NOTES.

PAGE 1. Wheat iiii" the quarter.] This price of wheat in 1561 is far higher than the ordinary average, and although for many years it had been fluctuating, the price of the quarter in 1554 was 6s. 10d. upon an average of twelve years preceding. In 1603 the average price had risen upon a similar average to 31s. 6d., an increase exceeding threefold in half a century. (Jacob's Hist. of the Precious Metals, vol. ii. p. 76.) In 1553 wheat was bought for the Princess Elizabeth's household at Hatfield for 20s. a quarter, but the average is not given. (Nichols' Prog. of Queen Eliz., vol. i. pref. p. vii.) It was ordered in 1586, by the Queen, with the advice of her Privy Council, of which Henry Earl of Derby was one, that a Proclamation should be issued, and a Book of Orders made, for the relief of the poor, owing to the general dearth of corn and food, "growne partly through the unseasonableness of the yeere then past, and partly through the uncharitable greedinesse of Corne-Masters, but especially through the unlawful and over-much transporting of Graine in forreine parts." Notwithstanding this the excessive price of grain still increased. (See Powell's Assize of Bread, 4to. 1601, and Penkethman's Artachthos, 4to. 1638.)

PAGE 5. "Cloth and Badges for Liu'ies."] All the servants of the Nobility at this time wore silver badges on their liveries, on which the arms of their masters were engraved. There are many allusions to the custom in Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, and other contemporary writers. The colour of the livery was always blue, and the badge or cognizance was fastened on the left arm, as we now see it worn by the servants of some of the public companies. The sleeve badge was left off about the reign of James I. The origin of the word livery (liberatio) may be traced to the food, clothing, and wages given by a master to his servant; but the privilege of distinguishing

servants by 'a livery could only be enjoyed by an express licence from the Crown, specifying the exact number of servants, which, if exceeded, entailed heavy penalties on the master. In the Sumptuary Laws of 1597, provision was made that the Queen's servants and the servants of Noblemen and Gentlemen might wear such livery coats or clokes as their masters should give or allow them, with their badges and cognizances or other ornaments of velvet or silk, to be laid or added to their said livery coats or clokes. (Egerton Papers, p. 255; Nares, in voce Badge; and Thom's note in Stowe's Survey, p. 32.) It was a refusal "to wear his cloth" as a retainer, which caused Thomas the first Earl of Derby to quarrel with Butler of Bewsy, and which led to the tragical event recorded by the old chroniclers. Asheton of Downham, in 1617, wore the cloth of Hoghton of Hoghton as one of his retainers, when James I. visited Lancashire.

IBID.

"Household Wages."] In the 38th Elizabeth (1595) the rates of servants' and labourers' wages were appointed at the General Session for the Peace, within the city of Chester, and the wage by the year with meat and drink for servants of the best sort was fixed at £1, but without meat and drink £3. Servants of the second sort were to receive by the year, with provisions, 10s., and without provisions £2, whilst servants of the third sort received 8s. a year with, and £1 15s. a year without meat and drink. Twopence a day was the average wage of a labourer and handicraftsman, whilst in harvest time the reapers received fourpence a day. (Nichols' Prog. of Queen Eliz., vol. iii. p. 411.)

PAGE 6. "Aglettes."] These were probably small silver ornaments, although the word properly denotes the tag to which lace was attached as an article of dress. (Way's Prompt. Parv., p. 8.) The price was 13s. 4d. the pair.

PAGE 9. Slaves not to sit in the Hall, nor to sleep in the Stables.] These were the villeins regardant of the manor and bound to the Lord, and are to be distinguished from the villein in gross, i.e. the bondman bound to the person. The manumission of these slaves was, according to Sir Thomas Smith (De Republica Anglorum, p. 108, 1583) effected soon after the Reformation, as of the first sort the number was so small, he says, that it was not worth naming, and of the second he never knew any in England in his time. This remnant of feudal tyranny was not abolished without a pecu

niary consideration, and Queen Elizabeth granted Patents in 1575-6 to Sir Henry Lea to enfranchise three hundred bondmen and bondwomen in blood, in gross or appertaining to any Royal manors in England or Wales, for reasonable fines or sums of money to be paid for their manumission and for the possessing and enjoying of their lands, tenements, leases, and goods. This odious scheme of extorting money from individuals tainted with slavery but possessed of property met with considerable opposition, and is perhaps the last relic of this iniquitous traffic in England. (Gent. Mag., vol. xxxii. N. S. p. 371.)

PAGE 12. "Tylles-Haberdaine."] The former signifies tale, or numeral reckoning; and the latter, dried salt cod fish, a very important article in the consumption of a large household.

PAGE 19. "M" Comptroller."] William ffarington of Worden Esq., the writer of the MS. (See Introduction.)

IBID. "S" Randle Brewreton."] He was the son and heir of Randle Brereton of Malpas Esq. (living in 1566) and of his wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Griffith of Wales, and grandson of Sir Randle Brereton by his second wife Isabel, daughter of Sir Thomas Butler of Bewsy, co. Lanc., Knt. In 1584-5 he accompanied Henry Earl of Derby on his embassy to Henry III. of France. He married Frances, daughter of Throckmorton, and had issue a daughter Frances. His ancestor branched off from the pa rent house of Brereton in the fourteenth century. (Harl. MS. 1424, fo. 146; Holland Watson's MS. Pedigrees.)

