[2] Camden’s Britannia, Ed. 1586, p. 431.

[3] Itinerary IV., fol. 39.

[4] The name, anciently written Mer-pull, seems to be a corruption of Mere-pool. A little lower down the river is Otters-pool, and these two point to the conclusion that the Goyt had at one time a much greater breadth here than it has now.

[5] Thomas Hibbert was the direct ancestor of the Hibberts of Birtles, and (until recently) of Hare Hill, near Alderley.

[6] Whilst the head of the Cheshire Bradshaws risked the displeasure of the Herald by neglecting his summons, his kinsmen in Lancashire, who were steady and decided Royalists, with more regard for constituted authority, attended the Court, entered their descents, and, in further proof of his right to the honourable distinction of arms, John Bradshaw, of Bradshaw, produced a precious letter from Henry Percy, the first Earl of Northumberland, K.G., the father of Hotspur, to his “well-beloved friende” John Bradshaw, a progenitor who had probably served and fought at Chevy Chase and elsewhere in the reign of the second Richard.

[7] This marriage is recorded on a brass to the memory of Bernard Wells, affixed to the north wall of the chancel in Bakewell Church.

[8] Oliver Edge, to whom Lord Derby surrendered, resided at Birch Hall Houses, in Rusholme. To his credit it should be said that, whilst strictly faithful to his oath, he treated his illustrious captive with the respect due to fallen greatness when conducting him and his friends as prisoners to Chester. In one of his letters to his Countess, the Earl speaks of Captain Edge as “one that was so civil to me that I, and all that love me, are beholden to him.”

[9] If so, this must have been in 1640, when the Earl, who was at that time Chamberlain, gave the appointment (27 July, 14 Car. I.) to Orlando Bridgeman, son of the Bishop of Chester, in succession to Roger Downes, of Wardley Hall, near Manchester.

[10] vii.—27.

[11] This extraordinary outrage, perpetrated in the name of freedom and justice, has ever since been familiarly known as “Pride’s Purge.”

[12] Though now closed in by humbler dwellings, the house must have been in Bradshaw’s time far away from any other building of equal size and pretensions. There is a common belief in the neighbourhood that an underground passage led from it to Ashley Park, where Cromwell, it is said, at that time resided.

[13] Sir Thomas Armstrong, who had taken part in the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion, was executed on the judgment of the notorious Jefferies, as an outlaw without trial, though his year had not expired.

[14] At Bradshaw Hall, in Chapel-en-le-Frith, the ancient patrimonial seat of the stock from which the Marple Bradshaws sprang, there is on the landing of one of the staircases a similar inscription:—

[15] Upon the Abbot Hall estate are some lands which still bear the name of Chapel Fields, in which, at three feet from the surface, human skeletons have been exhumed. The spot may therefore with much probability be assumed to have been the site of an oratory, where a monk of the abbey officiated in offering up prayers for the safety of such as crossed the sands, Kent’s Bank being the point from which they would start upon their journey towards Lancaster.

[16] “Wyke” signifies a bay with a low shore; and the now fertile plain, which includes some hundreds of acres, protected with deep embankments and valve gates for the land streams, was reclaimed many years ago through the enterprise of Mr. Towers, of Dudden Grove, and the late Mr. Stockdale, of Cark.

[17] This is an error on the part of the learned historian, for Sir William Harrington’s death did not occur until 1450.

[18] By a curious error, which has been repeated in many of the published pedigrees, this Sir John Stanley is represented as a base son of James Stanley, Warden of Manchester, and afterwards Bishop of Ely. Bishop Stanley’s son, who was also distinguished for his valour on the field of Flodden, was Sir John Stanley, of Honford (Handforth), in Cheadle parish. Cheshire.

[19] Stour, i.e., fight.

[20] In a tavern brawl, in 1727, Savage had the misfortune to kill a Mr. James Sinclair, for which he was tried and condemned to death. His relentless mother, it is said, endeavoured to intercept the royal mercy; but he was pardoned through the influence of Queen Caroline, and set at liberty. He afterwards addressed a birthday ode to the Queen, in acknowledgment of which she sent him £60, and continued the same sum to him every year.

[21] John Machin was then minister of Astbury, and an intimate friend as well as neighbour of Newcome’s.

[22] In the church of Mont Mijour there is a bracket on which is carved a head devouring a child, closely resembling the one in the warden’s room of the College, and supposed to be intended for a caricature of Saturn.

[23] Dee’s magic crystal, or show stone, was preserved at Strawberry Hill until that famous collection was dispersed. A correspondent in Notes and Queries (2nd S., No. 201) says that John Varley, the painter, well known to have been attached to astrology, used to relate a tradition that the Gunpowder Plot was discovered by Dr. Dee with his magic mirror; and he urged the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of interpreting Lord Mounteagle’s letter without some other clue or information than hitherto gained. In a Common Prayer Book, printed by Baskett in 1737, is an engraving of the following scene: In the centre is a circular mirror on a stand, in which is the reflection of the Houses of Parliament by night, and a person entering carrying a dark lantern. Next, on the left side are two men in the costume of James’s time, looking into the mirror—one evidently the King, the other evidently, from his secular habit, not the doctor (Dee), but probably Sir Kenelm Digby. On the right side, at the top, is the eye of Providence darting a ray on the mirror; and below are some legs and hoofs, as if evil spirits were flying out of the picture. The plate is inserted before the service for the 5th November, and would seem to represent the method by which, under Providence (as is evidenced by the eye), the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot was at that time seriously believed to have been effected. The tradition must have been generally and seriously believed, or it never could have found its way into a Prayer Book printed by the King’s printer.

[24] Ashmole, in his MS., 1790, fol. 58, says, “Mr. Lilly told me that John Evans informed him that he was acquainted with Kelly’s sister in Worcester, that she showed him some of the gold her brother had transmuted, and that Kelly was first an apothecary at Worcester.”

[25] “As fair as Lady Done” is a well-known Cheshire proverb. Pennant (“Tour from Chester to London, 4 ed., p. 8”), referring to this lady, who was the daughter of Sir Thomas Wilbraham, of Woodhey, says that “when a Cheshire man would express super-eminent excellency in one of the fair sex he will say, ‘There is a Lady Done for you.’”

[26] In his despatch to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Cromwell says: “That night quartered the whole army in the field by Stonyhurst Hall, being Mr. Sherburn’s house, a place nine miles distant from Preston;” and Captain Hodgson, an officer who accompanied him, writes: “We pitched our camp at Stanyhares Hall, a Papist’s house, one Sherburn’s.”

[27] The mutilated effigy of Sir William Baggaley, after being discarded from the church at Bowdon and lost for several generations, was, some years ago, discovered by Mr. John Leigh, of Manchester, and the author, affixed to a wall in the garden of a house at Mill Bank, Partington, near Warrington. It was subsequently acquired by Mr. T. W. Tatton, and removed by him to its present position in the hall at Baguley. An account of it was given in the Manchester Courier, March 13, 1866.

[28] The “Sword of Chester” is now preserved in the British Museum. The last instance of the exercise of the Earl’s privileges was in 1597 when the Baron of Kinderton’s Court tried and executed Hugh Stringer for murder.

[29] The Venables, Barons of Kinderton, bore for their crest a wivern (i.e., dragon), with wings endorsed, gules, standing on a fish weir, or trap, devour-a child, and pierced through the neck with an arrow, all ppr.

[30] It has been frequently stated that Peter Legh, the first of Lyme, also fought at Crescy; but he was not born until fifteen years after that famous victory.

[31] It is somewhat remarkable that though the Leghs have been settled in the parish for more than five centuries, and have been patrons of the church for many generations, there is not a single monumental inscription or other memorial of them in the church, excepting that of Reginald Legh, of an earlier date than the one of Charles Legh, who died in 1781.

