such is the sacrifice we offer to the god of this world! Politics, religion, the moral and physical state of the people, the beauties of nature-all must bow to their Mammon. Ancient feelings, manly and loyal, are there only now regarded as prejudices; and the traditional lore which once threw a double charm over the beauties of nature, and drew closer the attachment to soil, is, in a great measure, extinct, engulfed in new and more sordid feelings, and thrown by and disregarded in the great struggle for that wealth which is too often wrung from the utter demoralization of the people. Changed, however, as things now are, in no country was tradition, at one period, more fostered than in the district alluded to; and there was scarcely a glen, a brook, an ancient mansion, that had not its appropriate legend, exaggerated, doubtless, but, in many cases, having its foundation in some interesting fact. To one of these, but now almost forgotten, the heading of this article refers, and the scene in which it was transacted, spite of the actual inroads of manufactures, still possesses much of its pristine character and beauty. The simple facts were related in conversation by that accomplished gentleman and learned antiquarian, Dr. Whittaker, of "The Holme," than whom no one more dearly cherished every relic of antiquity, and every wild legend attached to these, his native hills. The more ancient possessors of the lands may be distinguished as having either given their own names to the manors they possess, or derived their names from them, such as the Townleys, of Townley; the Barcrofts, of Barcroft; the Ormerods, of Ormerod; the Marsdens, of Marsden; the Hopwoods, of Hopwood; the Asheworthes, of Asheworthe; the Bamfords, of Bamford; with many others too numerous to detail: each and all of these deriving their names and possessions from very

remote antiquity, probably long before the Conquest. In some cases the old manor-houses still retain the site of the ancient Saxon fortalice; and, at Townley, it is believed that the original building is at present incorporated with the magnificent mansion which now adorns one of the loveliest vales in the county of Lancaster. Besides these, were many other ancient stocks, derived from remote ages, the properties being, in some cases, still in the possession of their descendants. We may instance the Ashtons, of Middleton; the Towneleys, of Belfield; the Holts, of Stubbyngs, afterwards of Castleton; the Chadwicks, of Hely; the Shuttleworths, of Gawthorpe; the Crossleys, of Scaitcliffe; the Whittakers, of the Holme; and many others; names still known in the district, and the families who bear them, in some few cases, still possessing and residing upon the estates of their forefathers. The " Raid of the Clough," (by which is meant, in the dialect of that country, the inroad of the narrow valley), of the details of which but little is known, is pretty significant of the state of society in earlier times. The feud in question was between the Radclyffes, of the Tower, on the one side, and the Asheworthes and the Bamfords on the other, the estates of the two latter adjoining, and the families being united for many generations by mutual interests and frequent intermarriages.

Catherine Ashton, the fair daughter of Sir Ralph Ashton, of Middleton Hall, and to whose hand John Radclyffe and Robert Asheworthe equally aspired, was the cause of the dispute. With the former this young lady had been educated-for Sir Ralph was his guardian-whereas, on the other hand, she had been rescued from a watery grave by the latter, while accompanying her father on a hunting expedition in the great forest of Pendle. Of this feat Radclyffe was naturally

jealous, and the more so, perhaps, as his rival in love was also his only successful competitor in the vigorous and manly exercises so much affected by the youths of those days. Thus, while the former meditated revenge, the other quietly prepared to resist any aggression by arranging with his dependents and neighbours how to act in case of any outrage; for Radclyffe was richer, more powerful in retainers, and less scrupulous, probably, than his antagonist in the use of means to accomplish his ends. No long time elapsed, fortunately, ere this feud was brought to desirable termination.

The old Hall of Asheworthe, of which a picturesque portion still remains, was situated on a verdant knoll, rising abruptly from near the confluence of two rapid streams, the glens which they watered running on either side up into the hills. The form of the house was quadrangular and gabled, the upper story framed with massive beams of oak, and, rising high from the roof, were many curiously twisted and columnar chimneys. Quaint terraces and formal stews, or fish-ponds, and broad flights of steps with grotesque groups of cut hollies and other evergreens, gave an appropriate character to this ancient edifice; while, sheltering it to the north and east, were many rows of old gigantic yews, which had a curiously sombre effect on the surrounding landscape. At the foot of this knoll, and at the confluence of the two streams we have mentioned, was formerly a thick grove of tall and aged ash trees, in the centre of which was a clear space of half an acre, verdant and level, and affording a favourite resort for the cattle; and, probably, in remoter times, for the numerous herds of deer that frequented the district. It was at this spot, says tradition, that Radclyffe waylaid his rival one summer's evening, and a fierce encounter was the result: but the former, finding that the odds

were against him, signalled a party of his men, who were close by, and who at once rushed forward to the rescue. Young Asheworthe, perceiving his danger, but nothing daunted, retreated rapidly to the rocky margin of the brook, and, scaling a precipice that overhung it, blew with his horn a blast so loud and long, that it awakened all the echoes of the neighbouring cloughs. To this call the hardy inhabitants of the valleys soon responded. The Bamfords, too, joined the fray, and Radclyffe and his men might have rued the issue of their adventure had not a strange occurrence at once separated the combatants, and prevented the further effusion of blood. The young brother of Catherine Ashton had overheard Radclyffe's design, he communicated it to his sister, and she, with a body of her father's retainers, hastened to interpose her good offices between the hostile parties. This, however, was no easy matter to accomplish; till, addressing them both, she declared that the first who struck another blow would be considered by her as the enemy of her father's house. A parley ensued, and it was agreed that the rivals should withdraw, on condition that Catherine would make her election, and the unsuccessful rival should then bind himself, by a solemn oath, to keep the peace hereafter and for ever.

The choice fell, finally, on Robert Asheworthe, and so the tradition ends.

Still flow those streams over their dark, rocky beds; still breaks forth, in bold advance, from the side of the narrow glen, the rock from whence Asheworthe blew his horn; still do the old gables of Bamford Hall rear their peaks above the trees at the southern extremity of the vale, and "the Clough" still retains much of its primitive wildness and seclusion; but the ancient manorhouse of the Asheworthes has now lost its former con

sequence: its halls are dilapidated and deserted; the lineal representatives of the family, though still flourishing, have migrated to a more southern clime; of the gigantic yews but few remain, and the grove of ash has totally disappeared. The tradition itself, which we have so rapidly and carelessly sketched, has almost passed into oblivion; it may, perchance, yet live in the memory of some local antiquary, or of some ancient gossip of the Clough. As a little record, however, introducing other matter, it may not be uninteresting, and it is merely with this view that it has been introduced into our present work.

THE KING OF KIPPEN.

JOHN BUCHANAN, of Auchmar and Arnpryor, was termed King of Kippen, from the following circumstance. James V., a very sociable, debonair prince, residing at Stirling, carriers were very frequently passing along the common road, being near Arnpryor's house, with necessaries for the use of the King's family. Buchanan having some extraordinary occasion, ordered one of these carriers to leave his load at his house, and he would pay him for it; which the carrier refused to do, telling him he was the king's carrier, and his load was for his Majesty's use; to which Arnpryor seemed to have small regard, compelling the carrier, in the end, to leave his load; telling him, if James was King of Scotland, he was King of Kippen, so that it was reasonable that he