"May it please your Grace,—Tandem aliquando I present your grace with all the papers that make (and as with humble submission, I conceive) are requisite in Mr. Deane of Worcester's defence against Mr. Hathaway's pretences and allegations about the choire organ made and fixt, and the great organ to be made, but now bargained for. And the reason I sent these papers up no sooner was my longing hope and endeavour to have made Mr. George Dallow's testimonie more pregnant and evident touching the promise of Hathaway and Dr. Gibbons to help him to this organ-worke at Worcester, but, to my satisfaction, there is more than probabilitie there had been monie enough to have satisfied Gibbons and Hathaway and Talbott, had it been in the Deane's power to have made a bargain, they well knew Mr. Deane's (Dr. Warmstrey) utter ignorance in re musica. They knew he was, as it is in the Greek proverbe, [Greek: onos pros lyran] ονος προς λυραν, had no more skill in an organ than a beast that hath no understanding, and 'tis very considerable that Hathaway should dare to addresse a complaint at Council Board, when for above a whole yeare, Mr. Deane having forbidden him to proceede to the worke of the great organ, he never applied himselfe neither to Mr. Deane nor to the Chapter, nor to the Visitor, continuing his visitacion for nine months at least, no complaint all this while ever heard of, and for ye materials provided it signifies nothing, unlesse it did appeare they were provided for this organ, when soone after he had made the choire organ he was forbidden to proceed any farther. With Mr. Harrison (who was old Dallow's servant and married his daughter) I twice conferred about his testimonie, and he told me he would make good all he said upon oath, and make it good to all the organists in England, and if your grace shall secretly object, old Hesiod's testimonie in ye case, [Greek: kai kêramius kêramei phthoneuei] και κηραμιυς κηραμει φθονευει, an artist malignes his brother artist. I rely very much on Mr. Tomkin's skill, bred in his cradle and all his life among organs, who is an excellent organist, and has ever maintained an organ in his house, his letter will show what his judgment was before this difference was started. Little reason have I had to interpose in the least in Mr. Deane's case, but I cannot forbear to stand up for innocence, though joyned with much follie. I have returned a certificate to his Majestie's instructions about hospitalls, and by the grace of God shall returne a full answer to your grace's instructions about church affaires in ye due time. The Lorde in the meane time preserve your grace in health and safetie and ye comforts of his blessed spirit.
"May it please your grace, I am your grace's most obliged and most obedient humble servant,
"RO. WIGORN.
"Worcester, Aug. 5, 1665."
The Bishop was cousin of Richard Skynner, of Cofton Hackett, the eldest son of Edward Skinner, of Ledbury, who purchased that manor for him from the Dyneley family, upon his marriage with his first wife, Miss Dyneley; and of Dr. William Skynner, his brother, fellow of All Soul's, Oxford; 1612, LL.D. March 31; 1625, chancellor of Hereford, April 29, 1626; rector of Beckenham, Kent, 1628; and in 1650 deprived of his living by the Parliament in favour of John Soter, and never restored, as he died at Ledbury, 1657, aged 66. This Richard's will showed, by his selection of his executors, and the course pursued by them in the Civil Wars, how friendships were broken; two, his brother-in-law, Sir Edward Lyttleton, Baronet, and Sir Edward Sebright, Baronet, were fined by Parliament as Royalists, and one was Humphrey Salwey, also married to a Miss Lyttleton, whom he styles his dear brother Humphrey Salwey, and whose son sat as one of the judges on the trial of King Charles I, and was M.P. for Worcestershire in the Long Parliament. A younger son of the Bishop's, William, was by his father appointed rector of Hartlebury, and there is a monument to his memory in that church. There was also another member of the Ledbury family connected with this county, as having been a member of the Oxford circuit, the Right Hon. Sir John Skynner, Knight, Lord Chief Baron. He was grandson of Edward Skynner, of Ledbury, and Margaret, his wife. On the 15th March, 1757, he was one of the counsel present in court, at the Worcester Assizes, when, between two and three o'clock, p.m., as Sir Eardly Wilmot began to sum up in the last cause, a stack of chimneys fell through the roof, killing many. The counsel then in court, being five in number, saved themselves under the stout table, and of these, four—Aston, Nares, Ashurst, and Skynner—after became judges; the fifth dying a king's counsel. We find traces of this old Ledbury family in this county, for in Nash's History of Worcestershire, vol. 2, we read that in the east window of the south aisle of Little Malvern Church are the arms of John Alcock, who was Bishop of Worcester from 1476 to 1486, and, in the south part of the same window is written "Orate pro animabus Roberti Skinner et Isabellæ, uxoris ejus, et filiorum suorum et filiarum." Richard Skinner, of Cofton, served the office of sheriff of Worcestershire in the 4th of Charles I (1628), and Edmund Skinner, of Wichenford, in the 12th George I (1726). The arms of Skinner are "Sable, a chevron or, between three griffins' heads argent."
DODDINGTREE HUNDRED TWO CENTURIES AGO.
