Lancashire Folk-lore Part 14

TREE BARNACLES; OR, GEESE HATCHED FROM SEA-Sh.e.l.lS.

The learned and venerable John Gerarde, author or translator of _A History of Plants, or Herball_; first published in folio in 1597, has the following marvellous story respecting barnacle-sh.e.l.ls growing on trees, and giving birth to young geese; not as a thing which some wonder-monger had related to him, but as what he had seen with his own eyes, and the truth of which he could, therefore, and does, most solemnly avouch.

"There are found in the north parts of Scotland, and the isles adjacent called Orcades, certain trees, whereon do grow certain sh.e.l.l-fishes, of a white colour, tending to russet; wherein are contained little living creatures; which sh.e.l.ls in time of maturity do open, and out of them grow those little living things; which, falling into the water, do become fowls, whom we call barnacles, in the North of England brant geese, and in Lancashire tree geese; but the others that do fall upon the land perish and do come to nothing. Thus much by the writings of others, and also from the mouths of people of those parts, which may very well accord with truth. But _what our eyes have seen and hands have touched, we shall declare_. There is a small island in Lancashire called The Pile of Foulders [or Peel of Fouldrey] wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised ships, some whereof have been cast thither by shipwreck, and also the trunks or bodies, with the branches, of old rotten trees, cast up there likewise; whereon is found a certain spume or froth, that in time breedeth unto certain sh.e.l.ls, in shape like those of the mussel, but sharper pointed, and of a whitish colour; wherein is contained a thing in form like a lace of silk, finely woven as it were together, as of a whitish colour, one end whereof is fastened unto the inside of the sh.e.l.l, even as the fish of oysters and mussels are. The other end is made fast unto the belly of a rude ma.s.se or lump, which in time cometh to the shape and form of a bird; when it is perfectly formed the sh.e.l.l gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the foresaid lace or string; next come the legs of the bird hanging out; and as it groweth greater it openeth the sh.e.l.l by degrees, till at length it is all come forth and hangeth only by the bill. In short s.p.a.ce after it cometh to full maturity and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth feathers and groweth to a fowl, bigger than a mallard and lesser than a goose; and black legs and bill, or beak, and feathers black and white, spotted in such a manner as is our magpie (called in some places a pie-annet), which [not the magpie, but the barnacle-hatched fowl] the people of Lancashire call by no other name than a tree goose; which place aforesaid, and all those parts adjoining, do so much abound therewith, that one of the best is bought for 3_d._; For the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it please them to repair to me, and I shall satisfy them by the testimony of good witnesses(!).... They sp.a.w.n as it were in March and April; the geese are formed in May and June, and come to fulness of feathers in the month after." "There is another sort hereof, the history of which is _true, and of mine own knowledge_; for travelling upon the sh.o.r.es of our English coast between Dover and Romney, I found the trunk of an old rotten tree, which (with some help that I procured by fishermen's wives, that were there attending their husbands' return from the sea) we drew out of the water upon dry land.

On this rotten tree I found growing many thousands of long crimson bladders, in shape like unto puddings newly filled, before they be sodden, which were very clear and shining; at the nether end whereof did grow a sh.e.l.l-fish, fashioned somewhat like a small mussel, but much whiter, resembling a sh.e.l.l-fish that groweth upon the rocks about Guernsey and Jersey, called a limpet. Many of these sh.e.l.ls I brought with me to London, which, after I had opened, I found in them living things, without form or shape; in others, which were nearer come to ripeness, I found living things that were very naked, in shape like a bird; in others, the birds covered with soft down, the sh.e.l.l half open, and the bird ready to fall out, which no doubt were the fowls called barnacles.... That which I have seen with my eyes and handled with my hands, I dare confidently avouch and boldly put down for verity.... We conclude and end our present volume with this wonder of G.o.d. For which G.o.d's name be ever honoured and praised." This author figures the _Britannica Conchae Anatifera_, or the breed of barnacles; the woodcut representing a tree growing by the sea, with leaves like mussel sh.e.l.ls, opening, and living creatures emerging; while others, swimming about in the sea beneath, are perfect goslings! Well may the old herbalist call this "one of the marvels of this land; we may say of the world." Dr.

Charles Leigh, in his _Natural History of Lancashire_, gravely labours to refute the notion that barnacles grow into geese, as had been a.s.serted by Speed and others.

Sir J. Emerson Tennent, writing in _Notes and Queries_ (vol. viii. p.

223), referring to Porta's _Natural Magic_ for the vulgar error that not only in Scotland, but in the river Thames, "there is a kind of sh.e.l.l-fish which get out of their sh.e.l.ls and grow to be ducks, or such-like birds," observes that this tradition is very ancient, Porta, the author, having died in 1515. In _Hudibras_ is an allusion to those--

"Who from the most refin'd of saints, As naturally grow miscreants, As _barnacles_ turn Soland geese, In th' islands of the Orcades."

The story (says Sir James) has its origin in the peculiar formation of the little mollusc which inhabits the multivalve sh.e.l.l, the _Pentalasmi Anatifera_, which by a fleshy peduncle attaches itself by one end to the bottoms of ships or floating timber, whilst from the other there protrudes a bunch of curling and fringe-like cirrhi, by the agitation of which it attracts and collects its food. These cirrhi so much resemble feathers, as to have suggested the leading idea of a bird's tail; and hence the construction of the remainder of the fable, which is given with grave minuteness in _The Herball, or General Historie of Plants_, gathered by John Gerarde, Master in Chirurgie (London, 1597). After quoting the account, Sir James adds, that Gerarde, who is doubtless Butler's authority, says elsewhere, "that in the north parts of Scotland, and the islands called Orcades, there are certain trees whereon these tree geese and barnacles abound." The conversion of the fish into a bird, however fabulous, would be scarcely more astounding than the metamorphosis which it actually undergoes, the young of the little animal having no feature to identify it with its final development. In its early stage (see Carpenter's _Physiology_, i. 52) it has a form not unlike that of the crab, "possessing eyes and powers of free motion: but afterwards becoming fixed to one spot for the remainder of its life, it loses its eyes, and forms a sh.e.l.l, which, though composed of various pieces, has nothing in common with the jointed sh.e.l.l of the crab." Mr. T. J. Buckton (_Notes and Queries_, vol. viii. p.

224) says that Drayton (1613), in his _Polyolbion_, p. iii., in connexion with the river Dee, speaks of--

"Th' anatomised fish, and fowls from planchers sprung,"

to which a note is appended in Southey's edition (p. 609), that such fowls were "_barnacles_, a bird breeding upon old ships." In the _Entertaining Library_, "Habits of Birds," (pp. 363-379), the whole story of this extraordinary ignorance of natural history is amply developed. The barnacle-sh.e.l.ls which I once saw in a sea-port attached to a vessel just arrived from the Mediterranean had the brilliant appearance at a distance of flowers in bloom. (See _Penny Cyclopaedia_, article "Cirripeda," vii. 206, reversing the woodcut). The foot of the _Lepas Anatifera_ (Linn.), appeared to me like the stalk of a plant growing from the ship's side. The sh.e.l.l had the semblance of a calyx, and the flower consisted of the fingers (_tentacula_) of the sh.e.l.l-fish, "of which twelve project in an elegant curve, and are used by it for making prey of small fish." The very ancient error was to mistake the foot of the sh.e.l.l-fish for the neck of a goose, the sh.e.l.l for its head, and the _tentacula_ for a tuft of feathers. As to the body, _non est inventus_. The Barnacle Goose is a well-known bird; and these sh.e.l.l-fish bearing, as seen out of the water, resemblance to the goose's neck, were ignorantly, and without investigation, confounded with geese themselves. In France, the barnacle goose may be eaten on fast-days, by virtue of this old belief in its fishy origin. From a pa.s.sage in the _Memoirs of Lady Fanshaw_, it appears that Sir Kenelm Digby, at the table of the Governor of Calais, declared that barnacles, a bird in Jersey, was first a sh.e.l.l-fish to appearance, and from that, sticking upon old wood, became in time a goose! An advertis.e.m.e.nt of June, 1807, sets forth that the "Wonderful curiosity called the Goose Tree, Barnacle Tree, or Tree bearing geese, taken up at sea on the 12th January, 1807, by Captain Bytheway, and was more than twenty men could raise out of the water--may be seen at the Exhibition Rooms, Spring Gardens, from ten o'clock in the morning till ten at night, every day. The Barnacles which form the present exhibition possess a neck upwards of two feet in length, resembling the windpipe of a chicken; each sh.e.l.l contains five pieces, and notwithstanding the many thousands which hang to eight inches of the tree, part of the fowl may be seen from each sh.e.l.l. Sir Robert Moxay, in the _Wonders of Nature and Art_, speaking of this singularly curious production, says, that in every sh.e.l.l he opened he found a perfect sea-fowl[!], with a bill like that of a goose, feet like those of water-fowl, and the feathers all plainly formed." (_Ibid._, p.

300.)

WARTS FROM WASHING IN EGG-WATER.

It is commonly held that washing the hands in water in which eggs have been boiled will produce a plentiful crop of warts. Not long ago two young and intelligent ladies stated that they had inadvertently washed their hands and arms in egg-water, and in each case this had been followed by large numbers of warts. This sequence they affirmed to be a consequence, and the warts were shown as an ocular demonstration of the unpleasant results of such lavation.

FORTUNE-TELLING.--WISE MEN AND CUNNING WOMEN, ETC.

There is scarcely a town of any magnitude in Lancashire, or in one or two adjacent counties, which does not possess its local "fortune-teller"

or pretender to a knowledge of astrology, and to a power of predicting the future events of life, under the talismanic name of "fortune," to a large and credulous number of applicants. The fortune-teller of the nineteenth century professes to be able to "cast nativities" and to "rule the planets." If, as is not unfrequently the case, he be a medical botanist, he gathers his herbs when the proper planet is "in the ascendant." Some of these impostors also profess to "charge the crystal"

(_i.e._, to look into a globular or egg-shaped gla.s.s), and thereby to solve the gravest questions respecting the future fortunes of those who consult them. Nor is this by any means an unprofitable pursuit. The writer is aware of several instances in which "casting nativities," &c., has proved a golden harvest to the professor. One individual gave up a well-paid occupation in order that he might devote himself wholly to the still more lucrative practice of astrology and fortune-telling. He not only predicted future events by means of the stars, but he gave heads of families advice as to the recovery of stolen property and the detection of the thief; while impatient maidens he counselled how to bring shy or dilatory lovers to the point. Another pract.i.tioner added to these practices the construction of sun-dials, in which he was very ingenious, and thereby ama.s.sed considerable property after a long and successful career. Instances are very common that credulity is not confined to the ignorant or uneducated cla.s.ses. An intelligent and well-meaning lady once very seriously cautioned the writer against diving into the secrets of astrology, as, she said, that pursuit had "turned the head" of one of her acquaintance. She not only had a firm faith in the truth of all astrological predictions, but (from apprehension engendered by this faith) she would not on any account suffer any of these pract.i.tioners to predict her fortune, nor would she on any account consult them. It seems that on one occasion she did commit herself so far as to go to "a wise man," whom we will call Mr.

I., in company with Miss J., whose marriage with Mr. K. was then somewhat doubtful; and she afterwards solemnly affirmed that the astrologer told her all her fortune. She described him as first carefully drawing the requisite diagram, showing the state of the heavens at the hour of Miss J.'s birth; and after "charging his gla.s.s"

he declared that the marriage would take place within a few months; "but," he added, "he was also very sorry to inform her that she would die young." Both these events did really happen within a limited period; and of course the lady's belief in the truth of astrological prediction was very powerfully strengthened and confirmed. Some time after these events, this identical Mr. I. was brought before the magistrates in petty sessions, charged with obtaining money under false pretences; with practising astrology, palmistry, &c., and he only narrowly escaped imprisonment through some technical error in the charge or summons. It was said that the charge was a vindictive one--hence there was great rejoicing amongst his friends when it was dismissed; but the inspector of police who had charge of the case did not hesitate to declare that there were many persons then present who had paid Mr. I. money for his predictions.

Another specimen of the fortune-teller we may notice from a rural district. In the hamlet of Roe Green, in the township of Worsley, in a humble cottage, a few years ago lived a man who held the position of overseer or head of one cla.s.s of workmen in the employ of the Bridgewater Trust. In the language of the locality, "Owd Rollison [Rawlinson] was a _gaffer_." But to this regular avocation he added the profession of fortune-telling, and in the evenings many were the applicants for a little knowledge of future events from the villages and hamlets for miles around. His stock-in-trade consisted of various books on astrology, &c., and of two magic gla.s.ses or crystals, one a small globular ma.s.s of common white gla.s.s, with a short stem by which to hold it; the other was about the size and shape of a large hen's egg, but without any stem or handle. His whole apparatus was for some months in the possession of the writer, and a list of his books may serve to show the sort of literature held in esteem amongst this cla.s.s of planet rulers. 1. _The Three Books of Occult Philosophy_ of Henry Cornelius Agrippa, translated by J. Freake (London, 1651, pp. 583).[85] 2. Lilly's _Christian Astrology_, in three books (London, 1659, pp. 832). 3. John Gadbury's _Thesaurus Astrologiae_ (Westminster, 1674, pp. 272). 4. _The Star_, by Ebn Shemaya (London, 1839, pp. 203). Zadkiel's _Grammar of Astrology_ (London, 1849, pp. 178): in this volume were also bound up "Tables for Calculating Nativities," by Zadkiel (London, 1850, pp. 64).

6. _A Plea for Urania_ (London, 1854, pp. 387).

One or two MS. books, apparently blank copy-books, which had been used to draw diagrams, or, as the phrase goes, to "construct horoscopes," or "erect schemes," or "cast nativities," showed that "Owd Rollison" had dabbled a little in a sort of Astrology; but the rudeness of these attempts betrayed him to be but a mere tyro in the "celestial science."

He had also a reputation for selling "charms" against the various ills that flesh is heir to; amongst others, one to stop haemorrhage. One countryman told the writer that he remembered, when a boy, that his uncle having a very severe haemorrhage, so that he was believed to be bleeding to death, this boy was told to run off as hard as he could to Owd Rollison to get something to stop the bleeding. He soon received a small piece of parchment containing sundry unintelligible characters upon it, which was to be sewed up in a small bag and worn continually, so that the bag should rest on the skin just over the heart. This was done, the bleeding stopped, and the man recovered. Another person, who had been a sort of confidant of the wise man, told the writer that at one period Rawlinson went at regular intervals, and on stated days, to Manchester, where at a quiet public-house he met other "wise men," and they a.s.sembled in an upper chamber, with locked door, and sometimes remained for hours in deliberation. Of the subject of such deliberations the informant said he knew nothing, for he was never admitted; he had the honour of remaining outside the door as watchman, guard, or sentinel, to prevent any prying listeners from approaching. He conjectured that what they were about was "magic and such like;" but more he knew not. "Owd Rollison" kept his situation under the Bridgewater Trust until his death, at a ripe old age; and though he left several sons and a daughter, the mantle of his astrological or fortune-telling wisdom does not seem to have fallen on any of them.

Much might be stated respecting the practice of the art of fortune-telling by wandering gipsies, especially in that branch of it termed palmistry--predicting the future from an examination of the "lines" of the palm of the left hand, each of which, in the jargon of palmists, has its own peculiar character and name, as the line of life, of fortune, &c.; but as these wanderers are not indigenous to Lancashire, but may be found in every county in England, it may suffice thus to name them. Of the old women who tell fortunes by cards chiefly, to silly women who are always wanting to know whether their future husband is to be denoted by the King of Hearts (a true-loving swain) or by the Monarch of Diamonds (as indicative of great wealth), it is enough to say that they may be found by scores or hundreds in every town in Lancashire.

MAGIC AND MAGICIANS.

Our forefathers had a strong faith in the power of magic, and even divided the knowledge of it into two opposite kinds--viz., "white magic," which was acquired from the communications of the archangels and angels, or at least from some of the good spirits who were allowed to aid human beings by their supernatural power in deeds of beneficence; and black magic, or "the black art," also termed "necromancy," which was derived from dealings with the devil, or at least from commerce with his imps, or the evil spirits of wicked dead men. At one period the terms magician and conjuror had the same meaning--one who conjured, by magical power, spirits and demons to appear and do his bidding. Conjuror has since become a name for a professor of _legerdemain_ or sleight-of-hand.

EDWARD KELLY, THE SEER.

Edward Kelly, whose dealings in the Black Art, it is said, would fill a volume, was born at Worcester, and had been an apothecary. We have elsewhere noticed his doings as an alchemist. He was for a considerable time the companion and a.s.sociate of "Dr." John Dee, performing for him the office of "Seer," by looking into the doctor's crystal or stone, a faculty not possessed by Dee, who in consequence was obliged to have recourse to Kelly for the revelations he has published respecting the world of spirits. These curious transactions may be found in Casaubon's work, ent.i.tled, _A True and Faithful Relation of what Pa.s.sed for many years between Dr. John Dee and some Spirits_--opening out another dark page in the history of imposture and credulity. Dee says that he was brought into unison with Kelly by the mediation of the angel Uriel.

Afterwards he found himself deceived by him, in his opinion that these spirits which ministered unto him were messengers of the Deity. They had had several quarrels before; but when Dee found Kelly degenerating into the worst species of the magic art, for the purposes of avarice and fraud, he broke off all connexion with him, and would never afterwards be seen in his company. Kelly, being discountenanced by the doctor, betook himself to the meanest practices of magic, in all which money and the works of the devil appear to have been his chief aim. Many wicked and abominable transactions are recorded of him.

In Lilly's Memoirs are the following pa.s.sages relating to this Seer:--"Kelly outwent the Doctor, viz., about the Elixir and the Philosopher's Stone, which neither he nor his master attained by their own labour and industry. It was in this manner that Kelly obtained it, as I had it related from an ancient minister, who knew the certainty thereof from an old English merchant, resident in Germany, at what time both Kelly and Dee were there. Dee and Kelly, being on the confines of the Emperor's dominions, in a city where resided many English merchants, with whom they had much familiarity, there happened an old friar to come to Dr. Dee's lodgings, knocking at the door. Dee peeped down stairs: 'Kelly,' says he, 'tell the old man I am not at home.' Kelly did so. The friar said, 'I will take another time to wait upon him.' Some few days after, he came again. Dee ordered Kelly, if it were the same person, to deny him again. He did so; at which the friar was very angry. 'Tell thy master I came to speak with him, and to do him good; because he is a great scholar, and famous: but now tell him, he put forth a book, and dedicated it to the Emperor. It is called _Monas Hieroglyphicas_. He understands it not. I wrote it myself. I came to instruct him therein, and in some other more profound things. Do thou, Kelly, come along with me. I will make thee more famous than thy master Dee.' Kelly was very apprehensive of what the friar delivered, and thereupon suddenly retired from Dr. Dee, and wholly applied unto the friar, and of him either had the Elixir ready made, or the perfect method of its preparation and making. The poor friar lived a very short time after: whether he died a natural death, or was otherwise poisoned or made away by Kelly, the merchant who related this, did not certainly know." "It was vulgarly reported that he [Kelly] had a compact with the devil, which he out-lived, and was seized at midnight by infernal spirits, who carried him off in sight of his family, at the instant he was meditating a mischievous design against the minister of the parish, with whom he was greatly at enmity."[86]

RAISING THE DEAD AT WALTON-LE-DALE.

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth and the year 1560, three judicial astrologers met in Preston, for the purpose of raising a corpse by incantations. They were Dr. Dee, Warden of Manchester, Edward Kelly, his a.s.sistant, and "seer," and Paul Wareing, of Dove Cotes, near Clayton Brook. Casaubon, in his "True and faithful Account of what pa.s.sed for many years between John Dee and some Spirits," (apparently quoting from Weever's _Funeral Monuments_) states that "The aforesaid Master Edward Kelly, a person well skilled in judicial astrology, with one Paul Wareing (who acted with him in these incantations and all these conjurations) and Dr. Dee, went to the churchyard of St. Leonard's, in Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, and entered the burial ground exactly at midnight, the moon shining brightly, for the purpose of raising the body of a person who had been interred there, and who had during his life hidden a quant.i.ty of money without disclosing the fact previous to his death. Having had the grave pointed out to them on the preceding day, they opened it, removed the coffin lid, and set to work by various exorcisms, until the body became animated, by the spirit entering it again. The body then rose out of the grave and stood upright before them. It not only satisfied their wicked desires, it is said, but delivered several strange predictions concerning persons in the neighbourhood, which were literally and exactly fulfilled. Sibley, in his _Occult Sciences_, relates a similar account of this transaction, and also gives an engraving representing the scene, which took place at the midnight hour in the church of Walton. Another account states that Dr. Dee was engaged with Kelly in this enterprise, August 12th, 1560, and that Paul Wareing, of Clayton Brook, was the other who gave a.s.sistance in endeavouring to obtain an intercourse with familiar spirits."--(_Whittle's Preston._)

AN EARL OF DERBY CHARGED WITH KEEPING A CONJUROR.

The loyal and munificent Edward (third) Earl of Derby, notwithstanding his great services to Queen Elizabeth, and his long-proved loyalty, was maligned and accused of traitorous intentions. The Earl of Huntingdon wrote to Sir William Cecil, then the Queen's Secretary of State (afterwards Lord Burghley, her Treasurer), a letter, communicating suspicions of the Earl of Derby, which the writer asked should be burned as soon as read, but which has been preserved (and printed) amongst Lord Burghley's _State Papers_ (I. 603.) Modernising the spelling, the letter runs thus:--

Sir,--I am bolder to write to you on weighty matters, than I dare be to some others; the cause I leave to your consideration, and so to you only I am bold to impart that I hear. The matter in short is this:--Among the Papists of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Cosynes (?), great hope and expectation there is, that Derby will play as foul a part this year as the two Earls did the last year. [See the Rising in the North.] I hope better of him for my part, and for my respects, both general and particular, I wish him to do better. I know he hath hitherto been loyal, and even the last year, as you know, gave good testimony of his fidelity, and of his own disposition, I think, will do so still; but he may be drawn by evil counsel, G.o.d knoweth to what. I fear he hath even at this time many wicked counsellors, and some too near him. _There is one Browne, a conjuror, in his house, kept secretly._ There is also one Uphalle, who was a pirate, and had lately his pardon, that could tell somewhat, as I hear, if you could get him. He that carried my Lord Morley over, was also there within this se'ennight, kept secretly.

He with his whole family never raged so much against religion as they do now, he never came to common prayer for this quarter or this year, as I hear, neither doth any of the family, except five or six persons. I dare not write what more I hear, because I cannot justify and prove it; but this may suffice for you in time to look to it.

And surely, in my simple opinion, if you send some faithful and wise spy, that would dissemble to come from D'Alva, and dissemble popery, you might understand all; for if all be true that is said, there is a very fond company in the house at this present. I doubt not but you can and will use this matter better than I can advise you. Yet let me wish you to take heed to which of your companions (though you be now but five together) you utter this matter _ne forte_ it be in Lathom sooner than you would have it; for some of you have men about you and friends attending on you, &c., that deal not always well. I pray G.o.d save our Elizabeth and confound all her enemies; and thus I take my leave, committing you to G.o.d his tuition.

Your a.s.sured poor friend, H. HUNTYNGDON.

From Ashby, 24 Aug., 1570.

P.S.--Because none there should know of my letter, I would not send it by my servant, but have desired Mr. Ad to deliver it to you in secret. When you have read it, I pray you to burn it and forget the name of the writer. I pray G.o.d I may not hear any more of your coming to ----.

There seems to have been no substantial ground for suspecting the loyalty of the Earl of Derby, which remained unshaken through another ordeal, the conspiracy of the Duke of Norfolk to marry the Queen of Scots, and place her on the English throne. But the Bishop of Ross gave evidence, that in Mary's design, in 1571, to escape from Sheffield Castle to the Continent, she was aided by several Lancashire gentlemen; and adds, that she wrote a letter by a little priest of Rolleston's to Sir Thomas Stanley. Sir Thomas Gerrard and Rolleston devised a cypher for her; and they offered to convey her away, and willed the Bishop to ask the Duke of Norfolk's opinion therein. The prelate further stated that Hall told him that if the Queen [Mary] would get two men landed in Lancashire, Sir Thomas Stanley, and Sir Edward Stanley, along with Sir Thomas Gerrard, and Rolleston, would effect her escape to France or Flanders, &c. Upon this evidence Sir Thomas Stanley, Sir Thomas Gerrard, and Rolleston, were apprehended, and committed to the Tower as state prisoners.[87]

FOOTNOTES:

[75] Allen's _History of Yorkshire_, vol. iii. pp. 421-425.

[76] _Gort_, narrow; _gor_, upper, Brit.; _gor_, blood, A.-S. _Gorple_ may mean the b.l.o.o.d.y pile, or the upper pile.

[77] From _Sceot-hull_, afterwards _Scout_ or _Shoot-hill_, and _worth_--_i.e._, the farm or hamlet of the projecting ledge or hill.

[78] Dr. Borlase's argument is c.u.mulative. He observes that rock basins are always on the _top_, never on the _sides_ of the stones; that the ancients sacrificed on rocks; that water was used by them for l.u.s.tration and purification; that snow, rain, or dew, was preferred by them to running water; that it was not permitted to touch the earth; that the Druids practised similar rites, and held rain or snow-water to be holy; and they attributed a healing virtue to the G.o.ds inhabiting rocks; that their priests stood upon rocks to wash, sprinkle, and drink, &c. All these considerations, he conceives, favour his opinion that rock basins were _used_, if not _formed_, by the Druids.

[79] See Watson's _History of Halifax_, pp. 27-36.

[80] Professor Hunt is of the same opinion. See his recent work on the _Drolls of Cornwall_, vol. i. pp. 186-228.

[81] T. G. C., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. vii. p. 177.

[82] In his _History of Blackpool_, pp. 333-4.

[83] Speet, spit, or spittle, are names in Lancashire for a spade.

[84] L. B., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. viii. p. 613.--_Bibliographical Notice of the Works of the Learned and Rev. Divine, John White, D.D., &c._ London, 1624; in _Chet. Soc. Books_, vol. x.x.xviii. p. 52.