Bygone Lancashire
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THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ^/^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/bygonelancashireOOaxoniala BYGONE LANCASHIRE. Of this book 750 copies have been printed, and this is No ^a > : BYGONE LANCASHIRE. EDITED BY ERNEST AXON. LONDON SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LD. MANCHESTER : BROOK & CHRYSTAL. HULL: WH.LIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS. 1892. preface. "T ANCASHIRE fair women," says the old -^—^ proverb, but the County Palatine is famous not only for its witches, real and imaginary, but also for the memorable historic events that have taken place within its borders, for the quaint and curious customs that have survived from past ages, and for the quick life of its populous industrial districts. These varied interests are reflected in the pages of " Bygone Lancashire," by the good-will of a number of Lancashire authors and antiquaries who have contributed papers in elucidation of the annals and associa- tions of a county memorable alike in the past and the present. The best thanks of the Editor are tendered to his contributors, to Mr. William Hewitson for the loan of the engraving of the Covell brass, and 534806 LIBRARY PREFACE. to the Council of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society for permission to use Rosworm's portrait. " Bygone Lancashire " is sent forth in the hope that it will prove a not uninteresting addition to local literature, and that ii may encourage the local patriotism which is such a striking characteristic of the Lancashire lad. Ernest Axon. 47, Derby Street, Moss Siuk, Manchester. Contents, Historic Lancashire. By Ernest Axon The Religious Life of Lancashire during the Common- wealth. By W. A. Shaw, m.a. Kersal Moor. By Janet Armytage A Lancaster Worthy—Thomas Covell. By William Hewitson 51 Some Early Manchester Grammar School Boys. By Ernest Axon ... ... 11 The Sworn Men of Amounderness. By Lieut-Col. Henry Fishwick, f.s.a. 89 Lancashire Sundials. By William E. A. Axon, m.k.s.l. 98 The Plague in Liverpool. By J. Cooper Morley ... 105 The Old Dated Bell at Claughton. By Roljert Langton, f.r.h.s u^ The Children of Tim Bobbin. By Ernest Axon 116 The "Black Art" at Bolton 132 An Infant Prodigy in 1679. By Arthur W. Croxton ... 136 Wife Desertion in the Olden Times 144 The Colquitt Family of Liverpool 146 Some Old Lancashire Punishments 157 Bury Simnels 165 EccLES Wakes. By H. Cottam 17c Furness Abbey 184 Colonel Rosworm and the Siege of Manchester. By George C. Yates, f.s.a 189 Poems of Lancashire Places. By William E. A. Axon, M.R.s.L. 202 Father Arrowsmith's Hand. By Rushworth Armytage ... 227 Index 235 List of " Subscribers ... 239 •v BYGONE LANCASHIRE. ^-•-^ 1bi6toric Xancaebire, Bv Ernest Axon. T ANCASHIRE is now so largely devoted ^-^ to manufacture and trade that many scarcely think of it as a county full of historic interest. The county palatine of Lancaster is one of the youngest of English counties. It grew out of the Honour of Lancaster, mentioned in Magna Charta, and was made a county in 1267. Its history, however, goes back into the most remote period of which we have any knowledge. Manchester indeed is said, but on doubtful authority, to have been a British station before the Romans came. The earliest reliable history of Lancashire is to be read in the Roman remains that have been found in many parts of the countv. At Lancaster, Manchester, Ribchester, and other places, altars, tools, and coins have been dis- 2 BYGONE LANCASHIRE. covered which show that the Romans were in Lancashire as early as a.d. 74, and remained until about the conclusion of the fourth century. The Roman station of Ribchester was of considerable magnificence, and an old Lancashire rhyme that " It is written upon a wall in Rome Ribchester was as rich as any town in Christendom" is to some extent justified by the numerous articles of artistic beauty found there. After the departure of the Romans, Lancashire formed part of the British Kingdom of Strathclyde or Cumbria, but little is known of what took place during the fifth and sixth centuries. The Arthurian romances mention two battles which appear to have been fought in Lancashire, one at Wigan and another at Blackrod. The former battle lasted through the night, and when in 1780 a tunnel was cut on the alleged site, three cartloads of horseshoes were found. The battle on the Douglas has also been assigned to the Lancashire Douglas. Another legend connecting Lancashire with Arthur, is that Tarquin occupied the castle at Castlefield, Manchester, and was slain there by Sir Lancelot du Lake. In 607, Ethelfrith, the Northumbrian king. HISTORIC LANCASHIRE. 