VII.

Some eggs and strong bacon we’ll never deny, For the eggs we can suck while the bacon doth fry. Now all ye young lasses, just mind what ye are about, If you give nought, we’ll take nought, so we’ll bid you good night. Fol di-diddle dol-di-day.

MAYING

The “Mayers” went about singing and soliciting alms for some weeks before the first of May. The following is a portion of one of their songs, and a variant may be found in Halliwell’s _Palatine Anthology_, which was given to him by Ormerod, the Cheshire historian. The tune taken down by Egerton Leigh, and given in his book of poems, is terribly mutilated, but I have reconstructed it by the aid of a very similar Lancashire tune. It is undoubtedly old, and the commencement on the supertonic is very quaint. The words are distinctly above the average of old ballads:

[Music: CHESHIRE MAYING SONG]

CHESHIRE MAY SONG

I

All on this pleasant evening together come are we, For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay, To tell you of a blossom that buds on every tree, Drawing near to the merry month of May.

II

Rise up, the master of this house, all in your chain of gold, For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay; We hope you’re not offended, this night we make so bold, Drawing near the pleasant month of May.

III

Oh! rise, the mistress of this house, with gold upon your breast, For the summer springs so fresh, green, and gay; And if your body be asleep, we hope your soul’s at rest, Drawing near to the merry month of May.

&c. &c.

In the Halliwell-Phillipps’ version each verse ends with

“Oh this is pleasant singing, Sweet May flower is springing, And summer comes so fresh, green, and gay.”

In Chester and surrounding villages the children still carry round May garlands, and generally a small child bedecked with ribbons, but the old May songs are no longer used.

At Knutsford a May Queen is annually chosen and crowned in public. This village has many curious and pretty customs. On the occasion of a marriage there, brown sand was strewn in the streets, and on this, fanciful figures of white sand and sometimes the flowers of the season were added.

LIFTING

Hone says that the custom of _Lifting_ was prevalent in Chester, but that instead of being tossed in the air, the victims were swung about in a chair.

However, a correspondent in Adams’ _Weekly Courant_ (printed in Chester, 26th March 1771) complains strongly of the custom of “_Lifting_, or rather the assembling in a riotous manner of a considerable number (I am sorry to say) of females at all the gates and other thoroughfares of this city to extort money from every man whose business may oblige him to pass that way. This is justly complained of by travellers, who, unacquainted with such customs (it not being suffered in any city but this) have given a considerable sum for leave to pursue their journey, and have scarce rode to the other end of the city but must again purchase the liberty of passing on.” It was practised at Chester up to about the year 1860.

The custom is supposed to have reference to the Ascension of our Lord.

HARVEST HOME

When the last field of corn was cut, then the farmer had what was called a “shutting.” The reapers would stand in a ring on some high ground, and one, acting as spokesman, gave out the “nominy”:--

“Oh, yes! oh, yes! oh, yes! this is to give notice That Mester ’Olland has gen th’ seck a turn And sent th’ owd hare into Mester Sincop’s standin’ curn.”

Then, taking hands, they all bent down and uttered an unearthly “Wow! wow-w! wow-w!” Other “nominies” followed, and then a liberal allowance of beer went round. This was supplemented by another ceremony. The last stalks of grain were plaited and formed into a threefold strand, at which the reapers threw their sickles. The one whose aim cut it down was the winner. This was called “cutting the Neck.”

CORNAGE

Cheshire has the great distinction of possessing two Forest Charter Horns held by cornage tenure, and these are still in existence.

_The Wirral Horn._--The Hundred of Wirral was mainly divided between the Church and the Palatinate barons. The latter not being resident, the natives were lawless and turbulent; added to which the district was specially liable to incursions from sea-rovers. To reduce the natives to obedience, and as a matter of precaution, Ranulph de Meschines, the third Earl of Chester, about 1121, destroyed such boundaries of property as existed and planted the whole as a forest, so that “From Blacon Point to Hilbre a squirrel might jump from tree to tree”; as the old Cheshire rhyme has it.

The office of chief forester he bestowed upon Alan Sylvester, together with the manors of Storeton and Puddington, to be held by the tenure of blowing a horn, or causing it to be blown, at the “Gloverstone,” Chester, on the morning of every fair-day, to indicate that the tolls payable on all goods bought or sold in the city, or within sound of that horn, during the fair, belonged to the Earl and his tenants there.

After 250 years the citizens of Chester found the forest and its freebooters such a nuisance (for, so far from checking marauders, the forest, as a hiding-place, encouraged them), that they complained to the Black Prince, and begged that he would get his father to abolish it.

In 1376-7, the last year of Edward III.’s reign, the district was disafforested. The horn and its rights had passed, by marriages of female heirs, to the Bamvilles, and then to the Stanleys of Hooton Hall. They continued as titular foresters as late as of 7 Henry VI.

The horn is thus described:--16¾ in. convex, 13¾ in. concave, 9½ in. wide at the mouth, 7 in. in the middle, tapering to 2½ in. at the mouthpiece. The colour is yellow to light brown, with blue or black spots or flakes. It was in the possession of Sir John Stanley-Errington until his death in 1896.

_The Delamere Horn._--What we now call the Forest of Delamere was originally the two forests of Mara and Mondrem, extending, roughly speaking, over all the lands between the rivers Weaver and Gowy. Mara was on the Mersey side, and Mondrem on the Nantwich side.

The land was afforested immediately after the Conquest, though the Saxon owner was, for a time, allowed to keep his estate in it. About 1123 Ranulph de Meschines, third Earl of Chester, added to the forest some waste lands and the villa or township of Kingsley, and conferred on Ranulph de Kingsley the forestry rights to be held in grand serjeantry, and gave him a horn in token of his rights as master forester. It is worth noting that the horns of Wirral and Delamere were _both_ given, and at the same period, by this third Earl of Chester. But it is important to note that the office of master forester was not altogether paramount. Certain other rights belonged to the families of Grosvenors, Weavers, and Mertons; and the rights in the two forests were often kept separate and distinct. Finally, however, the whole of the forest rights were vested in the family of Done of Utkinton, and in 1617 James I. came “a-hunting” in the forest of Delamere and knighted John Done, who attended him as _chief forester_ and _bow bearer_. Sir John died in 1629, and the male line of Dones came to an end. Through the female line the horn and forest rights descended to the Crewes and Ardernes, and then to the present Earl of Haddington, who married Miss Arderne in 1854.

The horn is a beautiful black colour and strongly curved. It is 14 in. on outside curve, but it is only 5 in. across from mouthpiece to mouth. Its greatest width is 1¾ in. at the mouth, and ¾ in. at the other end. The mouthpiece seems of silver gilt, but there is no sign of the other two “golden” bands with which pictures and old documents show it was embellished.

_Forest of Macclesfield._--The third great forest of Cheshire was that of Macclesfield, which was in existence before Domesday survey.

The office of hereditary master forester of the forests of Leek and Macclesfield was held by the Davenports of Davenport by a grant from Hugh Cyvelioc, Earl of Chester (1160).

Now the original grant, as in the case of Mara and Mondrem, did not prevent subordinate rights being granted, and there were no less than eight sub-foresters who exercised rights down to the sixteenth century.

One of these foresterships belonged to the manor of Taxal, which was held by the Downes of Sutton Downes and Taxal. According to depositions about the year 1720, it is said of Reginald Downes, the then owner:--

“That hee when ye King came a hunting allways rowsed ye stagg, and when ye King came to ye forest Mr. D. held ye King’s stirrup and ye L’d Darby held _his_ stirrup; and that the L’d Darby, instead of actually holding ye stirrup, put his strop or whip and held it towards ye stirrup while Mr. Downes mounted.

“That the said Mr. Downes had informed this deponent that he held his land by the blast of a horn on Midsummer Day, and paying a pepper-corn yearly; and that once, about 63 or 64 years agoe, this deponent was with the said Mr. Downes when he blowed his horn at Windcather (a range of high hills above Taxal) on that occasion.”

Another deposition states that the horn required “three blasts.” No special horn seems to have existed.

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS

The hard-headed Cheshireman may be deficient in legend, but he has invented a number of wise sayings and proverbs which can hold their own in quality and quantity with any other county. Some of the oldest, however, given by Ray, are wrapped in obscurity. The following is a selection:--

“---- by a proverbe certan Good manners and conynge maken a man.”

Bradshaw (_Life of St. Werburgh_).

[He was a contemporary of William of Wykeham.]

“Cheshire, Chief of men.”

“_Stout, bold, and hardy withal, impatient of wrong, and ready to resist the enemy or stranger that shall invade their country._”--Webb.

Fuller says: “_Its gentry is remarkable on a fourfold account--their numerousness ... their antiquity, their loyalty, and their hospitality._”

“Cheshire for men, Berkshire for dogs, Bedfordshire for naked flesh, And Lincolnshire for bogs.”

“By waif, soc and theam, You may know Cheshire men.”

[Powerful in their legal rights and tenacious of them.]

“As many Leighs as fleas, Massies as asses, Crewes as crows, and Davenports as dogs’ tails.”

_Some of the great Cheshire families._

“There is more than one yew bow in Chester.”

_As many a Welshman had found out._

“Cheshire born and Cheshire bred, Strong i’ th’ arm and weak i’ th’ yed.”

_Perhaps invented by neighbours “over the border” who had felt the strong arm._

“To grin like a Cheshire cat.”

_No satisfactory explanation of this has ever been given. It has formed the subject for inquiries innumerable in “Notes and Queries.”_

_There is another version: “To grin like a Cheshire cat chewing gravel.”_

“It is better to marry over the mixen than over the moor.”

_It is better to marry an honest farmer from next door whom you know, than a fine gentleman from a distance who may turn out a fraud._

“Enough and no more, like Mrs. Milton’s feast.”

_Milton married as his third wife Elizabeth Minshull of Wistanstow, near Nantwich, who survived him. She was poor and proud, and her enforced economy was not to the taste of her neighbours._

“When the daughter is stolen, shut the Pepper-gate.”

_Equivalent to “shutting the stable door when the steed is stolen.” This originated in a former Mayor of Chester fastening up the Pepper-gate after his daughter had eloped through it with her lover._

“If thou hadst the rent of Dee Mills--thou wouldst spend it.”

_These Chester mills yielded annually a large rent._

“As fair as Lady Done.”

_The wife of Sir John Done, hereditary bow-bearer of Delamere Forest. Pennant, in his “Tour from Chester to London,” says that “when a Cheshireman would express supereminent excellency in one of the fair sex, he will say, ‘There is a Lady Done for you.’”_

“Higgledy Piggledy--Malpas shot.”

_All share alike._

_The well-known anecdote need not be quoted._

“All on one side, like Parkgate.”

_A single street with one side only, the river being on the other side._

“Every man was not born to be Vicar of Bowdon.”

_One of the most valuable livings in Cheshire._

“To pull Lymm from Warburton.”

_Complete and absolute separation._

“Hanged hay never does cattle.”

_Bought hay, hung and weighed in the scales, is not economical. It will not do (pronounced “doe”) cattle._

“To scold like a wych-waller.”

_I.e., a “salt-boiler” at one of the wyches of Cheshire._

“To catch a person napping, as Moss caught his mare.”

“I’ll tell thee, quoth Wood, If I can’t rule my daughter, I’ll rule my good.”

“But when? quoth Kettle to his mare.”

_Of these three worthies history is silent._

“Like Goodyer’s pig, never well but when he is doing mischief.”

“He stands like Mumphazard, who was hanged for saying nothing.”

“Like the parson of Saddleworth who could read no book but his own.”

“Roint you witch! as Bessy Locket said to her mother.”