[32] Lady Egerton, who remained a firm adherent of the ancient faith, is frequently named in the prosecutions for recusancy under the severe statutes of Elizabeth, but appeals for mitigation were often and successfully made through, as would seem, the influence of the Lord Keeper Egerton.

[33] Thomas Newton, before his removal into Essex, resided at Park House, in Butley, little more than a mile distant from Adlington. His mother, Alice Newton, in her will, dated December 22, 1597, leaves “one spurill ryall or XVs. in money to each of the right worshipful Thomas Legh, of Adlington, and Sybell, his wife,” the testatrix’s “worshipful good frendes;” and she also appoints “the right worshipful Thomas Legh, of Adlington aforesaid, Esquire,” overseer, earnestly entreating him to assist and direct her executors.

[34] A recent writer says (Contributions towards a History of Prestbury, p. 102): “Clumber appears to have been sequestrated from the Leghs during the Civil War, and never restored.” This is not quite accurate, for Thomas Legh, who died in 1687, by his will, dated 20th August, 1686, bequeathed to his younger son, Richard Legh, and his heirs for ever, “all that mannour or capitall messuage called Clumber, in the county of Nottingham, and all buildings, tenements, and hereditaments in Clumber aforesaid.”

[35] According to Colonel Fishwick it was Urian Legh, the uncle of Thomas, who was exchanged for Alexander Rigby the younger.—History of Goosnargh, p. 148.

[36] It is said that in the cellar at Old Hollin Hall there is a stone bench with this inscription graven upon it:—“This must stand here for ever—Richard Broster, 1757.”

[37] In the Chetham Library there is a curious MS. folio volume purchased at the sale of the Adlington Library in 1846, and now known as the “Adlington MS.” On the fifth page from the end is written, “Finis, Quod sum non curo quod ero spero Thomas Leyghe.” Thomas Legh, it would seem being the compiler. Among other interesting matters relating to Cheshire which it contains are “The Armes of Gentlemen as they be placed over the Chimney in Adlington Hall, 1611.”

[38] A story is told respecting the great composer which, as it associates his name with Cheshire, we may be excused for repeating. As is well known, his masterpiece, the Messiah, was first performed in Dublin, in 1741. While on his way there he was detained for a time at Chester, the wind being unfavourable for his embarkation at Parkgate. Wishing to employ the time in trying some pieces in his new oratorio, he inquired for some one who could read music at sight, and a printer, named Janson, who had a good bass voice, was recommended to him as one of the best musicians attached to the cathedral. A time was fixed for a private rehearsal at the Golden Falcon, where Handel was staying; but, alas! on trial of the chorus in the Messiah, “And with His stripes we are healed,” poor Janson after repeated attempts, failed so egregiously that Handel let loose his great bear upon him; and, after swearing in four or five different languages, cried out, in broken English, “You schauntrel! Tit not you dell me dat you could sing at soite?” “Yes, sir,” replies the printer, “and so I can; but not at first sight!” Handel on this burst out laughing, and the rehearsal, it is said, proceeded no further.

[39] According to another version, it was at Edgeware, and not at Adlington, that Handel heard the anvil sounds which suggested the “Harmonious Blacksmith.” The great composer dwelt at Canons, the guest of the Duke of Chandos, within three quarters of a mile of Edgeware, and was for three years the organist of Little Stanmore Church. The authority for the Edgeware or Little Stanmore version rests mainly on local tradition and the following inscriptions:—On the organ of Little Stanmore Church: “Handel was organist of this church from the year 1718 to 1721, and composed his oratorio of ‘Esther’ on this organ.” On a tombstone in the churchyard: “In memory of William Powell, the ‘Harmonious Blacksmith,’ who was buried 27th February, 1780, aged 78 years. He was parish clerk during the time the Immortal Handel was organist of this church.” Powell was a blacksmith at Edgeware smithy. [Information obligingly communicated by J. Oldfield Chadwick, Esq.]

