452 Lesbury Parish, by the late George Tate, F.G.S. 



instituted vicar 11th May, 1579; and he occurs again in 1584. 

 John Emsall appears at the visitation of 1608"*, and not long 

 after, in 1609, he was succeeded, 26th August, by Patrick 

 Mackelvyan, A.M. 



This vicar has been made famous by Fuller, who says of him, 

 " That being a hundred-and-ten years old, his hair came again as 

 a child's, of flaxen colour; that he had three teeth cut within two 

 years, which were not then come to perfection ; that whereas 

 forty years before he could not read the biggest print without 

 spectacles, there was then no print nor written hand so small but 

 that he could read it without them ; that he was so strong as he 

 had been twenty years before ; that he preached and prayed an 

 hour and a half without any notes, and was very hearty and 

 cheerly at that age, but stooped much. Being asked how he 

 preached so well with so few books, and was so cheerly with so 

 few acquaintance, he answered ' uf friends and books good and 

 few are best.' " Of this singular man we have local records 

 which shew that he was remarkable also for being very quarrel- 

 some and litigious. 



He was born in Galloway, Scotland, in the year 1568 ; and this 

 we learn from his evidence against Robert Brandling, before the 

 Court of High Commission in 1634, when he stated that he was 

 then aged three score and six years. As early as 1610 he ap- 

 pears at the Archdeacon's visitation, charging Richard Widowes, 

 Thomas Dand, and Thomas Storth with abusing him — the vicar. f 

 He had a dispute in 1630 with Eobert Brandling, who was lay 

 impropriator of the rectory of Lesbury, and who charged him 

 before the Court with converting to his own use corn and grain 

 growing on ground called the Brown Rones, for which close 4s 

 yearly rent was paid to the earl of Northumberland. John Carr 

 gave evidence, that, about eight years previously, an inclosure 

 and division were made of the town fields of Lesbury, with the 

 consent of the lord and the inhabitants ; and that Mr Mackel- 

 wyan had this close, containing ten acres, settled on him during 

 his incumbency, on consideration of his maintaining yearly a bull 

 and a boar or brawn, at his own cost, for the use of bis neigh- 

 bours and parishioners ; but John Carr added that he himself 

 never consented to the inclosure, that it was never part of the 

 glebe land of the vicarage, but that it was part of the 

 common pasture of the town. William Aumore, bailiff and col- 

 lector of the earl's rent also gave evidence and said that in 1629 

 he received from Mr Mackelvyan 3s as rent of the close, or at 

 least pennyworth for the said rent ; for Mr Mackelvyan promised 

 to him certain hens in lieu of it, and that he has a lease of the 

 grounds in writing. 



* [Sir John Hempsall appears as Vicar in 1586, in a general survey of the 

 possessions of the Earl of Northumberland. See History of Alnmouth, p. 53.] 

 f Durham MS. 