“No more sib (akin) than sieve and riddle that grew in a wood together.”

“If he were as long as a lither, he might thatch a house without a ladder.”

“It would make a dog doff his doublet.”

“She hath broken her elbow at the Church door.”

_A woman grown idle after marriage._

“Score twice before you cut once.”

_Used by curriers. Holmes’ “Academie of Armourie.”_

_Don’t cut your leather until you feel sure you have selected the right place._

“Stoppord law, no stake no draw.”

_Stockport or Stopport--only those who contribute to an undertaking may reap benefit from it._

“You may know a Mobberley man by his breeches.”

_An allusion to poachers in the neighbouring Tatton Park. They made their breeches of buckskin._

“The Mayor of Altrincham lies in bed while his breeches are mending.”

“The Mayor of Altrincham, and the Mayor of Over, The one is a thatcher, the other a dauber.”

_These places were small and unimportant, and the mayors were therefore sometimes chosen from men in humble ranks of life._

“A Stopport (Stockport) chaise.”

_Two women riding sideways on one horse._

“As thrunk as three in a bed.”

_Thrunk = crowded._

“It is time to yoke when the cart comes to the caples.”

“_In some part of England they call a horse a caple._”--Chaucer. Latin = _Caballus_.

“Good to fetch a rich man sorrow and a dead man woe.”

“As much wit as three folks--two fools and a madman.”

“She hath been to London to call a strea a straw, and a waw a wall.”

_Adopting the London pronunciation and forgetting, or being ashamed of, the county dialect._

“To come home like the parson’s cow, with a calf at her foot.”

“To look a strained hair in a can.”

“To shed riners with a whaver.”

“_To surpass anything skilful or adroit by something still more so._”--Wilbraham. _Riner_ = _a toucher used at quoits_.

“Too-Too will in two.”

_Strain a thing too much and it will not hold._

“Well, well, is a word of malice.”

“You been like Smithwick, either clemed or bossten.”

_Too little or too much._

“Afraid of far enough.”

“Afraid of him that died last year.”

_Of that which is never likely to happen._

LOCAL RHYMES

Holt liars, Farndon bears, Churton greyhounds, Aldford hares.

In Stoak there are but few good folk, In Stanney--hardly any.

Gobbinshire, Gobbinshire from Gobbinshire Green, The ronkest oud beggar as ever was seen.

_Gobbinshire was a name of the lower portion of the Wirral peninsula._

Sir Randle Crewe, the Lord of this manor, Was born in Nantwich, the son of a Tanner.

Middlewych is a pretty toun Seated in a valley, With a Church and Market Cross And eke a bouling alley; All the men are loyal there, Pretty girls are plenty, Church and King, and doun with the Rump There’s not such a toun in twenty. --_Cavalier Ballad._

“Congleton rare, where they sold the Bible to buy a bear.”

_The inhabitants once laid by money for a new Bible, but the town bear having died, they devoted their savings to buying a new bear for baiting._

When the Chester and Birkenhead railway was made, the name of Ledsham was given to a station which was nearest to Sutton, and this gave rise to the following:--

“I want to go to Sutton please.” “There aren’t no Sutton _now_.” “It’s taken t’name o’ Ledsham, sir.” “For an estate? or how?”

SUNDRY SAWS

Farm servants dissatisfied say:--

Maily bread an maily pies, Skim Dick full o’ eyes, Buttermilk astid o’ beer, I’m sartin I shanna stop here. (_South Cheshire._)

Come aw ye buttermilk sellers that have buttermilk to sell, Ah’d have ye give good mizzer, and scrub yo’r vessels well; For there’s a day o’ reckoning, an hell will have its share, An’ the devil will have you nappers as Mossy ketched his mare.

“Go fiddle for shives (slices of food) Amongst old wives.”

_Said in contempt._

“Laus-a-dees What times be these.”

“Stare-agog, stare agog Tumbled o’er the tatoe-hog.”

Children irritate bulls by shouting:--

“Billy Billy Belder Sucked the cai’s elder” (udder).

PHENOMENA

Dee’s valley mild till close of year Means three months cold in store, I fear.

THE MOON.

When hoo fulls at ye midnight, or soone after that, In ye sommer, great heat, In ye winter, hard frost. When hoo fulls at ye midday, or soone after that, Winter cries, “O ye rain,” Summer says, “Cheshire’s lost.” --_Old Cheshire Household Book_, 1675-85.

(_Hoo_ is the old English “she.”)

A winde from Sandbach in the Easte Blows good to neither man nor beast.

Malpas ales and Malpas gales Cheer the farmer, fill his pails.

Whenever Chester chimes at Congleton do sound A flood, like Noah’s, will wash away ye ground.

_The towns are thirty miles apart._

It rains, it pains, it patters i’ the docks, Mobberley wenches are weshin’ their smocks.

As long as Helsby (hill) wears a hood, The weather’s never very good.

If Wednesday, Thursday, or if Friday Happen this year to be May day, Then begin some harmless thing And it will thee much credit bring. --Randle Holme, _Harleian MSS._

LEGENDS

The Celtic legend already alluded to comes from Alderley Edge. It is a version of _Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table_.

A farmer going through Alderley Edge, on his way to the fair to sell a beautiful white mare, was accosted by a venerable old man dressed as a monk, who said:

“Sell as thou wilt that steed of thine ’Tis fated that the steed be mine.”

The farmer found no purchaser, and, returning at night, met the monk by two enormous iron gates, through which they entered into a huge cavern where numbers of milk-white steeds were stalled, and by each lay an armed warrior asleep. The wizard paid the farmer, who asked the meaning of the mysterious troopers, and was told that they would, when England

“Was thrice lost and thrice won ’Twixt dawn of day and setting sun,”

come to her aid.

When the wizard ceased, the farmer found himself alone on the hill, and the gates closed behind him.

A dragon legend is connected with Thomas Venables, son of Sir Gilbert Venables, cousin-german to William the Conqueror:--

“It chaunced a terrible dragon to remayne and make his abode in the lordeshippe of Moston in the Countye of Chester, wheare he devoured all such persons as he laid hold on, which ye said Thomas Venables herringe tell of ... dyd in his awne person valiantly set on the saide dragon, where first he shotte hym throwe with an arrowe, and afterward with other weapons manfullie slew him, at which instant the dragon was devouringe of a childe.”

A greater fund of legendary lore is found with regard to the lakes or meres of Cheshire:--

BRERETON--BAG OR BLACK MERE.

“Here is one exceeding strange, but attested in my hearing by many persons, and commonly believed. Before any heir of this (Brereton) family dies, there are seen in a lake adjoining, the bodies of trees swimming upon the water for several days together.”--Camden.

Sir Philip Sidney, in _Seven Wonders of England_, says:--

“The Breretons have a lake, which, when the sun Approaching warms (not else) dead logs up sends From hideous depth, which tribute when it ends Sure sign it is the Lord’s last thread is spun.”

CAPESTHORN--RUDESMERE, OR REEDSMERE.

In the grounds of Capesthorne is a fine sheet of water called Reedsmere, containing a floating island about 1½ acres in size, which in strong winds is blown here and there. A country legend accounts for this floating island by a story that a certain knight was jealous of his lady-love, and vowed not to look upon her face until the island moved on the face of the mere. But he fell sick, and was nigh to death, when he was nursed back to health by the lady, to reward whose constancy a tremendous hurricane tore the island up by the roots.

ROSTHERNE MERE.

“All kinds of legends are current about Rostherne, as is the case with most lakes which are reported to be deep. One is, that a mermaid comes up on Easter Day and rings a bell; another, that it communicates with the Irish Channel by a subterranean passage; another, that it once formed with Tabley, Tatton, Mere, and other lakes, a vast sheet of water that covered the country between Alderley Edge and High Leigh.”--Hope, _Holy Wells and Traditions_.

COMBERMERE

Has also a bell legend.

BELLS

The Curfew is still tolled at nine o’clock at Chester Cathedral, and the big bell used to be tolled whenever the Dean or Bishop was going to preach, but this has been discontinued. “Curfew” is tolled at many of the country churches, sometimes throughout the year, and sometimes only at harvest-time.

At Frodsham Church a small bell, which stood over the chancel arch, was called the “Dag-tale” bell, or “day-telling” bell--probably from being used to denote the hours of the day to those working in the fields. At Holmes Chapel, in the parish of Sandbach, there is an entry in 1723 for “bell ropes to Dag-tail 12s.”

The “Pancake” bell is still rung at Congleton on Shrove Tuesday at 11 A.M., and at Tarvin; and at Barthomley and other places it was called by the expressive name of the “Guttit” bell.

Ray says:--

“At Nantwich they have a custom like that in Scotland; when anyone is dead a Bellman goeth about the streets in the morning that the dead person is to be buried, tinkling a bell he has in his hand, and now and then makes a stand and invites the people to come to the funeral at such an hour.”

Prebendary Garencieres of Chester Cathedral, in his will of 1703, says:--

“I would have no other invitation to my funeral than by notice given by the Clerk to the parishioners of Handley and Waverton, and by the Belman to the people of Chester, of the time when, and the place where my corps is to be buried.”

Congleton still preserves three ancient leather belts, on which are strung a number of metal bells with rolling clappers. Two belts have seven, and one has five, and each bell has a different tone. They are said to have been worn by three church officials on the Congleton “Wake” day, the Feast of St. Peter _ad vincula_, or “St. Peter in Chains.” At midnight of that day three acolytes ran round the town summoning the people to church, thereby representing the clanking of chains. About one hundred years ago the bells fell into the hands of a family of chimney-sweeps, but were ultimately seized and preserved by the town authorities. They are unique.

The following is a Cheshire distich on bells:--

Higher Peover kettles, Lower Peover pans, Knutsford sweet music, and Rostherne great drones.

BIRDS

Two cocks answer one another:--

1. “Cocky Keeko! The women been master here.”

2. “Cocky Keeko! It’s the same everywhere.” (_South Cheshire._)

The “Golden Plover” is called “The Sheep’s Guide” by the Longdendale shepherds, who say the bird’s note warns the sheep of danger.

It is considered bad luck to take the eggs of, or to kill the Robin, Wren, Spotted Fly-catcher, and Swallow, hence the following:--

The Martin and the Swallow Are God’s Mate and Marrow,

or,

“Are God Almighty’s birds to hollow” (= to _hallow_ or _keep holy_).

Eggs of game-fowl are placed in Magpies’ nests to be hatched, in order to make the game-cocks fight better.

The calling of a green Woodpecker indicates rain.

The name of “Boggarts muck” is given to Owl pellets, the idea being that the small bones therein are those of fairies eaten by boggarts.

The Cuckoo was called “The Welsh ambassador” in Cheshire, because this herald of spring was generally heard first on the Welsh border.

GAMES

Randle Holme gives an entertaining list of children’s games in the Stuart period, nearly all of which are now obsolete. He does not mention one which is more popular in Cheshire than the Southern Counties. This is the game in which a horse chestnut is threaded on a string and struck at with chestnuts similarly threaded. The chestnut is called a “coppity-co”:--

“Coppity-co, My first blow”

is the rhyme used. The word is now softened into cobbity-co (so in _Shropshire_) and even into comity-co (_Chester_, 1909).

“Cobbity-cuts Put daïn your nuts.” (_South Cheshire._)

_Cop_ is old English for _top_ or _head_.[67] Somnolent church-goers in olden times had reason to remember this fact.

Paid Richard Pennington for whiping dogs and cobing sleeping folke £0 10 0

(_Bunbury Church Accounts._)

[67] So at Chester, the top of the river bank is called “The Cop,” and a “cop-hedge” is, in Cheshire, a bank with a hedge on top of it.

