216 A HISTORY OF LONGRIDGE. Chap. 9. 



next owner, from Trliom it passed to Sir Eobert Bindloss, of Borwick 

 Hall. Ultimately it became the property of the Winckleys, whose 

 descendant, Lady Shelley, long owned it. 



Geimsakgh Hall. 



Grimsargh Hall is little more than 100 years old, being built in 

 1773. Over the front door is a large bone ; the " old rib" it is called, 

 and said to be that of a cow whose history is related in the following 

 paragraph. Hard wick says the bone is suggestive of something "very 

 like a whale.". 



Mr. Charles Hard wick, in "Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk 

 Lore," gives the following account of the Grimsargh Dun Cow : — 



There is a tradition, in the neighbourhood of Grimsargh, to the effect that during 

 some drought, "in the olden time," a gigantic dun cow appeared, and gave an abnost 

 unlimited supply of milk, which saved the inhabitants from death. An old woman — 

 of the witch fraternity, I suspect — however, with the view to obtain from the beast 

 more than the usual number of pailfulls, milked the cow with a sieve, riddle, or 

 colander, which, of course, never became full, as the precious liquid passed through tha 

 orifices into a vessel below. The tradition adds that the cow either died of grief of 

 dptecting the imposture, or from iheer exhaustion, I forget which. A locality is still 

 pointed out, named "Cow HUl," where gossips aver that, in relatively recent times, the 

 huge bones of the said cow were disinterred. 



Hardwick goes on to point out that, as in all these traditions, there 

 is a semblance of truth. It is not improbable that at some early period 

 the remains of the huge extinct ox, the hos primiffennis, or even the 

 elephas primigenhis, or fossil mammoth, may have been exhumed in 

 this neighbourhood. " Some such discovery," he concludes, " g^-afted 

 upon the ancient Aryan tradition respecting the heavenly cows, or 

 rain-giving clouds, opportunely rescuing the parched vegetation from 

 premature decay, might very easily eventuate in such a tradition as 

 the one current in Grimsargh at the present day." 

 St. John's College. 



One of the few high-class schools iu the district is St. John's College, 

 Grimsargh, the old residence of the Chadwick family, then known as 

 "The Hermitage." The College is prettily situated a little way from 

 the high road to Preston, and close to Grimsargh Station. A better 

 idea, than any descriptive sketch can give, of the College exterior and 

 grounds can be obtained from the view of the buildings which fronts 

 this page. The school is fitted up with the most modern improve- 



