C II E 



170 



C II R 



ieJii. of Hugh Lupu*. To him the monarch delegated a ful- 

 "*"' ncMofpowei, made tins a count jr palatine, and 

 it such a jurisdiction, thai tin- ;, 



kept ' :, and had then own court* of 



.. u !u. h any offence against the dignity of tin- sword 

 /able as the like offence \v. uM 



lure been at V .. u'ty cif the roy- 



al crown ; for William r.' . ;>u* to hold this coun- 



ty lain liltcre ad gladium, sicut iiue ret Initial A- 

 ml iiirvnam. The (word with which ho was invested tor 

 this purpose, is still to be seen in the British Museum, 

 in.'cribed, lingo comet L'atrite. As soon as Lupus was 

 firmly established, he began to exert his regal priroga- 

 . formin ; his parliament by the creation of 8 barons, 

 \vho were obliged to pay him attendance, and, with a 

 view to giving it greater dignity, to repair to his court. 

 They wire bound, in all wars between this county and 

 Wales, to find, for every knight's fee, a horse with ca- 



S arisen and furniture, or two without furniture, for the 

 ivision of Cheshire. Their knights and freeholders wire 

 to have corselets and habergeons, and were to defend 

 their lands with their own bodies. Every baron had also 

 four esquires, every esquire one gentleman, and every 

 gentleman one valet. Each of these barons had moreover 

 Iiis free court of all pleas and suits, and all plaints, ex- 

 cept what belonged to the earl's sword. They had even 

 the power of life and death ; the last instance of the ex- 

 ertion of which was in the person of Hugh Stringer, who 

 was tried for murder in the baron of Kinderton's court, 

 and executed in 1597. This species of government con- 

 tinued from the conquest till the reign of Henry III., a 

 period of 171 years, when in 1237, on the death of John 

 Scot, the seventh earl of the Norman line without male 

 issue, Henry took the earldom into his own hands, and gave 

 the daughters of the late earl other lands in room of 

 them, being unwilling, as he said, that so great an inheri- 

 tance should be parcelled out among distaffs. The king 

 bestowed the county on his own son Edward, who did 

 not assume the title, but afterwards conferred it on his 

 son Edward of Caernarvon. Since that time, the eldest 

 sons of the kings of England have always been carls of 

 Chester, as well as princes of Wales. The palatinate 

 was governed by the earls of Chester as fully and inie- 

 pendently, for nearly three centuries after this period, 

 as it had ever been by the Norman carls ; but Henry 

 VIII., by authority of parliament, made it subordinate 

 to the crown of England. Yet notwithstanding this re- 

 straint, all pleas of lands and tenements, and all contracts 

 within the county, are to be heard and determined in it ; 

 and all determinations out of it are deemed void, ct coram 

 nonjndicc, except in case of error, foreign plea, and fo- 

 reign voucher ; and for.no crime but treason can an inha- 

 bitant of this county be compelled to be tried out of it. 

 Thus being solely under the jurisdiction of its own earls, 

 and considered in a certain degree as a separate kingdom, 

 representatives to the national parliament were never sent, 

 cither for the shire or city, till the year 1549, the third 

 of Edward VI., when, upon the petition of the inhabi- 

 tants, two members were summoned from each. This 

 practice has accordingly been continued, and C! 

 returns four members to parliament, viz. two for the 

 shire, and two for the city of Chester. It pays 7 jurts 

 of the land tax, and furnishes the militia with '>(>(} men. 

 Within the diocese of Chester arc comprehended not on- 

 ly all Cheshire and Lancashire, but various parts also of 

 Westmoreland, Cumberland, Yorkshire, Denbighshire, 

 and Flintshire. This diocese is divided into two arch- 

 deaconries. 



Cheshire contains various curiosities in the department! 

 4 



f nature anJ of art. In the lihrnry'of Vale Royal Ab- 

 e of an ancient family, situated near the 

 . . ''.a very choice rarity, 



viz. a collection of writings called the Prophecies of 

 Nixon, the famous Cheshire prophet, with respect to 

 \vhum a pamphlet was published some time ago at Ches- 

 ter, purporting to contain his original predictions, and 

 giving some account of his life. In the register of the 

 church of Frodsham, there occur two rem.irk.ihle instan- 

 ces of longevity : On March 13th 1592, Thomas Hough 

 was buried at the great age of HI ; and, on the suc- 

 ceeding day, Randle Wall aged 103. What is more de- 

 serving of notice, is a singular instance that is on record 

 of the versatility of nature, as displayed in the person of 

 a native of this county named Mary Davis, who was 

 born at Great Aughall near Chester, about the year 

 1598. At the age of 28, a wen-like excrescence appear- 

 ed above her.ear on the right side of the head, and after 

 S'J )ears continuance grew into 2 horns, which remained 

 for 5 years, and were then shed. These were succeeded 

 by 2 new ones, which, about 4 years from their first ap- 

 pearance, were also cast, and their places occupied by 

 two others. Several portraits were made of this woman 

 when upwards of 70 years of age, one of which is now 

 in the British, and another in the Ashmolean museum. 

 In the latter collection one of her horns is preserved. In 

 1G79, when more than 80 years old, she was exhibited in 

 London. 



The following statistical abstract for Cheshire is taken 

 from the recent population return for 1811. 



Number of inhabited houses 4-1,187 



Number of families that occupy them .... 41,502 



Houses building 



Uninhabited houses 



Families employed in agriculture 16,395 



trade, manufactures, &c. . 23,04-3 



Families not included in these classes 5,063 



Number of males 110.S11 



Number of females II 



Total population '_'J7,031 



Ditto, including a proportion for those em- 

 ployed in the navy and army 23-1,600 



Increase since 1801 36,500 



See Gower's Sketches towards a H''tory ofCfittftire. 

 Leigh's Natural Hittury of Liincushin- i: : ! ('/: 

 Holland's Surrey of (.'/,< hire, liftiulins tif l-'.ntfland and 

 H'ult-s, vol. ii. p. 1S3 ; and Transactions if the Gr 

 cal Society, vol. i. (K) 



CHESS, an ingenious and very ancient game of 

 skill, played on a board divided into squares or houses, 

 generally 61 in number, with a variety of men or pieces 

 differing from each other in form and in name. 



It is generally played in Europe with 16 pieces of a 

 side, painted or stained f:>r distinction's sake, of two 

 different colours, as white and black. Of these Hi pieces, 

 eight are dignified, viz. a king, a queen, two bishops, 

 two knights, and two rooks ; aiul there are eight of low- 

 er dignity and equal rank called pawns. They are pla- 

 ccd opposite to each other in two lines, at the edges of 

 the board of 64 chequers, in the following order. The 

 white king is to be placed in th/ fourth black house or 

 square from the corner, on the first or lower line ; and 

 the black king opposite to him on the fourth white 

 house, at the adversary's side of thu board. The queens 

 arc to be placed next the kin;;;, on houres of their own 

 colour. Next to the king and queen, on each hand, the 

 bishops are to be placed ; next to them the two knights ; 

 and last of !), at the corners of the board, the two rooks. 



thru. 



