340 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



difficult to know the saint to whose protection the church was com- 

 mitted. Such wakes as are observed on the first or second Sunday 

 after Michaelmas-day, in these we may doubt a translation of time 

 by virtue of the said injunction of King Henry VIII. or by a pre- 

 vailing custom of postponing such solemnity to the end of harvest : 

 and in such cases the saint may be lost, unless some other way 

 preserved." 



Keel wake is kept the first or second Sunday in October, and 

 therefore the bell may be considered evidence of the saint to whom 

 the Church is dedicated. 



Extracts from old books belonging to the parish : 



ANCIENT FEES AT KEEL COURT. 

 . d. 



Summons l 



Ent'ring Action 1 o 



If Defendant appears not for 



ent'ring Judg'ment o 6 



Cryer for calling o 4 



If he appears for ent'ring Plea 4 



*. d. 



For swearing each witness 4 



For takeing verdict 8 



For ent'ring Judg'ment 6 



For Levari fac s 1 



For serving 1 



Juror's fees on tryall 1 



" The Minister of Keel has six shillings and eightpence by a 

 custom here or by a modus for every corpse that is carried through 

 any part of the parish of Keel to be buried in any other parish; if 

 he the said minister of Keel shall in his own person, or by his de- 

 puty in holy orders, offer burial to the said corpse." It may be 

 needless to observe that such custom has long been obsolete. 



Origin of Surnames. " Sarah Legacy, who was left as such to 

 the town, by some sorry person or other on the 5th of November 

 last, baptized February 20th, 1737." 



The living of Keel is a small curacy, which has been augmented 

 by Queen Anne's bounty. The patron and impropriator is Walter 

 Sneyd, Esq. of Keel Hall, whose brother, the Rev. John Sneyd, is 

 the present incumbent; and the Rev. W. Snape, is curate. A singu- 

 larity attaches to Keel Church, which is noticed by Plot as also ap- 

 plying to the Cathedral Church of Lichfield, and the Church of Alve- 

 ton, in this county, the former of which, he says, is " not placed due 

 east and west, as other churches are, but declines no less than 27 

 from the true points ; whilst the Church at Alveton declines in like 

 manner from the true east 32 northward. 



Longevity. Hannah Wright, died February 5, 1776, aged 96. 



The soil of this parish is generally a good loam, adapted either 

 to corn or grass. 





