History of the Borough of Bury and neighbourhood, etc

Front matter

As it appaaxel "before reVuilliiig . HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF BUM AND NEIGHBOURHOOD, IN THE COUNTY OF LANCASTER. BY B. T, BARTON. REPORTER. "Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice."— Shakespere. BURY: Wardleworth, Agur-street. Manchester: North of England Printing Society, Balloon-street. London : Smith and Sons. MANCHESTER * NORTH OF ENGLAND CO-OPERATIVE PRINTING- SOCIETY, BALLOON- STREET. THE EIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DERBY, LORD OF THE MANOR OF BURY, THIS WORK is, BY KIND PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. V PKEEACE. In these days of progress — progress in commerce and manufactures, as well as in science, art, literature, and indeed all those virtues, attributes, and excellencies which tend to the development of civilisation and the expelling of superstitious, foolish, and antiquated notions — it is pleasing and by no means uninteresting to recal, as it were, the "memories of the past," and to compare the " light of other days " with the light of the days in which we live.

In reviewing the history of any town, especially any of our manufacturing towns, a reflective mind is almost instinctively led to a comparison of what are often called "the good old days " with those of modern times. And this reflection of the past, and comparison with the present, cannot but be fraught with many a valuable lesson to the studiously inclined, and have a tendency to befit him more for the age in which he lives, to expand his ideas, and perhaps to look more hopefully into posterity. I quite agree with Stukeley, who, years ago, said, " "Tis the knowledge of antiquity that can give us a maturity in judgment, either in persons or things." The reader of history is led to reflect upon the lives of great men who have left behind them Footprints on the sands of time ; VI Men who by their genius, their assiduity, and diligence in the task they undertook to perform, have left behind them a name which will ever be remembered in the annals of history, and, still more, have added to the wealth and greatness of the country which gave them birth.

While many of our manu facturing towns which have risen to the .positions they now occupy by the practical use of many valuable mechanical inventions and improvements, swarm with statues of naval and military heroes, we look in vain for monuments in honour of Watt, of George Stephenson, of Arkwright, of Crompton, and a host of others. England owes all her present greatness to her men of thought — it is her boast, and poets have in many ways apostrophised the fact. In the perusal of this work the reader will find reference to the lives of a few men who either first saw the light of day in this district, or who, by their long residence in the locality and the imprints of the greatness which they left behind them, have made it impossible for any writer, desirous of doing justice to the history of this neighbourhood, to pass by their career unnoticed.

Chapter I

Early History of the Town— Bury Castle— The Flemings and the Trade of the Town, &c— The Magistracy — Peel Monument— Printing — The Old Political Parties in Bury— Bury Bellmen — The Boman Boad— The Savings Bank — Physic and Law — Union Square — The Distress in Bussia in 1812 — The Sports of the Early Inhabitants — Bury Lane— The Wreck of the "Eothsay Castle" — The Public Charities — Victories of the Army and Navy, and Eejoicings in Bury — An Over-anxious Butcher — A Husband's Legacy and a Wife's Opinion — The Public Amusements and " Assemblies" — Fall of Moss-lane Theatre — ■ Simnel Sunday — Bury Armoury and Drill Hall. Buey is a parish, parliamentary borough, and market town. It is a polling place for the county, and is in the Bolton division of the hundred of Salford, in the archdeaconry and deanery of Manchester.

The town stands on the left bank of the river Irwell, about two miles from the confluence of the Roch. The word Bury is Saxon, signifying either a castle or market town, and it is supposed to be the more applicable to Bury at a very early period. Formerly the town was governed by twenty-seven commissioners, nine of whom were elected annually, in the month of June, by the ratepayers, under an act of Parliament granted on the 27th July, 1846. This act was extended in the 25th July, 1872, and the public business of the town is now conducted by thirty commissioners, ten of whom are returned in June of each year. Previous to 184G the town may be said to be almost wholly without local government, except a little which it derived from the court-leet of the lord of the manor, the Earl of Derby. Three constables were chosen annually at the court-leet, under whose authority a deputy-constable was the head of the police.

