „ Park, 276

  Heathwaite, 10

  „ Fell, 9

  Heneage, T., Chancellor, 224

  Henry, Bolingbroke, 77, 78

  „ Earl of Lancaster, 76, 84

  „ V., 78

  „ VI., 79

  „ VII. in Lancashire, 89

  Heralds' Visitation, 110, 111, 163

  Herle, Rev. Charles, 165

  Hert, 58

  Hesketh, Bartholomew, 221

  „ Gabriel, 245

  „ Sir Thomas, 221

  Heyricke, Rev. Richard, 157, 230, 231

  Heysham, 58, 229

  „ Church, 185, 187

  „ "Hog-backed" stone at, 49, 186

  „ Vivian de, 189

  Heywood, Rev. Nathaniel, 121, 165, 234

  „ Rev. Oliver, 232

  Highway robbers, 256

  Hodgson, John, 162

  "Hog-backed" stone at Heysham, 49, 186

  Hoghton, Sir Gilbert, 133, 136

  „ Sir Henry, 245, 247

  „ Lady, 136

  „ William, 246

  Hoghton Tower, 124

  „ „ Attack on, 136, 137

  Holcroft, Captain, 129

  Hollard, 229

  „ John, 170

  „ Sir Robert, 200, 208

  Hollinfare, 258

  Hollingworth, Rev. Richard, 165

  Hollinwood, 21

  Holme Bank, 9, 10

  Holt, Captain, 138

  „ Lord Chief Justice, 170

  „ Robert, 110, 165, 266

  „ Thomas, 165

  „ „ Sir, 206

  Holy Island, 181

  Home, Rafe, 222

  Homesteads, British, 9

  Hoole, 229

  Hora, _or_ Ores, 54

  Hornby, 58

  „ Castle, 85, 121

  „ Chapel, 213

  „ Priory, 198, 199

  Horrox, Jeremiah, 165

  Hospital for Lepers, 66, 198

  „ St. Leonard's (at Lancaster), 190, 191

  „ at Stydd, 205, 206

  Houghton, Helen, 102

  „ Sir Richard, 110, 122

  Hulme, 257

  Huncoat, 55, 58

  Hunt, Henry, 279, 280

  Hurleston, 53

  Huskisson, William, 280

  Hutton, 58

  „ William, 273

  Huyton, 4, 173, 229

  „ Church, 207, 208


  Icebergs and Glaciers, 5

  Ightenhill Park, 70

  "Ignagning," 291

  Ince Blundell, 53

  Independent Chapels, 237, 240

  Infant marriages, 111

  Ingleton, John, 165

  Inskip, 57, 82

  „ Saxon remains at, 50

  Interment in the Church, 290

  Iona Monastery, 180

  Ireby, 58

  Ireland, Gilbert, 124

  Irish monks, Colony of, 186

  Iron forges, 71

  „ mines, 2

  Irwell Bridge, 259

  Isle of Man, 143, 145, 149, 154, 168

  Ivah, 35


  Jacobites in Manchester, 250

  James I.'s visit to Lancashire, 121-124

  James, Thomas, 265

  John of Gaunt, 76, 77

  Jolly, Rev. Thomas, 121, 235, 237

  Jones, Rev. Richard, 108

  Julia, Empress, 30

  Jupiter Stator, Statuette of, 26

  Just, John, 34

  Jutes, The, 41


  Kay, John, 261, 262

  „ Robert, 264

  Kellet, 58

  „ Adam, 190

  Kendale, 260

  Kenmore, Lord, 248

  Kent River, 12, 15

  Kersall Hall, 286

  „ Moor, 276

  „ Priory, 209

  Kershaw, James, 103

  Kighley, Henry de, 82

  Killerwick, 58

  King's Evil, Touch for, 161

  „ Manor-house, 55

  Kirby, 173

  „ Colonel, 165

  „ Roger, 125, 137

  Kirkby, 53, 207, 230

  „ Ireleth, 58, 185

  „ Lonsdale, 245

  Kirkham, 2, 8, 34, 35, 46, 53, 57, 59, 66, 69, 74, 101, 143, 149,
     173, 225, 229

