Part 22
1762. For a bassoon £5 5 0 1787. John Richardson, for instructing the singers 8 17 0 1801. For a hautboy 0 14 0 1811. For a base violin 6 16 7 1820. Paid Mr. Cotgreave, for leading the singers, 62 nights at 5s. 15 10 0 1821. Do. do. 77 nights at 5s. 19 5 0
In 1785, at Farndon, we find--
To a vestry meeting about a bassoon £0 2 6 To a bassoon 6 0 8
Two new “cleronets” and reeds cost £5 12s. 9d., and a new hautboy £1. 8s.
At the same vestry the churchwarden was empowered to pay £1. 1s. yearly to the singers “so long as they continue to sing such tunes as the inhabitants of the parish shall approve of”; and William Snelson was paid two guineas per annum “to teach the children to sing psalms in church.”...
The abolition of the old church band has _not_ been of benefit to many churches and villages.
Passing mention must be made of Handel’s visit to Chester, in 1741, when he tried over the music of the “Messiah” before its first performance in Dublin, and of the great Chester Musical Festivals held at various intervals from 1772 to 1829, and of the celebrated political song called the “Glorious Sixth of May,” which stirred Chester like a second “Lillibulero,” just one hundred years ago.
WELLS
A wishing well, called “Billy Hobby’s Well,” was in the field which is now the Grosvenor Park, Chester, and a local poet sang thus in 1823--
I lov’d the tales that idle maids would tell, Of wonders wrought at Billy Hobby’s well; Where love-sick girls with leg immured would stand, The right leg ’twas--the other on dry land, With face so simple--stocking in the hand-- Wishing for husbands half a winter’s day, With ninety times the zeal they used to pray.
Other wells round Chester were “St. Giles’ Well” at Spital Boughton, “Jacob’s Well” near St. John’s Church, “Aganippe’s Well” at Newton, and the “Abbot’s Well” at Christleton, which supplied the monastery at Chester with water. It still exists, but the others are extinct.
Another wishing well was at Gayton, and a holy well at Alderley Edge. St. Plegmund’s Well is in the parish of Plemstall (three miles from Chester). It has been customary for many years to take the water used for christenings in the church from this well.
A chalybeate spring existed in Delamere Forest, and was resorted to by invalids in the eighteenth century.
The largest well now existing is the “Synagogue Well” at Frodsham, which is close to the site of the ancient castle there, and may have been connected with it. It still has a copious supply of water, and has been cleansed and repaired, much to the detriment of its former picturesque appearance.
There is no history attached to it nor any explanation of the curious name. Major Egerton Leigh gives a fancy history of it in his _Ballads and Legends of Cheshire_.
No traces of well-worship exist; but up to a late period the inhabitants of Nantwich used to sing a hymn of thanksgiving at the “Blessing of the Brine.” An ancient pit, called the “Old Brine” or “Biat,” was decked on Ascension Day with flowers, and a jovial band of young people celebrated the day with song and dance. Aubrey says: “In Cheshire, where they went in perambulation, they did blesse the springs--_i.e._ did read the Gospel at them, and did believe the water was better.”
A remnant of _fire-worship_ existed at Alvanley, where, on the Toot Hill, fires were made in the spring and autumn, through which the villagers jumped.
ROBERT NIXON
Mention must be made of Robert Nixon, the great Cheshire prophet, whose fame not only rivalled that of Mother Shipton, but may be said (seeing that he is mentioned in _Pickwick_) to have lasted longer. The earliest history is Oldmixon’s, published in 1714, which says that “in the reign of James I. there lived a fool whose name was Nixon,” and that Thomas Cholmondley of Vale Royal (d. 1652) “took him into his house, where he lived when he composed this prophecy.” But other writers place him at a much earlier period. His prophecies really fall into the two periods of civil war, viz. the Wars of the Roses, and the Great Rebellion. If, therefore, Nixon was a real personage, it is obvious that if he lived in the reign of James I. he cannot have uttered some of the prophecies attributed to him. The discovery of an “Irish Analogue of Nixon’s Prophecy” (_Notes and Queries_, October 21, 1865) throws great doubt on the whole matter. The subject still requires much investigation.
