Part 21

In the Essex papers published three or four years ago the following description is given of this county and city, and also of Hereford: "On the 30th, Wharton writes again--'Worcestershire is a pleasant, fruitful, and rich country, abounding in corn, woods, pasture, hills, and valleys, every hedge and highway beset with fruit, but especially with pears, whereof they make that pleasant drink called perry, which they sell for a penny a quart, though better than ever you tasted at London. The city is more large than any I have seen since I left London; it abounds in outward things, but for the want of the Word the people perish. It is pleasantly seated, exceeding populous, and doubtless very rich, on the east bank of that famous river the Severn, the walls in a form of a triangle, the gates seven. There is a very stately Cathedral called St. Mary's, in which there are many stately monuments; amongst the rest, in the middle of the quire, is the monument of King John, all of white marble, with his picture thereon to the life. Sir, our army did little think ever to have seen Worcester, but the Providence of God hath brought us thither, and had it not, the city is so vile, resembles Sodom, and is the very emblem of Gomorrah, and doubtless it would have been worse than either Algiers or Malta--a very den of thieves, and a receptacle and refuge for all the hell-hounds of the country.' From Worcester, Essex sent a detachment under the Earl of Stamford to surprise Hereford, in which Nehemiah Wharton served. He states that they got into Hereford by telling the Mayor that Essex was at hand with all his army. 'The city is well situated on the Wye, environed with a strong wall, better than I have seen before, with five gates, and a strong stone bridge of six arches, surpassing Worcester. In this place there is the stateliest market-place in the kingdom, built with columns after the manner of the Exchange; the Minster every way exceeding Worcester; the city not so large; the inhabitants totally ignorant of the ways of God, and much addicted to drunkenness and other vices, but principally unto swearing, so that the children that have scarce learnt to speak, do universally swear stoutly. Many here speak Welsh. Sabbath-day, the time of morning prayer, we went to the Minster, where the pipes played, and the puppets sang so sweetly, that some of our soldiers could not forbear dancing in the holy quire; whereat the Baalists were sore displeased.'"

PECULIAR WORDS.

Among the archaic or peculiar words used in Worcestershire (as also in some of the neighbouring counties), are the following: "Tabber," to strike repeated blows with the fist; "heft," weight; "colly," the black from a tea-kettle or from coal; "wowing," selling ale without a license; "leazing," gleaning (this is used in many counties); "cott," or "Molly Cott," a nickname given to a man who interferes unduly in domestic affairs; "lungeous," being awkward, heavy, and dangerous in play; "off his head," deranged; "squilt," a small wart or pimple on the skin; "moithered," a state of great bewilderment in the head; "glat," an opening in a hedge; "unked," or "unkid," to denote loneliness and awkwardness; "butty," a companion, also a sort of overseer among colliers; "fettle," to mix or interfere with, also means condition; "gain," and "kind," both words used to represent the condition of crops or anything else the appearance of which is promising; "dollop," a good share or quantity. A person was cutting cloth, and was recommended to rip it, as more expeditious. "That is not so good," he replied, "because the thread _fazles_." A lady told her servant the "string was broken;" the servant replied, "Yes, and I tried to mend it, but I couldn't _odds_ it." The servant came from a village in Gloucestershire. "Odds it" means to _alter_ it. The word is very common in Gloucestershire, and in some parts of this county. In the above list several words of Saxon origin are perceptible, showing that old languages linger among the poorer classes longer than with the better educated, whose vocabulary has been more enlarged by finer, though perhaps not more expressive words, which are constantly being imported from foreign sources. Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., says: "I have recollected a remarkable term which I heard formerly in Broadway. It is the word _anant_ or _enant_, spoken when it was intended to express that one thing was opposite to another, by poor people. "He lives _anant_ such a place," "_anant_ that yat," &c. It is remarkable, because it is almost the Greek word #enantios#. Are we to suppose it to have been introduced when the Saxon kings adopted Greek phraseology and terms in their grants to monasteries? Pershore, to which Broadway belonged, was a Saxon monastery, therefore it is not impossible but it may have been introduced by the monks in their visits to Broadway."