Six commissioners are returned for each of the five wards into which the town is divided, the names of the wards being Church, Redvale, East, Moorside, and Elton. The town is distant 198 miles N.N.W. of London, 6 miles E.N.E. of Bolton, 35 E.N.E. of Liverpool, 7J from Manchester, and 15 from "Wigan. The parish comprises the townships i: EARLY HISTORY. of Bury, Elton, Heap, Ainsworth, Ashworth, Birtle-cum-Bamford, Hop wood, Pilkington, Pilsworth, Radcliffe, Tottington-lower-End, and Walmersley-cum-Shuttleworth. By the census returns of 1871, the township of Bury is stated to contain 41,517 inhabitants ; in 1861 the population was 30,399 ; and in 1851, 30,852 inhabitants. In 1793 the town contained only 2,090 inhabitants. Woollen manufacture is carried on in Bury to a considerable extent, and there are also extensive cotton mills, iron and brass foundries, paper mills, and bleach works.

At an early date Bury was one of the fees belonging to the Royal manor of Tottington, which was held by the Lacies, who enjoyed this possession soon after the Conquest, along with the lordship of Blackburnshire. EARLY HISTORY, According to the Testa de Nevill, in the reign of Henry in. , Adam de Bury held a knight's fee in Bury of the fee of the Earl of Lincoln, who held it of the King's tenant-in-chief, Earl Ferrers, and Bury at the time was part of the Countess of Lincoln's dowry. Adam de Montebegon, mesne lord of Tottington under the Lacies, and lord of Hornby, gave four bovates of land in Tottington to Edward de Buri, as the marriage portion of his daughter Aliz or Alicia, and William de Penieston then held that land with Cecilia, the daughter of Alicia. In enumerating the fees of Roger de Montebegon, who died in the 9th John (1207-8), it is said that Adam de Buri holds one knight's fee by ancient tenure.

This was one of the eight fees which Roger held within the same jurisdiction. Robert Gredle, Baron of Manchester, gave to another of his family, Robert de Buri the elder, fourteen bovates of land of his demesne of Mamecestre, to be held by the service of half a knight, and his heirs held that land. But the Bury family were not the sole proprietors at this period, for Henry de Emeleden was also found to hold two fees in Tottington and in Bury of ancient tenure. In 35 Henry III. (1251), Edmund de Lacy obtained a charter for free warren in his manor of Tottington, and also in other manors ; and in 22 Edward I. (1294), Henry de Lacy had a similar grant. On the death of Henry de Lacy, the manor of Bury passed to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in right of his wife Alicia, the heiress of the Earl of Lincoln.

At what period it passed from the local family is not clearly ascertained ; but after the death of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and on the erection of the duchy of Lancaster in 1351, Roger Pilkington is enumerated among the duchy tenants, as holding one knight's fee in Bury, which Adam de. Bury formerly held of the Honor of Lancaster. EARLY HISTORY. In an inquisition post mortem, taken 36 Edward III. (1362), Bure, in Salfordshire, is found along with Totinton among the vast possessions of Henry, the first Duke of Lancaster. Tho Bury family do not seem to have entirely ceased their connection with the parish for many reigns afterwards, for by an inquisition post mortem in the Duchy Records (1539), Ralph Bury was found possessed of lands in Bury, Myddleton, and Totyngton ; and in the Harleian MSS. is preserved a monumental inscription on Thomas, son of John Bury, of Bury Hall, Co. Lane, and Eliz. his wife, daughter of Thomas Stafford, of Bradfield, in Berks, Esq., dated 1613.

The last mention in the Duchy Records of this family is Richard Bury, a proprietor of land in Middleton in 1621. In 1351, Roger de Pilkington held one knight's fee in Bury, formerly held by Sir Adam de Bury, and which appears to have passed in marriage from the Burys to the Pilkingtons. In the reign of Edward IV. a licence was granted by that monarch to Sir Thomas Pilkington, a devoted adherent to the House of York, to kernel and embattle his manor-house at Stand in Pilkington ; and this continued the family residence till on the attainder of Sir Thomas Pilkington in 1 Henry VII. (1485), the manor of Bury and the other estates of the Pilkington family being forfeited, were granted by the crown, under the great seal, to Thomas, first Earl of Derby; and in 13 Henry VH. (1521), this manor is found among the possessions of the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, in which family it still remains.

