mitted the Bible to decide their nomenclature for them. Without any expression of regret for this, I hope that the day is coming when they will restore from an undeserved oblivion names which, though pagan in origin, are so pretty and simple that they may well be brought forth from their hiding places. Avice, Maud, Cis, Gillian, and Emmot, once ruled supreme over girls' nomenclature in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Ellis, Guy, Emery, and Colin once took the lead as boys' names. I trust they will not be permitted to become obsolete, though they have already become all but archaic.

THER

BY JOHN EVANS.

[Read November 12, 1877.]

HERE is a fragrance in the memory of some men which clings around and sanctifies their old familiar haunts, and remains even when the old lamps have flickered out and new lights have beamed into existence. Thus we have in our own city John Dalton and Faulkner Street, De Quincey and Greenheys, the Grants and Mosley Street, inseparably associated. The most pleasant of all our associations with the names and virtues of the illustrious dead are in those paths which they made their There we seem to live again with them their good lives, and to feel their influence most strongly. This must be my reason for designating Canon Parkinson an "Old Church Worthy." All that the writer knew of him was in that connection. Our pleasant memories of his sound judgment, sunshiny presence,

own.

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genial disposition, and thoroughly practical character as scholar and divine, are chiefly associated with him as a Fellow of the Collegiate Church of Manchester. That sound Anglican Churchman, Dr. Calvert, that eccentric of somewhat Bohemian type, Joshua Brookes, that fine old English parson, Canon Wray, are all linked in our memory with the place; but none of them bulk so largely or impress us so vividly with their individuality as the subject of this paper.

As some excuse for the temerity of the present undertaking we may cite the words of Mr. James Crossley, one of his nearest and dearest friends, who says: "The want of Dr. Parkinson's biography, like many other unwritten biographies, is a fact more to be deplored than the existence of many written biographies is a circumstance to be desired." The limits of the present paper will only permit a mere sketch, though perhaps sufficient may be given to bring it within that second category indicated by the learned president of the Chetham Society.

Richard Parkinson sprang of a sturdy race, who as yeomen and gentlemen had long been settled in the township of Bleasdale, a royal forest in North Lancashire. The canon, who was by no means insensible to the satisfaction of a "long descent," recounts the former possessions of those of his name-five or six thousand acres of cultivated or moor land, stretching along a range of hills from Brookes Fell to Parlick Pike. The oldest deed in his hands was dated 11th Elizabeth (1569), but its terms implied a long previous possession. The family claim descent from a son of Perkin Featherstonehaugh, whose arms they bear.*

A moiety of the family possessions remained until the days of the canon's great-grandfather Robert. It was then divided between Mr. Sharp of Lancaster and the canon's grandfather Richard, to whom was left Hoghton House and Woodgates, which had been purchased by James Parkinson in the first year of Charles I. Richard Parkinson was blessed with a family of twelve, and displayed a patri

* Parkinson of Bleasdale Forest, Fairsnape and Blindhurst, co. Lan caster—a family of great antiquity and high position in that shire, descended originally from a son of Perkin Featherstonehaugh of the North, recorded in Heralds Visitations as Parkinson and assigned the arms of the Featherstonehaughs. Arms: Gu., a chevron agt. between three ostrich feathers of the last. Crest: A dexter arm couped at the elbow, clothed az., cuffed or., holding an ostrich feather agt.-Burke's British Seats and Arms.

archal care and wisdom in the management and bringing up of his children. Admarsh was a Chapel of Ease in the vast parish of Lancaster; but, having no endowment, was generally without a minister, except when one of the Parkinsons hired some minister for a monthly service. To remedy this spiritual destitution, Richard Parkinson, the grandfather, engaged a Rev. Mr. Smith, who officiated in the chapel, and resided in the yeoman's big, old-fashioned house, and taught his numerous children. For these arduous services he received board, lodging, and ten pounds a year! This salary he was allowed to augment, by taking, as boarders, pupils from the neighbouring families-the Greenhalghs, Claytons, Walmsleys, and others. Thus, whilst conferring a substantial benefit upon the remote region, Mr. Parkinson obtained for his large family a better education than his limited means would otherwise have commanded. The following graphic description of the district is from the pen of our member, Mr. Richard Parkinson, a relative of the canon's, now resident at Barr Hill, Pendleton.