  Kirkham, Adam de, 74

  „ Church, 187, 199

  „ Fair, 62

  „ Free School, 102, 103

  Knights Hospitallers at Stydd, 206

  Knott Mill, 24

  Knowsley, 53


  Labourne, James, 221

  Lacy, Edmund de, 62

  „ Henry de, 60, 68, 70, 208

  „ Ilbert de, 60

  „ Roger de, 61, 70

  Lake District, 2, 5

  Lambert, Major-General, 154

  Lancashire, Area, 1

  „ Boundaries, 1

  „ Coast, Level of, 6

  „ Forests, 2, 8, 15, 54-56, 63-67, 70

  „ Hundreds, 1, 2

  „ Members of Parliament, 1640, 125

  „ Part of Northumbria, 42

  „ Parliamentary Divisions, 1

  „ Plot, The, 166-172

  „ Witches, 115-120

  Lancaster, 2, 8, 13, 33, 35-37, 49, 54, 58, 82, 103, 138, 152,
    153, 157, 161, 173, 228, 229, 243, 260, 272

  Lancaster Assizes, 97, 218

  „ Borough created, 61

  „ Castle, 97, 126, 137, 203, 215, 235, 236

  „ Church, 184-186

  „ Duchy of, 78, 80

  „ Dukes of, 76, _et seq._

  „ Earls of, 74

  „ Eighteenth century, 255

  „ Honour of, 75

  „ Hospitals (St. Leonard's), 190, 191

  „ Monastery (Friars'), 191

  „ Palatine of, 78-80

  „ Pretender, The, at, 250

  „ Press, 272

  „ Priory, 65, 190

  „ Rebels at, 245, 248

  „ Roger de, 60

  „ Roman station in, 37

  „ Siege of, 139, 140, 141

  „ Trade, 162

  „ William de, 196

  Langdale, General, 150

  „ Sir M., 155

  Langho, 33, 49

  „ Green, 141

  Langton, Philip, 171

  Lastingham Monastery, 181

  Lathom, 53

  „ George, 207

  „ House, 143, 148

  „ „ Sieges of, 144-149

  Laton, 143

  Lawrence, Thomas, 89

  Lawson, John, 236

  Layton Hawes, 147

  „ with Warbrick, 57

  Lea, 57

  Lead smelting, 73

  Lee, Adam de, 189

  Lee, Pears, 89

  Leece, 58

  Leeds, 259

  Leicester, Earl of, 220

  Leigh, 4, 134, 229, 259

  „ Peter, 125

  „ Richard, 111

  „ Rev. William, 165

  Lenthall, Hon. W., 151

  Lepers in Lancashire, 3, 66

  „ Hospitals, 3, 198

  „ Window, 66

  Leprosy, 66

  Lever, Great, 137

  Leybourne, John, 245

  Leyland, 2, 3, 103, 229

  „ Church, 3, 53, 57, 200

  „ Hundred, 55, 60, 143, 200

  „ Manor, 55

  „ Trained band, 132

  Lichfield Diocese, 183

  Lindisfarne Abbey, 181

  Litherland, 53

  Littleborough, 38

  Little Lever, 173

  Little Plumpton, 57

  Little Woolton, 53

  Liuhart, Bishop, 177, 178

  Liverpool, 1, 4, 8, 53, 61, 82-84, 103, 125, 138, 156, 172-175,
    213, 219, 237, 248, 257-259, 273, 277, 280, 282

  Liverpool after Civil War, 159

  „ Borough, 61

  „ Castle, 4, 61, 84, 85, 126, 147, 148, 152

  „ Church, 213

  „ Cockpit, 99

  „ Docks, 4, 282

  „ Eighteenth century, 254

  „ Imports, 283

  „ Newspapers, 271

  „ Plague at, 98, 99

  „ Population, 283

  „ Port, sixteenth century, 99

  „ „ in fourteenth century, 84

  „ Potteries, 160

  „ Press, 271

  „ Siege of, 147, 148, 152

  „ Sugar Trade, 160, 162

  „ Time of Henry VIII., 98

  „ Town Hall, 159

  „ William III. at, 166

  Lockhart, Captain, 248

  Lonsdale, 184, 249

  „ Hundred, 58

  „ Natives of, 65, 68

  „ North of the Sands, 2, 38, 39

  „ South of the Sands, 1, 2

  Lostock Hall, 271

  Lovell, Giles (Prior), 190

  Lower Darwen, 274

  Lowther, Sir William, 197

  Lune Estuary, 15

  „ River, 139, 167

  Lunt, John, 167, 168, 169, 171, 172

  Lydiate, 53, 54

  Lytham, 2, 57, 69

  „ Cell, 200


  Mab's Cross, 286

  Macclesfield, Earl of, 168

  Maghull, 53

  Makerfield, 48

  Manchester, 4, 8, 16, 33, 38, 45, 74, 92, 129, 138, 173, 174, 221,
    228, 237, 242, 243, 256-259, 260, 270, 271, 276-278, 280, 283, 286

