Part 22

"July the 25 Anno 1723;-- With God's good leave this is my last will Which to deceive is past man's skill I do bequeath unto his hill. My soul for to abide My body to be turned to dust nere to my wives yt my sonnes nurst To meete my soul againe I trust; when it is glorifide For this world's good as God did lend it If I heve not for to spend it; after this manner I commend it As hereafter is directed My goodes and cattle greate and small, to my son John I give them all And unto him my land doth fall. Hes my executor And though to my wife I little give. I mean with John that she to live And boath my sonns her to releive, and not to let her want I leand som pounds to my sonn Thomas Thirty of which by bond and promis He must pay back at the next lamas after my decease Nine thereof I bequeath unto his seede, three a piece I have decreed Which being paid his bonde is freede I meane the thirty pounds I give and bequeath tenn pounds to my sonn in law John Jones And three pounds a piece to his 3 youngest ones, Samuel, Jone, and Marey Jones I give and bequeath to my sisters three children John Moses and Ann one pound nobles a peece. A slender fee I give and bequeath to my sonn in lawe William Withorn And to his wife Elizabeth and to his sonne William and to his daughter Sarie five shillings a peece Last of all if my daughter Jones do out live her husband I desire she may have free abiding at Conderton or At Kinsham."

BLOODY POND.

In some of our old histories occasional mention is made of pools suddenly changing from water to blood, or putting on a sanguine aspect, which in those "muddy-evil" times was considered a prodigy portending wars and direful slaughter. A similar appearance was presented a short time ago in a pool at Snead's Green, Mathon, in this county, the surface of which was so closely covered with a film of crimson and vermilion as to present a most extraordinary appearance. The gentleman who first observed this sanguine aspect of the pond, not thinking much of portents or omens, thought that the rural wheelwright had been emptying some refuse red paint in the water, which had got dispersed over the pond. But on inquiry this was not the case, and botanical science was then called in to solve the mystery. In the mean time, more than a week having elapsed, the curious appearance was almost gone when the spot was visited by some members of the Malvern Club; but the clay on the margin of the pool displayed several patches of what looked very much like clotted blood, evidently the relics of what had been previously seen. On these being examined by Mr. E. Lees, who noticed the subject at a recent meeting of the Worcestershire Naturalists' Club, they were found to consist of innumerable minute globules containing a coloured fluid that oozed forth into a gelatinous mass, leaving the globules empty like small beads of glass; but so numerous and minute were they, that 6000 were contained within the superficial space of half a square inch. The bloody appearance was thus occasioned by the sudden fructification of an algoid plant, belonging probably to the genus _Hæmatococcus_, and allied to the singular production called Red Snow, though appearing in a different medium and under altered circumstances.

CROMWELL'S PROPERTY AND INCOME-TAX.

In 1656, Oliver Cromwell and his Parliament laid on a tax very much like the present property and income-tax, and its machinery of commissioners, assessors, &c., was also very similar. The commissioners for the county of Worcester were--"Sir Thomas Rous, Baronet, John Wilde, sergeant-at-law, Major-General James Berrey, Wil. Lygon, John Egiocke, Edw. Pit, Hen. Bromley of Holt, Rich. Grevis, Nicholas Lechmere, Gervase Buck, Wil. Geffreys, Joh. Corbet, Henry Bromley of Upton, Edw. Dingley, Charles Cornwallis, Nich. Acton, Rich. Foley, Walter Savage of Broadway, John Bridges, Richard Vernon, Thomas Foley, Thomas Milward, Talbot Badger, Thomas Tolley, John Latham, John Fownes, Theophilus Andrews, William Collins, Esquires; Thomas Young, Edmund Gyles, Edw. Moore, Nicholas Harris, Nicholas Blick, John Corbyn, John Baker, Gentn.; the Mayor of Evesham, Bayliff of Bewdley, and Bayliff of Kidderminster, for the time being; Edmund Gyles, one of the Masters of the Chancery, Walter Gyles, Thomas Symonds of Peershore, Gentlemen; John Nanfan, Edward Salwey, Esquires. For the city of Worcester--Major-General James Berry, Edmund Pit, John Nash, Edward Elvins, Henry Ford, Francis Frank, Aldermen; Gervase Buck, Thomas Hall, Esquires; Capt. Thomas Wells; Richard Henning, Anthony Careless, John Higgins, William Cheatle, Arthur Lloid, Thomas Harrison, John Philips, Thomas Baker the Elder, Foulk Estop, Richard Ince, Robert Gorl, Gentn.; Edmund Gyles, one of the Masters of the Chancery; Wil. Collins, Esq.; Tho. Hackett, Alderman." To this tax the county of Worcester was to contribute £1013. 6s. 8d. per month, and the city of Worcester £53. 6s. 8d. per month, the value of the money in each case being then about ten times as much as it is now, as farms which were then let for £100 a year are now let for nearly £1000. The ordinance by which this tax was imposed is the ordinance of the Parliament, chapter 12, of the year 1656.