The following are a few of Nixon’s prophecies:--
When an eagle shall sit on the top of Vale-Royal House, Then an heir shall be born, who shall live to see great troubles in England.
It is said that the Cholmondley family was at this time nearly extinct, but in due course an heir was born, during which time an eagle perched on the house-top.
Between a rick and two trees A famous battle shall be.
The “rick and two trees” may be Warwick, Coventry, and Daventry, and the battle, Edgehill, 1642; or Rickmansworth, Elstree, and Edwinstree, and the battle the second fought at St. Alban’s, 1461.
The following is unintelligible:--
There will be three gates to London of imprisoned men for Cowsters. Then, if you have three cows, at the first gate sell one, and keep thee at home. At the second gate sell the other two, and keep thee at home. At the last gate all shall be done.
_Old Mab’s Curse_ is directed against any one of the Minshull family who shall sell the family acres--
Mabel’s dole, of pious fame From royal blood they say she came; Poor and needy folks do tell That Mynshull’s land no one dare sell, For Old Mab’s curse on him would light That ere should sell land, stone, or bight.
The belief that bees must be told of their master’s death is widely spread, also that a winter crop of primroses betokens a death in the house. Powdered alabaster is considered a good remedy for the ailments of sheep, and the beautiful tomb of Sir Hugh Calveley in Bunbury Church has, in consequence, it is said, suffered much mutilation.
We find Trowle, the shepherd boy in the Chester play, making much of his tar-box as a specific, for the diseases of sheep and cattle were serious matters for an agricultural people, as the following show:--
Paid for a book concerning ye disorders of cattle £0 1 0[69]
and in the accounts of St. John’s Church, Chester, the following occurs five times in 1747:--
Paid for a book about the horned cattle £0 0 8
[69] Bunbury Church Accounts.
One other point remains to be noticed. There is a widely-spread belief that the indentures of apprentices in Chester contained a clause stipulating that they should not be compelled to eat salmon more than three days in each week. No such indenture has ever been seen, and the late Mr. Frank Buckland offered, in vain, a reward of five pounds for the sight of such a document. The tradition exists wherever there is a salmon river, but investigation shows that it is without foundation.
Such is some of the folk-lore of Cheshire, and there may still be a great deal which has never yet been recorded. It behoves every one to use his utmost endeavours to put into print every song, legend, saying, or custom that he may meet with. Such relics of the past can only now be obtained from aged people, and in a few years this source will fail, and the rising “school-board” generation will neither know nor care for such things. It is well to remember also (to quote another Cheshire proverb) that “the unlikeliest places are often likelier than those which are likeliest.”
It has been impossible to give all references, but especial mention must be made of Hazlitt’s and Ray’s _Proverbs_, Mr. Robert Holland’s various papers, _The Cheshire Sheaf_, and some _Bird Notes_ of Mr. T. A. Coward.
TWO CHESHIRE SAINTS
By the Archdeacon of Chester
We are justified in giving this title to St. Werburgh and St. Plegmund, of whom specially this chapter will treat, since both belonged to the old kingdom of Mercia, of which Cheshire was a part.
We owe our knowledge of St. Werburgh to the metrical life of the Saint written by Henry Bradshaw, a monk of St. Werburgh’s Monastery, who died in 1513. The full title of his work (which was printed in 1521 and reprinted by the Chetham Society in 1848) is _The Holy Lyfe and History of Saynt Werburge, very frutefall for all Christen people to rede_. It purports to be a translation into English verse from the original Chronicle or Passionary stated by him to be preserved in the Monastery. He makes frequent allusions to the Venerable Bede (whom he styles his author), as also to “Master Alfrydus, William Malmsburge, Gyrarde, Polycronycon, and other mo(re).”