CURIOUS NAMES OF PLACES.

An unusually large number of places in Worcestershire in ancient times seemed to have been dedicated to the _Dii Inferi_, as also to the more sprightly beings which have hardly yet ceased to exist in our woods and groves, in shady glens, and by babbling streams. The Devil's Leap is a deep dingle, partly in Dodenham and partly in Hartley. There are the Devil's Den, Hell Hole, and Death's Dingle, in Stanford; this "den" is a black wood in a narrow dell, deeply enclosed in entangled woods; and Mrs. Sherwood says that the country people give it names which commemorate its former evil character--"The Devil's Den" being the mildest of the epithets bestowed on this sequestered scene. In the above-named Hell Hole grows the plant called Devil's-bit, which, tradition says, was given to heal man of any deadly wounds, but when Satan saw what numbers of the human race it deprived him of, he in spite bit the roots off, whereupon it miraculously grew without those usually necessary appendages, and this is the reason we find it growing apparently without roots. There is the Devil's Pig-trough, near Leigh; and the Devil's Bowling-green at Inkberrow, ironically so called, it is said by Mr. Allies, as, till lately, it was one of the roughest pieces of ground in that parish. The Devil's Spadeful is the name of a large mound of earth near Bewdley, traditionally said to have been so denominated in consequence of the great impersonation of evil having once intended to drown the Bewdleyites by damming up the Severn, but being misinformed by a drunken cobbler as to the distance he had to go, he dropped the spadeful of earth and decamped. This tradition, slightly modified, is common in various counties, and is one of a numerous class tending to mark the popular contempt for Satan's want of sagacity. Hell Holes abound in the county, and there is Hell Bank near Stourbridge, Hell Kitchen near Newbold-on-Stour, and Hell Patch in Upton Warren. Whether, however, these names had reference to the "shades below" or originated in the Celtic word _hel_ (to assemble) is a question. In Shelsley Walsh is a place called Witchery Hole; and the _souvenirs_ of fairy-land are exceedingly numerous in many parishes of the county, such as Hob's Hole, in Offenham; Hob Moor, in Chaddesley Corbett; Little Hob Hill, in Beoley; Little Dobbin's Hill, in the Berrow; Dobbin's Meadow, in Mathon; Puck Meadow, in Hallow; Puck Hill, in Himbleton; Puck Croft, in Powick; Puck Piece, in Abbot's Lench; Pixam, or Pixies' Ham, in Powick; Cob's Croft, in Dodderhill; in Northfield, several places called Hob, Cob, and Jack; Impey, in Alvechurch; The Whistlers, in Lulsley, and innumerable others.

While on the subject of curious names it may be mentioned that at Bellbroughton the word "Bell" is constantly heard ringing in your ears--such as Bell Hall, Bryan's Bell, Moorhall Bell, Bell End, the Bell inn, &c.; and at Hanley Castle the word "End" is as frequently repeated, in Gilbert's End, Church End, North End, Robert's End, Severn End, &c. There are also Hunt End, a straggling village near Crabb's Cross; Dagtail End, near to Astwood Bank; Neen End, near the Ridgway; Alcester Lane's End, between King's Norton and the Birmingham road; and Holt End, at the foot of Beoley Hill. It is probable that the addition of the word "End" to so many places means that the spot so designated is the extreme end of some enclosed plot of ground or farm, as Robert's End, &c. The Grimsend House in Alfrick is situate at the extreme end of the estate, and there is a place called Coppy (coppice) End or Ind in the neighbourhood. With respect to Bellbroughton, it was called by the prefix only in very early times, therefore that may account for the names "Bell End," &c., in that parish.

THE CHINA TRADE.

