The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-09-13 00:00:00

WALLASEY.

(From the Courier.)
Descending from the pretty village of Bidston, which is
placed upon a el' lit eminence, the eye ranges over an exten-
sive plain, beyond which the sea is spread, frequently covered
with the innumerable shipping connecting this mighty mart
of commerce with every part of the civilised world. This
level expanse is divided tato two principal vallies, by the
branches of * range of hills, eitending from Woodehurch to
Westkirby Grange, the waters from which form the river
Birken, which flows into Wallasey Pool, and from whence the
priory and town of Birkenhead derive the name. Small as
the row of this stream may be, and so fallen in its conse-
quence as to be only spoken of, by most of the inhabitants of
this region, as the Fender, it is, according to Ormerod, the
only river in the hundred •f Wirral ; and, whilst it is the
drain cf a valuable and fertile district, the tributary waters
are of sufficient amount, to spread into a vast lake, to the
despair and injury of the cultivators of the soil, after a long
period of rain.
_ _

Along the banks of the northern Fork, extending into
Newton Carr, and down to the shore of the sea, as well as
inland to the edge of Bidston-marsh, are the remains of a
very ancient forest, consisting of oak, fir, yew, &c., of a con-
siderable size. The roots of these trees, as well as the pros-
trate members of them, may be seen any day amidst the
peat of the shore, and are continually laid bare by the
digging of trenches, and by the operations of the plough.
The singularity of 'these remains in this spot is, that there is
now scarcely a shrub or a tree to interrupt the prospect.
This crcuriastance has been accounted for by supposing that
the limbo Ssndr did anciently form an island, or were a con-
tireance of the Lancashire shore, under which, where the
Rock Channel now exists, found their way, mingled with
those of the Dee, into the ocean. The latter circumstance
is rendered more probable from the omission of the river
Meracy in the Latin geographies, in which one of the now
existing rivers of this western shore of England is always
omitted, although, from the difference of the ancient and
modern names, it is difficult to determine contectly which
stream has beep overlooked, and, how, by any other means,
so mighty an estuary as the i'deriey could have been the one
un seen.

Near the head of the river Birken stands Hoylake a name
so long familar to the inhabitants of Liverpool, that its actual
appearance knight naturally excite surprise at a first visit.
A place formerly-of faiioualAe resort by the aristocracy of
the .palatinate, a residence of pilots and fishermen, it might
be expected that something better would exist than some
peattered betties amidst a deep waste of sand. Until the

* Hoylake is now indebted to the enterprise of Messrs.
Williams and Barton, for reviving the hotel and erecting se-
veral handsome villas and cottages.
' t See the actual words in Ormerod.
The origin of the term Star-chamber is involved in a
certain degree of obscurity, By some it has been derived
from a Saxon word signifying to steer or govern; by others
from crimen stellionatus' or cozenage, which was an offence
punished by the court of Star-chamber. Sir Edward Coke
inclines to the opinion that the roof of the apartment had at
one time been ornamented with gilded stars ; but there is no
record of the fact, nor were any stars to be seen even so far
remote as the reign of Elizabeth. The conjecture that the
great number of windows in the room, which was that sub-
• sequently converted into the lottery-office, gave rise to the
appellation, seems equally gratuitous. The most satisfactory
explanation, and one which appears beyond all doubt to be
correct, is that given 'by Blackstone. He says, "It .s well
known that, before the banishment of the Jews under Ed-
ward 1., their contracts and obligations were denominated in
our ancient records starra, or storms, from a corruption of
the Hebrew word shetar, a covenant. These stars, by an
ordinance of Richard 1., preserved by Hoveden, were com-
manded to be enrolled and deposited in chests, under three
keys, in certain places ; one, and the most considerable of
which, was in the King's Exchequer at Westminster : and
no star was be allowed to be be valid unless it were found
in some of the said repositaries. The room at the Exchequer
where the chests containing these stairs were kept was pro-
bably called the Starr chamber ; and when the Jews were
kept was probably called the ' Starr chamber ; and when
the Jews were expelled the kingdom, was applied to the use
of the king's council, sitting in their judicial capacity. To
confirm this, the first time the Star-chamber is mentioned in
any record, which was in the days of Edward 111., it is said
.to have been situated near the Exchequer at Westminster,—
la chmbre des eslcilles pres resceipt al Westminster. For
in process of time, when the meaning of the Jewish starrs
was forgotten, the word starr-ehamber was naturally rendered
in law French le chambre des esteilles, and in law Latin ca-
mera stellata, which continued to be the style in Latin till
the dissolution of that court."

A STRONG CLAIM.—At the last quarterly meeting of the
Exeter Humane Society, a man claimed a reward for saving
the life of his wife, a young woman, about twenty-three
years of age, from drowning.
THE BITER BITTEN.—A piscatorial lawyer, a short time
ago, in the course of a predatory excursion against the finny
tribe, was throwing his line in the River Welland, at a village
three or four miles to west of Stamford, when he hooked a
very fine pike ; it requred some little exercise of skill to get
him to land, and his exertions were eagerly regarded by a
native ; he was at length successful, and the gasping fish was
laid upon the bank. Hodge expressed his wonderment at
the open jaws and sharp teeth of Mr. Pike, and was advised
by the lawyer (who was thinking, perhaps, of the many clients,
he had himself bitten) to put his finger in the fish's mouth by
way of an experiment. " Noir, noa," said Hodge, " but he
may just tak' a grip o' my dog's tail, if he loike." Suiting
the action to the word, he inserted the tip of the dog's tail
between the jaws of the pike, which were instantly closed.
Away went the dog, and away went the fish dangling at his
tail, to the gratification of the countryman. and to the dismay
of the cunning lawyer. The latter raised a shout to stop the
thief, and entreated Hodge to call back his dog; but calling
was of no use, they were soon out of sight, and the fish was
irretrievably lost to quill-driver, but was soon deposited be-
neath the humble roof of the villager, who left the lawyer en-
deavouring to catch another fish, but not very well pleased
at being outwitted by a rustic, who had thus proved himself
to have been the cleverest conveyancer of the two.—Stam-
ford Mercury.