GRAVEYARD PUNNING.

Specimens of punning are sometimes to be met with in our churches, and they will be found chiefly to belong to the seventeenth century, when all kinds of odd conceits and frippery in language abounded. In Eldersfield church, the widow of "William Helme, gentleman," thus laments his loss:

"My ship, long on the seas of this world tost, Of _helme_ bereav'd, lo here is sunk at last."

King's Norton church contains a monument to "Richard Greves, of Moseley, Knight," part of which is made of touchstone, and the inscription is in gold letters, concluding thus:

"Wherefore his name hath broke detraction's fetters, And well abides the _touch_ in _golden letters_."

Affixed to the principal porch of Bromsgrove church is a dial, at the bottom of which are the words "We shall;" the constructors of the instrument having left its name to complete the sentence, thus: "We shall (_dial_) die all." An excruciating pun, forsooth.

In Ledbury church is an inscription to one Charles Godwin and his wife, ending--

"_Godwyn_ the one; _God-won_ the other."

KNIGHTS OF THE ROYAL OAK.

This order was intended by King Charles II as a reward to several of his followers, and the Knights of it were to wear a silver medal with a device of the King in the oak, pendant to a ribbon about their necks; but it was thought proper to lay it aside, lest it might create heats and animosities, and open those wounds afresh which at that time were thought prudent should be healed. There is, however, a manuscript in the handwriting of Peter Le Neve, Esq., Norroy King of Arms, the title of which is "A list of persons who were fit and qualified to be made Knights of the Royal Oak, with the value of their estates. Anno Domino 1660." This list contains the name of Baronets, Knights, and Esquires, with the value of their estates, and embraces every county of England and Wales. The list, so far as it relates to Worcestershire, is as follows:

Per ann. Sir William Russell, Knight and Bart. £3,000 Sir Henry Littleton, Knight and Bart., of Frankley. 3,000 Samuel Sandys, Esq., of Umbersley 1,000 Sherrington Talbott, Esq. 1,000 Thomas Savage, of Elmley Castle, Esq. 800 ---- Sheldon, of Broadway, Esq. 600 Mathew Morphew, Esq. 1,000 Major Thomas Weld, Esq. 600 Thomas Acton, Esq. 1,000 Sir Rowland Berkley, Knight 1,000 Henry Bromley, Esq. 1,000 Philip Brace, Esq. 600 Francis Sheldon, Esq. 600 Joseph Walsh, Esq. 1,000 Sir Joseph Woodford, Knight 2,000 Thomas Child, Esq. 2,000

WORCESTERSHIRE MAGISTRATES IN 1483.

The following are the names in the Commission of the Peace and of Oyer and Terminer for the county of Worcester, dated December 5th, 1st Richard III, as they occur on the patent rolls of that year:

J., Bishop of Worcester. John, Duke of Norfolk. John Sutton de Dudley, Knight. Richard Ratcliff, Knight. Humphry Starky, Knight. Thomas Tremayle. William Catesby, Esquire, of the Royal Body. William Littleton. Humphrey Stafford. Roger Harwell. Thomas Lygon. William Lygon. Robert Handy. Robert Russell.

The Bishop here mentioned was John Alcock, who was Lord Chancellor in the reign of Henry VII; Humphrey Starky was Lord Chief Baron in the reign of Richard III; and Thomas Tremayle, a King's Serjeant, and afterwards a Judge.

