to bake. The edges of this stoneare plastered round with clay or mud to make the oven air-tight. Obviously butter would be of no use for such a purpose. "He is allus backin' i' th' breechbaut" is a Cheshire phrase in common use applied to a man who is never ready to go ahead. The breechband is a broad leather strap passing round the thighs of a horse fastened to the shafts, against which he presses when backing a cart. "Lading and Caling" is an idiom which means saving in little things. "Oo's a sore life on it for t'mak' things do; oo's allus ladin' and calin'." "Lady Done" is an idiom used as a term of praise about Kelsall. It seems to have originated in this way. At Utkinton Hall, near Tarporley, there once lived a certain Lady Done, whose character and manners appear to have rendered her very popular amongst the country people; and whose memory is still cherished. So that when wishing to praise a woman it is not uncommon to say to her," There's a Lady Done for you." The lanes where cottagers used to turn their cattle previously to the passing of the present Highway Act, were often spoken of as the long pasture. "Where do you keep your cows; you've no land?" I once asked. The reply was, "Oh, I turns 'em into th' long pasture." To pull anything "Lymm from Warburton" is a very curious expression, meaning complete separation; pulled entirely to pieces. I believe it originates from the fact that the Church livings of Lymm and Warburton were formerly held together, but that they were eventually separated, and the income of the rectors of Lymm thereby reduced. The sayings relating to a Cheshire Cat are so well known that I should not have introduced them in this paper only I think that the explanations given of them are so extremely unsatisfactory. Whether the suggestion which I offer is any better I am not sure. "To grin like a Cheshire cat " is, I think, the usual form of the saying, and probably the original one. Leigh gives the variants," To grin like a Cheshire cat chewing gravel," and "To grin like a Cheshire cat eating cheese." Charles Lamb, in one of his letters to Manning, says," I made a pun the other day and palmed it upon Holcroft, who grinned like a Cheshire cat. (Why do cats grin in Cheshire ?-Because it was once a county palatine, and the cats cannot help laughing when they think of it, though I see no great joke in it.)" The meaning and origin of the phrase was asked in Notes and Queries (1st series, vol. ii., p. 377) with, I believe, only the following result. At page 412 of the same volume it is stated that cheeses were made in Cheshire some years ago moulded in the shape of a cat; and in 1st series, vol. v., p. 402, the origin is ascribed to the unhappy attempt of a sign painter to represent a lion rampant, which more resembled a cat than a lion. Neither of these explanations is satisfactory; but the last may perhaps give us a clue, and the Cheshire cat may be an heraldic device. I would suggest that it is just possible that the arms of the Earls of Chester, namely, a wolf's head, may be the original Cheshire cat, for I am bound to say that in the engraving of the coat of arms of Hugh Lupus, as given by Sir Peter Leycester, the wolf's head might very well be mistaken for that of a cat; whilst the grin is unmistakable. It perhaps may not be deemed i relevant to remark that although the "origin" of the saying is so obscure, the saying itself is never likely to be forgotten; for the grin of a Cheshire cat as depicted in "Alice in Wonderland" will perpetuate it as long as that most charming of books is read by the children of England. A round piece of wood called a "mundle" about Middlewich, and which is generally made of ash, is used for stirring porridge, or pig's food, or cream which is put in a warm place to "starve" before being churned. In that neighbour. hood the proverbial saying "Have a little, give a little, let neighbour lick the mundle," illustrates the maxim that" Charity begins at home." The meaning is, if you have only a little, don't give much awaykeep all the porridge for yourself—and let others only lick what remains on the mundle after stirring the porridge. Another common saying when anyone has demeaned himself in order to curry favour is, "That's th' lad as licked the mundle." A person who is given to boasting is said to be "Big in the mouth." An old joiner said to me one day, "You may be sure a man as is big i'th maith, has na mitch in him; same as goin' dain i'th cellar; if you hit th' empty barrels, they maken a din; but if you hit th' full uns, they howd'n their nize." "Empty barrels make the most noise" is also a Cheshire proverb applicable to empty-headed swaggerers. The following proverbs and colloquial sayings come to me from a Middlewich correspondent:-" Far fetched and dear bought is good for ladies," "As