In Sir Thomas Winnington's library at Stanford is a bundle of manuscripts, being a survey of the parsonages and other church livings in the Doddingtree hundred of Worcestershire, date 1665, or returns made to a visitation by order of the Lord Protector Cromwell. These returns include thirty-three parishes or places, namely, Bockleton, Pensax, Knighton-on-Teme alias Kington, Lindridge, Alfrick, Suckley, Little Kyre, Hanley Child, Orleton, Hanley William, Eastham, Tenbury, Cotheridge, Edwyn Loach, Shelsley Walsh, Lower Sapey, Clifton-on-Teme, Acton Beauchamp, Great Witley, Shelsley Beauchamp, Abberley alias Abbotsley, Stanford, Kyre Wyard, Aka alias Rock, Bewdley, Ribsford, Stockton, Martley, Bayton, Mamble, Dodenham, Astley, and Shrawley. As an abstract of some of the details may be interesting, I here present them.
The warrant from the Commissioners, dated October 20th of the above year, required "fower or five sufficient inhabitants of every parrish to enquier by all good wayes and meanes to finde out the trueth and worth of the true value, by the yeare, of church lyvinges, and the qualityes of the severall incumbants," &c. Accordingly the presentments are signed by constables, churchwardens, and, as it is quaintly expressed in some instances, by "other knowinge men of the said parrish." The Commissioners were "the Right Worship'le Edward Pits, Esq., William Jeffreys, Esq., Nicholas Acton, Esq., John Lathum, Esq., Henry James, Gent."
Bockleton.—John Barneby, Esq., had recently obtained a lease of the parsonage house, glebe lands, and tithes, for the lives of his three sons, paying a yearly rent of £8 for the same to the treasurer of Hereford Cathedral. Mr. Timothy Harris was curate at £10 a year, paid by Mr. Barneby. "Hath a very spacious church and seaventy-three houses and ffamilyes within itt." Tithes worth about £50.
Pensax.—Church "supplied by Richard Wilkes, minister of gods holy word, who is an able pracher and doth for the most pte prach twise every Lords day; and hath for his sallary all the profits ecclesiasticall yssuing out of Pensax aforesaid wch doth amount unto eleven pounds p. ann. or thereaboute; and the reason why it is soe small is; because all the tyeth corne and graine (except home closses) formerly belonging to the Deane and Chapiter doth not come to the minister but is leased out to one Henry Pennell worth 20 pounds p. ann. or there aboute; and as for our minister we are very well contented wth him and he wth us and doe desire we may continue as we are, and wee desire the greate tythes may come in for the maintaineance of the minister when the leasse is expired. Item. Our church is scituate wth very great conveniency as neere as may be iudged about the midst of the p'ish where the congregation may come twise in the day in due and seasonable times to heare Gods word taught and prached and is an auncient place of buriall; and yf it should be united to any other church some of our congregation would have two miles and a halfe to the neerest church to us; or there aboute; and besides we have a populous congregation insoemuch that our church is very full upon most Lords dayes; and we have many aged many lame and impotent p'sons of our congregation; wch (yf our church should be annexed to any other p'ish) would be deprived of hearing the word of God the spirituall food of their soules wch is the onely ordinary meanes of salvation."
Knighton.—Chapel appendant to Lindridge; Dean and Chapter of Worcester, patrons; the tithes which came to the minister's share were £20 per ann. "Our mynister is Mr. Edward Shawe whoe preacheth and expoundeth constantly uppon the lords dayes." "The teyth corne and grayne are leased out to on Maior Inet for a terme yet endurynge at a c'teyne yearly rent wch goeth to pay augmentacon in this county as we are informed; the value is aboute thirty pounds a-yeare." "Our townshipp of Knighton and the villages thereunto belonginge are distant from Lindridge church about two myles and some pts thereof three myles and the wayes thereof verry fowle and deepe in the tyme of wynter neyther is the church of Lyndridge large enough to hould or conteyne the one half of Knighton and Lindridge prishioners as hath been heretofore c'tified to the p'liamt[4] by Mr. Jon. Gyles mynister of Lyndridge and div'rs others p'ishion'rs there. Moreover our chappell of Knighton hath all p'ochial rytes belonginge unto it and our chappell is larger then the church of Lyndridge and besydes we have a very fayre gallary therin. There are also in Knighton above threescore ffamylies and div'rs of them very aged, And furthermore Knighton by p'porcon (proportion) is the one half of a towne of oyer, And our chappell standeth neere aboute the middest of Knighton aforesaid and therefore we conceave that o'r chappell is fitt to be made a p'ish church in regard the place is very populous & large as aforesaid, And therefore we conceave if the teyth of corne and grayne might be annexed to the said chappell it would be a considerable meanes to mayteyne a preachinge mynister in regarde it goeth to pay augmentation to other places."
[4] "Parliament" probably.
Lindridge.—"The Dean and Chapter of Worcester had the presentation thereof, but now wee know not in whose presentation it is." Mr. John Gyles present incumbent; "profits" received by him £70 a year.
