iflNERALdGT. 



purposes. Processions were made to them on 

 Sunday, and devotees crept towards them and kiss- 

 ed them, on Good Friday ; so that the presence of 

 a cross was considered as necessary in every burying 

 place. Those crosses on the moors may be to per- 

 petuate the remembrance of murders, or accidents ; 

 particularly those which bear the names of men, 

 as John cross, Mauley cross, Percy cross,&c. 

 Those on the way side may mark the spots where 

 corpses have been rested, as one near Egton, 

 another besides Sleights, and another on the north 

 of Stokesby : of these crosses only the pedestals 

 remain. Some think that many of them were in- 

 tended to aid the devotion of passengers, particular- 

 ly when they came in sight of a monastery. Such 

 were the uses of those remains of antiquity, and 

 another is also assigned to them ; that seculars 

 sometimes attempted to spiritualize their estates by 

 planting crosses round them ; claiming the privi- 

 leges of the Templars and Hospitallers, to the pre- 

 judice of the chief lord of the see. To put a stop to 

 these abuses, it was enacted (13 of king Edward I.) 

 that such lands should be forfeited. -Gough's Cain- 

 den, ii. p. 236. Those pillars Avere various in their 

 construction and shape. Some were plain, others 

 were carved aud surmounted by capitals, on which 

 crucifixes and other figures were sculptured, with the 

 figure of the lamb, &c. Such were the represen- 

 tations on those crosses ; but those times in which 

 they were important are gone ; and more rational 

 dependence for salvation is adopted. Monuments 

 for the dead are indeed yet used, and pillars to per- 

 petuate bold and successful achievements, are yet 

 adopted : but those which were referrable to super- 

 stition, are no longer seen for the purpose for 

 which they once stood : their remains only shew the 

 state of society when they were revered, and inspire 

 the contemplative mind with gratitude, for living in 

 more enlightened times. 



MINERALOGY. 



. The mountainous tract in this district, is bounded 

 l>y the plain of Cleveland on the north and west, 



