107 
man proposes, a higher than man disposes. Though the law of 
probabilities were favourable, it was ordained that the Towneleys 
of Towneley were to pass away, and that after an existence of 
nearly 10 centuries a family of fame and importance, and loved 
and respected to the last were in representatives male at least, to 
vanish from among men. But though the name is lost and the 
later sons of the race sleep under cold slabs in the North Aisle 
of Burnley Church, and in the damp soil of the little Chapel 
Yard at the entrance of the Trough of Bolland, the memory of 
the Towneleys will ever be cherished in Burnley, not only be- 
cause they are associated with its earliest history, but more 
especially because their venerable name casts an historical, 
literary, and dignified lustre on the annals of this thrifty and 
industrious town. 