  Manchester after Civil Wars, 158

  „ Burgesses, 62

  „ Barony, 61

  „ Church, 213

  „ „ (Collegiate), 93, 209, 219, 224, 230

  „ Churches, 56, 208

  „ „ Weddings at, 96

  „ Court Leet, 93

  „ Rural Deanery, 208

  „ Civil Wars in, 129, 130, 134, 135, 146

  „ Diocese, 213

  „ Eighteenth century, 254

  „ Enfranchized, 155

  „ Fairs, 95

  „ Free Grammar School, 102

  „ Free School Mill, 94

  „ In Domesday Book, 56

  „ Newspapers, 271

  „ Press, 271

  „ Pretender, The, in, 250

  „ Public Library, 156, 158

  „ Races, 273

  „ Regiment, 250, 251

  „ Roman Station, A, 22-25

  „ „ Remains at, 22-25

  „ Siege of, 130, 132

  „ Theatres, 273

  „ Trade, 163, 164

  Manchet-penny, 162, 290

  Manor-house of the King, 55

  March, Dr. H. Colley, 6

  Marcus Aurelius, 26

  „ Julius Maximus, 32

  Marsh, Rev. George, 215, 218

  Marston Moor, 57

  Martius Lucius, 25

  Marton, 58

  „ Mere, 6, 11, 34, 35

  Martyrs, 214, 215, 225

  Maserfeld, Battle of, 43, 48

  Massey, Richard, 221

  „ William, 124

  Mather, Cotton, Dr., 238

  „ Rev. Richard, 234, 238

  Matrona, Ælia, 32

  May Day, 18

  Medlock River, 22

  Meldrum, Sir John, 149

  Melford, Lord, 168, 169

  Melling, 53, 54, 58, 69, 229

  „ Church, 187

  Mellor, 265

  Meols, 53

  Mersey Estuary, 15

  „ River, 1, 4, 6, 21, 36, 53

  Methodism, Wesleyan, 239, 240

  Middleton, 46, 103, 138, 229, 274, 275, 279

  „ Church, 91, 92, 209

  „ in Lonsdale, 58

  „ Sir George, 128

  „ „ Thomas, 155

  Mid-Lent Sunday, 291

  Military Musters, 104

  Millham, 58

  Mills, Water, 270

  „ Steam, 270

  Milnrow, 173

  Mitton, 3

  Molyneux, Caryl, Lord, 166, 170, 171

  „ Lord, 128, 130, 143

  „ Sir William, 91

  Monasteries. _See_ Chap. IX.

  „ Founded by Oswy, 181

  Monastery, Furness, 191-197

  „ Lancaster, 191

  Moncaster, Roger, 244, 248

  Monks in Wynsdale, 192

  Monteagle, Lord, 111, 121

  Moore, Colonel, 146, 147

  „ Rev. William, 165

  „ Sir Edward, 159, 160

  More, John, 125, 126, 128

  Morecambe Bay, 1, 8, 33, 184, 202

  „ Estuary, 12, 15

  Morte, Adam, 136

  Mosley, Anthony, 163

  „ Nicholas, 157

  „ Sir Edward, 133

  Moss and Fen, 15

  Mountains, Height of, 2, 7

  Mountjoy, Lord, 288

  Mowbrick, 120

  Mowroad, Find at, 11

  Much Woolton, 53

  "Mule," The, Invented, 268, 269

  Mural Huts, British, 9, 10

  Murray, Lord Charles, 248

  Musbury Park, 70, 73

  Mutun, Walter de, 205

  Myerscough Forest, 2, 70, 73, 122

  „ Lodge, 122

  Mythorp, 57


  Nairn, Major, 248

  Nateby, 57

  Natland, 36

  Nectansmere Battle, 43

  Neolithic Flora, 7

  „ Man, 6, 7

  Newbarns, 193

  Newchurch, 274

  Newcome, Rev. Henry, 234

  Newsham, 57

  Newsome, 58

  Newton Heath, 21

  „ Hundred, 53, 54, 56

  „ in Lonsdale, 58

  „ le Willows, 28

  „ with Scales, 57

  Nightingale, Rev. B., 237

  Nineteenth Century. _See_ Chap. XII.