IBID. "Mr Geordge Massey."] He was of Puddington in Wirral, co. Cestr., and descended from Hamo de Masci, living 23rd Edward III. He married Dorothy, daughter of Francis Pigot of Whitchurch, co. Salop, and had issue two daughters, his coheiresses - Mary, wife of Sir Edward Penruddock, and Jane, wife of John Hurleston Esq. The last heir male of this family, having supported the Royal Stuarts, died in Chester Castle in 1716. He settled his estate of Puddington upon his godson, Mr. Thomas Stanley of Hooton, who assumed the surname of Massey. (See Ormerod; Harl. MS. 2142, fo. 148.)

IBID. "Mr Hollande."] Richard Holland of Denton, co. Lanc., Esq.,

succeeded his father, Edward Holland, in 1573, being æt. 24, in which year he was Sheriff of Lancashire. He again filled that office in 1582 and 1596. Campion the Jesuit complained of him as being one of the most rigid of the Lancashire Puritan Magistrates, and he was much honoured by the Queen for his zeal against recusants. (See Dr. H. Ware's Hist. Manchester Coll. Church, vol. i. pp. 110-117.) He married Margaret, daughter of Robert Langley, and dying in 1618 without male issue his four daughters became his co-heiresses, and the male line was continued by his younger brother, Edmund Holland Esq., ancestor of Thomas, second Earl of Wilton.

IBID. "M" Lyversatche."] George Leversage of Leversage, co. Cestr., Esq. married a daughter of George Birtles of Birtles, and had issue a son John, whose daughter Elizabeth died an infant. (Chesh. Visit.; Holland Watson's MS. Ped.)

IBID. "Mr Wilbrōme."] Thomas Wilbraham of Woodhey, co. Cestr., Esq., descended from the Vernons, Barons of Shipbroke and Kinderton, married about 1578-9 Frances, daughter of Sir Hugh Cholmondeley Knt., and had issue a son Richard, who was half a year old in 1580. This son succeeded his father in 1610, and, having had the honour of entertaining James I. in 1617 at Woodhey, was created a Baronet in 1621. (Ormerod ; Chesh. Visit.)

IBID. "Mr Egerton."] Probably this was Ralph Egerton of Ridley Esq., the son and heir of Sir Richard. He married, first, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Peter Warburton of Arley Esq., and secondly, Barbara, daughter and heiress of Stephen Honford Esq.

IBID. "M" Henry Stanley the younger."] Henry Stanley Esq., second son of Sir George and grandson of Sir James Stanley of Cross Hall, near Ormskirk, Kut. (the latter being brother of Thomas, second Earl of Derby) succeeded to the Cross Hall estate on the death of his elder brother, Edward Stanley Esq. s.p. He is frequently styled in this Diary Mr. Henry Stanley "the younger," to distinguish him from his uncle of the same name. On his death without issue, 33rd Elizabeth, this estate of Cross Hall passed to his uncle, Mr. Henry Stanley the elder, nephew of Thomas the second Earl. He had married 26th September 1563 Margaret, daughter of Peter Stanley of Aughton Esq. (who bore the great standard at the funeral of

Earl Edward in 1574,) by his first wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of James Scarisbrick Esq., who had acquired the manor of Bickerstaff in marriage with Margaret, daughter and heiress of Thomas Atherton Esq. Mr. Henry Stanley the elder was Comptroller of the Household to Earl Edward, and rode in the funeral procession of that Nobleman, bearing his staff of office. He was Muster Master for the County, purchased arms for the trained soldiers, and had the charge of the beacons in Lancashire. Sir Richard Sherburne and Sir John Byron disbursed his official accounts by warrant from Henry Earl of Derby. (Sloane MS. 874.) There are at Knowsley two sombre and inartistic portraits on panel of this Henry Stanley and his wife. He wears a velvet cap and ruff, is habited in a plain dark dress, and has a patriarchal beard. On the background is inscribed, "A" 1582, æt. suæ. 67;" but apparently more aged, looking, indeed, like Wordsworth's old Thorn so old that you could hardly believe he had ever been young, and yet, according to the Family Pedigree, he was born in 1515 and died in 1598, æt. 83. His wife is also habited in a dark dress, and wears an enormous ruff and three chains of gold round her neck. The inscription is, "A° 1582, æt. suæ. 57." Henry Stanley was buried at Ormskirk 23rd July 1598, leaving issue two sons, of whom Edward, the eldest, was created a Baronet in 1627-8, and was the direct progenitor of the present Earl of Derby.

IBID. "Mr Baron of Walton."] Improperly styled by the Diarist Baron of Walton; Walton Hall was his residence; Newton was the title of his Barony. Thomas, son of Leonard and grandson and heir of Sir Thomas Langton Knt. of Walton-le-Dale, Baron of Newton-in-Makerfield, was born about 1560, and succeeded his grandfather, whose Will is dated 1569, in which he recites an Indenture made on the 4th August, 5th and 6th Philip and Mary, between himself "and the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Stanley Knt., Lord Monteagle, the Right Rev. Father in God the Lord Thomas Stanley Bishop of Man and the Out Isles, and William Fleetwood of the Middle Temple Gent.," reciting his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Lord Monteagle; and being indebted to divers persons in great sums of money, and his children, kinsfolk, and friends not then admitted to living, he proceeds to settle his personal estate, desiring that his body may be buried on the south side of the Parish Church of Law [Walton-le-Dale] amongst his ancestors there lying, and he willed that the church should have all its rights and duties as touching his