Mr. Thursfield, of Broseley, at the meeting of the Archæological Institute, at Shrewsbury, in 1855, read a paper in which he stated that about the year 1750, a manufacture was commenced at Caughley, near Broseley, for the production of porcelain, by two persons named Gallimore and John Turner, the latter originally a silversmith at Worcester. They carried on the works with considerable spirit towards the close of the last century, having introduced several French artisans. The distinctive mark of the Caughley porcelain is supposed to be the letter S., and some pieces bear the mark "Salopian." The manufacture continued till 1799, when the works were purchased by Messrs. Rose, and it was subsequently carried on at Coalport. During Turner's management, Worcester porcelain was sent to Caughley to be printed and coloured. The process of printing decorations upon porcelain, originally invented by Dr. Wall at the Worcester works, was transferred as it is believed to Caughley, by R. Holdship, who had been employed at Worcester in 1757.

LONGEVITY.

Chaddesley Corbett, Mamble and Bayton, Rock, Tenbury, Martley, Abberley, and two or three other places in this county, are famous for the longevity of their inhabitants. Perhaps a larger number of very old people can be enumerated in the neighbourhood of Martley and the Berrow hills than in any other given space in the kingdom. The late incumbent of Chaddesley, who was himself nearly 90 years of age, buried, in 1813, Sarah Yates, at the age of 101; and in 1841 he did the same service for Elizabeth Young, aged 103. At Feckenham, a Mrs. Eadee died, in 1802, at the age of 103. At Abberley, Mary Bagnall died, in 1836, aged 102; and the venerable rector of that parish, the Rev. F. Severne, is _only the tenth incumbent_ since the beginning of Elizabeth's reign--a period of about three centuries! The grandfather of the present rector held the living 48 years, his father a similar term, and he himself bids fair to imitate the longevity of his ancestors. Two of his predecessors who, as he also does, held the incumbency of Kyre, held that living between them for 108 years! The Rev. G. Williams, of Martin Hussingtree, but recently deceased, held that living from the year 1790; and it is said that some ale brewed when he was first inducted was only drunk out (at the rate of a bottle per annum, at the audit) just prior to his decease--an instance of longevity quite as remarkable as any now being enumerated. The parish of Strensham has had only three rectors in a century and a half. Betty Palmer, who was born at Rock, died in 1782, aged 113; she had a sister and three brothers: Richard lived to be above 100, and their father and mother to 102 and 103. At Mawley, Jane Corkin was living, in 1710, at the ripe age of 126. A man died at Coreley, in 1849, aged 107 years 7 months. Mrs. Perkins died near Tenbury, in 1810, aged nearly 105. Mr. Mapp, of Shelsley, is, I believe, living in his 94th year; and the burials, in 1853, of old people between 80 and 100 years of age, at Rock and the vicinity, were remarkable. At Alvechurch is an inscription to Joseph Davies, who died in 1831, "who for nearly 70 years assiduously fulfilled the office of clerk of this parish with a distinct, pleasing, melodious voice, and inoffensive life, till within a few days of his death." A Mrs. Elizabeth Bourne died at White Ladies Aston, in 1812, aged 106. At Bredon, for the whole term between 1813 and 1846, the greatest number of deaths occurred between the ages of 70 and 75. The celebrated Countess Dowager of Coventry died at Holt in 1798, aged 96. At Henwick, near Worcester, a person died recently who remembered the coronation of George III, and others are still living there between 90 and 100 years of age. There is a saying:

"All about Malvern Hill A man may live as long as he will."

Dr. Addison, in 1834, showed that there were then living in that parish, on the eastern side of the hill, nearly double the number of persons, at 80 years of age, than were in all England at the same rate of population; and at 90, three times the number, without taking into account still older persons. In January, 1835, at Great Malvern, there were 60 persons residing, who were 70 years and upwards. Miss Sarah Davis, of Rock, died on the 17th of June, 1856, at the age of 103. She possessed all her faculties till within a few hours of her death, and had only suffered a little lameness from rheumatism. Till very lately she could see to thread her needle, and had been employed for half a century on Hollins' farm, as a market and charwoman. She had been a spinster all her life, and had a strong aversion to the male sex.

