Shakespeare.

Lytham is another of those delightful watering-places to which, in our brief survey of the Lancashire coast, we have so often had occasion to refer. There is not a bay, indeed, along the whole line of sand which forms our ocean frontier on the west, but offers some pleasing summer retreat, where the invalid may repair his constitution, and return with renovated strength to the active duties of life.

Lytham is about twelve miles west from Preston, and offers every accommodation to visitors which is either usual or desirable in sea-bathing quarters. The town is cheerful, well-built, containing about fifteen hundred inhabitants, and is a place of considerable antiquity. It was here, that in the reign of Richard the First, Baron Fitz-Roger founded, in honour of the Virgin Mary and St. Cuthbert, a cell of Benedictine monks; the annual revenues of which, at the dissolution of religious houses, amounted to fifty-four pounds—equal in the present day to at least three hundred and twenty pounds. The site of this ancient cell was shortly after granted by Parliament to Sir Thomas Holcroft. Lytham Hall, the seat of John Clifton, Esq., is an object of considerable interest in the neighbourhood, and familiar to all who have ever listened to the "Lass of Lytham Hall."[17]

The country around Lytham abounds in fine drives; and, independently of the minor points, which cannot fail to engage the attention of visitors, the ancient town of Preston will offer a full day's entertainment to all who are curious in historical sites. The lordship of Preston was granted by Richard the First to Theobald Walter, seneschal of Ireland, ancestor of the dukes of Ormond, and sheriff of Lancashire; and by Edward the Third it was constituted the chief seat of the duchy and palatinate courts. King James the First honoured it with a visit in his progress to Scotland, in 1617; and on Ribbleton Moor, on the east side of the town, the Scottish forces, under the Duke of Hamilton, sustained a serious defeat in 1648—the last operation of the civil war in this country. In 1715 the Chevalier de St. George was proclaimed at the Market-cross, by the title of James the Third; and in 1745 the troops, under Prince Charles Edward, marched through the town to the Jacobin air of "The king shall have his sin again." This lively tune, however, as the reader knows, was changed into a melancholy dirge on his return through Preston—only a fortnight afterwards. The celebrated Preston Guild, which is held once in twenty years, is considered to be one of the most splendid provincial festivals in England. The institution of this ancient and unique pageant is five centuries old, the first having taken place in the reign of Edward III. It commences on the Monday after the day set apart by the Church in commemoration of the beheading of St. John the Baptist (the 29th August), and continues about a fortnight. By the charter which renders the celebration necessary twenty-eight days are allowed to all who are disposed to renew their freedom. On the first day the different trades muster in number, form processions, and attend the mayor and corporation to church; the following day the ladies of Preston, with the mayoress, are escorted in the like manner, and various festivities are encouraged during the time. On Wednesday the races commence; the race ground is about two miles distant, on Falwood Moor, anciently a part of the royal forest of the same name. Preston Guild was celebrated three times during the reign of George III., an event that never occurred in the reign of any other king of England.