In the same reign, Leland thus speaks of this place : — " Byri on Irwell, 4. or V. miles from Manchestre, but a poore market. There is a Ruine of a Castel by the paroch Chirch yn the Towne. It longgid with the Towne sumtime to the Pilkentons, now to the Erles of Darby. Pilkenton had a place hard by Pilkenton parke, 3 mile from Manchestre." Camden, in the reign of Elizabeth, describes it as a market-town not less considerable than Rochdale ; but Blome, who wrote in the time of Charles II., says, "Bury is a market-town, of no great account, on the Thursdays." As before stated, the Earl of Derby is Lord of the Manor of Bury, and owner of nearly all the land in the borough, with the exception of the glebe and a little freehold land held by different owners. The court leet and view of frank-pledge for the manor of Bury,_ with the court baron of the Earl of Derby, is held at Easter and Michaelmas in each year.

The town is lighted by gas supplied from the public gasworks, which were purchased from a private company in the year 1857, for the sum of £52,249. Since that time they have been considerably extended, at a large outlay. EARLY HISTORY. The Acts of 1846 and 1872 grants power to the commissioners to levy a general rate and a sewer rate, the amount of both being limited, unless with the consent of the parishioners. The usual practice is to levy two ninepenny general rates in the year, and two sixpenny rates, or, in all, two shillings and sixpence yearly. The commissioners have also since 1864 been constituted into a Burial Board for the district, and have power to levy burial rates. Under the Public Works Loan Act the commissioners have borrowed altogether — For paving purposes, £23,000 ; for sewering, £10,000 ; and for the purposes of the Burial Board, £15,000.

In 1818 the old church wall was pulled down to widen the street, and on that occasion human skulls and bones were tossed up and down the street like bowls and jacks upon a bowling green. Recently the wall fronting Fleet-street has been still further set back, greatly to the improvement of that thoroughfare. BURY CASTLE. Bury was not the site of a Roman station, as is supposed by many persons, but that of a Saxon ; and upon the banks of the old course of the Irwell, in Castlecroft, formerly stood one of the ancient baronial castles of Lancashire. Nothing now remains visible of the ancient structure, but remains of the foundations have been dug up, and coins have been found on the site from the mints of the Edwards, Henry VHL, Elizabeth, and the Stuarts. During the erection of some of the houses in Clerke-street, which were formed out of what was called the Church Field, five cannon balls were dug out of the ground at a depth of nearly two yards.

Three of these balls seemed to be about ten pounders, and the others about half that weight. The most important discovery near this place was made on the 25th August, 1865, by a number of workmen employed by the Improvement Commissioners. They were engaged in making a sewer, and in the course of their labours they came upon the foundation wall of the ancient Castle of Bury, the sewer crossing the west wall at what appeared to have been the keep. As might be expected, the discovery created considerable interest, and the commissioners were induced to extend their excava tions in a line with the wall southward. The main foundation-wall was scarcely two feet thick, and was buttressed every few feet. The masons' marks, chiefly an X, were found upon some of the stones. The outer foundation-walls, if entire, represent a quadrangle of about 110 by 113 feet.

The inner walls were very strong, being more than six feet in thickness ; in form a parallelogram, measuring externally about 82 by BURY CASTLE. 5 76 feet, and internally 69 by 63 feet. From the appearance of the ruins they appeared to have been a sort of peel or keep, with a space of about 20 feet between its outer face and the inside of the outer boundary wall. It is not improbable that this Castle of Bury once formed an outlying fortress, garrisoned by troops from the greater body of Roman soldiers permanently occupying Manchester ; or, earlier still, a place of defence and outlook occupied by other invaders to whom this part of the realm had been subjected. Its position would imply this. The road between Bury and Manchester, at that time, from the nature of the ground, the most accessible route by which these marauders could reach their settle ments, would be anciently, as in similar places, merely a rude track, winding, devious, uncertain ; sometimes ascending, to avoid the lower marshy land, permeated by springs ; and often taking a circuitous course merely because the peculiarities of the surface, in the entire absence of artificial formation, rendered it more generally safe or accessible.

Or, instead of being a station for armed men, the Tower or Castle of Bury, with its wide-reaching prospect over the valley and towards the beautiful hills beyond, may have been the chosen peaceful home of some official dignitary of rank and wealth, placed in Britain by duties pertaining to the army of imperial Rome, and here spending the time in pleasant ease and leisure. THE FLEMINGS AND THE TRADE OP THE TOWN, ETC. There can be but little doubt that a number of the emigrant Flemings established themselves in the parish of Bury in the reign of Edward the Third, and that they fabricated their webs from the fleeces grown in the Forest of Tottington. The first distinct notice that we have, however, of the manufactures of Bury is in the reign of Henry the Eighth, when Leland says, " Yerne sumtime made abowte Buri, a market towne on Irwel."