The Worcester papers of July 12, 1856, recorded the death (on the 10th of the same month) of the Rev. James Hastings, rector of Martley, in his hundred and first year, and also that of Jane Doughty on the 8th, in her ninety-fifth year. The latter was a very remarkable instance, because the poor woman belonged to a class who enjoy but few of those comforts which would seem necessary for the prolongation of life to such a span. She had lived for many years in a humble tenement in Pye Corner, Bull Entry--a situation which no one would point out as apparently conducive to long life. Formerly, she was a fruit-seller in Fish Street, and many of the citizens probably recollect her as the little old woman who used to take her seat on the Old Bank steps, with her basket of fruit, &c., for sale. Up to the last she could hear and see well enough, and was only a little bent from age. She would eat heartily, but of plain diet, and her neighbours do not recollect her taking ale till the day before her death, when she wished to have some, and it being brought, she drank a good draught. A few hours only of indisposition brought her to her end--being one of the rare instances of really natural death (_i.e._ not dying from disease) which occur amongst us. Deceased was the grandmother of Sergeant Doughty, of the city police. She was born in the proverbially healthy district of Martley (where also, it will be observed, the other individual mentioned in this narrative formerly resided); and married Abraham Doughty, sergeant in the 29th, at All Saints in this city. She had four children, all of whom she survived, twenty-five grand-children, fifty great-grand-children, and four great-great-grand-children. Previous to her death, Sergeant Doughty could say what very few can--that he had a grandmother and grand-children living at the same time.

GLOUCESTER CITY GATES.

It is said in the history of Gloucester that shortly after the Restoration of Charles II, the King, bitterly remembering his father's defeat before that city, ordered the doors belonging to the gates to be pulled down, and presented them to the city of Worcester, which had long remained faithful to his cause. On the south gate of Gloucester, which was battered down during the siege by the King in 1643 (but was rebuilt in the same year), was inscribed in capital letters round the arch--"A city assaulted by man but saved by God: Ever remember the 5th of September, 1643." This was the day the siege was raised by Essex.

ANCIENT INNS.

The old Black Boy, at Feckenham, is now closed as an inn. It had been in the family of the Gardners about 139 years. The sign, which was of copper, stood the whole of that time, until taken down in 1854.

The present occupiers of "Mopson's Cross" inn, near Wyre Forest, boast that their ancestors have occupied that inn for more than two centuries, and that it is the oldest licensed house in the county. The Talbot inn, Sidbury, Worcester, and the Talbot in the Tything, are very ancient, and the County Sessions were formerly adjourned regularly to those old hostelries.

A FINE MEMORY.

In Yardley church is a memorial to one of the Este family, who, though blind, was said to have attained a perfect knowledge of the Scriptures, by heart, from beginning to end.

LONGDON MARSHES.

The Longdon marshes (formerly a waste of nearly 10,000 acres) are believed to have formed a backwater of the Severn estuary, subject to tidal influence, in those very ancient times when, according to Sir R. Murchison, the "Straits of Malvern" existed. Various sea birds still come there in the winter season, as though a traditionary remembrance had been wafted down among the feathered tribes of the time when this wild spot was more particularly their own sporting ground.

HEREDITARY CLERKS AND SEXTONS.