  Nithsdale, Earl of, 248

  Nonjurors, 249

  Norman Churches, 86

  Normans, The. _See_ Chap. VI.

  Norres, Hugh, 286

  „ Mabel, 286

  Norris, Henry, 165

  „ Sir William, 91

  North Meols, 229

  „ „ Church, 200, 207

  „ „ Fishery, 72

  Northumbria, Divisions of, 43

  „ Kings of. _See_ Chap. V.

  „ Tributary Rulers of, 43

  Nottingham, 265, 266

  Nowell, Roger, 116, 117, 165

  Nutter, Alice, 118


  Oath of Allegiance (1688), 158

  Ogilby, John, 38

  Old Halls, 105, 106

  Oldham, 4, 21, 46, 138, 163, 173, 229, 232, 266, 274, 279, 283

  Oldham, Hugh (Bishop), 102

  Organs in Churches, 213

  Orgreave (now Titeup), 58

  Ormskirk, 4, 130, 149, 173, 229, 272

  „ Church, 207, 208, 212

  „ Market, 62

  Orrell, 53

  Osbaldeston, Edward, 124

  „ Hall, 288

  „ Thomas, 288

  Oswald, 42, 180, 181

  Oswaldtwistle, 265

  Oswestry, 48

  Oswi, 48, 181

  Oswine, 43

  Overborough, 16, 26, 33, 35, 36, 38

  „ A Roman Station, 35

  Over Darwen, 274

  Overton, 58

  „ Chapel, 189

  Oxcliffe, 58


  Pace-egging, 291

  Padiham, 134, 141, 203, 237

  Pagan Religion, 42

  Paganism, 176

  Palmer, Sir Roger, 125

  Parker, Colonel, 167

  Parliamentary Representation, 81-83, 96, 97, 109, 125, 155

  Paslew, John, Abbot, 203

  Patronage of Churches, 210

  Paul, Lewis, 261, 266

  „ Rev. William, 244

  Paulinus, 42, 178, 179, 180, 210, 285

  Peada, son of Penda, 43

  Pearson, Margaret, 118

  Pedder House, 34

  Peel, Robert, 265

  Pele, Roger, Abbot, 192

  Pemberton, 91

  Penda, 42, 180, 181

  Pendle Forest, 115, 134

  „ Hill, 70, 71

  Pendlebury, Rev. Henry, 121, 234

  Pennington, 58, 230

  „ Castle Hill, 49

  Penwortham, 3, 8, 11, 46, 56, 229

  „ Church, 200

  „ Priory, 3, 200

  Perceval, Richard, 129

  "Peterloo" Riots, 277, 278

  Petilius Cerealis, 14, 15

  Picts, The, 43

  „ and Scots, 17, 18, 41

  Pigott, Rev. Henry, 165

  Pile of Fouldrey, 85

  Pilgrimage of Grace, 203

  Pilkington, Sir Thomas, 88

  Pilling Dikes, 91

  „ Moss, 8

  Pink, W. J., 82

  Plague in 1349, 70

  „ „ 1422, 80

  „ „ 1485, 89

  „ „ 1540, 98, 99

  „ „ 1565, 96

  „ „ Seventeenth Century, 153

  Plantagenets. _See_ Chap. VI.

  Plautius, Aulus, 13

  Plumpton, 34

  Poictou, Roger de, 199

  Population, 280, 283

  „ at Conquest, 50

  „ in 1349, 80

  „ of Townships, 274

  Portus Sestantiorum, 34

  Post to London, 257, 258

  „ Stages, 160

  Potts, Thomas, 115, 118

  Poulton-le-Fylde, 36, 46, 57, 69, 74, 91, 139, 173, 229, 290

  Poulton-le-Fylde Church, 187, 188, 224

  Poulton le Sands, 58

  Preesall, 57

  Preise, 57

  Pre-Roman Lancashire. _See_ Chap. II.

  Presbyterian Chapels, 237, 240

  Prescot, 4, 103, 170, 173, 229, 257

  „ Church, 207, 213

  Press, The, in Lancashire, 271, 272

  Preston, 2, 8, 34, 36, 46, 57, 61, 69, 82-84, 91, 130, 133-135,
    138, 140, 149, 152, 172, 174, 228, 229, 257, 260, 265, 273

  Preston after Civil Wars, 158

  „ Attack on, 244-247

  „ Battle at, in 1316, 75

  „ Church, 187, 199, 210, 213

  „ Eighteenth Century, 255

  „ Fairs, 162

  „ Free School, 102

  „ Grey Friars, 3, 199

  „ Guilds, 96, 97

  „ Hospital for Lepers, 3

  „ „ St. Mary Magdalen, 74

  „ In Civil Wars, 128, 150

  „ James I. at, 122

  „ Newspapers, 272

  „ Population, Sixteenth Century, 97

  „ Port in 1338, 84

  „ Press, 272

  „ Pretender, The, at, 256

  „ Roads, 256

  „ Sessions at, 81

  „ Sieges of, 135, 136, 140, 141, 150-152

  Preston, Thomas, 165

  "Preston Wives," 35

  Prestwich, 156

  „ Church, 209

  Pride, Colonel, 151

  Printing in Lancashire, 165

  Priory of Burscough, 4, 208

  „ „ Cartmel, 198

  „ „ Hornby, 198, 199

  „ (or Cell) of Kersal, 209

  „ of Lancaster, 187-190, 200

  „ „ Penwortham, 3, 200, 201

  „ „ Upholland, 208

  Puritanism, 227

  Puritans, 111, 123, 174

  Pynklowe, Robert, 82


  Quakers, 235-239

  „ Literature, 236

  „ Meeting-house at Lancaster, 238, 239

  Quernmore, 38

  „ Forest, 2, 65


  Races, 273

  „ Foot, 101

  Radcliffe, Captain, 131

  „ Church, 209

  „ William, 262

  Railways, 280

  Raven's Meals, 53

  Rawcliffe, 57

  Read, Lieut.-Colonel, 151

  Rebellions, The. _See_ Chap. X.

  Rebels executed (1746), 248, 251

  Redman, Matthew de, 82

  Religion in Lancashire. _See_ Chap. IX.

  Restoration, The, celebrated at Manchester, 157

  Restoration, The, celebrated at Lancaster, 157

  _Rhætii and Norici, The_, 25

  Ribble Estuary, 15

  „ Fishery, 66

  „ River, 2, 11, 12, 32, 46, 53, 260

  Ribbleton Moor, 150

  Ribby, 46

  „ with Wray, 57

  Ribchester, 3, 16, 26, 27, 33-35, 57, 69, 91, 141, 205, 226, 229

  Ribchester Church, 201

  „ Roman Camp, 27-33

  „ „ Settlement, 29

  Richmond, Archdeaconry, 183

  Rigby, Alexander, 125, 126, 129

  „ „ Colonel, 143-145, 147, 165

  Rigby, Joseph, 165

  Rigmaiden, Mr., 222

  Riots at Arkwright's Mill, 266, 267

  „ „ "Peterloo," 278, 279

  „ against machinery, 265

  „ Risby, 174

  Rivers, Lord, 130

  Rivington, 103

  „ Chapel, 213

  Roads in Eighteenth Century, 255-258

  „ „ Sixteenth Century, 98

  „ Roman. _See_ Chap. IV.

  „ State of, 161

  „ Turnpiked, 256

  Robinson, Major Edward, 135, 140

  Roby, 53

  „ John, 284

  Rochdale, 4, 7, 8, 38, 46, 47, 56, 64, 100, 103, 138, 163, 173,
    203,229, 237, 239, 257, 275, 285, 291

  Rochdale Church, 209, 213, 224

  „ Eighteenth Century, 255

  „ Market, 62, 100

  „ Press, 272

  „ Rectory, 202

  Rodes, John, 107

  Roger de Poictou, 54-56, 58

  Roman Catholics, 174, 242, 249

  „ Catholic Chapels, 240

  „ Coins. _See_ Chap. IV.

  „ Coloniæ, 21

  „ Improvements, 40

  „ Pottery. _See_ Chap. IV.