Alfrick.—The Lord Protector patron; tithes, great and small, £30. "Wee p'sent that the cure is carfully supplyed twice ev'y Lords day, dayes of thanksgiveing and humiliation, by Mr. John Slade, a preaching minister, and hath from the (now) Incumbent Mr. Litleton for his sallery xxiv. marks p. ann." Hamlet consisteth of three score and ten families (beside other) at present uninhabited and most of them being aged people. "Lastly wee p'sent, that wee have a decree for a resident minister to bee amongst us." Chapel distant two miles from parish church.
Suckley.—Lord Protector patron. Tithes, great and small, of Suckley, Alfrick, and Lulsley, £90. "The cure carefully supplyed twice every Lord's day, dayes of thanksgiving and humiliation, and that Aufricke is supplyed we believe with a preachinge minister at the charge of Mr. Thomas Littellton the now persone." Lulsey by one William Doughty, not a preaching minister; salary £5 paid by Mr. Littleton.
Little Kyre.—In the gift of Lord Protector, and united to Stoke Bliss; glebe worth £5; tithes, £10; Edward Russell, incumbent.
Hanley Child.—Sir Gilbert Cornwall patron; glebe worth £4; tithes, £10. Edward Benson, incumbent.
Orleton.—Chapel to Eastham; patron, Sir G. Cornwall; tithes, £16; Mr. Benson incumbent, who paid a preaching curate £8 yearly.
Hanley William.—Sir G. Cornwall patron; Mr. Benson incumbent; tithes, £15. Mr. John Phillips, "an able preacher, doth supply the cure." Orleton is represented as fit to be united to Hanley William:
Eastham.—In gift of Sir G. Cornwall. Glebe and tithes worth £67. 17s. 2d. Minister, Mr. Edward Benson, "an honest man and a preacher of the gospel." Hanley William, Hanley Child, and Orleton, are chapels. Parish very populous. Two curates, Mr. John Phillipps, who received £20 for serving the two Hanleys; Orleton curate, £8; the tenths £3. 8s. 5d.
Tenbury.—Robert Lucy, of Charlcote, patron; Joseph Smith the preaching minister. "That there is belonginge to the sayd vicar the vicaredge house and backside, and the churchyard, worth by the year £2;" tithes, £38. "That there is a p'sonage impropriate, wch was for the most part soulde by the ancestors of the sayd Robert Lucye long since, and the rest leased out for lives, worth by the yeare £40." Tithe of corn and grain in Tenbury town and foreign, and Berrington, which Robert Lucy received, £50. Rochford, a member of Tenbury church, worth £30.
Cotheridge.—Appropriated to William Berkeley, Esq., "who doth hire Mr. Theophilus Cooke to supply the cure there, who is an able preaching minister;" salary, £4; tithes, £40.
Edvin Loach.—Fitzwilliam Coningsby, Esq., patron; Richard Jay, minister, "and an able painfull man in his office." Glebe, £5; tithes, £10. Tedston Wafer is united to Edvin Loach.
Shelsley Walsh.—Patron, Thomas Foley, Esq.; Mr. Edward Lane, incumbent, "who pracheth duely and constantly at convenyent tymes;" house, glebe, and tithe, £17. 10s.
Lower Sapey.—John Cliff, minister and patron; glebe, £9; tithes, £30.
Clifton-on-Teme.—This place is called "the borough and parish of Clifton," it being a place of some importance, and constituted a borough by Edward III, when it was privileged with fairs (now again revived, 1855), a weekly market on Thursday, and many other franchises and immunities, by a charter granted to Mortimer. The house, glebe, and tithe, worth £26. 6s. 8d. William Jeffreys, Esq., patron. "Also since the sequestration of Mr. John Greene, the late minister, one Mr. Samuell Ffiler was by the order of the comittee of the county of Worcester made minister thereof, who is an able preaching minister, and Mr. John Hill doth in his absence supply the cure and preacheth duely every Lords day twice, and receaves the proffitts." Shelsley Walsh worth £17. 10s., and Sapey Pritchard £39; both fit to be united to Clifton.
Acton Beauchamp.—Rectory, endowed with all tithes, and hath glebe. No chapels annexed; nor any payments but the tenths, being 8s. a year. W. Berkeley, Esq., patron; Mr. George Fyncher, preaching minister, who received the profits and dues of tithes, and was also rector of Thornbury, Herefordshire, of which place, as also of Stanford (a chapel belonging to Bromyard), he likewise received the profits and tithes. One Mr. Richard Todd, a young man, was employed by the rector to preach at each of those places, but what salary the poor hard-worked curate obtained from the wealthy pluralist the deponents knew not; "but betweene them both wee at Acton Beachamp aforesayd have preachinge some tymes in the morninge onely, and nothinge at all in the eveninge, and some tymes noe excercise in the morning nor eveninge of the Lords day or dayes of humiliation; but are forced to goe to other places."—Profits and tithes of Acton Beauchamp worth £37, but the house greatly decayed. Glebe, £13. "We humbly desier that wee may not bee constrayned to goe to any other parish or chappell for the causes aforesaid, and in regard it hath cure of sowles and wee are at least fower and ffortie familyes, poore, aged, and weake people, and the soyle very hilley and durtie in the winter tyme and the out side of Worcester Shire and dioces, and remote from Thornebury aforesayd, which is in the county and dioces of Hereford, or any other church in the county or dioces of Worcester. Suckley is the nearest, which is two miles distant at least from church to church in our estimations."