A similar official at Tarvin was familiarly known as “The Cobber,” and at Tarporley as “The Awakener.”[68]

[68] The following anecdote, which is vouched for, is too good to omit:--At a certain Cheshire church, where the farmers slumbered peacefully during the afternoon sermon, the incumbent was surprised on a certain Sunday to see the farmers, one after another, waking up suddenly and vigorously rubbing their faces. At last, looking up in a gallery to the left of the pulpit, he saw a boy with a pea-shooter, and at once discerned the cause of the commotion. He shook his fist at the lad, but to no effect, and at last cried out, “Young man, desist!” but the boy, bent on his work, replied, “Never thee mind! get along with thy sermon; I’ll keep the beggars awaken for thee!”

Another curious game is “Dot.” Children move in a ring round one representing “Dot,” and sing:--

“Dun yo’ wot, ’oo were Dot? He were not a bad lot; Whereabouts was his cot, Oi’n furgotten to jot.” (_North Cheshire and Malpas._)

At this point “Dot” puts his hand out, and the one touched has to take his place. This is practically a “counting-out rhyme,” and there seems every probability that it is a very ancient one.

The Manor of Edge, in the Hundred of Broxton, was held, according to _Domesday Survey_, by Edwin, a Saxon thane, who, although he was compelled to become tenant to Norman Robert FitzHugh, managed to retain for himself the two Edges. Contemporary with him was Dot, the Saxon lord of sixteen manors, some of them conjointly with Edwin; but, more unlucky than he, Dot lost all his manors and fled to Wales. His grandson, Cadwgan Dot, was father of Hova Dot or Dod, from whom the Edge and Broxton Dods claim lineal descent.

The following are additional “counting-out” specimens:--

Orcum, Borcum, Boni, Corkum, Ericum, Bericum, bo-ni-bus. O.U.T. spells out. (_Chester._)

One, two, Sky-blue; All in But you. (_Chester_, 1904.)

MUSIC

Although Cheshire cannot be described as a musical county, yet it has no reason to be ashamed of its past musical history.

“Cheshire Rounds” was a celebrated tune and dance--sometimes danced by a couple (whose gyrations resembled the movements of the sun and moon) and sometimes by a single person. The only known portrait of Doggett (who founded the celebrated waterman’s badge) shows him dancing the “Cheshire Round.”

Miss Stanley writes from Alderley Park--

_Sep. 8, 1798._ We had yesterday what is generally called a harvest home supper, but _here_ a “shutting.” Old Peter danced the Cheshire Round on the table after supper with Charlotte Alcock, one of the women.

A play-bill of the time of William III. shows how popular the dance was then--

In Bartholomew Fair, at the Coach-house, on the pav’d stones at Hosier Lane end, you will see a Black that dances the _Cheshire Rounds_ to perfection.

The Morris Dance has always been a favourite, especially in the Knutsford district, where it was danced to the following:--

[Music:

Morris Dance is a very pretty tune, I can dance in my new shoon; My new shoon they are so good, I could dance it if I would. This is it, and that is it, And this is Morris dancing. My poor father broke his leg, And so it fell a chancing. ]

Just over the border, in Lancashire, the version runs--

My new shoon, they are so good, I could dance Morris if I would; And if hat and sark be drest I will dance Morris with the rest.

Three ballads were very popular, viz. “The Miller of the Dee,” “The Spanish Lady” (who is supposed to have fallen in love with the Cheshire knight Sir Uryan Leigh), and “The Cheshire Cheese.”

CHURCHES

The old parish account-books show that much more was spent on music in old times than in the present day, _e.g._ _Bunbury_:--

1762. For a bassoon £5 5 0 1787. John Richardson, for instructing the singers 8 17 0 1801. For a hautboy 0 14 0 1811. For a base violin 6 16 7 1820. Paid Mr. Cotgreave, for leading the singers, 62 nights at 5s. 15 10 0 1821. Do. do. 77 nights at 5s. 19 5 0

In 1785, at Farndon, we find--

To a vestry meeting about a bassoon £0 2 6 To a bassoon 6 0 8

Two new “cleronets” and reeds cost £5 12s. 9d., and a new hautboy £1. 8s.

At the same vestry the churchwarden was empowered to pay £1. 1s. yearly to the singers “so long as they continue to sing such tunes as the inhabitants of the parish shall approve of”; and William Snelson was paid two guineas per annum “to teach the children to sing psalms in church.”...

The abolition of the old church band has _not_ been of benefit to many churches and villages.

Passing mention must be made of Handel’s visit to Chester, in 1741, when he tried over the music of the “Messiah” before its first performance in Dublin, and of the great Chester Musical Festivals held at various intervals from 1772 to 1829, and of the celebrated political song called the “Glorious Sixth of May,” which stirred Chester like a second “Lillibulero,” just one hundred years ago.

WELLS

A wishing well, called “Billy Hobby’s Well,” was in the field which is now the Grosvenor Park, Chester, and a local poet sang thus in 1823--

I lov’d the tales that idle maids would tell, Of wonders wrought at Billy Hobby’s well; Where love-sick girls with leg immured would stand, The right leg ’twas--the other on dry land, With face so simple--stocking in the hand-- Wishing for husbands half a winter’s day, With ninety times the zeal they used to pray.

Other wells round Chester were “St. Giles’ Well” at Spital Boughton, “Jacob’s Well” near St. John’s Church, “Aganippe’s Well” at Newton, and the “Abbot’s Well” at Christleton, which supplied the monastery at Chester with water. It still exists, but the others are extinct.

Another wishing well was at Gayton, and a holy well at Alderley Edge. St. Plegmund’s Well is in the parish of Plemstall (three miles from Chester). It has been customary for many years to take the water used for christenings in the church from this well.

A chalybeate spring existed in Delamere Forest, and was resorted to by invalids in the eighteenth century.

The largest well now existing is the “Synagogue Well” at Frodsham, which is close to the site of the ancient castle there, and may have been connected with it. It still has a copious supply of water, and has been cleansed and repaired, much to the detriment of its former picturesque appearance.

There is no history attached to it nor any explanation of the curious name. Major Egerton Leigh gives a fancy history of it in his _Ballads and Legends of Cheshire_.

No traces of well-worship exist; but up to a late period the inhabitants of Nantwich used to sing a hymn of thanksgiving at the “Blessing of the Brine.” An ancient pit, called the “Old Brine” or “Biat,” was decked on Ascension Day with flowers, and a jovial band of young people celebrated the day with song and dance. Aubrey says: “In Cheshire, where they went in perambulation, they did blesse the springs--_i.e._ did read the Gospel at them, and did believe the water was better.”

A remnant of _fire-worship_ existed at Alvanley, where, on the Toot Hill, fires were made in the spring and autumn, through which the villagers jumped.

ROBERT NIXON

Mention must be made of Robert Nixon, the great Cheshire prophet, whose fame not only rivalled that of Mother Shipton, but may be said (seeing that he is mentioned in _Pickwick_) to have lasted longer. The earliest history is Oldmixon’s, published in 1714, which says that “in the reign of James I. there lived a fool whose name was Nixon,” and that Thomas Cholmondley of Vale Royal (d. 1652) “took him into his house, where he lived when he composed this prophecy.” But other writers place him at a much earlier period. His prophecies really fall into the two periods of civil war, viz. the Wars of the Roses, and the Great Rebellion. If, therefore, Nixon was a real personage, it is obvious that if he lived in the reign of James I. he cannot have uttered some of the prophecies attributed to him. The discovery of an “Irish Analogue of Nixon’s Prophecy” (_Notes and Queries_, October 21, 1865) throws great doubt on the whole matter. The subject still requires much investigation.

The following are a few of Nixon’s prophecies:--

When an eagle shall sit on the top of Vale-Royal House, Then an heir shall be born, who shall live to see great troubles in England.

It is said that the Cholmondley family was at this time nearly extinct, but in due course an heir was born, during which time an eagle perched on the house-top.

Between a rick and two trees A famous battle shall be.

The “rick and two trees” may be Warwick, Coventry, and Daventry, and the battle, Edgehill, 1642; or Rickmansworth, Elstree, and Edwinstree, and the battle the second fought at St. Alban’s, 1461.

The following is unintelligible:--

There will be three gates to London of imprisoned men for Cowsters. Then, if you have three cows, at the first gate sell one, and keep thee at home. At the second gate sell the other two, and keep thee at home. At the last gate all shall be done.

_Old Mab’s Curse_ is directed against any one of the Minshull family who shall sell the family acres--

Mabel’s dole, of pious fame From royal blood they say she came; Poor and needy folks do tell That Mynshull’s land no one dare sell, For Old Mab’s curse on him would light That ere should sell land, stone, or bight.

The belief that bees must be told of their master’s death is widely spread, also that a winter crop of primroses betokens a death in the house. Powdered alabaster is considered a good remedy for the ailments of sheep, and the beautiful tomb of Sir Hugh Calveley in Bunbury Church has, in consequence, it is said, suffered much mutilation.

We find Trowle, the shepherd boy in the Chester play, making much of his tar-box as a specific, for the diseases of sheep and cattle were serious matters for an agricultural people, as the following show:--

Paid for a book concerning ye disorders of cattle £0 1 0[69]

and in the accounts of St. John’s Church, Chester, the following occurs five times in 1747:--

Paid for a book about the horned cattle £0 0 8

[69] Bunbury Church Accounts.

One other point remains to be noticed. There is a widely-spread belief that the indentures of apprentices in Chester contained a clause stipulating that they should not be compelled to eat salmon more than three days in each week. No such indenture has ever been seen, and the late Mr. Frank Buckland offered, in vain, a reward of five pounds for the sight of such a document. The tradition exists wherever there is a salmon river, but investigation shows that it is without foundation.

Such is some of the folk-lore of Cheshire, and there may still be a great deal which has never yet been recorded. It behoves every one to use his utmost endeavours to put into print every song, legend, saying, or custom that he may meet with. Such relics of the past can only now be obtained from aged people, and in a few years this source will fail, and the rising “school-board” generation will neither know nor care for such things. It is well to remember also (to quote another Cheshire proverb) that “the unlikeliest places are often likelier than those which are likeliest.”

It has been impossible to give all references, but especial mention must be made of Hazlitt’s and Ray’s _Proverbs_, Mr. Robert Holland’s various papers, _The Cheshire Sheaf_, and some _Bird Notes_ of Mr. T. A. Coward.

TWO CHESHIRE SAINTS

By the Archdeacon of Chester

We are justified in giving this title to St. Werburgh and St. Plegmund, of whom specially this chapter will treat, since both belonged to the old kingdom of Mercia, of which Cheshire was a part.

We owe our knowledge of St. Werburgh to the metrical life of the Saint written by Henry Bradshaw, a monk of St. Werburgh’s Monastery, who died in 1513. The full title of his work (which was printed in 1521 and reprinted by the Chetham Society in 1848) is _The Holy Lyfe and History of Saynt Werburge, very frutefall for all Christen people to rede_. It purports to be a translation into English verse from the original Chronicle or Passionary stated by him to be preserved in the Monastery. He makes frequent allusions to the Venerable Bede (whom he styles his author), as also to “Master Alfrydus, William Malmsburge, Gyrarde, Polycronycon, and other mo(re).”

