46 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



depredations of the rebels, that the King, in memory of his victory, 

 gave to it the advowsons of the churches of Tatenhill and Hanbury, 

 in this county, which were forfeited to the Crown by the rebellious 

 Earl of Lancaster.* 



The appearance of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, is men- 

 tioned among the memorable events recorded in the annals of 

 Burton. "Mem. On Monday and Tuesday in the mornynges, 

 being the xvth and xvith dayes of November in the yeare of our 

 Lorde God, one thousand fyve hundreth threescore and fouretene, 

 there were seen in the element, certayne strange lights, whereof 

 some appeared verie fyerie, and terrible to beholde, and stretched 

 downe,as yt seemed, almost to the earthe, and were in the Northe, 

 the Easte, and the Weste. And at those tymes yt was as lighte 

 as if yt had been daye. These lights continued from tenne of the 

 clocke in the nighte untyll breake of the daye, and semed most 

 fearfull in the mornynges after foure of the clocke ; and hapned the 

 dayes y mediately after the chaunge of the moone, and the ecclipse 

 of the sunne."f 



In the year 1611, Edward Wightman, of Burton, was burnt at 

 Lichfield, for holding dangerous and blasphemous opinions. 



During the Civil Wars between King Charles I. and the Parlia- 

 ment, Burton suffered greatly, being several times taken and re- 

 taken by the conflicting parties in the year 1643. 



In December, 1793, a night-watch was first established in Burton. 



Burton has been occasionally injured by the inundations of the 



Trent, particularly one in 1771, which overflowed the greatest part 



of the town; another in 1792; a third in 1795; and a fourth 



in 1798. 



In 1815, a deputation from Burton presented a loyal Address to 

 the Prince Regent, on his arrival at Beaudesert, the seat of the 

 Marquis of Anglesea, upon which occasion the Bailiff (John 

 Dickenson Fowler, Esq.) received the honour of Knighthood. 



MANUFACTURES. 



Leland, in his Itinerary, says that Burton was then famous for 

 ornamental works in alabaster; and this fact is confirmed by Camden. 

 This business has, however, been discontinued for more than a 

 century, though alabaster is still to be found in the neighbourhood 

 of Needwood Forest. 



* Shaw's Antiquities of Staffordshire, Vol.1, p. 17. 

 t At the end of Lord Uxbridge's curious rental 