Great Witley.—Thomas Russell, Esq., patron; Francis Marshall the "very able minister for the cure of soules." Living worth £50. No chapel. The inhabitants of Hilhampton, a hamlet in Hartley parish, had been in the habit for some years of coming to Witley church on the Lord's day, burying their dead there, and receiving the sacrament.
Shelsley Beauchamp.—A rectory in the patronage of Mr. John Travell, merchant, of London; incumbent, Mr. Charles Nott. Glebe lands and tithes, £60, whereof £4 paid yearly to a free school at Stourbridge.
Abberley.—"A rectory in the presentation as we suppose of on Mr. Joseph Walsh esquier whose ancesters were wont to pr'sent. That our present minister is on Mr. John Dedicott an able constant preacher of the word and a man of unblameble life and co'versation." Profits of the rectory £50, which would be more if the lord of the manor had not detained some of them. Only an acre of glebe.
Stanford.—Tithe, glebe, and profits, £30, out of which 16s. 8d. paid yearly to the vicar of Clifton. Patron, Edward Salwey, Esq.; Thomas Steadman, incumbent, by whom the cure was "sufficiently served."
Kyre Wyard.—Edward Pytts, Esq., patron. The parsonage is reported to have "alwaies ben an entire thinge of it selfe and not united unto any other, beinge distant from any other church one mile and a halfe." Glebe, £10; tithes, £20. Hugh Thomas, the minister, "preacheth twice every Lord's day."
Rock.—Parish is three miles and a half in length and two and a half in breadth. Tithes, £120; glebe, £8. 6s. 8d. Chapelry of Heighington belonging to it, which, containing thirty families, it was desired, should be made a parish of itself. "The p'sent incumbent is Edward Partington m'r of Artes and minister of the Ghospell hee was p'sented by the right and title of John Newce, Esq., late lorde of the ma'or of Rocke. The p'sente patrons (as wee conseave) are Edward Partington, Clearke, and Charles Cornwalis, Gent. in right of theyre wives Mary and Edith dawteres and coheires of the said John Newce, Esq. The cure at Highingeton chappell is supplied by George Boraston m'r of Arte for w'ch he is allowed by Edward Partington Rector all the tithes belonging to that hamlet, both small and greate, to the value of £30."
Bewdley.—"The presentment or certificate of the constables, churchwardens and burgesses of the borrough of Bewdley given in ye 7th Novem. 1655. Wee p'sent and certify yt neere the middle of the towne of Bewdley afforesad wee have a decent chappell w'ch was heartofore (as wee are informed) a free chauntery and had revenewes belonging to it, to the value of £200 p. ann. untill the same was transferred to the Crowne by Acte of Parliament, made in the raigne of King Edward the Sixte; since w'ch time the minister of the said chappell hath had an allowance of eight pounds p. ann. heartofore paied by the Auditors or Receivors (out of the King's revenue) and now paied out of the Rectory of Ombersley.
"That the said minnister before the incorporation of the said towne was elected by the townesmen there, as wee are informed, and since the incorporation theareof by the Bayliffe and Capital Burgesses. That Mr. Henry Oseland is our present minnister there in such sorte elected, who of right can onely claime the said annuity of eight pounds, forth of w'ch alsoe is deducted and the said minnister is forced to allowe, for portage and taxes two and twenty shillings and eight pence now by the yeare, and when assessments are more the disbursement is greater (besides w'ch) he hath an augmentation of fifty pounds p. ann. graunted to him soe longe as hee officiats there.
"That the said towne is a populous markett towne, whearein there are fifteene hundred or more fitt to be taught; that it hath been reputed to be within the parrish of Ribsford, that the parrish church is allmost a mile distant from the towne, that Mr. John Borraston is rector theareof, and hath out of our said borrough to the value of £48. 15s. 8d. p. ann. or thereabouts. And the said Mr. Borraston nor his predecessors have not given any mainetenance to the minnisters of the chappell aforesaid, neither have had the choice of the minnisters to yt place as wee have heard.
"Alsoe we humbly conceive there is a necessity that wee should have both places continued and minnisters to supply them for these reasons following:
"1. Because neither of the places will contayne the whole people of the towne and parrish.
"2. Because of the inconveniences yt a whole towne should goe neare a mile to the publick ordinance many being aged sicke and weake, when there is a convenient chappell in the midst of the said towne, that will contayne most of the people there.
"3. Because the chappell hath had for neare 60 yeares past praching minnisters successively (as we are credibly informed) And now wee have in the chappell a very godly man, well affected to the p'sent government, whom the Lord hath made an instrument to bring in many soules (wee hope) to Christ.