St. Werburgh was born about 650, and was the daughter of Wulfhere, King of Mercia (whose name is perpetuated in Wolverhampton) and Ermenhild his wife. She was thus descended from four royal families. Her father was the second son of Penda, King of Mercia, who claimed descent from Woden. Her mother was the daughter of Earconbert, King of Kent, and was thus a descendant both of Tytillus, King of East Anglia, and of St. Edwin, King of Northumbria. She was also connected with the kings of France, as St. Ermenhild’s grandfather and great-grandfather both married princesses of that royal house. We may say that she was of saintly as well as of royal lineage, for five of her grandfather Penda’s children (pagan though he himself was) earned the title of saints; whilst her mother’s family included the names of St. Hilda, St. Etheldreda, St. Ethelburga, and St. Sexburga (her mother).

Wulfhere and his queen chiefly lived at Stone in Staffordshire, where St. Werburgh, under the care of her good mother, grew up. Bradshaw gives a very interesting picture of her early years, in which her religious disposition, fostered no doubt by her mother’s influence and example, manifested itself in various ways. Thus:--

“First in the morning to church she would go, Following her mother the queene every day, With her boke and bedes, and depart not them fro, Hear all divine service and her devocyons say: And to our Blessed Saviour, mekely on her knees pray, Daily Him desiring, for His endless grace and pity, To keep her from sin, and preserve her in chastity.”

She was an only daughter having three brothers. She listened with earnest attention to every word of instruction and advice; abjured giddy pleasures; and found her truest joy in contemplation of heavenly things, and holiest bliss arising from a pure conscience, chastened by fasting and sanctified by prayer.

Bradshaw gives a full description of her young days, and fondly lingers over the narration of her virtues. She attracted many suitors, but courteously dismissed them all. Among these was the Prince of the West Saxons, who made offer of marriage and of all his worldly goods:--

“Landes, rentes, and libertees all at your pleasure; Servantes every hour, your byddynge for to do, With ladyes in your chambre to wayte on you also.”

She gently but firmly declines, saying:--

“But now I shewe you playnly my true mynde, My purpose was never maryed for to be; A lorde I have chosen, Redeemer of Mankynde Jhesu the Second Persone in Trynyte To be my Spouse.”

The suit of Warbode, a powerful knight and chief steward in her father’s household, was attended with disastrous results. He had gained an evil influence over King Wulfhere, and induced him, if not to become an actual apostate, to adopt a distinctly hostile attitude to Christianity. When his suit, though favoured by his master, is declined by St. Werburgh, he retires in wrath and plots revenge. He poisons the King’s mind, and persuades him that his sons Wulfade and Ruffyn are plotting against him, leads him into the forest, where they are found in St. Chad’s cell being instructed by the good Bishop in the Christian faith; and then in his blind rage the King slays them both, and rushes back to his castle. No sooner did he return than he was seized with sore pains, the mark of God’s vengeance. Stung with remorse, he repented of his apostasy; repaired to St. Chad; professed his contrition; promised to destroy all idols and temples in his realm and to build monasteries; and founded the Abbey of Peterborough and a priory at Stone--

“To the honour of God, and these martyrs twayne.”

And now St. Werburgh begs her father to be allowed to become “a religious,” and to enter the Abbey of Ely, where her great-aunt, St. Etheldreda (or Awdry) was the Abbess. Wulfhere is reluctant and slow to consent, but at length he yields; and, when the matter was once settled, does his part nobly.

After her year of probation, St. Werburgh made her holy profession with great solemnity, and her biographer holds her up to the women of his day as an example of virtue and humility.

On the death of Wulfhere, his widow, Ermenhild, herself repaired to the convent of Ely, where her mother, St. Sexburga, had succeeded her sister, St. Etheldreda, as Abbess, and vied with her daughter in piety and devotion. Wulfhere was succeeded as king by his brother, Ethelred, to whom, according to Giraldus Cambrensis, is due the building in 689 of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Chester. Ethelred fully appreciated his niece’s character, and, seeing her holy conversation, made her Lady and President at Weedon, Trentham, and Hanbury, thus making her ruler of the nuns within his realm. He himself also took the vows and became a monk, resigning the crown to his nephew, Cenred, St. Werburgh’s brother, who, after a short reign of five years, followed his uncle’s example; went to Rome the year of grace 708, and was “professed to Saint Benette’s religion,” and “frome this lyfe transitory, with vertu departed to eternal glory.”

Bradshaw goes on to describe “the gostly devocion of Saynt Werburge, and vertuous governans of her places,” and, if the chronicler is to be trusted, she showed a marvellous capacity for ruling her abbeys. Her behaviour and character is thus described:--

“She was a minister rather than a mistress, Her great pre-eminence caused no presumpcion, Serving her systers with humble subjection. . . . . . Piteous and merciful and full of charity To the poor people in their necessity. . . . . . She never commanded systers to do anything But it was fulfilled in her own doing.”

Even from these short extracts we can readily gather what a gentle, lovable personage she must have been, and how in all her relations of life she manifested a truly humble and Christian spirit. Her life was mainly spent between Weedon, Trentham, Repton, and Hanbury, and we can imagine what a gracious influence she exercised upon the religious houses there and their occupants, and so upon the surrounding neighbourhoods. It was at Trentham that she died, enjoining, however, that her body should rest at Hanbury. When she felt her end approaching she gave directions as to her successors and officers in the monasteries, and as to how their affairs should be conducted in the future; then, calling the sisters round her, she gave them her last exhortation, to live in temperance, obedience, and love, recited the Creed, received the Blessed Sacrament, and--

“The third day of February ye may be sure, Expired from this life, caduce and transitory, To eternal blyss, coronate with victory, Changing her lyfe, miserable and thrall, For infinite joy, and glory eternal.”

This was probably in the year 699. The people of Trentham buried her in that place, watching over the body lest it should be removed. However, the people of Hanbury came, and, a deep sleep having fallen upon the watchers, were enabled to carry the body safely to Hanbury, where it was interred in the chancel. Nine years afterwards, in the summer of 708, it was moved from the grave to a duly prepared shrine with great pomp, in the presence of her cousin King Ceolred and the bishops and the clergy. Here, says the chronicler, the body remained whole and substantial “for nearly 200 years, till the coming of the pagan Danes,” when “it was resolved and fell to powder lest the wicked miscreants with impious hands should dare to touch it.”

It was in 875, to save the remains from such violation, that the people of Hanbury were inspired to bring them to Chester, as the Danes, having destroyed Weedon and Trentham, had come as far as Repton. It was then that--

“The relique, the Shryne full memorative, Was brought to Chestre for our consolacion, Reverently receyved, set with devocion In the mouther Church of Saint Peter and Paule (As afore is sayd) a place most principall.”

A full description is given of the solemn reception of the shrine and its treasured contents, and also of the gifts wherewith rich and poor vied with each other to enrich it.[70] The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul was probably somewhere on the site of the present cathedral. Ethelfleda, daughter of King Alfred, built a separate minster to St. Werburgh, joining it to the east end of the older church. This building (rebuilt, we are told, by Leofric, Earl of Chester) gave place to the Norman structure of Hugh Lupus, in the erection of which he was assisted by the advice of St. Anselm. But through all these changes and vicissitudes the name of St. Werburgh was associated with the dedication of the church, and her shrine found its home there.

[70] According to the Ely Book (_Liber Eliensis_) the relics were brought to the Abbey of Ely (Wall’s _Shrines of British Saints_). Certain portions of them may have been carried to either place, or there may be some confusion as to the name.

The shrine was no doubt visited by pilgrims from all parts, and as time went on was adorned and beautified. The shrine proper was a box or receptacle in which the relics of the saint were deposited, and was often made of the most splendid and costly materials, and enriched with jewels in profusion.

Bradshaw speaks of this portable shrine as “a riall relique” (royal relic), and also tells of the “many riall gyftes of jewels to the shrine.” It was carried about in processions and in times of danger and emergency, and was “set on the towne walles for help and tuicion”; to save Chester from the attacks of the Welsh; and again,

“The devout Chanons sette the holy Shryne Agaynst their enemies at the sayd Northgate,”

“when innumerable barbarik nations purposed to disstroye and spoyle the city.” Similarly we are told “howe in 1180 a great fire, like to destroye all Chestre, by myracle ceased when the holy shryne was borne about the towne by the monkes.” As various miracles were ascribed to her agency in her lifetime, so now her relics were regarded as powerful instruments in warding off evil whether from individuals or the community at large. The shrine would be visited by suppliants from every quarter, who would invoke the aid of the Saint to remedy their various ills. For the portable shrine a suitable resting-place would be erected, one probably giving place to another as successive generations altered the style and character of the building. Round this stately and elaborate structure would be places where the suppliants could kneel, and also receptacles for the offerings which their piety and gratitude inspired. Of the earlier structures no trace remains, but the fifteenth century one has in recent years been placed at the west end of the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral, as being probably near the spot where it originally stood. At the foundation of the See, and up till 1870, the lower portion formed the base of the Bishop’s Throne, the crown being lowered so as to form the balustrade in front of the Bishop’s seat. In this adaptation certain stones were removed, and were built up in the wall which enclosed the staircase which led from the Bishop’s study directly into the Cathedral. In removing this staircase in 1885 these stones were discovered, and have again been placed on the shrine, which is thus restored to its original proportions. The shrine was adorned with canopied niches, in which were sculptured figures bearing their names on scrolls, representing the Kings and Saints of the Mercian kingdom.

It will be gathered from what has been said that though Saint Werburgh probably spent no portion of her life in Cheshire, yet she was for more than seven hundred years associated in men’s minds with the county, inasmuch as her shrine had its home in Chester. In those days she would be looked upon as a Cheshire Saint, and from far and near religious pilgrims would come to say their devotions and to tender their offerings at her shrine in the Church which was dedicated to God’s service in her name. We are therefore justified in speaking of her under this heading. And she has left her name in the county in other ways. Nine churches in England (six of them in the old kingdom of Mercia) are dedicated in her name. One of these is in Cheshire at Warburton, _Werburgh town_. That place gave its name to an honoured Cheshire family, which has given its scions to the service of their country in many directions, and which still holds a position of high renown and esteem in the county. We may thus legitimately term St. Werburgh a Cheshire Saint. We cannot do better than follow her favourite precept and common saying: “Please God and love Him, and doubt not anything.”

The other subject of our paper is St. Plegmund, to many perhaps an unknown name, though he rose to a high position, and must have exercised a wide and beneficent influence on Church and State both in his own day and for succeeding generations. He, like St. Werburgh, was a native of Mercia, though we cannot give his birthplace or his parentage. But we can connect him very closely with the county and with the neighbourhood of Chester, where his name is still preserved in the name of a parish, that of Plemstall. This has been variously written at different times, as Plegmundstall, Plegmondesham, &c. It was here, in fact, that he established himself as a hermit in an Isle of Chester; for though Plemstall is no longer an island, it has been clearly shown that in earlier times the locality would justify such description.

Plegmund was born in troublous times about the middle of the ninth century. The Danes had overrun the land, destroyed the monasteries, the only places of learning, and driven the monks from their books. Some there were, however, who determined, in spite of all difficulties, to pursue their studies and to pray in solitude for better times, and of these Plegmund was one. He had very probably been a monk, though this cannot be said with certainty. At any rate he adopted the hermit’s life, and set up his stall or habitation at Plemstall, then doubtless an island amid fens and marshes, and by its situation affording a place of safety in times of disorder and unrest. His lonely dwelling, of which no trace remains, may have been on the site of the present church or a short distance away, and nearer to the well which still bears his name. Here he lived the hermit’s life; but we must remember, as Dean Hook tells us, that a hermit was not an anchorite. The latter never quitted his cell, but was an absolute recluse. The hermit was a more independent character; he moved about as occasion demanded. If he had a settled abode he would go to places of resort near at hand, and by his preaching seek to benefit the wayfarers who might be passing by.