An aulneger was appointed at Bury by Act of Parliament in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to stamp woollen cloth, for the purpose of preventing it from being unduly stretched on the tenters. The advantages which Bury possesses as a manufacturing station have, doubtless, tended greatly to obtain for it that success which it has for so long enjoyed. Although the Roch and the Irwell are not navigable in the district, these streams are made use of in many ways, and add much to the beauty of the district, as they pursue their winding courses through the country. The abundant supply of coal in the neighbourhood is a great local advantage, particularly to manufacturers, many of whom can have their supplies carted directly from the THE FLEMINGS AND THE TRADE OF THE TOWN. pits, thus saving a considerable item every year in the shape of railway transit, as compared with many other manufacturing towns.

The town is not situated upon a main line of railway, but the facilities offered by the East Lancashire and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Companies, both of which have stations in the centre of the town, are such that the main lines can be reached in a very short time. The direct communica tion with Manchester on the one hand, and the thriving and populous towns of East Lancashire on the other, is an important feature in a commercial sense, and has doubtless tended considerably to place Bury in the enviable position it now occupies among the other manufacturing towns in the county. The manufacturing and commercial prosperity of the town has also been influenced by the canal which connects Bury with Bolton and Manchester. THE MAGISTRACY. The petty sessional division comprises the townships of Bury, Elton, Ainsworth, Ashworth, Birtle-cum-Bamford, Walmersley-cum-Shuttle worth, Tottingtcn-Lower-End, Tottington-Higher-End, Badcliffe, Pil kington, Pilsworth, and Hopwood.

The sessions are held in the Court House, in the Town Hall, every Monday and Thursday, before one or more of the following magistrates : — Appointed. John Grundy, Esq Jan. 11, 1841 H. Hardman, Esq Feb. 28, 1842 R. N. Philips, Esq., M.P., The Park Jan. 11, 1847 Wm. Fenton, Esq., Meadowcroft Feb. 28, 1848 Joseph Fenton, Esq., Bamford Hall Jan. 3, 1853 Thomas Wrigley, Esq., Timberhurst Jan. 9, 1854 Richard Bealey, Esq., Radcliffe Feb. 25, 1856 John Hutchinson, Esq., Bury Aug. 25,1858 Jonathan Mellor, Esq July 4, 1859 O. 0. Walker, Esq., Chesham April 8, 1863 Joseph Fenton, jun., Esq Aug. 3, 1863 Charles Cheetham, Esq May 23, 1864 John Fenton, Esq., Plumpton HaU Feb. 27, 1865 Richard Kay, Esq., Heywood Feb. 27, 1865 T. L. Openshaw, Esq., Heaton Grove April 18, 1866 J. S. Walker, Esq., Limefield May 28, 1866 J. J. Mellor, Esq., The Ferns April 10, 1867 James Fenton, Esq April 15, 1867 Jesse Leach, Esq., Heywood Jan. 6, 1869 Edward Mucklow, Esq., Woodhill Oct. 18, 1869 James Wrigley, Esq., Ash Meadow Oct. 18, 1869 J. P.Ede, Esq Oct. 25,1869 ±i. Or.

Wrigley, Esq., Broadoaks Oct. 22, 1871 T. B. Willans, Esq., Harefield Hall Aug. 19, 1871 The clerks to the magistrates are Mr. William Harper, Messrs. T., A., and J. Grundy and Co. ; Mr. W. P. Woodcock, and Messrs. George Whitehead, Son, and Dodds. PEEL MONUMENT. 7 PEEL MONUMENT. A statue monument of the late Sir Robert Peel was erected by public subscription in 1852. The subscription amounted to about £3,000. The design selected from the models of the various sculptors who competed, and which were exhibited in the Bury Athenæum, was one prepared by Mr. E. H. Bailey, R.A. It consists of a bronze statue of the statesman, standing in a commanding position upon a pedestal of Scotch granite 112 feet 6 inches in height, and enclosed within a strong iron palisading. It stands on the Wylde, near to the entrance to the Parish Church, and not being blocked up by any buildings, is a very conspicuous object.

The pecuniary liabilities and other obligations of the Monument Com mittee were transferred to the Bury Improvement Commissioners, who received the monument in charge and trust for the people of Bury, in whose keeping it still remains. PRINTING. In the year 1789, the first printing press was made by Mr. Robert Collinge, of Bury, for Mr. Robert Howorth, of Union-square, who kept a circulating library, and afterwards became the overseer of Bury. After the lapse of many years the press was bought by Mr. Benjamin Crompton, and worked by men who understood the business. As the population and machinery increased in Bury, printing presses and the demand for printing increased in like manner, and now there are several printing establishments in the town, the oldest firm being that of Mr. Crompton, in Fleet-street.

THE OLD POLITICAL PARTIES IN BURY. In these clays there are only two political parties in the town, the Liberals and the Conservatives, or, as they are commonly called, the Reds and the Blues. Formerly there were in Bury a variety of political names, such as Painites, Jacobins, Rumpers, Republicans, Carlislites, and Chartists. The Painites were the followers of Mr. Paine, and were very numerous in Bury about eighty years ago. Paine's "Age of Reason," and his "Rights of Man," were eagerly bought and read in this town, and the disputes ran so high among the people that one party burned Paine in effigy in the Market-place. The legislature at last passed an Act to the effect that if any of Paine's writings were found in the homes of the people they were punishable by law, and if this was put in force in its rigour it would be transportation.

Paine's writings were, however, secretly circulated among the people, although the authorities of the town and others exercised considerable diligence in THE OLD POLITICAL PARTIES IN BURY. suppressing them. After the Painites had been discomfited in this town and county, the name of Jacobin arose. The name was first given to a party in France, who were most zealous in giving the revolution a turn towards Republicanism. The word Jacobin ran through the first revolutionists in France, and with great rapidity it overspread England. Many corners in Bury were filled with Jacobins, who were headed by certain individuals. Gradually the Jacobins and their leaders dwindled away in Bury, and upon their ruins( there arose what at that time were called Rumpers, or the Rump Party. These Rumpers in Bury exerted themselves to hinder the carrying on of the French war, after they had beheaded their King, and the most influential among them went up and down the town getting signatures against the lives and fortunes of men who had signed an opposite petition to restore legitimacy on the throne of France.

For a time the Rump Party commanded with great authority, and though they opposed everything the Church and State imposed, their opposition proved futile, for the war against the French proceeded rapidly, until all Europe was moved against the French people for their cruelties with the guillotine and the beheading of their King. BURY BELLMEN. So far as can be ascertained, the first bellman in Bury was Mr. William Crompton. He officiated as bellman, parish clerk, and sexton in the town in the year 1744. He was succeeded by his cousin, Mr. Richard Walker, and his son Ralph assisted him as sexton for the church and bellman for the parish of Bury. Mr. Walker at that time kept the post-office, in an old house next to the Rectory gates. As he accidently broke his leg, and was unable to perform the duties of his office, he sent for Mr. Samuel Buckley, father to Mr. James Buckley, hat manufacturer, and requested him to take the bell.

To secure the bell in the Buckley family, he took a journey to the Earl of Derby, at Knowsley Hall, where the noble earl made him a present of the bell, and for some time after wards he was the town's crier. At that time there was one sedan chair in Bury, in which Miss Judith Holker was carried by Mr. Samuel Buckley, bellman, and Mr. Benjamin Taylor, on visits to ladies of Bury. It may not, perhaps, be out of place to state here that the Buckley family have been of some note in Bury. They formerly had land that lay contiguous to the town, and this land was remarkable for the wells of pure water that were upon it. These wells took their name from the Buckley family, and that portion of Bury is now known by the name of Buckley Wells. Mr. Samuel Buckley officiated as bellman of Bury until he enlisted in what at that time was called Lord Grey's regiment, in BURY BELLMEN. 9 which he died.

His brother James succeeded him as town's crier and bailiff of the manor until his death. James's son Samuel then became bellman and bailiff. Samuel for some time kept the Commercial Inn and Commercial Buildings. The top storey of the buildings was used by the Court of Requests and Petty Sessions, and the bottom room was fitted up as a concert room. When Mr. Samuel Buckley ceased to officiate as bellman, he employed a man named Chadwick as his deputy. Like other men in business he wras not allowed to enjoy the emoluments of town crier without competition, for a man named Edmund Riley purchased a speaking trumpet, through which he cried, "Oh, yes ! Oh, yes! Oh, yes ! " at the corner of every street prior to entering upon the subject of his announcement. James Parr, of Barlow-street, is now the bellman.