"4. Because of the greatness of the number of the people the worke of the minnistery will be too much worke for one man and the incombes of the p'sonage to little for the maintenance of two minnisters, thearfore we shall humbly pray that the augmentation of £50 p. ann. alreaddy graunted with the stipend of £8 p. ann. may be made up a competent mainetenance for the present minnister of the chappell and soe for succession of minnisters there, w'ch being done will conduce much to the glory of God and good of the place.
"Furthermore wee humbly desire that both the meetinge places at Bewdley and Ribsford be kept up and each have its p'ochall bounds fixed, the fittest and most convenientst way (as we humbly conceive it) for the parrish of Ribsford to conteyne the whole Lordship of Ribsford entire, and the division to be onely in the borrough as followeth.
"To begin at Seavern side where the towne liberties end; w'ch is at the lower end of the Lady meadowes, and soe along by Bewdley parke wall as its bounded by the Lordship of Ribsford and soe about the parke end to John Monnop his house at Blakemans Sitch; and from his house crossing the way to the outside bounde of the lande belonging to John Clare called Blakeman's Sitch; and soe from thence to Goodwater Brooke, and then downe the brooke to Dowles Brooke to the bounds betweene the Borrough and Dowles, down to Seaverne-side to the bottome of the Lady meadowes where we began.
"The tithes of yt parte w'ch belonge to the borrough wee conceive fittest to be settled one ye minnisters at the chappell (after ye decease of the p'sent incumbent at Ribsford), and the tithes belonging to the parrish w'ch is cutt of from the borrough may be continued to the minnister of Ribsford.
"Our reasons for the division thus made (amongst others) are these.
"1. In this way provision will be made for each auditory to have two sufficient congregations for two able men to preach unto and allow for private inspection and oversight.
"2. In this way provision may be made for a competent maintenance for two approved preachers in both parrishes if the augmentation and the other supplies before-named be continued and settled one the minnister at the said chappell.
"3. By this way the people that are devided from the borrough and settled in Ribsford parrish are all (within a very few houses) as nigh to Ribsford meetinge place as Bewdley chappell and many neerer.
"4. In this way there is no devision of houses yt are contiguous but those yt are united in one parrish and those yt are scattered in the other parrish.
|
all sworne." |
Ribbesford.—Consisteth of two manors or lordships—Ribbesford and Bewdley, Sir Henry Herbert, patron; John Buraston, incumbent. Tithes in Ribbesford manor, £30; in Bewdley, £48; glebe, £2. Said John Buraston preacheth and catechiseth every Lord's day. Bewdley chapel is declared to be altogether unfit to be made a parish church, because there was no land attached to be made into a burying place.
Stockton.—Mr. Edward Walsh, patron, "whose forefathers have for many generations p'sented clerks[5] unto the same." Tithes, £30; glebe, £6. Mr. Thomas Roberts, rector, "supplyeth the cure himselfe and is a constant preacher of the word." "The tenths yearly payd out of the sayd parsonage is the sum of ten shillings eleven pence halfpenny farthing, and that the sayd tenths are payd to the use of the co'mon welth of England." Pensax chapel (belonging to Lindridge) is declared as fit to be united to Stockton.
[5] Clergymen.
Martley.—Parsonage without a chapel; John Clent, Esq., patron; house, glebe, and tithes, £100; Mr. Thomas Clent, incumbent, "who receaves the p'ffits of the said p'sonage, and by reason of his being weake and sick he hath one Mr. Charles Godwin who supplyes the cure under him and hath for his sallery about 20 pound and he preacheth constantly at due tymes."
Bayton.—A vicarage, value £20; patron, Lord Protector; John Simons vicar, "an able and painfull[6] teacher," who received all the profits of the living. The "church is very well situated in a hansum and convenient place for a p'ish church, there is noe convenient place for a church to bee built in our liberty."
[6] Painstaking.
Mamble.—Vicarage, with house, garden, and tithes, worth £25; patron, the Lord Protector; incumbent, Daniel Mullurd, "who by reason of his age and weakness is not able to supply the cure but hath p'vided Tymothy Pyp (?) to officiate there who preacheth duely ev'y Lord's Day and receaveth the p'ffiitts for his sallary and paynes takeing there."—Bayton is in this return said to be worth £30, and the church "is fitt to be united to Mamble (it being the more convenyent church both for largeness and fittness for the people to meete there)" [They were accordingly united March 6, 1669.]
Doddenham.—"Imprimis, the parsonage of Doddenham and Knightewicke have ever time oute of minde belonged to one man. They are very unfitt (as wee conceive) to bee divided having ever beene united and are both very well worth £60 p. ann. Reprizes goeing oute of the same wee knowe none butt only 2s. 8d. a yeare that is paid to Mr. Henry Pitt of London." Glebe and tithes, £30. The Dean and Chapter were formerly the patrons, "butt since the sale of Deane and Chapter land, wee conceive Mr. Henry Pitt to be the patron thereof. The cure of both parishes Mr. Tayler beeing sequesterd is now supplyed by Mr. Mathew Boulton whoe receiveth the profittes thereof, whoe is an honest man, an able scoller, and a sound devine, as wee suppose him to bee." In Knightwick there were twenty families, and in Doddenham thirty-one.
