Annals of Colne"
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Annals of colne" COLNE MARKET-PLACE IN THE LAST CENTURY. Engraved, by permission, from the Original Drawivg, in Vol. V. of the "Binm* Collection," in the Liverpool Free Library. ANNALS AND STOEIES OF COLNE AND NEIGHBOUBHOQD. BY JAMES CARR, A MEMBER OF THE RECORD SOCIETY, LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. NEW AND REVISED EDITION. Printed by John Heywood, Manchester, for Thomas Duerden, Bookseller, The Arcade, Colne; Henry Hackenley, Bookseller, Market Street, Colne ; and Mark Hartley, Bookseller, Church Street, Colne. 1878. TO THE REVEREND JOHN HENDERSON, EX-RECTOR OF COLNE, AS ONE WHO HAS PLATED NO UNIMPORTANT PART IN SHAPING THE DESTINIES AND PROMOTING THE WELFARE OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE ANCIENT TOWN OF COLNE, THIS LITTLE WORK IS, BY PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. PKEFACE. This is, I believe, the first published History of Colne, a town on which, considering its antiquity, it has always occurred to me that Whitaker and Baines might, with justice, have said more. Written for the working classes, to the vast majority of whom, if they ever see them, the ponderous History of Whalley and the somewhat costly Baines must be mere works of reference, I have felt it incumbent on me to employ homely language, and in other respects to endeavour to make this a readable book. The scheme of the work is this : It opens with a chapter seeking to show that Colne is a town of Roman origin. Chapters II. and III. deal with its mediaeval and modern history, and contain a large amount of information, hitherto unpublished. Chapter IV. relates to the old church, a building on whose history antiquaries rightly love to linger. Chapter V. is devoted to the Colne incumbents, men who in their time have played an important part in local history. Myself a Church- man, I have not hesitated to point out the faults and frailties of some of them. Chapter VI. gives the history of some of our best-known buildings, and contains a short account of good Archbishop Tillotson, whose name is inseparably associated with our Grammar School. Chapter VII. contains the poetry of the neighbourhood. Poetry appeals to some minds with a force and power of which its more sober sister Prose is incapable. Chapter VIII. is the children's chapter — its object being to show the advantages of education, which has done much to Vlll PREFACE. dispel the belief in ghosts. I do not ask that credence be given to all the stories it contains, but merely to my statement that they were once believed by our forefathers. Inasmuch as witches still abound in Colne, Chapter IX. ought to have its interest. Chapters X. and XI. contain an account of scenes which are happily rare among the peace-loving inhabitants of Colne, and unlikely to recur. Having thus given an idea of the plan of the work, it merely remains for me to solicit indulgence for any errors which may be discovered, on the ground that I am a mere amateur, writing for no profit, and actuated only by a love of the subject, and a desire that this, my native town, should have a history of its own. J. C. Langroydy Colne. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Origin and Early History of Colne ..... 11 II. Mediaeval and Modern History 22 III. Local Annals s 65 IV. The Old Church 103 V. The Colne Incumbents 147 VI. Familiar Spots 175 VII Our Poets and Poetry 185 VIII. Local Traditions, Sayings, and Customs 194 IX. The Colne Witches 209 X. Peace and War 224 XI. Guilty, or Not Guilty ? 233 ANNALS AND STORIES OF COLNE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. CHAPTER I. THE EARLY HISTORY OF COLNE. COLNE is a market and manufacturing town situate on an eminence between the hills of Boulsworth and Pondlc, and on the verge of the high moorland tracts which divide the vallevs of Lancashire from those of York shire. Eoelesias- tically, it is in the parish of Whalley, rural deanery of Burnley, archdeaconry of Blackburn, and diocese of Man- chester, whilst, civilly, it lies in the hundred of Blackburn, and county of Lancaster. It is a place of great antiquity, arising with Warrington, Lancaster, Manchester, and other towns, in the autumn of A.n. 79, in which year Agricola subdued the couuty of Lancaster. The name Colne, the orthography of which in successive ages has been Calna, Canne, and Coin, is not peculiar to this town, for there are other Colnes in Huntingdonshire, Essex, 12 ANNALS AND STORIES OF and Gloucestershire — all, nevertheless, of smaller size than Colne in Lancashire — as well as rivers of the same name. * Opinion differs as to whether this place derives its name from the ancient British word "Col-ann" signifying "the station by the narrow river," the