whimsical as Dick's hat-band, that went nine times round, but was too short to tie," "You are always in the field when you should be in the lane," "Go to bed and sleep for wit, and buy land when you have more money," "Quietness is best, as the fox said when he bit the cock's head off." "Best by yourself, like Lownd's tup," is a saying addressed to a quarrelsome person. Lownds was, I presume, some local celebrity, whose ram was given to knocking people down. "Where there's least room there's always most thrutching." "I'm sure th' owd lad has cast his club at him," is said of a mischievous boy. Th' owd lad is one of our Cheshire names for his satanic majesty. This is not the only instance where the devil is represented in Cheshire as carrying a club. In the play of "St. George and the Slasher," which is performed by the soulers, Beelzibub, who is one of the characters, says, on making his entrance Here comes I great Beelzibub, Up o' my shoother I carries a club. "It runs i'th blood, like wooden legs," is said of any family peculiarity. "As broad as narrow, like Paddy's plank," is synonymous with saying that anything is "much of a muchness," and I am not sure that I have ever heard the expression "much of a muchness" anywhere but in Cheshire. It is at any rate in very common use, and is said when there appears to be little difference between any two things. A stout person is said to be "Cheshire bred; beef down to th' heels." A deceitful person is said to be "As hollow as a shoe when the foot is out." I heard the following proverb at Frodsham a few weeks since, "It's hard to get a stocking off a bare leg." It was said apropos of a bankrupt whose assets were almost nil; as much as to say you cannot expect to get more from a man than he possesses. 'Never no more" is an expression very frequently used to denote that the speaker never intends to have anything more to do with a person or thing; that having once been taken in, he is not to be caught again. "Next thowt." i.e., next thought, is an idiom used in Mobberley and the neighbourhood for "now I come to consider," or "now I come to recollect." "No durr," i.e., no door, is a very curious metaphor for any kind of failure; it is in use about Wilmslow. The expression appears to have its origin in a custom very prevalent at Shrovetide of shooting for tea-kettles with bullets out of a common gun at a door for a target. If the bullet missed the door altogether the bystanders shouted "Noo durr." When anyone absconds from his creditors he is said to have "Run his country." The moon is often called the "parish lantern ;" and about Antrobus rain is spoken of as "parish water." "Patch and dautch" is an idiom in use at Kelsall, meaning to strive hard. "Eh! missis, how oo'l 'patch an' dautch' an' oo'l powler for them childer."" I do not know the meaning of "dautch;" I should scarcely think it has any par ticular meaning, but is a sort of reduplication of patch, just as "inch" is merely a reduplication of "pinch" in the parallel phrase to "inch and pinch." About Wilmslow the expression" turning and typing" is equivalent to contriving, so as to make things fit "To peck for one's self" is an idiom which means to gain one's own livelihood." A father complained to me one day how his grown-up son still lived upon him, and added "It's toime he pecked for hissel; oi peck for moisel." There are two curious idioms used to describe the yellow, sickly appearance so often observed in young oats when they cease to draw nutriment from the seed, and begin to feed from the soil. It is then said that they are "pining for their mother," or that they are "being weaned;" and these expressions, strange to say, actually describe the physiological changes that are taking place in the plant. To "put the peg in" is an idiom which means to put a veto upon anything, or to cut off supplies. When a shopkeeper will trust no more he "puts the peg in." The expression has its origin in the method adopted to fasten an ordinary thumblatch which can be opened from the outside; or most likely it had its origin long before the thumb-latches became common, when the latch was opened from the outside by means of a piece of string, as I have already described; or by a round hole cut through the door just under the latch through which the finger was inserted in order to raise the latch. In any case the latch could be effectually locked by simply putting a peg of wood above it in the "carry-latch” or square staple which fixes the latch in its place. To be undecided, or to shilly-shally, is expressed by the idiom "Shaffling and haffling.” "Oo's shafflin' and bafflin' an' conna tell whether oo'll give up th' lond or not." "To put the shoulder out" is a curious idiom which I have heard in Runcorn, meaning to take offence. I suppose it refers to the habit which