Astley.—Rectory, worth £110. John Winford, Esq., patron; Mr. Samuel Bowater, the "able minister, who constantly preacheth twice a day."
Shrawley.—Patron, the Lord Protector; value, £80; Mr. John Jordan the "preaching minister." The living not fit to be united or divided.
Superstitions.
"In all cases of preternatural pretensions a nice question must always present itself—as to how many of the believers are fools, how many of them knaves, and how many both one and the other."
In some parts of this county the following things are considered unlucky:
To meet a squinting woman, unless you speak to her, which breaks the charm.
To go a journey on a Friday.
To be one of a party of thirteen at Christmas.
To have a cut onion lying about in the house breeds distemper.
To cross knives accidentally at meal times.
To walk under a ladder.
For the first young lamb you see in a season, or a colt, to have its tail towards you.
To kill a lady-cow (in Dorsetshire called "God Almighty's cow").
For a sportsman to meet an old woman when going out shooting is a sure sign of bad sport.
To put the bellows on a table will evoke a quarrel.
To keep Christmas holly about the house after Candlemas Day, in which case it is believed the Father of Evil will come and pull it down himself.
To put salt on another person's plate at table. The superstition that overturning salt at table is unlucky is said to have originated with Leonardo da Vinci's picture of the Last Supper, where Judas is represented as overturning the salt; but this little incident in the picture was more likely the result than the cause of the superstition.
To see the first of the new moon through a window, or glass of any sort, is also unlucky. But if you see it in the open air, turn the money in your pocket, and express a wish for luck during the ensuing month; you are supposed to ensure it.
"Always kill your pig in the new moon, or the fat will run," is an old saying.
It is unlucky to point to the moon, there being a notion that the "man" who was transported to that satellite for stealing sticks won't stand being pointed at.
To have a female come into your house the first thing on New Year's morning. So extensively does this absurdity prevail, that in many towns young lads make "a good thing of it" by selling their services to go round and enter the houses first that morning.
As to cutting your nails on a Sunday, the following couplet is very expressive:
Than cut his hoofs of a Sunday."
This is varied in some districts, thus—
Than on the Sunday[7] shear the horn."
[7] Some say Friday.
The itching of the nose is a sign of bad news, or, as some have it, that "you will be kissed, cursed, or vexed, or shake hands with a fool." If the ear itches, you may expect news from the living; if the face burns, some one is talking about you; when you shudder, a person is walking over the spot where your grave will be; and if your foot itches it is a sign you will tread on strange ground.
To make presents of knives or scissors will be sure to cut off love or friendship; but if something is given in exchange, it prevents this bad effect.
Babies must never have their nails cut, but bitten, to prevent their becoming thieves.
To snuff out a candle accidentally entails the fate of not getting married in the same year.
It is in the highest degree unlucky to give your neighbour a light at Christmas time, or New Year's Day; and those who have neglected to lay in a stock of matches at that season often have to repent the oversight by being unable to light their fires in the morning, and in most cases amongst the poor neither prayers nor entreaties will induce them to part with their fire.
At Mathon, some people believe that if land is left unsown in a field, there will be a death in the family within the year; and when the accident is discovered they do not sow it again (see Mr. Watson's sketch of that parish).
Omens, or tokens of death, adhere to the popular belief to a more general extent than any other relic of superstition, perhaps one third of the population attaching more or less credit to them. It would be impossible to enumerate all these idle fancies, but among them are prominently the howling of a dog, a winding sheet in the candle, and the issuing of light from a candle after it is blown out.
A piece of curled tallow (winding sheet) on a candle has been scarcely ever known to fail as prophetic of death in the family or among friends.
When a single crow flies over you it is the sign of a funeral; two are a certain prognostication of a wedding.
A bit of coal popped from the fire must resemble either a purse or a coffin, and consequently good luck or death.
To have a long succession of black cards (spades or clubs) dealt to a person while at play is prophetic of death to himself or some member of the family.
When a corpse is limp, it is a sign that another death will happen in the house.
To have apples and blossoms on a tree at the same time is a sign of a forthcoming death in the family.
If a white bean grow in the garden it is a sure sign of death.
Any appearance among plants in the garden not understood is considered "a token." Thus a rose whose flower has any leaves intermixed with the red petals, as sometimes happens, is called a "death rose," and foretells death to some of the family.
The first snowdrop brought into the house betokens the death of the gatherer.
It is bad luck for any one to go through a house with a spade on his shoulder.
If a woman go into a neighbour's house before she is "churched," some great misfortune will befall her.
It is unlucky to have rain on a wedding day.
Happy the corpse the rain falls on."
Old shoes thrown after a person leaving the house are supposed to be a source of great prosperity. This is practised by the highest classes in the county, especially at weddings.