3 marched upon Chester, and, upon his victorious journey thither, passed through Southern Lancashire. Eadwine, King of Northumbria, conquered the greater part of the county, and, in 620, entered Manchester, which he permanently added to his dominions. In 627, he embraced Christianity, and, in consequence, the people of Lancashire became, nominally at least. Christian. Several battles were fought in Lancashire during the Saxon period, and Lancashire men took part in the rebellion against Tostig, Earl of Northum- bria, in 1065. The Conquest would appear to have had little effect in Lancashire beyond its transference from Saxon to Norman lords. Domesday, which mentions several towns and villages in the county, shows that it was thinly populated and very poor. Most of the county was given to Roger of Poictou, and afterwards passed to the Earls of Chester, and, on their extinction, to the Ferrers family. In 1267, the Honour of Lancaster was given to Edmund Crouchback, who was created Earl of Lancaster the same year. The title of Duke was granted to Henry, Earl of Lancaster, in 1 35 1, and in the patent of creation, the dignity of an earl palatine, was also conferred upon him. I 4 BYGONE LANCASHIRE. When Lancashire attained the dignity of a county palatine, its duke became a king in all but the name. He could pardon treasons, murders, and felonies. He held a separate court of chancery, court of common pleas, and court of criminal jurisdiction. He could summon his own barons, and the king's writ did not run in his dominion. When Henry, Duke of Lancaster, came to the throne as Henry IV., the county palatine came directly under the crown, but it retained its privileges, and it was not until this century that the administration of justice was assimilated to that of the rest of England. In 1 3 16-17, Lancashire had a little civil war of its own. One Banastre, a .servant of the Earl of Lancaster, had, in order to ingratiate himself with the king, invaded the earl's land. Banastre was defeated in battle near Preston. Lancashire returned two knights of the shire to the parliament held at Westminster in November 1295. The boroughs of Lancaster, Preston, Wigan, and Liverpool, returned two members each, and the Sheriff added to his return that there was no city in the county of Lancaster. The two latter boroughs soon ceased to have members, being excused after making two returns. HISTORIC lANCASHIRE. 5 Preston ceased after making seven returns, and Lancaster, after sixteen returns, discontinued early in the reign of Edward III. From 1359 to 1547, a period of nearly two centuries, no Lancashire borough sent members to parliament, and the county was represented only by the knights of the shire. In those days, the members received from their constituents, a salary and their expenses, and the poverty of the Lancashire boroughs rendered them unable to afford even that expense. Though the Wars of the Roses were between the sympathisers of the houses of Lancaster and York, the county was not the site of any battle during that contest. There can be no doubt that the Stanley influence would take many Lancashire lads into the field. The reign of Elizabeth was marked by the persecution of the Catholics, who were particularly numerous in the northern parts of the county. Early in the seventeenth century, the county earned an evil notoriety by the number of witches who were discovered in it. This epidemic of superstition resulted in the cruel deatn of many poor old women. Another form of the super- stition was Satanic possession, of which alleged 6 BYGONE LANCASHIRE. cases were by no means uncommon in the county. The outbreak of the Civil War found Lancashire very divided in opinion. The great influence of the Earl of Derby was thrown in the king's favour, and the Parliament was supported by a large body of Puritans. The siege of Manchester, in 1642, was the first local event of importance, and the battle of Preston, when Cromwell broke the backbone of the Royalist power, was the last. Two incidents in the Civil War are deeply engraved on the history of the time—the heroic death on the scaffold at Bolton of the great Earl of Derby, and the equally heroic defence of Lathom House by his Countess. After the Civil War, the dominant party endeavoured to estab- lish Presbyterianism, and with a certain amount of success, and the Parliamentary representation was re-arranged. The Restoration was welcomed throughout the county, and in Manchester the coronation of Charles II. was celebrated by pro- cessions, dinners, and the filling of the conduit with wine instead of water. The Restoration resulted in the disfranchisement of the town. The Act of Uniformity drove from their livings " HISTORIC LANCASHIRE. 7 many Lancashire ministers, some of whom carried their congregations with them into dissent, and when the persecution abated, founded bodies of Dissenters, who have ever been numerous in the county.