[40] Gibbons, of whom Horace Walpole said “there was no instance of a man before who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers, and chained together the various productions of the elements with a freer disorder natural to each species,” died in 1721, and, while there is good reason for supposing that the reconstruction of the dining and drawing rooms was affected at a later date, Sephton was certainly employed by Charles Legh, and it is more than probable that the carvings at Adlington were his work. Possibly, the close resemblance which these productions of the chisel bear to the well-known works of the great artist led to their being attributed to Gibbons.

[41] Local Gleanings (Lancashire and Cheshire), V. ii. p. iii.

[42] Ormerod’s Civil War Tracts, p. 238.

[43] Lancashire’s Valley of Achor, p. 123.

[44] Byrom was of unusual stature; on one occasion he records having met with a Mr. Jefferson, who was “taller than I by measuring,” the only instance, it would seem, of his having met with such a person.

[45] “John Shaw’s” eventually assumed the character of an organised club, and after an uninterrupted career of a century and a half it still remains in a flourishing state, and is as convivial in its “green old age” as in the days when John Shaw cracked his whip, and with loud voice and imperative tone exclaimed, “Eight o’clock, gentlemen, eight o’clock,” and his serving maid, Molly, followed with her mop and bucket ready to expedite the movements of the loiterer, should the cracking of the whip have failed to “speed the parting guest.” The club has an official staff elected annually and with much mock formality, and what Dr. Johnson calls “obstreperous merriment,” and the members, who are true “Church and Queen” men, assemble once a month under the shadow of the “Mitre” to discuss punch and politics, and drink old wine, and the traditional old toasts, omitting, however, the very suggestive one of the King “over the water.” Among the most treasured relics in the possession of the club, and which now adorn the room where the members assemble, are the original portraits in oil of the autocratic and inflexible John and Molly Owen, his prime minister, and factotum—the Hebe of the house, and the veritable china bowl in which John brewed his seductive compound.

[46] In the accounts of the Constables of Manchester occurs this entry—1745. Sept. 18: Expenses tending the sheriff this morn, Syddal’s and Deacon’s heads put up, £00, 01, 06.

[47] The Duke of Richmond was at the time one of the Lords Justices for the administration of the Government during the absence of George II.

[48] It has been frequently stated that the story of the “Three Black Crows” was inspired by the London edition, but in a recent communication to the Manchester Literary Club, Mr. John Evans has proved conclusively, from a letter in Byrom’s own handwriting, that it was founded on a story related to him by Dr. John Taylor.

[49] The author is informed by Dr. Crompton, the grandson of the Inventor of the Mule, that Barlow engraved the plate for Arkwright’s bill-heads. The plate itself was found a few years ago amongst a heap of old brass at Messrs. Peel’s foundry in Ancoats, and some impressions were then taken from it.

[50] The machine was at first, from the place of its birth, called the “Hall-i’-th’-Wood Wheel,” and sometimes, from the fineness of the yarn it produced, the “Muslin Wheel,” but subsequently it became more generally known as the “Mule,” from the circumstance of its combining the principles of the two inventions of Hargreaves and Arkwright to produce a third much more efficient than either.

[51] Peel had bought one of the machines with the intention of causing drawings of it to be made. The affront was that on the occasion of his (Peel’s) visit to Crompton’s house, he had tendered the Inventor sixpence in consideration of his trouble in showing him the machine.

[52] It is pleasant to note that while so many of those in his own locality who had so largely profited by Crompton’s labour either refused to help or gave only very grudgingly, the one who had suffered most by the success of the mule, Richard Arkwright, of Cromford (the second of the name), whose water frame had in a great measure been superseded by it, contributed £30, at the same time generously acknowledging the merits of the invention.

[53] Vol. xlvi., p. 16, 1827.

[54] The age recorded on his gravestone is clearly an error, Crompton having been born on the 3rd December, 1753, so that he must have been in his 74th year.