St. Werburgh was born about 650, and was the daughter of Wulfhere, King of Mercia (whose name is perpetuated in Wolverhampton) and Ermenhild his wife. She was thus descended from four royal families. Her father was the second son of Penda, King of Mercia, who claimed descent from Woden. Her mother was the daughter of Earconbert, King of Kent, and was thus a descendant both of Tytillus, King of East Anglia, and of St. Edwin, King of Northumbria. She was also connected with the kings of France, as St. Ermenhild’s grandfather and great-grandfather both married princesses of that royal house. We may say that she was of saintly as well as of royal lineage, for five of her grandfather Penda’s children (pagan though he himself was) earned the title of saints; whilst her mother’s family included the names of St. Hilda, St. Etheldreda, St. Ethelburga, and St. Sexburga (her mother).
Wulfhere and his queen chiefly lived at Stone in Staffordshire, where St. Werburgh, under the care of her good mother, grew up. Bradshaw gives a very interesting picture of her early years, in which her religious disposition, fostered no doubt by her mother’s influence and example, manifested itself in various ways. Thus:--
“First in the morning to church she would go, Following her mother the queene every day, With her boke and bedes, and depart not them fro, Hear all divine service and her devocyons say: And to our Blessed Saviour, mekely on her knees pray, Daily Him desiring, for His endless grace and pity, To keep her from sin, and preserve her in chastity.”
She was an only daughter having three brothers. She listened with earnest attention to every word of instruction and advice; abjured giddy pleasures; and found her truest joy in contemplation of heavenly things, and holiest bliss arising from a pure conscience, chastened by fasting and sanctified by prayer.
Bradshaw gives a full description of her young days, and fondly lingers over the narration of her virtues. She attracted many suitors, but courteously dismissed them all. Among these was the Prince of the West Saxons, who made offer of marriage and of all his worldly goods:--
“Landes, rentes, and libertees all at your pleasure; Servantes every hour, your byddynge for to do, With ladyes in your chambre to wayte on you also.”
She gently but firmly declines, saying:--
“But now I shewe you playnly my true mynde, My purpose was never maryed for to be; A lorde I have chosen, Redeemer of Mankynde Jhesu the Second Persone in Trynyte To be my Spouse.”
The suit of Warbode, a powerful knight and chief steward in her father’s household, was attended with disastrous results. He had gained an evil influence over King Wulfhere, and induced him, if not to become an actual apostate, to adopt a distinctly hostile attitude to Christianity. When his suit, though favoured by his master, is declined by St. Werburgh, he retires in wrath and plots revenge. He poisons the King’s mind, and persuades him that his sons Wulfade and Ruffyn are plotting against him, leads him into the forest, where they are found in St. Chad’s cell being instructed by the good Bishop in the Christian faith; and then in his blind rage the King slays them both, and rushes back to his castle. No sooner did he return than he was seized with sore pains, the mark of God’s vengeance. Stung with remorse, he repented of his apostasy; repaired to St. Chad; professed his contrition; promised to destroy all idols and temples in his realm and to build monasteries; and founded the Abbey of Peterborough and a priory at Stone--
“To the honour of God, and these martyrs twayne.”
And now St. Werburgh begs her father to be allowed to become “a religious,” and to enter the Abbey of Ely, where her great-aunt, St. Etheldreda (or Awdry) was the Abbess. Wulfhere is reluctant and slow to consent, but at length he yields; and, when the matter was once settled, does his part nobly.
After her year of probation, St. Werburgh made her holy profession with great solemnity, and her biographer holds her up to the women of his day as an example of virtue and humility.
On the death of Wulfhere, his widow, Ermenhild, herself repaired to the convent of Ely, where her mother, St. Sexburga, had succeeded her sister, St. Etheldreda, as Abbess, and vied with her daughter in piety and devotion. Wulfhere was succeeded as king by his brother, Ethelred, to whom, according to Giraldus Cambrensis, is due the building in 689 of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Chester. Ethelred fully appreciated his niece’s character, and, seeing her holy conversation, made her Lady and President at Weedon, Trentham, and Hanbury, thus making her ruler of the nuns within his realm. He himself also took the vows and became a monk, resigning the crown to his nephew, Cenred, St. Werburgh’s brother, who, after a short reign of five years, followed his uncle’s example; went to Rome the year of grace 708, and was “professed to Saint Benette’s religion,” and “frome this lyfe transitory, with vertu departed to eternal glory.”