  „ Power, Decline of, 17

  „ Roads. _See_ Chap. IV.

  „ Strongholds, 42

  Romanus, John (Archdeacon), 188

  Romans, The. _See_ Chap. III.

  Roose, 58

  Rossall, 57, 139, 221

  „ Submerged forest at, 6

  Rossendale, 274

  „ Forest, 63, 134

  Rosworn, Colonel, 130, 131

  Royton, 8, 38

  Runcorn, 25, 259

  Rupert, Prince, 146-149

  Rushbearings, 103, 123, 223, 289

  Russell, Adam, 82

  Rusworth, Dragon of, 288


  St. Alban, 17

  „ Augustine, 42

  „ Elfin, 55, 207

  „ Gregory's Day, 291

  „ Helens, 274

  „ Michael's-on-Wyre, 2, 57, 59, 69, 143, 192, 199, 226, 280

  „ „ „ „ Church, 210

  „ Oswald's Well, 48

  Salesbury Hall, 207

  Salford, 2, 22, 232, 257, 258, 283

  „ Borough, 4, 61, 62

  „ Chapel, 147

  „ Corporation, 79

  „ Hundred, 3, 4, 53, 56, 57, 60, 143, 208, 249

  Salt works, 192

  Salwick, 57

  Samian pottery, 33

  Samlesbury Hall, 288

  „ Manor, 82

  „ Witches, 115

  Sanctuary, Privilege of, 209

  Sanderson, Edgar, 44

  Santon, 58

  Saville, Sir George, 267

  Saxon Churches, 46, 184, _et seq._

  „ Coins, 50

  „ Crosses, 49, 186, 285

  „ Pirates, 18

  „ Remains. _See_ Chap. V.

  „ Thanes, 46, 49, 59

  „ „ Castles, 46, 48, 50

  „ „ Manors, 53

  Saxons, The, 59

  „ _See_ Chap. V.