So many mince pies you eat at Christmas, so many happy months you will spend during the year.
A donkey braying is an infallible sign of rain.
To cut your hair during the increase of the moon is said to ensure its favourable growth.
A bright speck in the candle is a sure indication that a letter is coming to the individual to whom it points.
If the sun shines warmly on Christmas Day there will be many fires in the ensuing year.
"A great year for nuts a great year for (the birth of) children," is a common saying, and double nuts presage twins.
Tea-drinking is made to foreshadow a large number of the casualties of life, including the receipt of presents, the visits of strangers, obtaining sweethearts, and the like, merely from the appearance of the tea and the "grounds" or settlement in the cup.
To leave a teapot lid open undesignedly is an indication that a stranger is coming; and when a cock crows in your doorway, or a bit of black stuff hangs on the bar of the grate, it is a sign of a similar event.
It is believed in many districts that some persons have white livers, and that if a woman marry a man having such a phenomenon inside him, she must die within twelve months.
The first time a baby is taken out of the lying-in room the nurse must carry it to the highest part of the house for good luck, and that it may "rise in the world."
The colliers at Dudley, in the event of a fatal accident to one of their number, all in the same pit immediately cease from working until the body is buried. A certain sum is also spent in drink, and is called "dead money." The same custom, more or less modified, prevails in many districts.
The "seventh son of a seventh son" is believed to be endowed with extraordinary curative powers in certain diseases, and the same with regard to a daughter under similar circumstances.
In the vicinity of the Malvern hills there is a superstition among the poorer people that when any one is bitten by a viper—which reptile is occasionally to be met with in bushy ground about the southern part of the range—if it can be killed forthwith, an ointment made from its liver will be a specific for the wound.
A "handsel," or first money received for an article sold, if taken from a particular person or under particular circumstances, Mr. Lees says, is supposed to be productive of good luck; and some complain that they cannot do business for want of a handsel from the person of whom they wish to receive it.
In the year 1643, when some thieves plundered the house of Mr. Rowland Bartlett, at Castle Morton, among other things they took a "cock eagle stone, for which thirty pieces had been offered by a physician, but refused." These eagle stones were ætites, a variety of argillaceous oxide of iron; they were hollow, with a kernel or nucleus, sometimes moveable, and always differing from the exterior in colour and density. The ancients superstitiously believed that this pebble was found in the eagle's nest, and that the eggs could not be hatched without its assistance. Many other absurd stories were raised about this fossil.
The custom of burying exclusively on the south side of churchyards prevails very generally in the rural districts of this county, except where the smallness of the ground or the extent of the population has rendered it compulsory to use the north side, which, however, was formerly reserved for suicides and strangers. Many fanciful theories have been invented to account for this preference of the south side, but the most probable is, that, as the principal entrance to the church was usually on that side, it was natural for burials to be there also, that the deceased might have the benefit (so accounted in those days) of the prayers of the congregation as they walked to and fro and beheld the inscriptions.
The very ancient custom of divination by the flight of birds is not yet forgotten. The robin and wren are birds of good augury: if a raven flies over a house, there will soon be a corpse there. The number of magpies met with as you set out on a journey indicates what is to happen:
Two for mirth,
Three for a wedding,
Four for a birth."
Mr. Allies tells of a remarkable superstition that prevailed not many years ago at Suckley, where the country people used to talk a great deal about "The Seven Whistlers," and that they oftentimes at night heard six out of these seven whistlers pass over their heads; but that no more than six of them were ever heard at once, for when the seven should whistle together there would be an end of the world. This is supposed to have some reference to fairy lore, and is still believed by the Leicestershire colliers, who, when they hear "the whistlers," will not venture below ground, thinking that death to some one is foreboded. The superstition has probably a German origin.
Fern seed is supposed to make the gatherer walk invisible; but as the fern is said to bloom and seed only at twelve o'clock at Midsummer night, the seed can only be caught by using twelve pewter plates; the seed will then pass through eleven of the plates and rest on the twelfth.
There was formerly a "holy thorn" at Redmarley Farm, Acton Beauchamp, but it was cut down a few years ago because of the number of persons who went to see it. It is stated that the person who cut it down broke his leg and his arm soon afterwards, and the premises were burnt down. A similar thorn may be seen (as Mr. Lees informs us) in the hedge of a garden at Cherry Green, Alfrick.
A superstition exists in some parts of the county that if pieces of the alder tree are carried in the waistcoat pocket they will be a safeguard against rheumatism. In Wyre Forest, near Bewdley, is a botanical curiosity, namely, the celebrated old Pyrus domestica, said to be the only tree of the kind growing wild in England. It is of the same kind as the "Rowan," or mountain ash, which was and even now is vulgarly worn as a remedy against witchcraft. It is most thought of by the common people, and there are various traditions concerning it. The name given to the tree is "the witty pear-tree"—the mountain ash being also called "the whitty tree," and the leaves of this tree are very similar. One of our Naturalist Field Clubs visited it in August, 1853: vegetation was then entirely confined to its top boughs, which however still held a few pears on them. Some hermit, or reputed "wise man," probably planted this tree, and derived part of his subsistence by distributing its leaves and fruit, as a protection against witchcraft.