We can imagine therefore St. Plegmund paying his frequent visits to the neighbouring city, only three or four miles distant, taking up his position at one or other of its gates (for it was surrounded by its Roman walls, and though then “waste” must have had some inhabitants), and instructing out of his laboriously-acquired learning those who were willing to pause and listen to his discourse. The anxious inquirer might return with him to his island home and, after further preparation as a catechumen, receive the grace of Holy Baptism at the well above referred to. His supply of books or manuscripts would be but small. The Bible of course was his constant companion, and it has been suggested with confidence that Boethius’ _De Consolatione Philosophiæ_ would certainly be one of his treasures. This treatise was afterwards translated by King Alfred, a task in which Plegmund may have helped him. There is in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a copy (the oldest in existence) of the Saxon Chronicle, said to have been translated by Plegmund, for which assertion there is internal evidence of an indirect nature. This, however, was probably done after he left this neighbourhood; but the fact may be taken as showing what his powers were, and what a diligent student he must have been, especially when we consider the scanty materials which would be at his service. He must have acquired some reputation for his learning, and his fame reached the ears of King Alfred, who sent for him to his Court to act as his adult tutor. There he would find Grimbald, Werefrid, Asser, and others, and with them would be associated with the monarch in the promotion of learning and in furthering the best interests of the nation.

We speak of the king as “Alfred the Great,” but then he was known as “England’s Darling.” Alfred came to the crown in 872, and died in 900. How soon after his accession he summoned Plegmund to his side to be his tutor and instructor we cannot say, but that the relations between them were very close and intimate and mutually advantageous, we can have no doubt. In the year 890 the see of Canterbury was vacant, and, having been declined by Grimbald, was offered by the King to Plegmund, a step which was received with general approbation, for the entry in the Saxon Chronicle runs thus: “This year 890 Plegmund was chosen of God and of all the people Archbishop of Canterbury.” Plegmund was consecrated at Rome by Pope Formosus, but as some doubt and discredit was thrown upon the actions of this pontiff, he paid a second visit to Rome, and was re-consecrated by Pope Stephen, thus submitting to a rite of more than questionable propriety. He cordially seconded the King in his endeavours to establish a learned priesthood. Some justification has been alleged for the fact that several sees and posts were for a time kept vacant, in the consideration that men of sufficient learning and education were not to be found for them. At anyrate Plegmund, scholar and theologian as he was, did all that lay in his power to remove the reproach which was fastening upon the Church that it had an ignorant and illiterate clergy.

In conjunction with the King, he published _The Pastoral Care_ of Gregory the Great, a copy of which was sent to every English bishop, with a noteworthy preface from the King himself, in which the sovereign acknowledged what he had “learned of Plegmund my Archbishop, and of Asser my bishop, and of Grimbald my presbyter, and of John my presbyter.” It is interesting to know that the copy addressed to Plegmund is still preserved, as well as those addressed to the Bishops of Worcester and Sherborne. It is reasonable to conclude from this that Alfred would find in _his_ Archbishop a zealous assistant in all his efforts to promote sound and religious learning, and that the two would heartily co-operate in endeavours to secure an educated clergy. Whether he ever visited the scene of his former labours, it is impossible to say; but the late Mr. Thomas Hughes, F.S.A., in a fancied description of the laying of the foundation of St. John’s, Chester, writes thus: “First there were Ethelred and Ethelfleda, the joint founders--near them might stand their Royal Ward, Athelstan, the Etheling, heir to his father’s throne. Prominent among the group would be Plegmund, the Archbishop of Canterbury, a native of Mercia, and but a few years before a modest recluse at the hermitage in that island of Chester.” We cannot give a detailed account of Plegmund’s episcopate, which lasted for twenty-four years; but we are sure that, as he assisted his royal master when at his Court and before he became Archbishop in promoting learning amongst his people, so in the higher position and with the larger opportunities he must have done the like. Himself a student, he knew the advantages of learning, and would be anxious to make them as widespread as possible.

Alfred is looked upon as the founder of the University of Oxford, or of University College, its first hall, and we can understand how in that work, in the conception as well as in the performance of it, the advice and counsel of his own tutor, Plegmund, would be most valuable. During his pontificate the West Saxon Episcopate was sub-divided, and the number of sees thereby increased, a clear indication of his vigorous and strenuous rule. In 909 on the same day no fewer than seven bishops were consecrated by Plegmund, three of them for newly-founded sees, and one of these for the extreme west in Devonshire. This was for Kirton, identified as Crediton, and it is interesting to note that the millenary of the consecration of Eadulf as the first bishop of Crediton has just been celebrated at that place. On that occasion the Bishop of Bristol (Dr. G. F. Browne), who is an eminent historian, gave a most instructive address, referring specially to the work of Plegmund, and to an earlier Saint connected with Crediton, S. Boniface. It was probably owing to that connection that Crediton was chosen as the seat of the Bishops of Devonshire, a position it retained for more than a hundred and fifty years. The Archbishop of Canterbury was also present on the occasion, and expressed the hope that the work they were doing now, the things they were now starting, and the works they were taking in hand, might give as good cause to people a thousand years hence to thank God and take courage, as was given a thousand years ago to them by Plegmund and the seven Bishops of whom they had heard that day. Plegmund died on July 23, 914, and was buried in the Cathedral of Canterbury. No likeness of him has been left, not even on the coins which bear his name. His life in Cheshire must have been singularly quiet, and yet we cannot doubt that he was thereby nerved and braced for the battle of life, and fitted for the arduous duties of the high position to which he was afterwards called.

Allusion has been made to St. Plegmund’s Well. It is interesting to know that whilst it bore this title in very early deeds, it has for generations been designated “the Christening Well,” as the water for the Font for Holy Baptism was drawn from it. Moreover, in the old churchwardens’ accounts of the parish, mention is made of an annual payment made to the clerk for cleaning out this well, and keeping it free from weeds. There was some danger of the well being overlooked, as it is very much overhung by bushes in the hedge at the back of it. The original stone work at the side and bottom had decayed. In the autumn of 1908 a new curb and back were erected at the expense of Mr. Osborne Aldis, and dedicated on November 10th, when a goodly congregation assembled, and after a short service in the church, when the story of St. Plegmund was unfolded, proceeded to the well where the dedicatory prayers were said. On the stone-work the following couplet is carved:--

“Hic fons Plegmundi functus baptismatis usu Regnante Alfredo tunc hodieque solet.”

This may be freely translated as follows:--

“Here as in days when Alfred erst was king Baptismal water flows from Plegmund’s spring.”

It is hoped that by this restoration of the well the memory of S. Plegmund may be preserved: and it is not improbable that the ceremony of dressing the well, not uncommon in the adjoining county of Derbyshire, may be adopted as a village festival on July 23rd, the day of St. Plegmund’s death.

_Note._--The preceding chapter embodies the substance of two papers by the same writer, read before Meetings of the Chester and North Wales Archæological and Historic Society.

INDEX

Abbess of Ely, St. Etheldreda, 266 Abbey, Birkenhead, 14, 34, 36 ---- Combermere, 14, 34, 35 ---- Mobberley, 14, 34 ---- Norton, 14, 34 ---- Pulton, 14, 35 ---- Runcorn, 14 ---- Stanlaw, 14, 34 ---- St. Werburgh’s, 9-13, 33, 34, 38-48 ---- Vale Royal, 14, 34, 35 Abbot’s Well, 260 _Academy of Armoury, The_, 136, 137 _Account of the Rolls of the Honour of Halton, An_, 107 Acton Church, 16 ---- Lord, 18 Adlington, 200 ---- Hall, 16, 84, 94 Aganippe’s Well, 260 Alderley Edge, Celtic legend, 252 ---- ---- farmhouse, 94 Aldford Castle, 51, 52 Alfred the Great, 272 Almshouses in Commonhall Lane, Chester, 86, 87 Alvanley, fire-worship at, 261 Ancient poaching, 108 ---- timber houses at--Adlington, 200; Baguley, 200; Bramhall, 200; Little Moreton, 200 Anselm, St., 8, 269 _Anti-Christ_, a Mystery Play, 163 Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Plegmund, 273 ---- of York, Thomas Savage, 14 Architecture of Cheshire, half-timbered, 80-99 Arley Hall, 198 Arneway, author of Mystery Plays, 148 “Articles of Surrender,” Chester, 186 Ashley Hall, 197 _Assumption, The_, a Mystery Play, 160, 163 Aston, Sir Arthur, 119 ---- Sir Thomas, 119 Audley and the Welsh raids, James, Lord, 10 ---- James, Lord, 115 ---- Lord, 13 Author of Mystery Plays--Arneway, 148; Ralf Higden, 147

Bebington Cross, 211 Baddiley Church, 67 Baguley, or Baggily Hall, 85-89, 200 Bakers’ Charter, Chester, 147 Ballads, 259 “Banes” or “Banns” of Mystery Plays, 153, 154-160 Bangor Monachorum, 220 ---- Monastery of, 4 Baptistery, Italian font in St. Werburgh’s, 45 Barlow, T. Worthington, 131 Barnston, Roger, 226 ---- William, 225 Barons of Cheshire, 8, 22 ---- wars, 11 Barron, Dr. John, 122 Barthomley Church, 16 ---- ---- alabaster effigy in, 116 Battle of Chester, 12, 220 ---- of Rowton Heath, 74, 184, 190, 191 ---- at Nantwich, 9 “Bear and Billet, The,” Chester, 97 Bell, Congleton, 254 ---- custom, Nantwich, 254 ---- Frodsham Church, 254 ---- “Pancake,” 254 Bells, some Cheshire, 254 Bellin, George, parish clerk, 150 Beeston Castle, 16, 51, 55, 182, 186, 194 ---- Sir George, 117 Bidston Court, 99 “Billy Hobby’s Well,” 260 Bird sayings, 255 Birkenhead Abbey, 14, 34-36 ---- Henry, 124 ---- Sir John, 123 Birket House, 16 Bishop Edward Stanley, 122 ---- Heber, 121 ---- of Bangor and Chester, Dr. Hugh Bellot, 121 ---- of Chester, John Bridgeman, 101 ---- Lloyd’s Palace, 75, 97 ---- Rider, 121 ---- Wilson, 121 Bishops, Cheshire, 121-122 Bishopric of Chester, 14 Blackfriars, Chester, 48 “Blessing of the Brine,” 261 Blore Heath, 13 Blundeville, Earl Randle, 23 Bohun, Earl Ranulph, 11 Bonewaldesthorne’s Tower, 73 Booth, Colonel, 186 ---- family of Dunham Massey, 116 ---- Henry, Earl of Warrington and Baron Delamere, 120 ---- of Twamlowe, John, 129 ---- Sir George, 119 ---- Sir John, 197 ---- Sir Robert, 116 ---- Sir Thomas, 119 Boundary Crosses, 208 Bow Stones Cross, 212 Bradshaw, Henry, regicide, 129 ---- ---- Monk of St. Werburgh’s, 264 Bramall Hall, 84, 89, 90 Bramhall, 200 Bravery of Cheshire men, 13 Brereton, 200 ---- legend, 253 ---- Lord, 118, 128 ---- Sir William, 117, 181, 183, 186 Brerewood, Edward, 127 Bridge, Farndon, 221 ---- Gate, Chester, 72 Bridgewater, Duke of, 204 Bromborough Cross, 210, 212 Bromhal family, 91 Brooke family, 198 ---- of Mere, family of, 63 Broome, Dr., the poet, 124, 204 Broughton Ford, 184, 186 Brownswerd, John, 123 Broxton Old Hall, 95, 96 Bruera Church, 68 Building, Elizabethan, 88 Bunbury, 16 ---- alabaster tomb, 116 Burghall, Rev. Edward, 131 Burney on miracle plays, Miss Fanny, 144 Byron, Lord, 182, 186 ---- Sir Nicholas, 181

