• 48Z WEST G08COTE HUNDRED •

.~ DISEWORTH. a considerable village, in Shardlow.Ui:tion, 2 n:illeQ .S. of , wd 7 miles N.W. by W. of Loughborough, has in its parish 1.879 acres of land and 567 inhabitants. The soil is chie:fly B strong _;red clay, and belongs mostly to the Master and Fellows of Christ's. College, Cambridge, who are also lords of the manor, which was given to their college by the Countess of Richmond and , in 1505. C. Shakespear, Esq., of , has an estate here, and part of the pariah is held by small Dwners. WM. LILLY, the astrologer, was born he:re in 1602. in the house now occupied by George Adkin, sen. He was Olle of those "blind buzzards'' who first deceive themselves by an -assumption of supernatural powers, and then impose upon others, ):>y pretending to foretel human events, and to developa the sacred and ju,scrutable dispensations of Providence. He was for soma years a foot­ • boy, but in 1627 his master died, whereupon Lilly married the widow, with. whom he 1·eceived the sum of £1000 ; but his wife dying within a few years, he jmmediately took another, a.nd thus augmented his fortune by £500. In 1632, he began the study of astrology, under one Evans, a clergytnan who had been expelled from his curacy for practising numerous frauds, under pretence of discovering stolen goods. The fame which IJily soon acquired for casting nativities and foretelling events was such, that he was applied to, in 1634, to ascertain, by the use of the divining rods, whether there was not extensive treasure beneath the cloisters of We.stmjnster Abbey. Permission having been obtajned from the dean, on condition that he should have his share of whatever might be found, Lilly and thirty other gentlemen entered the cloisters one night, and applied the hazel rods; but after they had disinterred a few leaden eoffins, a violent storm arose, which so alarmed them, that they all took to their heels and ran home. His almanao (published for 36 years) was as popular as Old Moore's, and many of his predictions were published to please Cromwell and the Parliament, who granted him ft' pension of £100 a year, though they well knew him to be an impost01T, Until the affajrs of Charles I. declined, he was a cavalier, and was some~ fin?,es consulted by the royalists with the king's privity, but after the year 1645 he eng.aged heartily in the cause of parliament, and was one of the close committee to consult upon the king's execution. He pur· chased a large estate at Walton-upon-Thames, and was buried in the church there, in 1681. His character is faithfully drawn in Butler's ~ Hudibras," under the name of Sidrophel. The parish of Diseworth was enclosed in 1797. The Ohuroh (Saint Michael) is an ancient structure, originally in the early English .style of architecture. It has a tower and four bells, and was repajred in 1840. The vicarage, valued in K.B. at £4.. 18s. 3d., a.nd now at £212. 10s., was augmented in 1787 with £200 of Q.A.B., and £200 given by Jerome Knapp, Esq. It has 107A. of glebe, mostly allotted at the enclosure, in lieu of tithes. The Rev. Christopher Floode Cooke, B.A., is the incumbent, and has a good resi· dence. The Haberdasher's Company and the Governors of Christ's Hospital, London, are the alternate patrons, and C. Shakespear, Esq., and Dr. Piggot~ are impropriators of the rectory. In 1862, a new School _was built, with class-room and master's house attached, and it is a. great ornament to the village. It will accommodate about 80 children, Md is principally supported by subscription and the children's pence. The l)chool is endowed with a yearly rent-charge of £10, left by Wm. LantJ jn 1720, and charged upon land in the parish belonging to the Rev. R. Dalby. The same donor also left £5 a year each to the parishes of and Diseworth, to be distributed to the poor in bread. 'l'hese sums are now charged upon the estate of J.- Martin, Esq., of •