There are many instances in Worcestershire of the offices of sexton and clerk having been held as hereditary ones for very lengthened periods. At Feckenham, the late Mr. David Clarkson (literally, the _clerk's son_), who died in March, 1854, after having been a model clerk for many years, could boast of his ancestors having occupied the same office for two centuries. He served in his youth as drum-major in the artillery, and when he succeeded his father in the clerkship, became the tutor of choir after choir, and was the founder of that celebrity which has long attached to the Feckenham singers. He was also leader of the ringers. His death took place in his 79th year, and he was greatly respected.--The late clerk of Wolverley, Thomas Worrall (whose father had been thirty years clerk, and to whose memory some curious verses are inscribed on a stone in the churchyard), was himself clerk forty-eight years, schoolmaster for thirty-three, and registrar for a long period, besides being leader of the choir and ringers. He was never absent from his duties at church but twice!--The Field family have been connected with the clerkship and beadledom of Kingsnorton for upwards of two centuries. Two of them alone held it for _one hundred and two years_! The last of the race, I think, died in 1818. The Fields were an ancient family in that parish, for there is an indenture in existence between William Wyllington and John Field of Kingsnorton, dated the 30th year of Henry VIII.--The family of the Roses has provided the church of Bromsgrove with clerks and sextons time out of mind; and at Belbroughton the Osbornes have done the same thing. One of this family was clerk till a very recent period. It appears, also, that the Osbornes had been tailors from very remote time, and the late clerk had several brothers who followed that very useful avocation. From a letter of Mr. Tristram (then the patron of Belbroughton) to Bishop Lyttelton, the Osbornes were tailors in the reign of Henry VIII, but they can trace their descent much higher, having been lineally descended from William Fitz-Osborne, who about seven centuries ago unjustly deprived Ralf Fitz-Herbert of his right to the manor of Bellem, in the above parish.--At Oldswinford, on December 28th, 1855, died Charles Orford, aged seventy-three; he had been parish sexton from his youth, having succeeded his father in that capacity, and leaving a son to follow.--The office of clerk at St. Michael's, Worcester, has been in the family of Bond for nearly a century.--John Tustin, the present clerk and sexton of Broadway church, has held those offices fifty-two years, and his father and grandfather also held them.

THE REV. DR. LEE.

The mansion of Glasshampton, in the parish of Astley, was some years ago totally destroyed by fire. The Rev. D. J. J. Cookes, on coming into possession of the property, enlarged, repaired, and beautified the family seat. When the work was nearly completed, a dinner was given to the workmen in the mansion; but one tipsy fellow among them let fall the contents of his pipe upon some shavings, and the place was soon in a blaze. The entire edifice was destroyed, but among the furniture saved was an organ built by Green, the favourite artist of George III; it was afterwards sold to the parish of St. Nicholas, Worcester, and may be still heard in the church of that parish. Disastrous as was the Glasshampton fire, it nevertheless was an auspicious event for genius and literature, by bringing into notice that remarkable man, the Rev. Dr. Lee, late Professor of Arabic and then of Hebrew in the University of Cambridge. At the time of the fire he was employed as a carpenter in the mansion. The loss of his chest of tools and most of his books in the fire compelled him to solicit pecuniary help towards the purchase of another set. This circumstance led to such a development of his character and attainments, as resulted in his acquaintance with the late Archdeacon Corbett, and his matriculation and career at Cambridge.

THE MARTYR RIDLEY.

In Redmarley church is an inscription to one George Shipside, as follows:

"All flesh is grasse worme's meat and clay, and here it hath short time to live, For proofe whereof both night and day all mortall wights ensamples give. Beneath this stone fast closde in clay doth sleepe the corpes of George Shipside, Wch. Christ shal rayse on ye last day and then with him be glorifide. Whose sovle now lives assvredly in heaven with Christ ovr Saviovr In perfect peace most ioyfvlly with Gods elect for evermore.

Obit die De'bris An. D'ni 1609, Ac An. Ætatis svæ 84. Ecce quid eris."

This is believed to be the George Shipside whose wife was sister to the martyr, Bishop Ridley. The bishop had the free warren of Bury Court, in this parish, and a George Shipside was his sister's second husband; he was the bishop's park-keeper at Bushley, was incarcerated at Oxford, and attended the martyr to the stake. Ridley's affectionate farewell on that occasion to George Shipside and his wife will not be forgotten. Ridley was led to the stake in 1555, at which time the above George Shipside was just thirty years of age.

VERSIFIED WILL.

The following is a copy of the will of John Baxter, of Conderton, Overbury, as proved in the Consistory Court of Worcester, in 1724: