Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham Part 20

~Mecca.~--The late Mr. J.H. Chamberlain, shortly before his death, said that he looked upon Birmingham, "perhaps with a foolish pride," as the Holy City, the Mecca of England; where life was fuller of possibilities of utility--happier, broader, wiser, and a thousand times better than it was in any other town in the United Kingdom.

~Mechanical Engineers.~--The Inst.i.tution of Mechanical Engineers was organised in this town, in October 1847, but its headquarters were removed to London, in 1877.

~Mechanics' Inst.i.tute.~--The proposal to form a local inst.i.tution of a popular nature, for the encouragement of learning among our workers, like unto others which had been established in several large places elsewhere, was published in June, 1825, and several meetings were held before December 27, when officers were chosen, and entry made of nearly 200 members, to start with, the subscription being 5/-per quarter. The formal opening took place March 21, 1826, the members a.s.sembling in Mount Zion Chapel, to hear an address from Mr. B. Cook, the vice-president. The cla.s.s-rooms, library, and reading-rooms, were at the school attached to the Old Meeting House, and here the Inst.i.tution, so far as the conduct of cla.s.ses, and the imparting of knowledge went, thrived and prospered. Financially, however, though at one time there were nearly 500 members, it was never successful, possibly through lack of a.s.sistance that might have been expected from the manufacturers and large employers, for, hide it as we may, with a few honourable exceptions, that cla.s.s, fifty years ago, preferred strong men to wise ones, and rather set their banks against opening the doors of knowledge to their workpeople, or their children. It was a dozen years before the Inst.i.tution was able to remove to a home of its own in Newhall Street, but it rapidly got into a hopeless state of debt. To lessen this incubus, and provide funds for some needed alterations, the committee decided to hold an exhibition of "manufactures, the fine arts, and objects ill.u.s.trative of experimental philosophy, &c." The exhibition was opened Dec. 19, 1839, and in all ways was a splendid success, a fairly-large sum of money being realised. Unfortunately, a second exhibition was held in the following years, when all the profits of the former were not only lost, but so heavy an addition made to the debt, that it may be said to have ruined the inst.i.tution completely. Creditors took possession of the premises in January, 1842, and in June operations were suspended, and, notwithstanding several attempts to revive the inst.i.tution, it died out altogether. As the only popular educational establishment open to the young men of the time, it did good work, many of its pupils having made their mark in the paths of literature, art, and science.

~Medical a.s.sociations.~--According to the "Medical Register" there are 35 physicians and 210 surgeons resident in the borough, and there are rather more than 300 chemists and druggists. According to a summary of the census tables, the medical profession "and their subordinates"

number in Birmingham and Aston 940, of whom 376 are males and 564 females. In 1834, at Worcester, under the presidency of Dr. Johnson, of this town, the Provincial Medical and Surgical a.s.sociation was formed for encouraging scientific research, improving the practice of medicine, and generally looking after the interests of the profession. In 1856 the name was changed to The British Medical a.s.sociation, with head offices in London, but prior to that branches had been established in various large towns, the Birmingham and Midland Counties' branch being foremost, holding its first meeting at Dee's Hotel, in December, 1854. The society has now about 9,000 members, with a reserve fund of 10,000; in the local branch there are 359 members, who subscribe about 150 per annum.

--The Birmingham Medical Inst.i.tute was launched Feb. 5, 1876, but the question of admitting homeopathists as members was nearly the upsetting of the craft at the first meeting; thanks to the sails being trimmed with a little common sense, however, the difficulty was tided over. The opening of the Inst.i.tute in Edmund Street took place December 17, 1880.

The cost of the building was about 6,000, and the purposes to which it is applied are the providing accommodation for meetings of the profession and the housing of the valuable medical library of over 6,000 books. As something worthy of note, it may be mentioned that the Inst.i.tute was opened free from debt, the whole cost being previously subscribed.

~Memorials and Monuments.~--See "_Statues," &c._

~Men of Worth.~--The "Toy-shop of the World," the home of workers, free from the blue blood of t.i.tled families, and having but few reapers of "unearned increment," is hardly the place to look for "men of worth or value" in a monetary point of view, but we have not been without them. A writer in _Gazette_, September 1, 1828, reckoned up 120 inhabitants who were each worth over 10,000 each; 50 worth over 20,000; 16 worth over 50,000; 9 worth over 100,000; 3 worth over 200,000; 2 worth over 300,000 each, and 1 worth over 400,000. Taking certain Income Tax Returns and other information for his basis another man of figures in 1878 made calculations showing that there were then among us some 800 persons worth more than 5,000 each, 200 worth over 10,000, 50 worth over 20,000, 35 worth over 50,000, 26 worth over 100,000, 12 worth over 250,000, 5 worth over 500,000, and 2 worth over or near 1,000,000 each.

~Mercia.~--In 585, this neighbourhood formed part of the Heptarchic kingdom of Mercia, under Cridda; in 697, Mercia was divided into four dioceses; this district being included in that of Lichfield; in 878, Mercia was merged in the kingdom of England. According to Bede and the Saxon Chronicles, Beorned was, in 757, king of Mercia, of which Birmingham formed part, and in Canute's reign there was an Earl Beorn, the king's nephew, and it has been fancifully suggested that in this name Beorn may lie the much-sought root for the etymology of the town's name. Beorn, or Bern, being derived from _ber_, a bear or boar, it might be arranged thusly:--

_Ber_, bear or boar; _moeng_, many; _ham_, dwelling--the whole making _Bermoengham_, the dwelling of many bears, or the home of many pigs!

~Metchley Camp.~--At Metchley Park, about three miles from town, near to Harborne, there are the remains of an old camp or station which Hutton attributes to "those pilfering vermin, the Danes," other writers thinking it was constructed by the Romans, but it is hardly possible that an undertaking requiring such immense labour as this must have done, could have been overlooked in any history of the Roman occupation.

More likely it was a stronghold of the native Britons who opposed their advance, a superst.i.tion borne out by its being adjacent to their line of Icknield Street, and near the heart of England. From a measurement made in 1822, the camp appears to have covered an area of about 15-1/2 acres.

Hutton gives it as 30 acres, and describes a third embankment. The present outer vallum was 330 yards long by 228 wide, and the interior camp 187 yards long by 165 wide. The ancient vallum and fosse have suffered much by the lapse of time, by the occupiers partially levelling the ground, and by the pa.s.sing through it of the Worcester and Birmingham ca.n.a.l, to make the banks of which the southern extremity of the camp was completely destroyed. Some few pieces of ancient weapons, swords and battle-axes, and portions of bucklers, have been found here, but nothing of a distinctively Roman or Danish character. As the fortification was of such great size and strength, and evidently formed for no mere temporary occupation, had either of those pa.s.sers-by been the constructors we should naturally have expected that more positive traces of their nationality would have been found.

~Methodism.~--The introduction here must date from Wesley's first visit in March, 1738. In 1764, Moor Street Theatre was taken as a meeting place, and John Wesley opened it March 21. The new sect afterwards occupied the King Street Theatre. Hutton says:--"The Methodists occupied for many years a place in Steelhouse Lane, where the wags of the age observed, 'they were eaten out by the bugs.' They therefore procured the cast-off Theatre in Moor Street, where they continued to exhibit till 1782, when, quitting the stage, they erected a superb meeting house in Cherry Street, at the expense of 1,200. This was opened, July 7, by John Wesley, the chief priest, whose extensive knowledge and unblemished manners give us a tolerable picture of apostolic purity, who believed as if he were to be saved by faith, and who laboured as if he were to be saved by works." The note made by Wesley, who was in his 80th year, respecting the opening of Cherry Street Chapel, has been preserved. He says:--"July 6th, 1782. I came to Birmingham, and preached once more in the old dreary preaching-house.

The next day I opened the new house at eight, and it contained the people well, but not in the evening, many more then constrained to go away. In the middle of the sermon a huge noise was heard, caused by the breaking of a bench on which some people stood. None of them were hurt; yet it occasioned a general panic at first, but in a few minutes all was quiet." Four years after the opening, Wesley preached in the chapel again, and found great prosperity. "At first," he wrote, "the preaching-house would not near contain the congregation. Afterwards I administered the Lord's Supper to about 500 communicants." Old as he then was, the apostle of Methodism came here a time or two after that, his last visit being in 1790. Many talented men have since served the Wesleyan body in this town, and the society holds a strong position among our Dissenting brethren. The minutes of the Wesleyan Conference last issued give the following statistics of the Birmingham and Shrewsbury District:--Church members, 18,875; on trial for membership, l,537; members of junior cla.s.ses, 2,143; number of ministerial cla.s.s leaders, 72; lay cla.s.s leaders, 1,269; local or lay preachers, 769 (the largest number in any district except Nottingham and Derby, which has 798). There are 40 circuits in the district, of which 27 report an increase of membership, and 13 a decrease.--See "_Places of Worship_."

~Methodism, Primitive.~--The origin of the Primitive Methodist Connexion dates from 1808, and it sprung solely from the custom (introduced by Lorenzo Dow, from America, in the previous year) of holding "camp meetings," which the Wesleyan Conference decided to be "highly improper in England, even if allowable in America, and likely to be productive of considerable mischief," expelling the preachers who conducted them. A new society was the result, and the first service in this town was held in Moor Sreet, in the open air, near to the Public Office, in the summer of 1824. The first "lovefeast" took place, March 6, 1825, and the first "camp meeting," a few months later. A circuit was formed, the first minister being the Rev. T. Nelson, and in 1826, a chapel was opened in Bordesley Street, others following in due course of time, as the Primitives increased in number. The Birmingham circuit contains about 800 members, with over 2,000 Sunday School scholars, and 250 teachers.-- See "_Places of Worship_."

~Metric System.~--This, the simplest decimal system of computation yet legalised is in use in France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, and other parts of Europe, as well as in Chili, Peru, Mexico, &c., and by 27 and 28 Vic., cap. 117, its use has been rendered legal in this country. As our local trade with the above and other countries is increasing (unfortunately in some respects), rules for working out the metric measures into English and _vice versa_ may be useful. The unit of length is the _metre_ (equal to 39.37 inches); it is divided into tenths (decimetres), hundredths (centimetres), and thousandths (millimetres), and it is multiplied by decimals in like way into hectometres, kilometres, and myriometres. The unit of weight is the _gramme_, divided as the metre into decigrammes, centigrammes, and milligrammes; multiplied into decagrammes, hectogrammes, and kilogrammes. The unit of capacity is the _litre_, divided and multiplied like the others.

1 inch equals 2-1/2 centimetres.

1 foot equals 3 decimetres.

1 mile equals 1-3/5 kilometres.

1 cwt. equals 50.8 kilogrammes.

1 ounce (troy) equals 31 grammes.

1 pound (troy) equals 3.72 decagrammes.

1 gallon equals 4-1/2 litres.

1 quart equals 1-1/16 litres.

1 metre equals 39.37 inches.

1 hectometre equals 109-1/3 yards.

1 cubic metre equals 61,027 cubic inches.

1 kilometre equals 1,093 yards.

1 decigramme equals 1-1/2 grains.

1 gramme equals 15 grains.

1 kilogramme equals 2-1/5 pounds (avoirdupois).

1 litre equals 1-3/4 pints.

To turn inches into millimetres add the figures 00 to the number of inches, divide by 4, and add the result two-fifths of the original number of inches.

To turn millimetres to inches add the figure 0 and divide by 254.

To make cubic inches into cubic centimetres multiply by 721 and divide by 44; cubic centimetres into cubic inches multiply by 44 and divide by 721.

To turn grains into grammes, multiply the number by 648 and divide the product by 10,000.

To turn grammes into grains, multiply by 10,000, dividing the result by 648.

The metric system is especially useful in our local jewellery and other trades, but it is very slowly making its way against the old English foot and yaid, even such a learned man as Professor Rankine poking fun at the foreign measures in a comic song of which two verses run:--

Some talk of millimetres, and some of kilogrammes, And some of decillitres to measure beer and drams; But I'm an English workman, too old to go to school, So by pounds I'll eat, by quarts I'll drink, and work by my two-foot rule.

A party of astronomers went measuring of the earth, And forty million metres they took to be its girth; Five hundred million inches now go through from pole to pole, So we'll stick to inches, feet, and yards, and our own old two-foot rule.

~Mid-England.~--Meriden, near Coventry, is believed to be about the centre spot of England.

~Midland Inst.i.tute.~--Suggestions of some such an inst.i.tution, to take the place of the defunct Mechanics', had several time appeared in print, but nothing definite was done in the matter until the subject was discussed (June 4, 1852) over the dinner table of Mr. Arthur Ryland.

Practical shape being given to the ideas then advanced, a town's meeting on Dec. 3, 1853, sanctioned the grant by the Council of the land necessary for the erection of a proper building, and an Act of Incorporation was obtained in the following Parliamentiry session. In December 1854, Charles d.i.c.kens gave three readings in the Town Hall, in behalf of the building fund, whereby 227 13s. 9d. was realised, the donations then amounting to 8,467. The foundation stone was laid by Prince Albert, on Nov. 22, 1855, and the contract for the first part of the building given to Messrs. Branston and Gwyther for 12,000. The lecture theatre was opened Oct. 13, 1857, when addresses were delivered by Lord Brougham, Lord Russell, and Lord Stanley, the latter delivering the prizes to the students who had attended the cla.s.ses, which were first started in October, 1854, at the Philosophical Inst.i.tute. In 1859, the portrait of David c.o.x was presented to the Inst.i.tute, forming the first contribution to the Fine Art Gallery, which was built on portion of the land originally given to the Inst.i.tute, the whole of the buildings being designed by Mr. E.M. Barry. The amount subscribed to the building fund was about 18,000, and the coat, including furniture and apparatus more than 16,000. Great extension has been made since then, on the Paradise Street side, and many thousands spent on the enlargement, branch cla.s.ses bring also held at several of the Board Schools to relieve the pressure on the Inst.i.tute. In 1864, the members of the Inst.i.tute numbered 660, and the students 880, with an income of 998; in January, 1874, there were 1,591 members, 733 family ticket holders. 2,172 students, and an income of 2,580. At the end of 1833, the number of annual subscribers was 1,900, and lecture ticket-holders 838. In the Industrial Department there were 4,334 students; the Archaeological Section numbered 226 members, and the musical Section 183.

108 students attended the Laws of Health cla.s.ses, 220 the Ladies cla.s.ses, and 36 the cla.s.ses for preparation for matriculation. The benefits derived from the establishment of the Midland Inst.i.tute, and the amount of useful, practical, and scientific knowledge disseminated by means of its cla.s.ses among the intelligent working men of the town and the rising generation, is incalculable. These cla.s.ses, many of which are open at the low fee of 1d., and some others specially for females, now include the whole of the following subjects:--English language and literature, English history, French, German, Latin, Greek, and Spanish, algebra, geometry, mensuration, trignometry, and arithmetic, music, drawing, writing, English grammar, and composition, botany, chemistry, experimental physics, practical mechanics, and metallurgy, elementary singing, physical geography, animal physiology, geology, practical plane and solid geometry, &c. The general position of the Inst.i.tute with regard to finance was as follows:--Gross receipts in General Department, 3,281 5s. 6d.; expenditure in this department (including 998 1s. 6d.

deficiency at the close of the year 1882), 3,088 17s. 2d.; balance in favour of the General Department, 192 8s. 4d. Gross receipts in Industrial Department, 1,747 13s.; expenditure in this department, 3,173 7s. 10d.; deficiency, l,425 14s. 10d., met by a transfer from the funds of the General Department. The total result of the year's operations in both departments left a deficiency of 1,233 6s. 6d. The amount due to bankers on the General Fund was 863 13s. 6d; and the amount standing to the credit of the Inst.i.tute on the Repairs Account is 440 12s. 2d. It is much to be regretted that there is a total debt on the Inst.i.tute, amounting to 19,000, the paying of interest on which sadly r.e.t.a.r.ds its usefulness. Many munificent donations have been made to the funds of the Inst.i.tute from time to time, one being the sum of 3,000, given by an anonymous donor in 186[**], "in memory of Arthur Ryland." In August, same year, it was announced that the late Mr. Alfred Wilkes had bequeathed the bulk of his estate, estimated at about 100,000, in trust for his two sisters during their lives, with reversion in equal shares to the General Hospital and the Midland Inst.i.tute, being a deferred benefaction of 50,000 to each.

~Midland Metropolis.~--Birmingham was so ent.i.tled because it was the largest town, and has more inhabitants than any town in the centre of England. To use a Yankeeism, it is "the hub" of the Kingdom; here is the throbbing heart of all that is Liberal in the political life of Europe; this is the workshop of the world, the birth-spot of the steam-engine, and the home of mock jewellery. In all matters political, social, and national, it takes the lead, and if London is the Metropolis of all that is effete and aristocratic, Birmingham has the moving-power of all that is progressive, recuperative and advancing. When Macaulay's New Zealander sits sadly viewing the silent ruins of the once gigantic city on the Thames, he will have the consolation of knowing that the pulse-beats of his progenitors will still be found in the Mid-England Metropolis, once known as the town of Burningsham or Birmingham.

~Mild Winters.~--The winter of 1658-9 was very mild, there being neither snow or frost. In 1748 honeysuckles, in full bloom, were gathered near Worcester, in February. In the first four months of 1779 there was not a day's rain or snow, and on the 25th of March the cherry, plum, and pear trees were in full bloom. An extraordinary mild winter was that of 1782-3. A rose was plucked in an open garden, in New Street, on 30th December, 1820. In December, 1857, a wren's nest, with two eggs in it was found near Selly Oak, and ripe raspberries were gathered in the Christmas week at Astwood Bank. The winter of 1883-4 is worthy of note, for rose trees were budding in December, lambs frisking about in January, and blackbirds sitting in February.

~Milk.~--The reports of the Borough a.n.a.lyst for several successive years, 1879 to 1882, showed that nearly one-half the samples of milk examined were adulterated, the average adulteration of each being as much as 20 per cent.; and a calculation has been made that the Brums pay 20,000 a year for the water added to their milk! Next to the bread we eat, there is no article that should be kept freer from adulteration than milk, and the formation of a Dairy Company, in April, 1882, was hailed as a boon by many. The Company started with a nominal capital of 50,000 in 5 shares, and it rigidly prosecutes any farmer who puts the milk of the "wooden cow" into their cans.

~Minories.~--Once known as Upper and Lower Minories, the latter name being given to what, at other times, has been called "Pemberton's Yard"

or the "Coach Yard." The names give their own meaning, the roads leading to the Priory.

~Mints.~--See "_Trades_."

~Missionary Work.~--About a million and a quarter sterling is yearly contributed in England to Foreign, Colonial, and Home Missionary Societies, and Birmingham sends its share very fairly. The local Auxiliary, to the Church Missionary Society, in 1882, gathered 2,133 8s. 6d.; in 1883 (to June both years) it reached 2,774 17s. 8d., of which 2,336 6s 11d. was from collections in the local churches. The Auxiliary to the London Missionary Society gathered 1,050, of which 991 was collected in churches and chapels. The Baptist Missionary Society was founded in October, 1792, and branch was started here a few months afterwards, the first fruits totting up to the very respectable amount of 70. A branch of the Wesleyan Missionary Society was formed here in 1814 for the Birmingham and Shrewsbury district, and the amounts gathered in 1882 totalled 4,829 10s. 3d. To the Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, the Birmingham Auxiliaries in 1883 sent 323. There are also Auxiliaries of the Church of England Zenana, of the South American, and of one or two other Missionary Societies. The Rev.

J.B. Barradale, who died in China, early in 1879, while relieving sufferers from famine, was educated at Spring Hill College. He was sent out by the London Missionary Society, and his death was preceded by that of his wife and only child, who died a few weeks before him, all from fever caught while helping poor Chinamen.

~Moated Houses.~--The Parsonage, as well as the Manor House (as noted elsewhere), were each surrounded by its moat, and, possibly, no portion of the United Kingdom could show more family mansions, and country residences, protected in this manner, than the immediate district surrounding Birmingham. Many more or-less-preserved specimens of these old-fashioned houses, with their water guards round them, are to be met with by the rambler, as at Astwood Bank. Erdington, Inkberrow, Yardley, Wyrley, &c. Perhaps, the two best are Maxtoke Castle, near Coleshill, and the New Hall, Sutton Coldfield.

~Modern Monasteries.~--The foundation-stone of St. Thomas's Priory, at Erdington, for the accommodation of the Monks of the Order of St.

Benedict, was laid on Aug. 5, 1879, by the Prior, the Rev. Hildebrand de Hemptinne. Alter the date, and the reader might fancy himself living in Mediaeval times.

~Monument.~--The high tower erected near the Reservoir has long borne the name of "The Monument," though it has been said it was built more as a strange kind of pleasure-house, where the owner, a Mr. Perrott, could pa.s.s his leisure hours witnessing coursing in the day-time, or making astronomical observations at night. Hence it was often called "Perrott's Folly." It dates from 1758--See also "_Statues_," &c.

~Moody and Sankey.~--These American Evangelists, or Revivalists, visited here in Jan. 1875, their first meeting being held in the Town Hall, on the 17th, the remainder of their services (to February 7) being given in Bingley Hall. They came also in February, 1883. when the last-named place again accommodated them.

~Moor Street.~--Rivaling Edgbaston Street in its antiquity, its name has long given rise to debate as to origin, but the most likely solution of the puzzle is this: On the sloping land near here, in the 14th century, and perhaps earlier, there was a mill, probably the Town Mill, and by the contraction of the Latin, _Molendinaria_, the miller would be called John le Molendin, or John le Moul. The phonetic style of writing by sound was in great measured practised by the scriveners, and thus we find, as time went on, the street of the mill became Moul, Moule, Mowle, Molle, Moll, More, and Moor Street. A stream crossed the street near the Woolpack, over which was a wooden bridge, and farther on was another bridge of more substantial character, called "Carter's Bridge." In flood times, Cars Lane also brought from the higher lands copious streams of water, and the keeping of Moor Street tidy often gave cause to mention these spots in old records, thus:--