THE ROMAN ROAD. Mr. J. Just, in giving an account of the track of the Roman road from Stretford to Newton-in-Bowland and Hornby, in a volume of the Proceedings of the Lancashire and Cheshire Historic Society, says : — " The public road through Stretford lies on the site of the old Roman road, so far as that continues straight, and runs hence to Manchester. Owing to the immense size of Manchester, and the thick population of its suburbs and vicinity, it is impossible to tell the direction of the line to, or near, the stations of Mancunium. It leaves Manchester sometimes upon, and if not, parallel with Strangeways, on the new line of road thence to Bury. Near Prestwich the lines of road again correspond. Thence, with evident remains at intervals, it continues its straight course till it falls in again with the modern road, passes the Dales, and then crosses the river Irwell.

Throughout the parish of Radcliffe its remains are frequently evident, and occasionally very conspicuous. For some length it forms the boundary between the parishes of Radcliffe and Bury. Then it ascends the high grounds at Affetside, and falls in with Watling street there. Here its course is evident through Edgworth, to the heights of Blacksnape, by falling in with the public road between Bury and Blackburn." THE SAVINGS BANK. A Savings Bank was established in the town on the 1st of April, 1822. At present the Savings Bank is in Silver-street, and is open at certain hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. PHYSIC AND LAW. At one time all the physic in the town might have been put into a gallipot. There was but one attorney, and it is reported that he was UNION SQUARE. starved to death.

His office was in a room at the back of the Old Boar's Head, opposite to the church. UNION SQUARE. The first cellar sunk and the first stone laid in Union-square, was in 1784. There was one Lodge of Freemasons then in the town, and the ceremony of laying the first stone was performed with masonic honours by Mr. Robert Haworth, overseer of Bury. The mallet used on this occasion bears the inscription: — "First stone of Union-square, Bury, laid by Mr. Haworth, on Monday, July 4, 1784." THE DISTRESS IN RUSSIA IN 1812. On the 28th December, 1812, a meeting of the inhabitants of Bury and neighbourhood was held at the Red Lion Inn, for the purpose of raising pecuniary aid for the distressed in Russia. The chair was occupied by Edmund Yates, Esq. In opening the meeting, he said he was confident all who were present owing to the unexampled, patriotic, and successful struggle which the Russian nation had made, not only for their own liberty, but for the liberty of all Europe ; the privations and sufferings which they had endured in effecting this would, he was sure, excite in every British bosom the best feelings and the greatest desire to contribute to the alleviation of their miseries, which had exceeded anything that had ever been heard of before.

After the neces sary resolutions had been passed, and the thanks of the meeting unanimously voted to the chairman, the following sums were subscribed: William Yates, Esq £500 Edmund Yates, Esq 200 Lieut.-Colonel Yates 50 Thomas Hutchinson, Esq 50 William Hutchinson, Esq 15 Rev. James Hutchinson 10 William Walker, Esq., and Son 5 Mrs. Nuttall 1 Mrs. Andrews 1 Above one hundred ladies and gentlemen in Bury and its vicinity subscribed to this charity. THE SPORTS OF THE EARLY INHABITANTS In 1775 the popular sports and merry-makings of the people had not fallen into such almost entire disuse as they have at present, and were generally of an innocent nature, with the exception of bull-baitinc, which was much practised in the villages of Lancashire; and bear baiting also, if a wandering bear-ward happened to bring his poor animal within ken.

At Bury, for many years, the self-constituted THE SPORTS OF THE EARLY INHABITANTS. master of the revels was Mr. Greenhough, a schoolmaster, keeping school down a narrow passage in the Wylde. On the 29th of May, two entire oak trees, of as large a size as could be obtained, were placed one on each side of the Wylde. The boughs above were entwined together, and a figure, dressed to represent King Charles the Second, was placed, with much rejoicing, amongst the branches, the school master's brother always upon this occasion singing, with a very excellent voice, under the umbrageous arch formed by the united trees, in the open air, for the assembled company, the old song of the " Twenty-ninth of May," of which the burden is : — The bells shall in th' steeple ring, And music sweetly play; And loyal Churchmen ne'er forget The Twenty-ninth of May.