It is worthy of observation, that at this period the Commission of Oyer and Terminer under which the criminal business of the Assizes is still transacted was not separated from the Commission of the Peace; and the very small number of Magistrates is accounted for by the fact of so much of what is now business at the Quarter Sessions, and before Magistrates, going to the Sheriff's Torn and the Courts Leet, of which Courts the Sheriff's Torn was the most important.

NONCONFORMITY.

From 1651 until 1834, a period of 183 years, the Baptist Church at Bromsgrove had but five pastors, namely Revds. J. Eccles, W. Peart, G. Yarnold, J. Butterworth, and J. Scroxton. Mr. Scroxton resigned the pastorate at the above date (1834), on account of his age, and died in 1854, at the advanced age of 90. The first mention in history of Baptists in this county was in 1645, and the first minister the celebrated clergyman of Bewdley--the Rev. Dr. John Tombes, a native of that borough. In early life this noted individual studied at Oxford, and having made good use of his time, he was, at the age of 21, chosen lecturer at Magdalen Hall. In 1643 he held a private meeting with the principal London clergy, to whom he avowed his belief in adult baptism, and in the same year he transmitted his belief to the Westminster assembly of divines, in a well-written argument in Latin; the assembly, however, did not send him a reply. He returned to his native place in 1645, and both preached and administered baptism by immersion, and formed in Bewdley a distinct church, which continues till the present time. He also preached with great success at Worcester and other places. His popularity procured for him a great many opponents, and among others Richard Baxter, who at that period (1648) resided at Kidderminster. Mr. Baxter courageously challenged Dr. Tombes to a public discussion. This took place at Bewdley, on New Year's Day, 1649, before a large number of individuals, some of whom came from distant parts of the country, including several from the Universities. Wood, the historian, noticing this controversy, says, "All scholars then and there present, who knew ye way of disputing and managing arguments, did conclude that Tombes got ye better of Baxter by far." He also held several other discussions, both in England and Wales.

The House of Lords, in their conference with the House of Commons, on the "Occasional Conformity Bill," speaking of him, says that he was "a very learned and famous man." Among others he baptized at Bewdley were the Rev. Richard Adams and John Eccles. Mr. Adams was a short time afterwards ejected from his living at Humberstone, Leicestershire, and, in 1651, was minister of Devonshire Square Chapel, London. Mr. Eccles commenced preaching at Bromsgrove in 1650, and soon afterwards formed the church there which still exists. The opposition and persecution he met with was very severe, but it appears that, notwithstanding, the members greatly increased, for in 1670 there were 97 at Bromsgrove who professed the Baptist belief; at the present time, although the population has more than doubled, there are but 103. Mr. Eccles was for a considerable time confined in a dungeon in Worcester gaol, but was restored to liberty through the influence of Mr. Swift, M.P., one of the county members, who was bound for him in £1000 bond. Dr. Tombes also suffered greatly, and on two occasions was robbed of all he had by the King's forces at Leominster and Bristol: at the latter place he narrowly escaped with his life. Mr. Eccles continued at Bromsgrove till 1697, when he retired to Salisbury, where he died (1711) at an advanced age, after being a minister upwards of 60 years. Dr. Tombes retired to Coventry, where he died in 1676, aged 73. The Baptist church at Worcester was founded in 1651; Pershore, 1658; and Upton-on-Severn, 1670. Several very noted individuals have been baptized at Bromsgrove--David Crossley, who became minister at Currier's Hall, London; Rev. R. Claridge, M.A., rector of Peopleton, afterwards a noted minister in the metropolis; Rev.--Miles, M.A., master of Kidderminster Grammar School; Solomon Young, who become tutor at Stepney College, &c. During the ministry of the Rev. G. Yarnold, at Bromsgrove, and principally by a few of the Baptists of that town, the first Birmingham Baptist Church was founded, 1737, in Cannon street, and is at the present time the most influential and, with two exceptions, the largest Baptist interest in the United Kingdom. Another chapter on Nonconformity will be found in this book.

COMMUNICANTS IN 1548.