Bradshaw goes on to describe “the gostly devocion of Saynt Werburge, and vertuous governans of her places,” and, if the chronicler is to be trusted, she showed a marvellous capacity for ruling her abbeys. Her behaviour and character is thus described:--
“She was a minister rather than a mistress, Her great pre-eminence caused no presumpcion, Serving her systers with humble subjection. . . . . . Piteous and merciful and full of charity To the poor people in their necessity. . . . . . She never commanded systers to do anything But it was fulfilled in her own doing.”
Even from these short extracts we can readily gather what a gentle, lovable personage she must have been, and how in all her relations of life she manifested a truly humble and Christian spirit. Her life was mainly spent between Weedon, Trentham, Repton, and Hanbury, and we can imagine what a gracious influence she exercised upon the religious houses there and their occupants, and so upon the surrounding neighbourhoods. It was at Trentham that she died, enjoining, however, that her body should rest at Hanbury. When she felt her end approaching she gave directions as to her successors and officers in the monasteries, and as to how their affairs should be conducted in the future; then, calling the sisters round her, she gave them her last exhortation, to live in temperance, obedience, and love, recited the Creed, received the Blessed Sacrament, and--
“The third day of February ye may be sure, Expired from this life, caduce and transitory, To eternal blyss, coronate with victory, Changing her lyfe, miserable and thrall, For infinite joy, and glory eternal.”
This was probably in the year 699. The people of Trentham buried her in that place, watching over the body lest it should be removed. However, the people of Hanbury came, and, a deep sleep having fallen upon the watchers, were enabled to carry the body safely to Hanbury, where it was interred in the chancel. Nine years afterwards, in the summer of 708, it was moved from the grave to a duly prepared shrine with great pomp, in the presence of her cousin King Ceolred and the bishops and the clergy. Here, says the chronicler, the body remained whole and substantial “for nearly 200 years, till the coming of the pagan Danes,” when “it was resolved and fell to powder lest the wicked miscreants with impious hands should dare to touch it.”
It was in 875, to save the remains from such violation, that the people of Hanbury were inspired to bring them to Chester, as the Danes, having destroyed Weedon and Trentham, had come as far as Repton. It was then that--
“The relique, the Shryne full memorative, Was brought to Chestre for our consolacion, Reverently receyved, set with devocion In the mouther Church of Saint Peter and Paule (As afore is sayd) a place most principall.”
A full description is given of the solemn reception of the shrine and its treasured contents, and also of the gifts wherewith rich and poor vied with each other to enrich it.[70] The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul was probably somewhere on the site of the present cathedral. Ethelfleda, daughter of King Alfred, built a separate minster to St. Werburgh, joining it to the east end of the older church. This building (rebuilt, we are told, by Leofric, Earl of Chester) gave place to the Norman structure of Hugh Lupus, in the erection of which he was assisted by the advice of St. Anselm. But through all these changes and vicissitudes the name of St. Werburgh was associated with the dedication of the church, and her shrine found its home there.
[70] According to the Ely Book (_Liber Eliensis_) the relics were brought to the Abbey of Ely (Wall’s _Shrines of British Saints_). Certain portions of them may have been carried to either place, or there may be some confusion as to the name.
The shrine was no doubt visited by pilgrims from all parts, and as time went on was adorned and beautified. The shrine proper was a box or receptacle in which the relics of the saint were deposited, and was often made of the most splendid and costly materials, and enriched with jewels in profusion.
