at Barcroft Hall, the confinement of the heir to the estates until he became an idiot, by a younger brother, was needed to connect the writing with an item in the family pedigree. Many generations, no doubt looked with wonder upon the sculptured Paschal Lamb on the south front of the steeple at Burnley before it was connected with the demon pigs and the goblin builders, whose origin has never yet been satisfactorily explained. The same may be said of the rude figure of the pig and bell at Winwick church, and its curious legend, which Mr Worsley has proved to belong to St Anthony and his well-known badge.[1]
When readers were few it was necessary to give as much publicity as possible to important local transactions. Hence we can explain the custom of holding a ruler or wand when taking the oath in presence of a jury on being enrolled as a holder of property in a Manor; and the same necessity suggested the practice of paying money on the font of the parish church in the presence of the congregation. Paying pepper-corns, presenting gloves, spurs, &c., instead of rent for land, are obviously relics of military service handed down to us from feudal times; and when white gloves are presented to judges in courts of law, they intimate that the sheriff vacates his office with clean hands, which had a real significance when disembowelling formed one of the accessories to capital punishments.
The agency of the Devil is a frequent ingredient in the composition of our local legends. His bonds are always signed with the blood of his victims, and not a few of our localities can produce traditional instances of his crafty doings. He is also credited with the production
- ↑ Proceedings of the Liverpool Architectural and Archæological Society, 1871.
