SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



sold at Rochdale ;''* and in 1578 a debt is claimed there for woollen cloth,''' 

 Fulling mills at Heap hamlet and Bury are referred to in 1575, and in 1587 

 we come across a lawsuit to recover a debt on ' Lancashire Cottons ' at 

 Manchester and Rochdale. 



That such fabrics as are mentioned in the statutes and records of EUza- 

 beth's reign were not ' cottons ' as we know them is obvious from the word- 

 ing of the statute,'^* They were at best but clumsy imitations of the 

 ' cottons ' and ' fustians ' wrought abroad, which were not attempted here in 

 their actual fineness till the close of the sixteenth century, when religious 

 persecution drove the Netherland weavers to our shores. Of these some are 

 supposed to have settled near Manchester and were patronized by the wardens 

 and fellows of the college there.'" 



The period occupied by the struggle between York and Lancaster marks 

 the beginning of the modern age, and was noticeable for a more lavish 

 display of riches, and a certain amount of general luxury. Men lived in 

 more comfort, and slept more softly than in the former age. By the opening 

 of the sixteenth century linen sheets and pillows, feather beds, mattresses, 

 blankets, coverlets, and table linen were in use in the monasteries'*' and country 

 houses. Twenty silver ' standing cups ' and goblets, silver ewers and basins, 

 and silver bowls were assigned at Whalley Abbey for the use of the monks and 

 their visitors. Silver plate was of sufficient value to be left by will, and 

 among items bequeathed such small things as silver salts and spoons were 

 severally mentioned.'" Closely associated with the value attached to the 

 precious metals was the practice of alchemy, and in 1448 two Lancashire 

 knights. Sir Thomas Ashton and Sir Edmund TrafFord, were solemnly licensed 

 by the king to transmute base metals into gold and silver. The Tudor Age, 

 notwithstanding its social and intellectual advance, clung desperately to the 

 mediaeval theory of the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life, and 

 Dr. Dee, a prominent scholar and astrologist of the day, appointed by Queen 

 Elizabeth to the wardenship of Manchester College, had early in the following 

 reign to clear himself of the charge of necromancy, because such practices 

 found little favour in the eye of James L The royal condemnation of witch- 

 craft had the effect of bringing many alleged witches and wizards to judge- 

 ment, and in no county in England did the superstitious belief in the power of 

 witches prevail more strongly than in Lancashire. Doubtless the wild and 

 inaccessible nature of much of the north-eastern hill country contributed to 

 the hoarding up of many vulgar errors and of folk-lore, which the light and 

 healing brought by a fuller knowledge could alone dispel and eradicate. A 

 great persecution of Lancashire witches took place in 161 2, and many 

 executions resulted.'^* 



A more cheerful social tone was, however, given to the county by the 

 royal progress of 16 17, when King James travelled from Kendal through 

 Myerscough Park by way of Preston to Hoghton Tower, and on to Lathom 



3M 



Duchy of Lane. Plead. Ixxii, H. 25. "» Ibid, cviii, W. 5 



The coarsely woven Kendal cloth went by the name of ' Kendal cottons ' for a long time, and 

 ' Welsh cottons ' were also of a similar rough woollen material. Cf. Ure, Cotton Manuf. 1 00. 



'" Baines, Hist, of the Cotton Manuf. 99. »« Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc), iv, 1258. 



'" Cf. the bequest of Thos. Butler's Plate Chest, 1520, in Annals of the Lords of Warrington, ii, 413. 

 "° For a detailed account of the 'Lancashire Witches,' see Baines, Hist, of Lane. (ed. Harland), i, 199- 

 208. Also Pottos Discovery of Witches in the Co. of Lane. (Chet. Soc). 



2 297 38 