is so common in children of sticking one shoulder forward when any. thing displeases them. The occasion on which I heard it was this: A conversation in the street between a woman and the driver of a coal-dealer's cart. It appeared that the woman had bought coals cheaper from someone else, and that the original coal dealer was aggrieved thereby. The woman finished her harangue by observing, "there's plenty o' coals for less money, an' what'll pee one 'll pee another; he's no need to put his shoother ite abite his coal." "St. Peter's Needle" is a strange metaphor equivalent to any serious misfortune. I heard the expression at Norton, when a man who had become bankrupt, and had been sold up, was described as having gone through "St. Peter's Needle." To "Summer and Winter "" a person is to have known him sufficiently long to test his character or disposition under all circumstances. An extremely small matter, that which is next to nothing, is described as "a thing or nothing." "To-morrow come never" means an indefinite time. "A Wheelbarrow Farmer" is a very small farmer who only rents an acre or two of land. He is supposed to wheel his manure on to his land in barrow loads instead of carting it. At Wrenbury last summer, I met with one of these men, who told me, "Uz wheelbarrow farmers pays more rent than big farmers, and we're obliged to grow twice as mitch on uz land;" which I know to be true, and I have a great respect for wheelbarrow farmers. They are very important members of an agricultural community, not only because they raise on their small holdings a great deal of such produce as eggs, poultry, fruit, &c., which the "gradely " farmer thinks a little beneath his notice; but these small wheelbarrow farms have a great tendency to elevate not only the condition but the character of the labourers who occupy them. "Wun up," literally wound up, is used metaphorically to express being "ready for action." Thus a country. man being asked to sing will excuse himself on the plea of not yet being "wun up," if he has only had one glass. After another glass or two he will have more confidence in himself, and will then consider himself sufficiently "wun up" to respond to the call. MR [COPY.] THEATRE, STOCKPORT. R HOWARD, Manager of the Theatre Royal, Lancaster, &c., with all due deference to the Ladies and Gentlemen of STOCKPORT and its Vicinity, respectfully solicits their patronage; and assures them, that every exertion shall be made in the production of Pieces and Performers, that may contribute to their amusement. For the Benefit of Miss S. BOOTH, And the last Night of her Performing this Season, This present FRIDAY Evening, October 18th, 1822, Will be presented the new Piece of THE LADY AND THE DEVIL. Zephyrina (with the original Song), Miss S. Booth. IS HE JEALOUS? Harriet (as a disguised Fop), Miss S. BOOTH. To conclude with the Farce of THE SPOILED CHILD. Little Pickle (the Spoil'd Child) Miss S. BOOTH, In which she will introduce the Songs of "Since then I'm doom'd," "I'm a brisk and sprightly Lad," "The Sailor Boy capering Ashore," and DANCE HER CELEBRATED HORNPIPE. Doors to be opened at Six, and the Performanco to commence at Seven o'clock.-Boxes 3s, Pit 2s, Gallery 1s.-Tickets to be had of Miss S Booth, at the WarrenBulkeley Arms Inn; and at the Advertiser Office, where Places for the Boxes may be taken. On Monday, the Play of "The Castle Spectre," with "The Innkeeper's Daughter: " the parts of Angela, and Mary, by Mrs HOWARD, from the Royal Coburg Theatre. NOTES ON APRIL. April is derived from Aperire, to open, because in this month the whole business of creation seems to be alive and active. The sun enters Taurus, the Bull, on the 20th. In the first week common lodging-houses must be whitewashed; dividends due on consols and India Bonds; 3rd, quarter sessions held this week; 4th, returns of assessed taxes are made this day, notice of any decrease or alteration should be given on or before the 4th, or the charge will be continued for another year; 5th, dividends due on bank stock, £3 per cent.; 10th, fire insurances must be paid; 15th, newly-elected guardians enter on duties; 23rd, St. George's Day. It is mostly a genial month, but if unsettled a hot summer usually follows. Wilmslow. Queries. J. G. BOROUGH BOUNDS.-Will some correspondent to "Nctes and Queries " kindly say how long it is since the borough boundary was walked, who was Mayor, w at are the objects of it, and who are supposed to form the party who walk it ? SUBSCRIBER. STOCKPORT CLOCKMAKERS-STRINGER.