Saxon word " Culme" meaning " coal," in allusion to the mines with which the neighbourhood formerly abounded, 2 or the Latin " Colonial a settlement ; but the preponderance of opinion would seem at the present time to be greatly in favour of the last-named derivation, on the ground that Colne was a Roman settle- ment. This naturally leads us to inquire into the grounds on which such an assertion is based, and whether that assertion can be substantiated or not. The erection of the towns before mentioned is sufficiently attested by an Itinerary which was composed about a.d. 139, and the identity of Colne with Colunio, one of them, is generally admitted. Baines, indeed, says : " There is no doubt that Colne was the Colunio of the Bomans," though, he adds, " it may have derived its name from the old British word, Col-aun." But, as the question was once warmly dis- cussed amongst antiquaries, it may be convenient here to state that the claims of Colne rest on the five following grounds : — 1. Its British Name.—" The British name of the town," says the Rev. John Whitaker, the historian of Manchester, " could have resulted only from the British name of the station, and accordingly we find the anonymous chorography placing such a station amongst these hills, next to one which was certainly amongst them — the Cambodunum of 1 Coin-Rogers, Coin St. Aldwin, and Coin St. Denis, in Gloucestershire. Coin, a small river of Gloucestershire. Colne, a parish in the hundred of Hurstingstone, in the county of Huntingdon. Colne, a river -which rises near Hatfield, in the county of Herts, and dis- charges itself in the Thames near Staines. Colne, a river which rises in the county of Essex, and discharges itself in the North Sea at Mercea Island. Earl's Colne, or Great Colne, Colne Engaine, or Colne Parva, Wake Colne, and White Colne, aE parishes situate in the hundred of Lexden, in the county of Essex. Note also Lincoln, Cotehester, Cologne, and Kulonia in Palestine. 2 Dr. Leigh, in his " History of Cheshire, Lancashire," &c, thinks that this is the most feasible derivation. COLNE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 13 Antoninus — and giving it in different MSS. the different names of Calunium and Colanea. This name of the station must have been derived from the same name of the river upon which it is erected, and which is now denominated Colne Water." If Colne, then, be derived from Col-aun, we have here the narrow river necessary to answer the etymological requirements of the name ; and if from Colunio, it will shortly be seen that there is also in this neighbourhood clear proof of the presence of the Romans. But, further than this, Colne was assuredly the terminus of the Roman road, which, starting from Cambodunum (Slack, near Hudders- field), stretches over Stainland Moor, and passing through the townships of Barkisland and Rishworth, in Yorkshire, crosses the Devil's Causeway and the Roman road from Manchester. Therefore, there would necessarily be strong fortifications here, especially in such a northern situation, where the Romans would require to be constantly on their guard against the incursions of their northern enemies, the Picts and Scots. 2. The Appellation of Caster 1 to a Cliff about a mile South of f and Overlooking, the Town. — Caster is clearly derived from the Latin " Castra," signifying a camp, and has probably no reference to Castor, the fabled Roman deity, who, with his twin brother Pollux, charged the Latins at the head of the victorious Roman cavalry at the battle of Lake Regillus. Therefore, we have to inquire whether there is anything about this cliff indicative of a Roman camp, and this naturally leads us to consider — 3. Its Past and Present Appearance, — " Castor Cliff," writes Mr. Stonehouse, of Liverpool, " is one of the most important of the Roman stations hereabouts. Its name is full of Roman life. This fortress stands at the top of a hill, com- manding a view of the whole country round. In the fields towards the north stood the ancient city of Colunio. On its site innumerable relics have from time to time been recovered in arms, ornaments, and utensils. By the steep path that leads 1 Caster is the ancient, perhaps the more correct, orthography—Castor, the modern. 14 ANNALS AND STORIES OF from Castor Cliff to Colne, there are evidences of some out- works, which have been used in defence of the place. I am quite certain that a thorough examination of this fortress would prove of great value, and be fraught with high interest." "The intrenchments on Castor Cliff," says Mr. Wilkinson, F.R.A.S. (in a most interesting paper, entitled " The Battle of Brunanburgh"), "form a parallelogram measuring about 550ft. by 520ft. broad; but the walls appear to have enclosed an area of about 380ft.