If you stand on the ruins of Clitheroe Castle and look to the north-west, a noble expanse of country stretches out before you. At your feet rolls the wellknown and romantic Ribble; further on its grand tributary, the Hodder, peeps out in places, glistening in the sun, gliding between the limestone hillocks or woody dales of Bowland and Browsholme. To the left the hoary tips of Mytton and Whalley crop out, and the long ridge of Longridge Fell stretches out towards Preston, shutting out the time-honoured valley in which nestle Stidd and Ribchester. In front a vast view is commanded. To the north rises the precipitous barrier known as Bleasdale Fells, and at the easterly points of this we find the sweet little anglers' rest known as White Well. Abutting from this last-named mountainous chain stands Parlick Pike, a hill some 1,500 feet high, and on its summit for a moment we will suppose ourselves standing, No point in England that I have seen commands a finer view than this. Its top is almost flat, and it is crowned by a stone edifice, the erection of which is honourably attributed to the architects known by the names of Satan and Old Nick. From this point spreads out like a map a country of which any dukedom might be proud; Chipping Chaigeley and Bowland to the left, with the grey and time-honoured Clitheroe Castle. Beyond the vast ridge above Stonyhurst rises the dense smoke of Blackburn; in front Goosnargh, Broughton, Alston, Whittingham, and the forest of smoke-emitting chimneys of Preston (too far away to contaminate the purest of atmospheric breezes around you), and the widening, ship-laden mouth of the Ribble dotting the estuary of the old Roman port. Beyond this Liverpool, and far away again the tips of the Welsh mountains struggle with the clouds for identification. To the right a long expanse of the coast, upon which

you can distinctly recognise the principal buildings of Lytham, Blackpool, Southport, and Fleetwood. At your feet, among the innumerable homesteads, cosily lies one looking much like a bird's nest-a house encircled by a planta. tion, the blue smoke curling up in fantastical wreaths, giving an impression of rustic peace and comfort, in itself quite a picture, and a theme for contempla. tion when we know that this is "Woodgates"-the birthplace of Canon Parkinson.

Richard Parkinson, the subject of our sketch, was born 17th September, 1797, but not baptized until the 23rd of the month following. He was sent to the village school which stands just beside the homely tower of Chipping Church. The school was founded by the venerable John Brabin, who, after the customary precaution of making his will, went on pilgrimage to London in the year of the Great Plague. He never returned, and the district became his legatee for this useful though unpretending grammar school. Over the door was inscribed a sentence which may often have puzzled the future divine, and perhaps had some suggestive influence upon his mind: "Disce, doce, vel discede." It is a scholastic summary of the right conduct of life, and truly those who can neither teach nor be taught had better depart. There still remains a tradition of the skill of young Richard in the juvenile sport of marbling, and even, we regret to say, an imputation that his nervousness led him to "fullock"-an unpardonable crime in boyish eyes. The school was conducted by the parish clergyman, who may have imparted to him some taste for classical literature. He afterwards attended Clitheroe Grammar School. Though no particulars have reached us of his earlier career, he must at this period have laid the solid foundations of knowledge which fitted him for his Cambridge career. He is said to have studied for a time at Sedbergh, under the celebrated Dawson. He matriculated at St. John's College, Cambridge, some time before 1818. His tutor was Dr. Calvert, who afterwards became warden of Manchester, and had in after years the satisfaction of seeing the fulfilment of his early hopes for the future of his pupil.* He graduated B.A. in 1820, became M.A. in 1824, B.D. in 1834, and D.D. by royal mandate 10th December, 1851.

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One of his early literary efforts was a contribution to Auld Ebony, in which merry "Morgan O'Doherty" was introduced to

* Amongst his poems will be found a Monody on the death of the worthy warden in 1840.