-Can any correspondent oblige me by giving the years during which a Mr Stringer was a clockmaker in Stockport? I have reason to expect to find that he was there about the middle of last century, and perhaps earlier. WM. NORBURY. and occupied by a sub-tenant. It is surrounded by the usual outbuildings found on a dairy farm. The occupier, Mr Lomas, is a favourable specimen of his class. Quiet and simple in his manner, there is a certain impressive directness in his statements which invites confidence. His courtesy to a stranger, and the surrender of a portion of his time to one who had no claim at all upon him, are gratefully remembered. With no better introduction than that a former neighbour had been in the employment of the visitor many years ago, and that such neighbour, now dead, had related strange stories of what had taken place at Tunstead, Mr Lomas good-naturedly submitted himself to a pretty sharp fire of questions. your To many of readers it will be known that Tunstead is believed by multitudes of persons, to be the scene of strange and unexplained distur bances, and that they are connected in some way with a skull which is preserved in the house. Whatever disasters occur in the district are popularly attributed to the malign influence of the spirit once related to the skull, which resents any changes that have not received its sanction. The slipping down into the valley of the Goyt, of the ground, on which part of the Midland railway was made, which occasioned the adoption of a detour at (great cost,) confirmed the superstition, and the collapsing of part of the end of one of the tunnels nearer to Buxton, may have had a like tendency. The skull has ever passed by the name of "Dickie." The following extract from a lengthy production by Samuel Laycock refers to these incidents : Neaw, Dickie, be quiet wi' thee, lad, An' let navvies and railways a be; But leov o' these matters to th' wick; Tha shall ride deawn to Buxton for neawt. Mr Lomas was good enough to send for the skull for inspection, from its situation on the window bottom of the chamber immediately over the kitchen. It proved to be a very imperfect affair, and consists only of three bones A of a human skull, the two parietal bones and the occipital bone, which had become separated at the sutures. They were easily fitted together, and evidently formed parts of the same skeleton. They formed the greater part of the dome of the skull, but the front portion was wanting. The occipital bone was easily recognisable by the large aperture, through which the spinal cord had passed. small portion of the bone on the line of junction of the two parietal bones was absent, and tradition asserts that this gap indicates where the wound was inflicted which caused death. The bones were dark brown in colour, from which, and their separation, it would seem that they had lain in the earth for some time. They possessed a rough polish from frequent handling. ac Mr Lomas stated that he had resided on the farm for nearer thirty years than twenty, and daring the whole of that period, inexplicable noises were heard more or less frequently; also it was an cepted tradition that such disturbances had existed from time immemorial. They were supposed to be connected with the skull, or rather the spirit which formerly owned it. The skull had been preserved on the farm from remote times. There were innumerable stories afloat, mostly he believed without foundation; they were, however, the outcome and exaggeration of certain curious matters undoubtedly true. The manifestations chiefly consisted of noises heard during the night, and they varied in intensity from gentle tappings to clatterings of the most pronounced character, “till you would think they were pulling the place down." They were generally traceable to one of three circumstances, the presence of strangers, some emergency, especially when the attention of Mr Lomas was required, or to an impending death. The aversion of the spirit to the presence of strangers sometimes leads to inconvenience during the time of hay harvest, when it is needful to lodge haymakers in the outbuildings. On one occasion two men were so alarmed during the night that they made a run for it, and did not stop until they reached the village alehouse some distance away. They might there find spirits less noisy perhaps, but to say the least, equally subtle and pernicious. On another occa sion three Irishmen, who were employed on the farm for the first time, inquired from the farmer on the morning after their first night's experience if there were ghosts about, "for never a wink of sleep had we all night." The exact word used was not "never," but it was composed of the same number of letters. "Sure, when we were in the loft, the forks and the hay-rakes were clattering about, and the scythes were whetting theirselves, and when me and the two other boys went down to them they were all still, but they set to work as wild as ever after we left; and when the half of us went up, and the other half stayed below, sure enough the shindy was continued in the stable." The inconvenience