Caer-Leon, 4 Calveley, Sir Hugh, 116 Camden’s description of Cheshire, 32 Canterbury, St. Plegmund, Archbishop of, 273 Carden Hall, 16, 95 Castle Aldford, 51-52 ---- Beeston, 16, 51, 55, 182, 186, 194 ---- Chester, 57, 60 ---- Doddington, 16 ---- Dodleston, 51-52 ---- Dunham Massey, 51, 53 ---- Frodsham, 51, 53 ---- Halton, 9, 51, 54, 106 ---- Hawarden, 182 ---- Holt, 222 ---- Maiden, 51, 52 ---- Malpas, 9, 51, 52 ---- Nantwich, 51, 52 ---- Newhall, 51, 52 ---- Northwich, 51, 53 ---- Oldcastle, 51, 52 ---- Peckforton, 196 ---- Pulford, 51, 52 ---- Rhuddlan, 24 ---- Rocksavage, 51, 54 ---- Runcorn, 51, 53 ---- Shocklach, 9, 51, 52 ---- Thelwall, 51 Capesthorn legend, 253 Cathedral, chapter-house of, 43 ---- _Misereres_ in, 41 Celtic legend, 252 ---- place-names, 7 Cenred, St. Werburgh’s brother, 267 Chadkirk Chapel, 67 Chains, hanging in, 110 Chaloner of Chester, Thomas, 133 Chamberlain of Chester, 30 Chancellors, Cheshire judges and, 124-127 Chapel, High Leigh, 67 Chapter-house of Cathedral, 43 Charles I. at Chester, 181 Charm for warts, rushes a, 239 Cheshire a land of saints, 4 ---- Prince Maurice and Prince Rupert in, 184 ---- “Rounds,” 257 ---- Saints, two, 264-276 ---- Sanctuaries, 220 ---- Saxons in, 5 Chesshyre, Sir John, 203 Chester, almshouses in Commonhall Lane, 86, 87 ---- “Articles of Surrender,” 186 ---- Battle of, 12, 220 ---- Bishopric of, 14 ---- Castle, 57-60 ---- Chamberlain of, 30 ---- Chief-Justiceship of, 29 ---- City plate melted down, 182 ---- Duke of Monmouth at, 17 ---- Earldom of, 8 ---- Ethelfrid attacks, 5 ---- Ethelred, founder of monastery at, 266 ---- Gateways of, 71 ---- Bridge Gate, 72 ---- East Gate, 72 ---- Kale Yard Gate, 72 ---- New Gate, 72 ---- North Gate, 72, 73 ---- Ship Gate, 72 ---- Water Gate, 72 ---- Handel at, 259 ---- High Cross, 188, 208, 209 ---- James II. at, 17 ---- John Bridgeman, Bishop of, 101 ---- King Edgar at, 7 ---- King Egbert at, 5 ---- King John at, 9 ---- martyr, George Marsh, 15 ---- Musical Festivals, 260 ---- Phœnix Tower, 74, 184 ---- Prince Maurice at, 183 ---- Races, 74 ---- Records of, 31 ---- Roman, 70, 77 ---- Roman legions at, 3 ---- Roman wall of, 4 ---- Roman work, 71 ---- St. Bridget’s Church, 69 ---- St. Martin’s ” 68 ---- St. Michael’s ” 69 ---- St. Olave’s ” 69 ---- St. Peter’s ” 68 ---- seventeenth century house in Whitefriars, 99 ---- Siege of, 180-193 ---- Sir Nicholas Byron, Governor of, 181 ---- the key to Wales, 21 ---- Trade Guilds at, 151 Chestnut, a “coppity-co,” 256 “Chief of men,” 2, 32, 203 Chief-Justiceship of Chester, 29 Cholmondeley, 195 ---- family, 202, 262 ---- Hall, 16 ---- Lady Mary, 199 Christleton, 183 ---- Rush-bearing, 239 Church, alabaster effigy in Barthomley, 116 ---- bell, Frodsham, 254 ---- Bunbury, 116, 117 ---- Farndon, 223 ---- of St. John, Chester, 14 ---- of St. Oswald, 41 Churches, music in, 259 ---- timber-framed, 61-69 Churchyard crosses, 208, 210, 211 Circuits, judicial, 27 Civil war in Cheshire, 16 Clarke, Dr. Samuel, 122 Clulow Cross, 212 Combermere Abbey, 14, 34, 35 ---- Field-Marshal, 203 ---- legend, 253 Commonhall Lane, Chester, almshouses in, 86, 87 Congleton bell, 254 Constable de Lacy, 24 Copyhold tenure, Manor of Halton, 113 Cornage, 244-246 Corpus Christi, feast of, 147 ---- procession, 161 Corvysors’ Playe, The, 164, 165 Costume of players, 145 “Counting-out” rhymes, 257 County Flint, 25 ---- Hall, Chester, 30 ---- Palatine of Chester, 1, 19-32 Court, Bidston, 99 ---- Leet, Halton, 106-113 ---- of Exchequer, Chester, 31 ---- Old Consistory, 100 _Creation and Fall_, a Mystery Play, 145 Crewe, 195, 200 ---- Hall, 16 ---- Randolph, 124 ---- Thomas, 124 Crewes, 204 Cross at St. John the Baptist, Chester, 210 ---- at St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill, Chester, 209, 212 ---- Bebington, 211 ---- Bow Stones, 212 ---- Bromborough, 210, 212 ---- Clulow, 212 ---- Disley, 210 ---- Eaton, 213 ---- High, Chester, 208, 209 ---- Lymm, 213 ---- Macclesfield market, 213 ---- Neston, 210 ---- Over Peover, 212 ---- Shocklach, 211 ---- Wallasey, 211 ---- West Kirby, 210 Crosses, boundary, 208 ---- churchyard, 208, 210, 211 ---- destroyed, 209 ---- “High,” 208 ---- Ludworth, 212 ---- Macclesfield Public Park, 212 ---- Market, 208, 212, 213 ---- preaching, 207, 210 ---- Sandbach, 213-217 ---- weeping, 208 Croughton Hall, 16 _Crucifixion, The_, a Mystery Play, 166 “Crypt, ye Olde,” 78 “Curfew,” 254 _Curse, Old Mab’s_, 262 Customs, some Cheshire, 230-263

Dance, morris, 258 Danes, 6 Danish place-names, 6 Danyer, Sir Thomas, 114 Davenport family, 91 ---- of Davenport, family of, 246 ---- Sir Humphrey, 126 ---- Sir John, 63 Davenports, 204 Delamere, 69 ---- Baron, 197 ---- Forest, 74, 82, 245 ---- _Horn, The_, 245 ---- House, 199 ---- Lord, 18, 199 ---- of Dunham Massey, Baron, 119 Delves at Poictiers, Sir John, 115 ---- Sir John, 13 Dernhall, 14 Description of Cheshire, Camden’s, 32 Diary, Slingsby’s, 192 Dieulacres, 14 Disley Cross, 210 Dissolution of monasteries, 14, 33 Doddington, 95, 115, 200 ---- Castle, 16 Dodleston Castle, 51, 52 Dog-whipper and sluggard-waker, 256 Done of Utkinton, family of, 245 ---- Sir John, 13, 199 Dorfold, 200 ---- Hall, 16 “Dot,” a children’s game, 256 Downes of Sutton Downes and Taxal, family of, 246 Dragon legend, 252 Drayton’s Lamentation, 13 Dukinfield of Dukinfield, Colonel Robert, 118 Dunham Hall, or Dunham Massey, 196 ---- Massey Castle, 51, 53 Dutton of Dutton, 24, 115 ---- Sir Thomas, 13

“Eagle and Child” Inn, 94 Earldom of Chester, 8 Earl of Chester, Prince Edward, 25 Earnshaw, Lawrence, 128 East Gate, Chester, 72 ---- Hall, High Leigh, 197 Eaton, 195 ---- Cross, 213 Eccleston Church, 68 Edgar at Chester, King, 7, 74 Eddisbury, 7 Edward I., 10 ---- the Elder, died at Farndon, 220 Effigies at Farndon, 224 Effigy of Sir Robert Foulshurst, alabaster, 116 Egbert at Chester, King, 5 Egerton family, 202 ---- Lord, 197 ---- Sir John, 13 ---- Sir Philip, geologist, 204 Egerton-Warburton, Rowland Eyles, 205, 206 Ellesmere, Lord Chancellor, 125 Elizabethan building, 88 England, Sword-bearer of, 21 ---- the Vale Royal of, 130 Ætheldred, Ealdorman, 7 Etheldreda, St., Abbess of Ely, 266 Ethelfleda, 7, 71 ---- rebuilt Chester Castle, 59 Ethelfrid attacks Chester, 5 Ethelred, founder of monastery at Chester, 266, 267 Exchequer, Court of, Chester, 31

“Falcon,” the, Chester, 97 Falconer, Dr. William, 129 Families, Cheshire, 194-206 Family, Bromhal, 91 ---- Brooke, 198 ---- Cholmondeley, 202, 262 ---- Davenport, 91 ---- Egerton, 202 ---- Grosvenor, 202 ---- Hyde, 205 ---- Legh, 197 ---- Mainwaring, 199, 202 ---- Marbury, 198 ---- Massey, 196 ---- of Brooke of Mere, 63 ---- of Davenport of Davenport, 246 ---- of Done of Utkinton, 245 ---- of Downes of Sutton Downes and Taxal, 246 ---- of Dunham Massey, Booth, 116 ---- of Holmes, 133 ---- of Shakerleys of Hulme, 63 ---- Warburton, 198 ---- Wilbraham, 199 Farndon Bridge, 221 ---- Church, 223 ---- Edward the Elder died at, 220 ---- effigies at, 224 ---- parish books, 224 ---- _Rush-bearing Sunday at_, 225, 238 ---- stained glass at, 223 Farnworth Leet, Widnes or, 112 Feast of Corpus Christi, 147 Festivals, Chester Musical, 260 Fire-worship at Alvanley, 261 Fitton, Sir Edward, 126 Flint, county, 25 Folk-lore, Cheshire, 230-263 Font at Warburton, 66 ---- Marton, 65 ---- of Italian origin in baptistery, Chester, 45 Football at Chester, 74 Forest, Delamere, 74, 82, 245 ---- of Macclesfield, 82, 246 ---- of Wirral, 82, 246 Forests of Cheshire, 69, 82 Foulshurst of Crewe, Sir Robert, 13, 115, 116 Freeman quoted, Professor, 21, 27 “Free-Masons,” 139 Frodsham, 51, 53 ---- Church bell, 254 ---- “Synagogue Well,” 260

Games, children’s, 256-257 ---- unlawful, 107 Gamul of Buerton, Sir Francis, 119, 184, 190 Gateways of Chester, 71 Gawsworth Hall, 94 Gayton, wishing well at, 260 Gerard, Lord, 191 Gerarde, John, 127 “Glorious Sixth of May,” song, 260 “God’s Providence House,” 75, 97 “Golden Phœnix,” 135 Goostrey Church, 68 Governor of Chester, 181 Grammar Schools, Cheshire, 123 Great Broughton burnt down, 183 ---- Budworth, 61 ---- Meols, 3 Greyfriars, Chester, 48 Grosvenor family, 202 ---- Roger, ancestor of the Dukes of Westminster, 119