  Scandinavians, The, 51

  Scapula, Ostorius, 14

  Scarborough, Earl of, 168

  Scarisbrick, 53

  Schofield, Captain, 138

  Scholefield, Robert, 101

  Scotch Kirk, 240

  Scotforth, 58

  Scots, Ravages of, 191

  „ The, 45, 210

  „ Wars with, 69

  Scrow Moss, 10

  Seaton, Sir John, 135, 140

  Sefton, 4, 46, 50, 53, 222, 229

  „ Church, 207

  Sessions at Preston, 81

  Setantii, The, 8, 12

  „ Haven of the, 12, 34

  Severus, 16

  Shaftoe, Captain, 248

  Shard, 46

  Sharpell, Thomas, 222

  Shaw, 174

  „ Chapel, 213

  Sheriffs, High, 79

  Ship-money, 124

  Shirehead, 35

  Shortt, Rev. J., 28

  Shuttleworth, Richard, 125, 126, 248

  Silures, The, 14

  Silverdale, 8

  Simnel, Lambert, 86

  Simnels, 291

  Singleton, 57

  „ Chapel, 224

  Skelmersdale, 53

  Skerton, 58

  Skipton, 33

  Skull House, 287

  Skyllicorne, Adam de, 66

  Slyne, 58

  Smithdown, 53

  Smithell's Hall, 215

  Smythecumbesrode, 47

  Solway Firth, 16

  Southerne, Elizabeth, 115, 116

  Southworth, John, 89

  „ Sir John, 221

  Sowerby, 46, 57, 58

  Spanish ship in the Wyre, 138, 139, 142

  Speke, 53

  Spinning-jenny invented, 264, 265

  „ Mills, 3

  Staining, 57

  Stainton, 58

  Stalmine, 57

  „ Chapel, 189

  Standish, 36, 229

  „ Church, 3, 200

  „ Ralph, 245

  „ Thomas, 125, 132

  Stanford, Alexander de, 188

  Stanlawe Monastery, 201-203

  Stanley, Sir Edward, 90

  „ Lord, 86, 88

  „ Sir Rowland, 171

  „ Sir William, 188

  „ Thomas, 165

  „ William, 165

  Star Chamber, The, 78

  Starkie, Edmund, 113, 114

  „ John, 118

  Starkey, Captain, 136

  Steam-engines, 270

  „ Ships, 282

  Stephen, 194

  „ Earl of Bologne, 60

  Stirzaker, John, 286

  Stockport, 1, 21, 276, 279

  „ Robert de, 60

  Stone circles, 11

  „ Hammers, 35

  Stoneyhurst, 150

  „ College, 31

  Stout, William, 161

  Strange, Lord, 126, 128-131

  Strathclyde, Kingdom of, 41

  Stretford, 21, 257

  "Stubbin Nook," 34

  Stydd Chapel, 206, 207

  „ Hospital at, 205, 206

  Submerged forests, 6

  Sunday-Schools, 281

  Surey demoniac, 120, 121

  Surnames, Local, 280

  Swarth, 58

  Swarthmore Hall, 235, 239

  Sweating sickness, 89

  "Sworn men," 226

  Syddal, Thomas, 242-244, 248

  Sylvester, Dr., 120

  Syngleton, Alan de, 205

  Syon Monastery, 190


  Talbot, John, 124

  „ Nicholas, 206

  Tarleton, 174

  Tatham, 8, 35, 58, 69, 229

  „ Church, 185

  Taylor, Rev. Zachary, 121

  "Teanlay" night, 291

  Teinterer, William le, 82

  Theatres, 272, 273

  Theodosius, 17

  Therf-cake, 83

  Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, 200

  Thornborough, William, 89

  Thornburn, Captain, 267

  Thornham, 58

  Thornhaugh Castle, 151

  Thornton, 53, 57

  Threlfall, Edmund, 167, 168, 170

  Thurland Castle, 86, 143, 144, 185

  „ „ Siege of, 143, 144

  Tildesley, Edward, 165

  Timberbottoms, 287

  Titus Floridius Natalis, 30

  Tobacco trade, 162

  Tockholes, 265

  Todmorden, 107, 236

  Tokens, Seventeenth century, 173

  Torbock, 53

  Torque, Celtic, 11, 12

  Torrisholme, 58

  Torver, 9

  Tosti, Earl, 57

  Townley, Colonel Francis, 256

  „ Hall, 288

  „ John, 221, 288

  „ Sir John, 111

  „ Mr., 136

  „ Richard, 245

  Townson, Mr., 139

  Toxteth, 53

  „ Chapel, 120, 237

  Trade, State of, after Civil Wars, 153

  „ With Africa, 260

  „ With West Indies, 260

  Traditions, 285, _et seq._

  „ Roman, 18, 19

  Trafford, Edmund, 220, 221

  „ Sir Cecil, 134

  Trawder Forest, 63

  Treales, 57

  Trough Edge, 7

  Tulket, Monastery at, 191

  Tumuli, British, 11

  „ Saxon, 49, 50

  Tunshill, 39

  Tunstall, 1, 36, 58, 69, 229

  „ Church, 184

  „ Sir Thomas, 86

  Turner, Rev. John, 246

  Turnpike Act, 257, 258

  „ Roads, 256-258

  Turton, 174

  „ Tower, 86, 288

  Twisleton, Colonel, 151

  Tyldesley, Colonel, 143

  „ Edward, 122

  „ John, 244

  „ Thomas, 129, 168, 244


  Ulverston, 2, 58, 191, 230