from the noise when strangers are lawfully present is more than compensated for, by the sense of security enjoyed from thewatchfulness of Dickie should strangers present themselves on some unlawful errand. During the lambing season, or when a cow is taken ill, or about to calve during the night, the call is so implicitly to be relied upon, that Mr Lomas, on being awoke by the noise (usually three clear taps on the window), rises at once, dresses, and proceeds to his live stock without a suspicion of being misled. These weird manifestations are therefore not regarded with aversion, but are welcomed as a substantial advantage. When the death of a member of the family is imminent, the warning is not omitted, and sometimes it takes a much more impressive, but still innocent form. On one occasion when a daughter was lying in bed dangerously ill, and Mr Lomas in the evening was sitting in the kitchen, its only other occupant being the baby in the cradle, he heard someone come down the stairs step by step, and saw a figure, which he thought was that of one of the servants, pass close between his chair and the fire, proceed to the cradle, and stoop over it. He told her not to disturb the child, as he would carry it up to bed. The figure of the "young lady' on being addressed instantly vanished. The kitchen at the time was lighted by a candle which stood upon the table. The daughter died. This was the only occasion on which he saw the young lady, but she has not unfrequently been seen by the farm servants, or, at any rate, such is their statement. He is of opinion that some persons are more able to perceive the figure than others. It may be remarked that although the name given to the skull is suggestive of a masculine ownership, tradition requires us to accept it as that of a young lady who was murdered on the farm. Another manifestation is that of a spectral dog, which is said to be seen frequently near the bridge spanning the stream which drains the valley. The writer purposely walked alone near to the place late on a moonlight night, and established a sharp look-out for the spectral hound, but without success. An old woman recently died at the advanced age of ninety-five. In her youth she had been one of the maids at Tunstead, and she remembered the time when it was determined to put an end to the disturbances by burying the skull in the churchyard at Chapel-en-le Frith. But Dickie seems to be as decidedly averse to consecrated ground as a late sister of James Mellor, and it soon became abundantly manifest that the presence of the skull was not necessary to the production of noises, and the old lady was wont to describe her seeing the three bones brought back to Tunstead in a basket. It is not a long time since some visitors purloined the skull unknown to Mr Lomas, and took it with them to Disley. The farmer was not long left in ignorance of the sacrilegious theft, for the uproar was scarcely endurable. The appropriator fared no better, for the confusion at Disley was still worse confounded, and he was thankful to send the fragments home again. They did not, however, reach Tunstead until after a second day, and they had thus the opportunity of favouring another household with a benefit night. The power of producing manifestations in two places some miles apart, on the same occasion, or possibly in rapid succession, is a feature in the case worthy of attention. The noises have perhaps not been heard quite so frequently of late as in former years. Such in substance is the account which the farmer was good enough to permit to be extracted from him. Mrs Lomas confirmed the narrative. I cannot tell how the truth may be, I say the tale as 'twas said to me. In a former age such a story would be accepted greedily, and lose nothing in its passage from mouth to mouth. A more sceptical age followed, when such narratives were summarily discarded as old wives' fables; unreasoning scepticism followed unreasoning credulity. We are now arriving at a time when the evidence for accounts of this kind is carefully examined without the bias of a foregone conclusion; and such bodies of learned men trained in the art of investigation, as compose the committee of the Psychical Society of London, enter upon the investigation in a right temper. In the esoteric Buddhism revealed to the western civilization by Mr Sinnett, we find a suggestion as to the relative frequency of "astral" manifestations in the case of persons who have left the world by violent deaths, which is worthy of notice. The eastern philosophers assert that the complete or perfect man would be resolvable into seven elements, of which the body is the lowest and spirit is the highest. In the natural process which we term death, the elements which went to form the being as it existed here, are resolved and |