The number of communicants at the holy sacrament in 1548 in thirty-five parishes in the diocese of Worcester is given in the certificate of Colleges and Chantries, No. 60, now remaining in the Carlton Ride Record Office. This certificate was made by "Sir John Pakynton, Knyght, Sir Robert Acton, Knyght, John Skewdamour, Esquyer, William Sheldon, Esquyer, George Willoughby, William Grove, Willyam Crouche, and John Bourne, Gentilmen," under a commission from King Edward VI, bearing date the 14th day of February, in the second year of his reign. This certificate contains a column headed "The names of the Townes and Parishes withe the nomber of hosslyng people in the same;" and each entry is in the following form: "1. The parishe of Saynt Ellyns within the said Citie, wherein bee of hoselyng people the nombre of six hunderd."

For the sake of brevity the names and numbers are here given. It is impossible to give the population of these places at the earlier date. The numbers of the communicants were carefully preserved by the ecclesiastical authorities, although the civil authorities paid no attention to the numbers of the population; but it is curious to mark, at a time when the numbers of the population must have been so much less than at present, how large a proportion the numbers of religious communicants in some instances bear to those of the present population.

Communicants Pop. in 1548. in 1851.

1. St. Ellyns 600 1368 2. St. Swythyns 400 906 3. St. Andrews 600 1678 4. All Saints 600 2205 5. St. Nicholas 600 2030 6. St. Peters 500 4588 7. St. Martins -- 5050 8. Kemsey 420 1375 9. Claines 400 6819 10. Kingsnorton 910 7759 11. Bromesgrove 1000 10308 12. Severn Stoke 300 726 13. St. Andrews, Droitwich 200 983 14. St. Peters, Droitwich -- 812 15. Hampton Lovet 80 172 16. Salwarpe 200 446 17. Alvechurch 400 1600 18. Holy Cross, Pershore -- 2528 19. Kethermyster 700 23845 20. Olde Swyneford 700 20038 21. Chiddesley Corbett 500 1420 22. Tenbury 400 1786 23. Knyghton 160 523 24. Rocke, otherwise called Raka 260 1435 25. Rybbesford 940 3435 26. Rypple 300 1097 27. Byshampton 200 444 28. Blockley 400 2587 29. Icombe 80 131 30. Rydmerley 230 1192 31. Suckley 200 1193 32. Lygh 340 2342 33. Elderfyld 280 794 34. All Seynts, in Evesham 1300 1698 35. St. Laurence, in Evesham 500 1733

It has been suggested that the large numbers specified in this certificate were not the numbers of actual communicants, but merely the numbers of persons who were of an age to be so, or perhaps the total number of communicants during the year. This seems, however, not to have been the case, and that these were the numbers of the _actual_ communicants is shown by the fact that in the certificates for Gloucestershire and Wiltshire the numbers are equally high; and on the 14th of May, 1637, the Bishop of Salisbury issued an injunction to the curate and churchwardens of Aldbourne containing (_inter alia_) as follows: "I doe further appoint that thrice in the yeare at the least there be publique notice given in the church for fower Comunions to be held vpon fower Sundaies together, and that there come not to the Comunion _in one day above two hundred at the Most_." The population of Aldbourne is 1622. It has been suggested by a Roman Catholic gentleman that, before the Reformation, if any one beyond the age of confirmation had not received the Holy Communion at Easter, he would not be entitled to Christian burial if he died within the year, unless some very special cause could be shown. This also would go to account for the number of communicants in the different places being very large.

ASSIZE NOTICES.

The costume of the Bench and the Bar is the first thing which attracts the attention of the stranger visiting our Courts of Justice, and on this we will remark, beginning with

THE WIG.--"All the wisdom's in the wig" is a saying familiar to us all, and yet the wig was the latest addition to forensic costume. The first species of wig worn in the Courts is that now worn by the Judges at our Cathedrals, called the _full-bottomed_ wig. This was introduced by Louis XIV in France, and copied by Charles II in England; and after that it was worn down to the time of George II as the full-dress wig of noblemen, generals, admirals, churchmen, lawyers, and private gentlemen. It is still worn as the full-dress wig of the Lord Chancellor, Judges of law and equity, the Speaker, Queen's Counsel, Serjeants-at-Law, Masters in Chancery, Recorders, and Judges of the Local Courts. In one of Hogarth's prints of Speaker Onslow and several members of the House of Commons, sitting in the House, all are represented with the full-bottomed wig; and in the prints of the same celebrated artist, Mr. Kettleby, who was the last barrister who merely as a barrister wore the full-bottomed wig, is so represented.

Mr. Meadows, of Gloucester, who is the oldest wigmaker in this part of England, states that those wigs which had the tails knotted were called "tie-wigs," and those short at the back were called "bob-wigs." Thus, a Judge's _Nisi Prius_ wig was called a "friz-tie," it being frizzed all over; a Bishop's wig being a "friz-bob." And it is stated by Mr. Planché, in his admirable little work on British costume, that the tie-wig and the bob-wig were both introduced in the reign of George II, the latter being sometimes worn without powder. Mr. Planché also informs us that the bag-wig was introduced in the reign of Queen Anne.

THE FRIZ-TIE WIG.--This is worn by the Judges at _Nisi Prius_ and by the Judges of the local Courts, but this wig was not originally forensic, as it appears in the portrait of Mr. Beaumont, a London attorney of the reign of George II.

THE TWO-CURL BOB-WIG.--This was a powdered wig with a peak in front, frizzed all over, except two rows of curls all round the bottom of the back of it. It was worn by Judges when opening the commission, and down to the time of Lord Denman, when they received the Magistrates and the Bar at dinner in the circuit towns; and down to the time of Baron Garrow, when the Judges dined with our Diocesan or Lord Lieutenant, they wore this wig, a black silk gown, and bands. This species of wig was worn by private gentlemen at the beginning of the reign of George III; and Mr. Walter Horton, an eminent shoe manufacturer, at Stafford, who died about 1776, is represented wearing this wig in his portrait, now in the possession of Dr. Knight, the physician and magistrate at that place, who married his granddaughter and co-heiress.

THE CURL TIE-WIG.--This is the Barrister's wig. It was worn by the late Lord Melville when at the House of Lords, although he was not a barrister. This noble Lord died in 1811.

THE SCRATCH-WIG.--This was a brown wig curled all over, worn by the Judges in the streets, with a hat now only worn by Bishops and dignified clergy. This wig was introduced by George IV when Prince of Wales, and was worn by the Judges when not in Court, down to the time of Lord Gifford. It was stated by Mr. Meadows that all these wigs were well known by their names before-mentioned when he was an apprentice.

THE MOUSTACHE.--On the Bench and at the Bar the moustache was the immediate predecessor of the wig. In the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and Kings James and Charles I the Bench and the Bar wore moustaches, as may be seen in the council-room at Lincolns' Inn and elsewhere in the portraits of Lord Coke, Lord Hale, Lord Keeper Coventry, Lord Ellesmere, and many others. In the reign of King Charles II the moustache generally disappeared, and on went the wig; but there is in Berkeley Castle a fine portrait of King Charles II, by Sir Peter Lely, in which that monarch is represented in a large full-bottomed wig, like that of a Judge at our Cathedral, with the exception of the powder, and wearing a small but well-trimmed moustache. The moustache, however, which had been almost universally worn by all (ecclesiastics, lawyers, and laymen, Archbishop Laud included), did not reappear at the Bar till very recently, when it was worn in our Courts by Mr. Bernhard Smith, Mr. Chandos Pole, Mr. Woodhouse Owen, Mr. Compigne, and other members of the Oxford circuit.

THE BAND.--Dr. Burn, in his "Ecclesiastical Law," in treating of the costume of the clergy, says--"The band is not so ancient as any canon of the church. Archbishop Laud is pictured in a ruff, which was worn at that time both by clergymen and gentlemen of the law, as also long before, during the reigns of King James I and Queen Elizabeth. The band came in with the Puritans and other sectaries upon the downfall of Episcopacy, and in a few years more became the habit of men of all denominations and professions." It was worn by Oliver Cromwell; and in the portraits of some of the Judges (_temp._ Charles II) in the Courts at Guildhall, London, the band appears to be nothing more than the ends of a turn-down collar, of the kind worn by young boys now.

THE GOLD COLLAR.--This is worn by the two Lords Chief Justices and Lord Chief Baron, and is called the collar of Esses, from the letter S occurring in it. The origin of this is not known: it was worn by the personal friends of Henry IV, and is found represented on the monuments of noblemen, warriors, and even ladies.