  „ Church, 198

  Unitarian Chapels, 237, 240

  Upchurch, Potteries of, 26

  Up-Holland, 149

  „ „ Priory, 208

  Urns, cinerary, 11

  Urswick, 9, 10, 58, 230


  Vaccaries, 70

  Valentia, Province of, 17

  Veneti, The, 13

  Vicars, Non-resident, 210

  Volunteers, Lancashire, 276

  Voluntii, 8


  Waddington, 91

  Wadsworth, John, 248

  Wages in eighteenth century, 263

  Walintone Hundred, 53, 56

  Walk Mills, 164

  Walmesley, C., 166

  Walmsley, Bartholomew, 171

  Walney, 58

  „ Island, 85, 191, 192

  Walter, Theobald, son of Herveus, 60

  Walton, 46, 58, 69

  „ Rev. John, 246

  Walton-le-dale, 4, 12, 35, 36, 55, 150, 222, 246

  Walton-le-dale, Roman Station at, 36

  Walton-on-the-Hill, 53, 57, 58, 229

  „ „ „ „ Church, 55, 207

  War of the Roses, 80, 86

  Wardley Hall, 287

  Ware, S. Hilbert, 241

  Warre, Thomas la, 209

  Warrington, 4, 36, 48, 91, 132, 138, 152, 174, 229, 242, 256, 258

  Warrington Bridge, 89

  „ Church, 55, 207

  „ Friary, 207

  Warrington Manor, 55

  „ Market, 62

  „ Press, 272

  „ Siege of, 142

  Warton, 57, 229

  Watkin, W. T., 16, 20, 26, 27, 37

  Watling Street, 34, 44

  Wavertree, 53

  Weaving, 263

  Wedacre, 91

  Weeton, 57

  „ Moss, 34

  Wennington, 58, 184

  Werdhyll, Nicholas de, 64

  Wesley, Rev. John, 239

  Wesleyan Chapels, 240

  West Derby, 54, 60

  „ „ Hundred, 4, 53-55, 60, 207, 249

  West Houghton, 174, 260

  „ Sir Thomas, 93-96

  Westby, 46, 57

  Whalley, 50, 103, 174, 219, 229

  „ Abbey, 3, 201-205

  „ Church, 55, 201, 202

  Wharton, Lord, 168

  Wheatley, 57

  Whitaker, John, 21, 22

  White, Colonel, 267

  Whiteside, Ethart, 273

  Whittaker, Dr., 121

  Whittingham, 57

  Whittington, 58, 229

  Whittle, Ann, 116, 117

  Whitworth, 101

  Whytington, 69

  Widdrington, Lord, 243, 248

  Wigan, 4, 36, 82, 91, 132, 133, 137, 138, 141, 152, 153, 174, 175,
    228, 229, 245, 248, 257, 259, 267, 282, 286, 287

  Wigan, Borough, 62

  „ Church, 55, 100, 207

  „ Coal, 4, 100

  „ in 1540, 100

  „ Eighteenth century, 255

  „ Fight at, 154

  „ Press, 272

  „ Roads, 256

  „ Roman station at, 27

  Wilderspool, 36

  Wilfred, Bishop, 181, 182, 210

  Willoughby, Lord, 121

  Wills, General, 245, 246

  Wilson, John, 170

  Windermere Lake, 1

  Windle, 53

  Windy Arbour, 35

  Winton, Earl of, 248

  Wintown, Lord, 244

  Winwæd, Battle of, 43

  Winwick, 4, 8, 36, 46, 48, 49, 89, 229, 285

  „ Church, 55, 207, 213, 224

  „ Fight at, 152

  Wipensis, Gerard de, 188

  Witchcraft, 103

  Witches, Lancashire, 115-120

  Woden and Thor, 42, 177, 178

  Wolves in the forests, 74

  Woodroof, Jenet, 222

  „ Robert, 222

  Woods, Rev. James, 245, 246

  Woollen Cloth, 92

  „ Manufacture, 101

  „ Trade, 175, 266

  Wool-spinning, 261, 262

  Worsley, New Hall, 25

  Worsthorne, 33

  "Written Stone," 35

  Wroe, Rev. Richard, 165

  Wyatt, John, 261

  Wymondhouse Chapel, 237

  Wynn, Sir R., 125

  Wyre Estuary, 15, 35

  „ River, 34, 46

  Wyresdale, 91

  „ Forest, 2, 63, 65

  „ Monks in, 192


  Yealand-Conyers, 58

  York, 16, 25, 44

  „ Minster, 180, 181

  Young, Arthur, 256




ERRATA.


  Page 8, note, _for_ "Rev. William Harrison" _read_ "Mr. W. Harrison."

  „   53, line 18 from top, _for_ "Hollard" _read_ "Holland."

  „   58    „   7   „  bottom, _for_ "Ellet" _read_ "Ellel."

  „   73    „   7   „  top, _for_ "Tollington" _read_ "Tottington."

  „  200    „   4   „  bottom, _for_ "Busset" _read_ "Bussel."

  „  270    „  12   „    „ _for_ "Wall" _read_ "Watt."




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Transcriber's Notes:


More information on the inscriptions in paragraph 13 of Chapter IV. can
be found at:-

  www.romaninscriptionsofbritain.org
  1st inscription ref: RIB580.
  2nd inscription ref: RIB577.
  3rd inscription ref: RIB579.
  4th inscription ref: RIB578.





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