Half-timbered architecture of Cheshire, 80-99 Hall, Adlington, 16, 84, 94 ---- Arley, 198 ---- Ashley, 197 ---- Baguley or Baggily, 85-89, 200 ---- Bramall, 84, 89, 90 ---- Broxton Old, 95, 96 ---- Carden, 16, 95 ---- Cholmondeley, 16 ---- County, 30 ---- Crewe, 16 ---- Croughton, 16 ---- Dorfold, 16 ---- Dunham, or Dunham Massey, 196 ---- East, High Leigh, 197 ---- Gawsworth, 94 ---- Handforth, 94 ---- Hooton, 95 ---- Huxley, 16 ---- Little Moreton, 84, 91, 92, 93 ---- Marbury, 198 ---- Mere, 198 ---- Peover, 199 ---- Rostherne, 197 ---- Tabley, 198 ---- Tatton, 197 ---- Toft, 199 ---- Utkinton, 199 ---- West, High Leigh, 197 _Halton, An Account of the Rolls of the Honour of_, 107 Halton Castle, 9, 51, 54, 106 Handbridge, 182 Handel at Chester, 259 Handforth Hall, 94 Hanging at Halton, 109 ---- in chains, 110 Harden, moated house at, 200 Harvest Home, 243 Hawarden Castle, 182 Hawkeston of Wrine Hall, 115 Hawkstone, Sir John, 13 Heralds’ College, 137 Hiding holes, Moreton Hall, 92 Higden, Ralf, author of Mystery Plays, 46, 147 High Cross, Chester, 188, 208, 209 “High Crosses,” 208 High Leigh, 197 ---- ---- Chapel, 67 Hill, Peckforton, 194, 195 Historians, Cheshire, 129, 132 _Histories of Lot and Abraham_, a Mystery Play, 163 Holme, family of, 133 ---- of Chester, William, 133 ---- Randle (I.), 134, 187 ---- ---- (II.), 134, 135 ---- ---- (III.), 136, 139 ---- ---- (IV.), 140, 141 Holt Castle, 222 ---- Roman remains at, 218 Hooton Hall, 95 _Horn, The Delamere_, 245 ---- _The Wirral_, 244 Horse hodening at Northwich, 235 ---- ---- at Tarporley, 235 Hospital of St. John, Chester, 36, 73 House, Birket, 16 ---- Delamere, 199 “House, God’s Providence,” 75, 97 Hoylake, 18 Hulse, Dr. John, 122 Hunting parson, a, 108 Huxley Hall, 16, 200 Hyde family, 205

Ince Grange, 46 Incursions of the Welsh, 9 Italian font in baptistery, 45

Jacobites of Cheshire, 197 Jacob’s Well, 260 James II. at Chester, 17 John at Chester, King, 9 Judges and Chancellors, Cheshire, 124-127 Judicial circuits, 27 ---- seals, 28

Kale Yard Gate, Chester, 72 Kenyon, Lord, 126 King, Daniel, 130 _King Robert of Sicily_, a Mystery Play, 163 Kingdom, Mercian, 5 Knowles, Sir Robert, 116 “Knowles’s Mitres,” 116 Knutsford, 196 ---- May Queen, 242 ---- morris dance at, 258

Lacy, Constable de, 24 “Lamb, The,” 138, 139 Langdale, Sir Marmaduke, 184 Leet, Halton Court, 106-113 ---- Widnes or Farnworth, 112 Legend, Brereton, 253 ---- Capesthorn, 253 ---- Celtic, 252 ---- Combermere, 253 ---- dragon, 252 ---- Rostherne Mere, 253 Legh family, 12, 197, 204 ---- of Booths, Sir John, 13 ---- of Macclesfield, Sir Piers, 13, 115 ---- Sir Uryan, 117 Leighs of Lyme, 13 Legions at Chester, Roman, 3 Leycester, Ralph, 199 ---- Sir Peter, 130, 198 Lifting, 242-243 Little Moreton Hall, 84, 91, 92, 93, 200 Llewellyn, Prince, 10 Lord of the Manor of Halton, the King, 106 Ludworth crosses, 212 Lupus, Hugh, 8, 21, 106, 202, 269 Lyme, 200 Lymm Cross, 213

Macclesfield Forest, 82, 246 ---- Market Cross, 213 ---- Public Park crosses, 212 “Magpie” architecture, 80 Maiden Castle, 51, 52 Mainwaring family, 199, 202 Malpas, 16 ---- Castle, 9, 51, 52 Manners of Cheshire people, 20 Marbury family, 198 ---- Hall, 198 Market crosses, 208, 212, 213 Marling, 237-238 Marton church, 63 ---- font, 65 Martyr, George Marsh, Chester, 15 Massey, Colonel Edward, 118 ---- family, 196 Masseys, 204 ---- of Coddington, 118, 197 Maying, 241-242 Maynwaring of Over Peover, Sir Thomas, 130 May Queen, Knutsford, 242 Mercian Kingdom, 5 Mere Hall, 198 Middlewich, 182 Milton, 124 Miracle Plays, Chester, 74, 77 _Misereres_ in Cathedral, 41 Moated houses at Harden, 200 ---- ---- at Huxley, 200 ---- ---- at Moreton, 200 Mobberley Abbey, 14, 34 Molineux, Sir Richard, 13 Molyneux, Lord, 18 ---- Samuel, 127 Monasteries, dissolution of, 14, 33 Monastery at Chester, Ethelred founder of, 266 ---- of Bangor, 4 Monk of St. Werburgh’s, Henry Bradshaw, 264 Monmouth at Chester, Duke of, 17 Moreton, moated house at, 200 Morgan’s Mount, Chester, 73 Morris dance, Knutsford, 258 Mostyn of Mostyn, Sir Roger, 120 Mottram-in-Longdendale, 128 Mumming play, 240 Music, 257-258 Music in churches, 259 Musical Festivals, Chester, 260 Mynshal, Elizabeth, 124 Mystery Plays, Chester, 142-179

Nantwich, 16, 183, 261 ---- battle at, 9 ---- bell custom, 254 ---- Castle, 51, 52 Neild, James, philanthropist, 204 Neston Cross, 210 Nether-Legh, 16 Nether or Lower Peover Church, 61 New Gate, Chester, 72 Newhall Castle, 51, 52 Nixon, Robert, Cheshire prophet, 261 _Noah’s Ark_, a Mystery Play, 144, 164, 166 “Nogging-work,” 99 “No Popery” riot, 17 Norman Earls of Chester, 22 North Gate, Chester, 72, 73 Northwich, 51, 53 ---- horse hodening at, 235 ---- Winnington Bridge, near, 17 Norton Abbey, 14, 34 Nunnery, Chester, St. Mary’s, 34, 36

Oldcastle Castle, 51, 52 Old Consistory Court, 100 “Old King’s Head,” 134 _Old Mab’s Curse_, 262 Origin of Mystery Plays, 146 Oulton, 200 Over Peover Cross, 212

Pace-Egging, 239-240 “Pageant carriages,” 151 “Palace, Bishop Lloyd’s,” 75, 97 Palace, Stanley, 97 “Pancake” bell, 254 Parish books at Farndon, 224 Parson, a hunting, 108 _Passion, The_, a Mystery Play, 165 Peckforton Castle, 196 ---- Hill, 194, 195 Pemberton’s Parlour, Chester, 73, 181 Pentice, the, 208 People, manners of Cheshire, 20 Peover Hall, 199 Phœnix Tower, Chester, 74, 184 Place in history of County Palatine of Chester, 19-32 Place-names, Celtic, 7 Place-names, Danish, 6 Plate melted down, Chester City, 182 “Players’ victory,” the, 24 Plays, Miracle, 74, 77 Plemstall (Plegmundstall), 271 Poaching, ancient, 108 Poets, Cheshire, 123, 124 _Polychronicon_, 46, 147 “Post and panel” work, 80, 84 Powdered alabaster as a cure for sheep, 262 Preaching crosses, 207, 210 Prestbury, 65 ---- priest’s house at, 94 Prince Maurice at Chester, 183 ---- ---- and Prince Rupert in Cheshire, 184 _Princeps Cestriæ_, 1, 12 Principality, Cheshire a, 1 Priory, Birkenhead, 14, 34, 36 ---- Norton, 14, 34 ---- Runcorn, 14 Procession, Corpus Christi, 161 _Prophecies_, a Mystery Play, 163 Prothonotary, the, 30 Proverbs, some Cheshire, 246-252 Pulford Castle, 51-52 Pulton Abbey, 14, 35

Races, Chester, 74 Ranulph III., Earl of Chester, 11 Records of Chester, 31 _Resurrection_, a Mystery Play, 150, 167 Reverence shown in old plays, 143 Rhuddlan, Castle of, 24 “Rhudland, Statute of,” 26 Rhymes, “counting-out,” 257 Richard II., Cheshire men bodyguard of, 12 Ridley, 117 Riot, “No Popery,” 17 Rocksavage, 51, 54 Rode, Wilbrahams of, 203 Roman Chester, 70-77 ---- legions at Chester, 3 ---- remains, 3 ---- ---- at Holt, 218 ---- wall of Chester, 4 ---- work, Chester, 71 Roodeye, Chester, 74 Rostherne Hall, 197 ---- Mere legend, 253 “Rounds, Cheshire,” 257 Rows of Chester, 75-79 Rowton Heath, 16 ---- ---- battle of, 74, 119, 184, 190, 191 Runcorn, 7 ---- Abbey, 14 ---- Castle, 51, 53 Rush-bearing, 238-239 ---- at Christleton, 239 ---- Sunday at Farndon, 225, 238 Rushes a charm for warts, 239

_Sacrifice of Isaac_, a Mystery Play, 148 Saighton Grange, 46 St. Bridget’s Church, Chester, 69 St. Ethelreda, 266 St. Giles’ Well, 260 St. John, Chester, Hospital of, 36, 73 ---- the Baptist, Chester, Cross at, 210 St. Martin’s Church, Chester, 68 St. Mary’s Nunnery, Chester, 34, 36 St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill, Chester, Cross at, 209, 212 St. Michael’s Church, Chester, 69 St. Olave’s Church, Chester, 69 St. Oswald, Church of, 41 St. Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, 273 St. Plegmund’s Well, 260, 275 St. Peter’s Church, Chester, 68 St. Werburgh, remains of, 38 ---- shrine of, 42 St. Werburgh’s Abbey, 9-13, 33, 34, 38-48 ---- Henry Bradshaw, monk of, 264 Saints, Cheshire a land of, 4 Saltney Marsh, 9 Salmon story, a, 263 Sanctuary, Cheshire, 220 Sandbach Crosses, 213-217 Savage, Archbishop of York, Thomas, 14 ---- Sir Edmund, 13 Saxons in Cheshire, 5 Schomberg, Duke, 18 Scientists, Cheshire, 127-129 Seals, judicial, 28 “Sewer,” an office, 136 Shakerley, Colonel, 190 ---- Sir Geoffrey, 120 Shakerleys of Hulme, family of, 63 _Shepherd’s Play, The_, a Mystery Play, 149 Ship Gate, Chester, 72 Shire Hall at Chester Castle, 60 Shocklach Castle, 9, 51, 52 ---- Cross, 211 Siddington Church, 65 Slingsby’s Diary, 192 Sluggard-waker and dog-whipper, 256 Soldiers of Cheshire, 114-120 Souling, 230-237 Speed, John, 1, 138, 226 Stained glass at Farndon, 223 Stanley, Dean, 204 ---- Palace, 97 ---- Sir William, 117 Stanlaw Abbey, 14, 34 “Statute of Rhudland,” 26 Stockport, 16 Stocks, punishment of the, 112 Sutton Grange, 46 ---- Sir Richard, 131 Sword-bearer of England, 21 “Synagogue Well,” Frodsham, 260

