BOOK OF DOVECOTES 



seventeenth century, an inscription above the 

 door running as follows: 



Sr. I. B. (small heart) A. B. 1686. 

 The same heart is to be seen on an oak pew 

 in Bromfield church. The initials are those of 

 Sir John Ballantyne and his wife Anne, a 

 daughter of the Musgrave family. 



This dovecote has been much altered, a new 

 window having been made in the south wall, 

 and a fireplace and chimney inserted on the 

 east. These conveniences were introduced at 

 some date prior to the early nineteenth cent- 

 ury, at which time the dovecote was in use as 

 a school-house. And at this school George 

 Moore, draper, fox-hunter, and philanthropist, 

 whose life was made the subject of a volume 

 by the worthy Samuel Smiles, received a por- 

 tion of his scanty education. 



Moore had been first sent to school at Bolton 

 Gate, where his master was one "Blackbird 

 Wilson, "apersonof drunken habits and drastic 

 educational methods, but blessed with a mel- 

 odious whistle which had earned for him his 

 common name. Moore's father, a Cumberland 

 dalesman, paid six shillings and sixpence a 

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