Bradshaw speaks of this portable shrine as “a riall relique” (royal relic), and also tells of the “many riall gyftes of jewels to the shrine.” It was carried about in processions and in times of danger and emergency, and was “set on the towne walles for help and tuicion”; to save Chester from the attacks of the Welsh; and again,
“The devout Chanons sette the holy Shryne Agaynst their enemies at the sayd Northgate,”
“when innumerable barbarik nations purposed to disstroye and spoyle the city.” Similarly we are told “howe in 1180 a great fire, like to destroye all Chestre, by myracle ceased when the holy shryne was borne about the towne by the monkes.” As various miracles were ascribed to her agency in her lifetime, so now her relics were regarded as powerful instruments in warding off evil whether from individuals or the community at large. The shrine would be visited by suppliants from every quarter, who would invoke the aid of the Saint to remedy their various ills. For the portable shrine a suitable resting-place would be erected, one probably giving place to another as successive generations altered the style and character of the building. Round this stately and elaborate structure would be places where the suppliants could kneel, and also receptacles for the offerings which their piety and gratitude inspired. Of the earlier structures no trace remains, but the fifteenth century one has in recent years been placed at the west end of the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral, as being probably near the spot where it originally stood. At the foundation of the See, and up till 1870, the lower portion formed the base of the Bishop’s Throne, the crown being lowered so as to form the balustrade in front of the Bishop’s seat. In this adaptation certain stones were removed, and were built up in the wall which enclosed the staircase which led from the Bishop’s study directly into the Cathedral. In removing this staircase in 1885 these stones were discovered, and have again been placed on the shrine, which is thus restored to its original proportions. The shrine was adorned with canopied niches, in which were sculptured figures bearing their names on scrolls, representing the Kings and Saints of the Mercian kingdom.
It will be gathered from what has been said that though Saint Werburgh probably spent no portion of her life in Cheshire, yet she was for more than seven hundred years associated in men’s minds with the county, inasmuch as her shrine had its home in Chester. In those days she would be looked upon as a Cheshire Saint, and from far and near religious pilgrims would come to say their devotions and to tender their offerings at her shrine in the Church which was dedicated to God’s service in her name. We are therefore justified in speaking of her under this heading. And she has left her name in the county in other ways. Nine churches in England (six of them in the old kingdom of Mercia) are dedicated in her name. One of these is in Cheshire at Warburton, _Werburgh town_. That place gave its name to an honoured Cheshire family, which has given its scions to the service of their country in many directions, and which still holds a position of high renown and esteem in the county. We may thus legitimately term St. Werburgh a Cheshire Saint. We cannot do better than follow her favourite precept and common saying: “Please God and love Him, and doubt not anything.”
The other subject of our paper is St. Plegmund, to many perhaps an unknown name, though he rose to a high position, and must have exercised a wide and beneficent influence on Church and State both in his own day and for succeeding generations. He, like St. Werburgh, was a native of Mercia, though we cannot give his birthplace or his parentage. But we can connect him very closely with the county and with the neighbourhood of Chester, where his name is still preserved in the name of a parish, that of Plemstall. This has been variously written at different times, as Plegmundstall, Plegmondesham, &c. It was here, in fact, that he established himself as a hermit in an Isle of Chester; for though Plemstall is no longer an island, it has been clearly shown that in earlier times the locality would justify such description.
Plegmund was born in troublous times about the middle of the ninth century. The Danes had overrun the land, destroyed the monasteries, the only places of learning, and driven the monks from their books. Some there were, however, who determined, in spite of all difficulties, to pursue their studies and to pray in solitude for better times, and of these Plegmund was one. He had very probably been a monk, though this cannot be said with certainty. At any rate he adopted the hermit’s life, and set up his stall or habitation at Plemstall, then doubtless an island amid fens and marshes, and by its situation affording a place of safety in times of disorder and unrest. His lonely dwelling, of which no trace remains, may have been on the site of the present church or a short distance away, and nearer to the well which still bears his name. Here he lived the hermit’s life; but we must remember, as Dean Hook tells us, that a hermit was not an anchorite. The latter never quitted his cell, but was an absolute recluse. The hermit was a more independent character; he moved about as occasion demanded. If he had a settled abode he would go to places of resort near at hand, and by his preaching seek to benefit the wayfarers who might be passing by.