Tabley Hall, 198 ---- Lord de, poet, 204 Taft Hall, 199 Tarporley, horse hodening at, 235 Tarvin, 16 Tatton Hall, 197 Taxal, 69 Thelwall Castle, 51 Thingwall, 7 _Three Kings, The_, a pageant, 149, 170-178 Timber-framed churches, 61-69 Tower, Bonewaldesthorne’s, 73 ---- Phœnix, Chester, 74, 184 Trade Gilds at Chester, 151 “Trades and Mysteries,” 24 Tranmere, 133 Troutbeck, Sir William, 13

Unlawful games, 107 Utkinton Hall, 199

Vale Royal, 199 ---- ---- Abbey, 14, 34, 35 ---- ---- _of England, The_, 130 Venables, Sir Hugh, 13 Victory, “The Players’,” 24

Wales, Chester the key to, 21 Wallasey Cross, 211 ---- Leasowes, 18 Wall of Chester, Roman, 4 Walls and Rows, Chester, 70-77 Warburton Church, 66, 270 ---- family, 198 ---- font, 66 War in Cheshire, Civil, 16 Warts, rushes a charm for, 239 Water Gate, Chester, 72 “Wattle and daub,” 83 Weeping Crosses, 208 “Well, Billy Hobby’s,” 260 Well-dressing, 261 “Well, Synagogue,” 260 Wells, Wishing, 260 Welsh, incursion of the, 9 ---- raids, James, Lord Audley, and the, 10 Werden, General, 120 West Hall, High Leigh, 197 ---- Kirby Cross, 210 Whiltenshaw, 118 Whipping-post, Widnes, 112 Whitefriars, Chester, 48 ---- seventeenth century house in Chester, 99 Whitehurst, John, clockmaker, 128 Whitney, Geoffrey, 123 ---- George, 205 Widnes or Farnworth Leet, 112 Wilbraham family, 199 ---- George, 204 Wilbrahams of Rode, 203 Williams, Chief Justice, 126 Williamson, Dr., 226 Winnington Bridge, near Northwich, 17 Wirral, 94, 95 ---- forest, 82 ---- _Horn, The_, 244 Wishing Wells, 260 Woman fighting, a, 108 Woodchurch, 69 Work, “post and panel,” 80 Worthies, Cheshire, 114-132 Wulfhere, King of Mercia, 264

“Ye Olde Crypt,” 78 York, Thomas Savage, Archbishop of, 14

THE END

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Memorials of Old London.

Edited by the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. Dedicated to Sir John Charles Bell, Bart., late Lord Mayor of London. Two vols. Price =25s.= net.

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Memorials of Old Lancashire.

Edited by Lieut.-Colonel Fishwick, F.S.A., and the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. Two vols. Price =25s.= net.

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Memorials of Old Middlesex.

Edited by J. Tavenor-Perry.

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Memorials of Old Sussex.

Edited by Percy D. Mundy. Dedicated to the Most Hon. the Marquess of Abergavenny, K.G.

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Memorials of Old Yorkshire.

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Memorials of Old Staffordshire.

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“Complete and most useful history of ancient Staffordshire, full of interest and sound information.”--_Morning Post._

Memorials of Old Durham.

Edited by Henry R. Leighton, F.R.Hist.S.

Memorials of Old Surrey.

Edited by the Rev. J. Charles Cox, LL.D., F.S.A.

Memorials of Old Leicestershire.

Edited by Alice Dryden.

Memorials of Old Cheshire.

Edited by the Ven. the Archdeacon of Chester and the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. Dedicated to His Grace the Duke of Westminster, G.C.V.O.

Memorials of Old Lincolnshire.

Edited by E. Mansel Sympson, M.A., M.D.

_The following volumes are in preparation_:--

Memorials of Old Gloucestershire.

Edited by the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A.

Memorials of Old Worcestershire.

Edited by F. B. Andrews, F.R.I.B.A.

Memorials of Old Nottinghamshire.

Edited by P. W. P. Phillimore, M.A., B.C.L.

Memorials of North Wales.

Edited by E. Alfred Jones.

Memorials of Old Berkshire.

Edited by the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A.

Memorials of Old Monmouthshire.

Edited by Colonel Bradney, F.S.A., and J. Kyrle Fletcher.

Dinanderie: A History and Description of Mediæval Art Work in Copper, Brass, and Bronze.

By J. Tavenor-Perry. With 1 Photogravure, 48 Full-page Illustrations, and 71 Drawings in the Text. Crown 4to, Specially Designed Cloth Cover, =21s.= net.

Dinanderie was the name used to denote the various articles used for ecclesiastical purposes with which the name of Dinant on the Meuse was so intimately associated.

No attempt has hitherto been made to describe adequately the art of the Coppersmith, although our Museums and the Continental Church Treasuries abound in beautiful examples of the work.

Country Cottages and Homes for Small and Large Estates.

Illustrated in a Series of 53 Designs and Examples of Executed Works, with Plans Reproduced from the Original Drawings, including 3 in Colour, and Descriptive Text. By R. A. Briggs, Architect, F.R.I.B.A., Soane Medallist; author of “Bungalows and Country Residences.” Demy 4to, cloth, =10s. 6d.= net.

Venice in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. From the Conquest of Constantinople to the Accession of Michele Steno, A.D. 1204-1400.

By F. C. Hodgson, M.A., Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. 620 pages, Crown 8vo, cloth, =10s.= net.

This volume is the result of several years’ research, and is a continuation of the Author’s previous work entitled “Early History of Venice.”

Egypt and the Egyptians: Their History, Antiquities, Language, Religion, and Influence over Palestine and Neighbouring Countries.

By the Rev. J. O. Bevan, M.A. With Preface by Sir George Darwin. 336 pages, Crown 8vo, cloth, =5s.= net.

“We can recommend this compact volume to any who wish to obtain a general knowledge of the subject.”--_Westminster Gazette._

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

The aim of this new series of books is to give the public at home and in the Colonies an absolutely trustworthy, authentic, and up-to-date description of British interests, resources, and life throughout the Empire, which, with its great problems of government, self-defence, finance, trade, and the representation of the coloured races, forms a subject of at least as great and live value as any of the subjects studied at school and university.

=_Large Crown 8vo, Cloth, gilt top, with Map, 6s. net per Vol._=

Yesterday and To-Day in Canada.

By His Grace the Duke of Argyll.

Modern India.

By J. D. Rees, C.V.O., C.I.E., M.P. Sometime Additional Member of the Governor-General of India’s Council.

South Africa.

By the Right Hon. John Xavier Merriman, Prime Minister of Cape Colony.

_Other Volumes in Preparation_

COUNTY CHURCHES

General Editor: Rev. J. CHARLES COX, LL.D., F.S.A.

_=Foolscap 8vo, Cloth, 2s. 6d. per vol. net.; each Volume Illustrated with Half-tone and Line Illustrations=_

A new series of small handy guides to all the Churches in each of the Counties of England. All written by expert authors, drawing attention to the main Architectural features, and to the Fonts, Pulpits, Screens, Stalls, Benches, Sedilia, Lectern, Chests, Effigies in Brass and Stone, and other Monuments. The initial date of the Registers will also be given.

The following volumes will be published immediately:--

=Cambridge.= By C. H. Evelyn-White, F.S.A.

=Norfolk= (Two Vols., 6s. net). By J. Charles Cox, LL.D., F.S.A.

=Surrey.= By J. E. Morris, B.A.

=Sussex.= By P. M. Johnston, F.R.I.B.A., F.S.A.

=Isle of Wight.= By J. Charles Cox, LL.D., F.S.A.

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Old English Gold Plate.

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Longton Hall Porcelain.

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Old English Silver and Sheffield Plate, The Values of, from the Fifteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries.

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Old English Porcelain and its Manufactures, History of.

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Manx Crosses; or The Inscribed and Sculptured Monuments of the Isle of Man, from about the end of the Fifth to the beginning of the Thirteenth Century.

By P. M. C. Kermode, F.S.A.Scot., &c. The illustrations are from drawings specially prepared by the Author, founded upon rubbings, and carefully compared with photographs and with the stones themselves. In one handsome Quarto Volume 11⅛ in. by 8⅝ in., printed on Van Gelder hand-made paper, bound in full buckram, gilt top, with special design on the side. Price =63s.= net. The edition is limited to 400 copies.

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Derbyshire Charters in Public and Private Libraries and Muniment Rooms.

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Dorset Manor Houses, with their Literary and Historical Associations.

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How to Write the History of a Parish.

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Church Plate of the Diocese of Bangor.

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Church Plate of the Isle of Man.

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Cathedral Church and See of Essex.

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Garden Cities in Theory and Practice.

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Corporation Plate and Insignia of Office of the Cities and Towns of England and Wales.

By the late Llewellynn Jewitt, F.S.A. Edited and completed with large additions by W. H. St. John Hope, M.A. Fully illustrated, 2 vols., crown 4to, buckram, =42s.= net. Large paper, 2 vols., royal 4to, =63s.= net.

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_Completion of the Great Edition of Ruskin_

The whole of Ruskin’s works are now for the first time obtainable in a complete, Uniform, Annotated, Illustrated, and Indexed Edition. This has just become possible through the completion of

THE LIFE, LETTERS, AND WORKS OF RUSKIN

EDITED BY E. T. COOK and ALEXANDER WEDDERBURN

The Final Volume, consisting of a Complete Bibliography and an Index to the Whole Work, with 100,000 references, is in preparation. Its inclusion will make this more than ever the One Reference and Library Edition of Ruskin’s Works. With about 1800 Illustrations from drawings by Ruskin. For full particulars of the 38 Volumes, for =£42= the set, or in Monthly Instalments, see Prospectus.

George Allen & Sons, Ruskin House Rathbone Place, London

Transcriber's Notes

Some illustrations and footnotes have been moved closer to relevant text.

Except where noted below, anomalous, archaic and vernacular spellings have been retained as printed.

The following changes have been made to the text as printed.

1. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

2. Errors in use of quote marks and other punctuation have been corrected.

3. Where a word is used repeatedly in the same way, hyphenation has been made consistent, preferring the form most often used in the printed work, or failing that the more usual form in general use at the time of publication.

4. The subheadings within the chapter on "Cheshire Customs, Proverbs, and Folk-lore" have been made consistent as to typography.

5. The spelling "Bramhall" has been changed to "Bramall" where the Hall, not the village, is meant (Pages xii, 90, 117).

6. Page 7: "Æthelflœd" has been changed to "Æthelflæd".

7. Page 13: "Sir Robert Foulhurst" has been changed to "... Foulshurst".

8. Page 27: "the counties of Denbigh and Mongomery" has been changed to "... Montgomery".

9. Page 29: "regretted that was abolished" has been changed to "... that it was abolished".

10. Pages 46 and 284: "Polychromicon" has been changed to "Polychronicon".

11. Pages 51 and 53: "Dunham Massy" has been changed to "Dunham Massey".

12. Pages 195 and 196: "Peckforten" has been changed to "Peckforton".

13. Page 197: "Wythenshaw" has been changed to "Wythenshawe".

14. Page 268: "Ethelfreda" has been changed to "Ethelfleda".

15. The following changes have been made in the Index: Page 277: "Fordsham Church" to "Frodsham Church". Page 278: "Catesthorn" to "Capesthorn". Page 280: "Edisbury" to "Eddisbury". Page 281: "Goosetrey" to "Goostrey". Page 285: "Leaseowes" to "Leasowes".