Rigby, Edward, of Layton and Burgh, esq.
Veale, John, of Mythorp, esq.

Butler, Henry, of Out-Rawcliffe, esq.
Parker, William, of Bradkirk, esq.
Westby, John, of Mowbreck, esq.

Kirkby, William, of Upper Rawcliffe, esq.
Singleton, George, of Staining, esq.

Hesketh, William, of Little Poulton, esq.

Stanley, Thomas, of Great Eccleston, esq.

Warren, —, of Plumpton, esq.

White, Nicholas, of Great Eccleston, gent.

Rogerly, George, of Lytham, gent.

Banister, William, of Carleton, gent.

Sharples John, of Freckleton, gent.

The dress of the priests previous to the Protestant Reformation is thus described by Harrison :-"They went either in divers colours like plaiers, or in garments of light hew, as yellow, red, greene, etc., with their shoes piked, their haire crisped, and their girdles armed with silver; their shoes, spurs, bridles, etc., buckled with like mettall; their apparell chiefly of silke, and richlie furred, their cappes laced and buttoned with gold; so that to meet a priest in those days, was to beholde a peacocke that spreadeth his taile when he danseth before the henne." "The manners and customs of the inhabitants of Lancashire," writes John de Brentford, "are similar to those of the neighbouring counties except that the people eat with two pronged forks'; the men are masculine, and in general well made, they ride and hunt the same as in the most southern parts, but not with that grace, owing to the whip being carried in the left hand; the women are most handsome, their eyes brown, black, hazel, blue, or grey; their noses, if not inclined to the aquiline, are mostly of the Grecian form, which gives a most beautiful archness to the countenance, such indeed as is not easy to be described, their fascinating manners have long procured them the name of Lancashire witches." Leyland in his "Itinerary" says :-"The dress of the men chiefly consists of woollen garments, while the women wear those of silk, linen, or stuff. Their usual colours are those of

1. Table forks were introduced into England from Italy at the close of the Tudor dynasty; previously the people of all ranks used their fingers for the purposes to which we now apply a fork. A kind of fork was used as far back as the Anglo-Saxon times, but only to serve articles from the dish.

green, blue, black, and sometimes brown. The military are dressed in red, which is vulgarly called scarlet." In the time of Henry VIII. the custom of placing chimneys on the tops of the houses was first introduced amongst the English; before that period the smoke usually found its way through an opening in the roof or out of the doorway. The houses of the middle classes were for the most part formed of wood, whilst those of the peasantry were built of wattles plastered over with a thick coating of clay. The few stone mansions existing in Lancashire were the residences of the nobility or of the most opulent gentry. Harrison, referring to the improvements in accommodation gradually gaining ground, remarks :-"There was a great, although not general, amendment of lodging; for our fathers, yea, and we ourselves also, have lien full oft upon straw pallets, on rough mats, onelie covered with a sheet under coverlets made of dagswam or hopparlots, and a good round log under the head instead of a bolster or pillow, which was thought meet onelie for women in childbed; as for servants, if they had anie sheets above them, it was well, for seldome had they anie under their bodies to keep them from the prickly straws that ran oft through the canvas of the pallet, and raised their hardened hides." Holinshed, also, notices the better style of entertainment at the inns of Lancaster, Preston, etc.; at which he tells us the guests were well provided with "napierie, bedding, and tapisserie," and each was sure of resting "in cleane sheets wherein no man had been lodged since they came from the laundress." Camden, writing of our more immediate neighbourhood a little later than the period we are now discussing, says :-" The goodly and fresh complexion of the natives does sufficiently evince the goodness of the county; nay and the cattle too, if you will; for in the oxen, which have huge horns and proportionate bodies, you will find nothing of that perfection wanting that Mago, the Carthagenian, in Columella required. This soil (Amounderness) bears oats pretty well, but is not so good for barley; it makes excellent pasture especially towards the sea, where it is partly Champain; whence a great part of it is called the File, probably for the Field. But being in other places Fenny 'tis reckoned less wholesome. In many places along the coast there are heaps of sand, upon which the natives now and then pour water, till it grows saltish, and then with turf

boyl it into white salt." Several of these salt manufacturies were located near Lytham, and it is very likely that the two brass pans and an ancient measure, discovered about forty years since deeply imbedded in the peat not far from Fox Hall, were used in the production of salt somewhere in that vicinity.

CHAPTER III.

JAMES THE FIRST TO QUEEN VICTORIA.

N the accession of James I., in 1603, the crowns of England and Scotland became legally united, although it was not until a considerable time afterwards that they could be regarded as practically so. This monarch was the first to assume the title of King of Great Britain. A custom prevailed in former days of relieving the secular portion of the community by imposing exclusive taxes on the clergy, and hence it is seen, that in 1608 a rate was levied upon the latter by the Right Reverend George Lloyd, D.D., the eighth bishop of Chester. The following is a copy of the impost so far as the Hundred of Amounderness was concerned :

"Archid. Decanatus

A Rayte imposed by me George Bushoppe of Cestrie in Com. Lancastrie Chestr upon the Clergie within the Countye of Chesshyre and Lancashyre within the Dyoces of Chest, By vertue of Ires from the lordes grace of Yorke grounded upon + from the lordes and others of his mates most honorable privye counsell for the fyndinge of horses, armes, and other furniture, the XXVIIIth of October 1608.

Amounderness Decanatus Archid. Richm.

Here it may be mentioned that, although about 636, Honorus, archbishop of Canterbury, attempted to divide the kingdom into parishes, it was not until many years later, in the reign of Henry

1. Harl, MSS.

VIII., that the diocese to which Lancashire belonged was clearly defined. At that date Chester was created a distinct bishopric, and the southern part of our county included in the archdeaconry of Chester, whilst the northern portion was attached to the archdeaconry of Richmond.

In 1617 James I., on his return journey from Scotland to London, was entertained at Myerscough Lodge, near Garstang, by Edward Tyldesley, the grandfather of the gentleman who erected Fox Hall, at Blackpool. Thomas Tyldesley, a cousin of the owner of Myerscough Lodge, and attorney-general of the county of Lancaster, had been knighted by the monarch at Wimbleton in

the previous year. From Myerscough the King proceeded to Hoghton Tower, where a petition was presented to him by the agricultural labourers, petty tradesmen, and ordinary servants in this and other districts lying near Preston, praying that the edict of the late queen, whereby sports and games had been prohibited on the Sabbath, might be repealed. The prayer of the petitioners found favour with James, and shortly afterwards he caused it to be proclaimed-"that his majesty's pleasure was, that the bishops of the diocese should take strict order with all the puritans and precisians within the county of Lancaster, and either constrain them to conform themselves, or to leave the countrie, according to the laws of this kingdom and the canons of the church; and for his good people's recreation his pleasure was, that after the end of divine service, they be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from any lawful recreation, such as dancing, either men or women; archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any such harmless recreation; nor having of May-games, Whitson-ales, and Moricedances, and the setting up of May-poles, and other sports therewith used; so as the same be had in due and convenient time, without impediment or neglect of divine service; and that women should have leave to carry rushes to the church, for decorating of it according to the old custom; but withal his majesty did here account still as prohibited, all unlawful games to be used on Sundays only, as bear and bull-baitings, interludes, and, at all times, in the meaner sort of people, by law prohibited, bowling." A few months after this concession to the wishes of a portion of his subjects, James issued a publication designated the "Book of Sports," in which he explained what were to be