In April, 1856, a poor woman, residing in a village about three miles from Pershore, acting upon the advice of her neighbours, brought her child, who was suffering from whooping cough, to that town, for the purpose of finding out a married couple answering to the names of Joseph and Mary, and soliciting their interference on behalf of her afflicted child, as she had been informed that if two married persons having those names could but be induced to lay their hands on her child's head, the whooping cough would be immediately cured. After scouring the town for a considerable time in search of "Joseph and his fair lady," they were at length discovered in the persons of a respectable tradesman and his wife residing in Bridge Street, to whom the poor silly woman made known her foolish request, which at first excited a smile from the good woman of the house, but was quickly followed, not by "the laying on of hands," but by good advice, such as mothers only know how to give in these matters. The poor mother then thankfully departed a wiser woman.
In the rural districts great faith is put in rings made of the shillings and sixpences given at the sacrament, and many clergymen have told me of repeated applications having been made to them for sacrament shillings, for the purpose of keeping away the evil spirit, or as a remedy for fits. Mr. Watson, in his History of Hartlebury, says that he believes nearly every person in that district who was subject to fits wore such a ring. And there is another parish in the county where I am told even Protestant poor go to the Romanist priest to have the relics of saints applied for the cure of diseases.
The Worcester papers in the year 1845 recorded that a person from this city, being on a visit to a friend about four miles distant, had occasion to go into the cottage of a poor woman, who had a child afflicted with the whooping-cough. In reply to inquiries as to her treatment of the child, the mother pointed to its neck, on which was a string fastened, having nine knots tied in it. The poor woman stated that it was the stay-lace of the child's godmother, which, if applied exactly in that manner round about the neck, would be sure to charm away the most troublesome cough!
An infallible recipe for the cure of ague is said to be the following: Go to a grafter of trees, and tell him your complaint. You must not give him any money, or there will be no cure. You go home, and in your absence the grafter cuts the first branch of a maiden ash, and the cure takes place instantly on cutting the branch from the tree.
A Worcestershire woman was asked the other day why she did not attend church on the three Sundays on which her banns of marriage were proclaimed? She replied that she should never dream of doing so unlucky a thing; and on being questioned as to the kind of ill-luck that would have been expected to have followed up her attendance at church, she said that all the offspring of such a marriage would be born deaf and dumb, and that she knew a young woman who would persist in going to church to hear her banns "asked out," and whose six children were in consequence all deaf and dumb!
At a certain country church in Worcestershire, on a Sunday early in 1856, there were three christenings, two boys and a girl. The parents of one boy were in a very respectable class of life; the parents of the two other children were in humble circumstances. The parties at the font had been duly placed by the officiating clergyman, and as it happened, the girl and sponsors were placed last in order. When the first child—who was the boy of the poor parents—was about to be baptized, the woman who carried the little girl elbowed her way up to the clergyman, in order that the child she carried might be the first to be baptized. To do this she had (very contrary to the usual custom of the poor, who, in essential points, are generally as refined as their superiors) to rudely push past "her betters"—i. e. the sponsors of the second boy. As she did so she said to one of the sponsors—by way of apology—"It's a girl; so it must be christened first;" and christened first it was. But the peculiar manner in which this was brought about showed that the woman was influenced by some curious feeling; and on the next day, an opportunity was taken to discover her motive. This was her explanation: "You see, sir, the parson bain't a married man, and consequentially is disfamiliar with children, or he'd a never put the little girl to be christen'd after the boys. And though it sadly flustered me, sir, to put myself afore my betters in the way which I was fosed to do; yet, sir, it was a doing of a kindness to them two little boys, in me a setting of my girl afore 'em." "Why?" "Well, sir! I har astonished as you don't know. Why, sir, if them little boys had been christened afore the little girl, they'd have had her soft chin, and she'd have had their hairy beards—the poor little innocent! But thank goodness! I've kep her from that misfortin!" And the woman really believed that she had done so; and the generality of her neighbours shared her belief. Let this be a warning to clergymen, more especially to bachelors, who would stand well in the opinions of their poorer parishioners!
BELLS
were formerly a prolific source of superstition. There is a valley in Nottinghamshire, where a village is said to have been swallowed up by an earthquake, and it was the custom on Christmas Day morning for the people to assemble in this valley and listen to the fancied ringing of the church bells underground. At Abbot's Morton there is a tradition that the silver bells belonging to the abbot are buried in the site of his old residence there. At Ledbury, a legend relates that St. Katharine had a revelation that she was to travel about, and not rest at any place, till she heard the bells ringing of their own accord. This was done by the Ledbury bells on her approaching that town. When the church at Inkberrow was rebuilt on a new site in ancient days, it was believed that the fairies took umbrage at the change, as they were supposed to be averse to bells; they accordingly endeavoured to obstruct the building, but, as they did not succeed, the following lamentation was occasionally heard by the startled rustics: