Lancashire Gleanings

Written by William Edward Armytage Axon in 1883, this manuscript provides a glimpse into the early days of Lancashire, England.

Even when the historian has told in the most elaborate detail the story of the County Palatine of Lancaster, there still remains much that is noteworthy. There are pleasant byways of family history and biography to be explored, quaint fancies and dark superstitions to be re-corded, and many notable incidents and curious events to be chronicled. In this volume an attempt has been made to indicate some of the characteristics of the past history and condition of the county. "Lancashire fair women," the old proverb speaks of, and these have never lacked their complement of brave men whose valour has sometimes been that of the warrior leading his soldiers to victory, sometimes that of the sectary scorning the persecutions of the world, sometimes of the inventor struggling against the neglect and greed of his fellows, and sometimes alas ! for the intolerance of human nature that it should be so this native courage has been shown by the pale martyr in his sheet of fire.

The historical associations of the county connect it with some of the most momentous epochs in the life of the nation, and its halls, farmhouses, and cottages have given soldiers to the field, statesmen to the senate, and preachers to the churches. The manifestations of this quick, vigorous life furnish the subjects of several articles in this volume.

The folk-lore and dialect of the county are unusually rich, and the connection of some of its fireside stories and familiar customs with those of other lands have been shown.

Some of the articles now reprinted have been read before the Royal Society of Literature, the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, and the Manchester Literary Club; some have appeared in the Academy, the Manchester Guardian, Notes and Queries, the Palatine Notebook, and various periodicals, whilst others are now printed for the first time. The volume is a selection from much more extensive materials relating to the history and archaeology of Lancashire, and which may possibly be further drawn upon in the future.

Table of Contents:

  1. Nanny Cutler, A Lancashire "Dinah Bede"
  2. The Mosley Family
  3. The Extraordinary Memory Of The Rev. Thomas Threlkeld 32
  4. Sunday In The Olden Time
  5. Tim Bobbin As An Artist
  6. Ann Lee, The Manchester Prophetess
  7. Master John Shawe
  8. Traditions Collected By Thomas Barritt
  9. Did Shakspere Visit Lancashire?
  10. The Lancashire Plot
  11. Sherburnes In America
  12. Curiosities Of Street Literature
  13. Thomas And John Ferriar
  14. Turton Fair In 1789
  15. The Story Of The Three Black Crows
  16. Lancashire Beyond The Sea
  17. Murders Detected By Dreams
  18. The Black Knight Of Ashton
  19. Robert Tannahill In Lancashire
  20. Population Of Manchester
  21. A Sermon Of The Sixteenth Century
  22. Prince Charles Edward Stuart's Supposed Visit To Manchester
  23. Congregationalism At Earn Worth Near Bolton
  24. Church Goods In 1552
  25. The Estates Of Sir Andrew Chadwick
  26. Early Art In Liverpool
  27. The Story Of Burger's "Lenore"
  28. Manchester In 1791
  29. Early References To The Jews In Lancashire
  30. Whittington And His Cat
  31. "Fair Em"
  32. The Father Of Thomas De Quincey
  33. Origin Of The Word "Teetotal"
  34. Robert Wilson And The Invention Of The Steam Hammer
  35. Ralph Sandiford
  36. Elias, The Manchester Prophet
  37. Westhoughton Factory Fire
  38. Peter Annet
  39. Some Old Lancashire Ballads, Broadsides And Chap-Books
  40. George Fox's First Entry Into Lancashire
  41. The Legend Of Mab's Cross
  42. The Lindsays In Lancashire
  43. The Liverpool Tragedy
  44. Lancashire Proverbs

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Origin of the Word "Teetotal" as it applied to the Temperance Society

The temperance society of Great Britain, Scotland, and Ireland adapted the name of "teetotalers" in 1834 after "Dickey" Turner said "I'll have now't to do w' this moderation botheration pledge ; I'll be reet down out-and-out tee-tee total for ever and ever."