The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-08-22 00:00:00

AN OLD MAN WHOSE FATHER LIVED IN
THE TIME OF OLIVER CROMWELL.

(From the Manchester Guardian )

Having beard of the extraordinary circumstance of an
old man, named James Horrocks, in his hundredth year,
living in Harwood, about three miles from Bolton, whose
father lived in the time of Oliver Cromwell, we took an
opportunity a few davit ago, of visiting this venerable
descendant of a sire who was contemporary with the re-
nowned Protector. Here we found the old man, sur-
rounded with every cowfort, which easy circumstances
and affectionate friends can afford, arid to use his own
language, " neither tired of living, nor yet afraid to die."
He is a remarkably good looking old man, with long sil-
very lucks, and a countenance beaming with benevolence
and good nature. He his nearly lost the use of his eye-
sight, and is a little dull of hearing ; yet he is enabled to
a alk about. On observing to him that he must have been
a tall man in his youth, he sprang up from his arm chair,
with the elasticity of middle age, rather than eecrepitude.
A short time ago, on corning down stairs in the morning,
he observed to his daughter, with his accustomed good
humour and buoyancy of spirit, " I wonder what I shall
dream next; 1 dreamt last night that 1 was going to be
married again ; and who knows but I could find somebody
that would have me yet." His son--in-law is an old grey-
headed man, much harder of hearing than himself ;
and it frequently happens, that when any of the family
are endeavouring to explain any thing to him, old James
will say, " Stop, and I'll incense him ;" and his lungs
seldom tail in the undertaking.

From this interesting family we learn, that William
Horrocks,.the father of the present James, of whom we
have been speaking, was born in 1657, four years after
Oliver Cromwell was declared protector, and one year
before his death. He would he two years old when Ri-
chard Cromwell, who succeeded his father, resigned ; and
four years old when Charles 11. was crowned in 1661.
The exact period of his first marriage we have not been
able to ascertain ; but it is certain that his bride was em-
ployed as nurse in the well-known family of the Cheet-
hams, either at Turton Tower, or at Castleton Hall, near
Rochdale. By this marriage he had four children, as ap-
pears from memorandums, written in an excellent hand in
the back of an old black letter Bible, printed in 1583.
At what time his wife died, we are also unable to ascer-
tain; but there is no doubt that he remained a widower
for many years, and at length married his housekeeper, a
comely, blooming young woman, whose kitidne-s to the
old man was unremitting, and he married her in 1741, at
the age of 84, she being at the time only 26.
This marriage evidently attracted touch attention in the
neighbourhood, and we find that, about two years after-
wards, the old man and his youthful partner were sent
for to Castleton Hall, the residence of a branch of Hum-
piny Cheetham's family, where they were treated with
great kindness, and a portrait painter engaged to take their
likenes-es, which are now in the possession of their son,
and add much to the interest of a visit to him. These
portraits are well executed ; and, of course, appeared ra-
ther like those of a grandfather and his grandchild than
of husband and wife, although lieappears more like 60
than 86. In front of each p..inting is prominently in-
scribed the age of each of the parties, and the date when
the portrait was taken. Uip.n that of the husband the
inscription is. "'ETA : 86 -1743." Arid npon 'hat of
the wile, " lETA : 98 —1743." These, it appears, were
taken two year= alter their marriage, and preserved in the
Cheethain family at Castleton I tall, as great curiosities.
In the following year. the pre-ent James was horn, as
appears from the following entry on the back of the same
old Bible:—'• James. the son of William and Elizabeth
Hotrocks, of Bradshaw Chapel, was born Match 14th,
1714."

The old man wag only eleven years old when his father
died, anti la. no recollection of hearing him mention any
remarkah e event recurring in his life time.
As all instance of the health and vigour of this remark-
able old man, it may be mentioned, that ten years ago, in
' the winter of 18323. he attended at Newton to vote for
Lord Molynentc, then a candidate for South Lancashire.
Hr was then in his ninetieth year. He walked from Har-
wood 10 Briton, a distance of three miles. From thence
he went to Newton by the raik ay ; and. having voted, he
by some means rois•ed the train, and walked to Bolton,
a distance of fifteen miles. On arriving there be took
some refreshment, and again sent out for Harwood, and
accomplished the distance of 21 miles in the day, in the
depth of winter !

ANECDOTE 6F SIR WALTER SCOTT.—It is related of
Sir Walter • ca't, that not long before his " Lay of the
Last Min- trel made its appearanc , while crossing the
Frith or Forth in a ferry-boat with a friend. any pro-
posed to begule the time by writing a number of verses
on a given subject, and at the end of an hour's poring and
hard stndv, the product of Sir Walter (then Mr.) Scott's
I rtile brain. adding thereto the labour of his friend, was
Ix lines. " It's plain." said Scott to his fellow-labourer.
then unconscious of his great powers, "that you and I
n ed not think of getting our living by writing poetry."
INDIAN CUSTOMS.—These Indians have many remark-
able customs. Before undertaking a war, their w rriors
fir forty days in a solitary cabin constructed of hark.
Doring this period, they eat barely sufficient to keep
themselves alive. They also sacrifice dogs ; and having
tied the dead bodies to trees about six feet above the
eround, they proceed to paint the noses and stomachs of
the victims with a deep red colour. They consult pro-
phets, who are provided with sacred utensils, denomina-
ted medicine hags ; and which contain the skins of
" shunks," with other precious articles. When the war-
riors return from their fast, the people make a great feast
on dogs which have been fattened for the occasion. None
but men are allowed to attend. At the appointed hour,
the warriors may be seen travelling to the rendezvous ;
each carrying, with great solemnity, his wooden bowl and
wooden spoon. At the house appointed for the feast, the
dead dogs are in readiness, together with a profusion of
boiled Indian corn and beans. My host was present on
one of these occasions, and took particular notice of the
ceremonies. Some of the warriors began by cutting the
dogs into equal portions, which they placed in a large iron
kettle over a fire, and boiled for about half an hour. The
remainder of the guests reclined upon mats on both sides
of the house, while the fire burned briskly at the centre,
the smoke escaping through an opening in the roof. The
corn and hems were placed all round the room ii, wooden
'dishes upon the ground. The deg meat being sufficiently
boiled, the pieces were taken out, and every eer,on pre-
sent received his share. A distinguished " brave" now
arose, and made a speech ; after which, a second stood up
and repeated the monosyllable " ugh." At this signal,
all began to ear ; holding the pieces of canine flesh in their
hands without knives or forks, and devouring with all their
might. This feast on dogs is considered a sort of penance.
Whoever swallows the whole of his portion is called a
big brave; while those who are made sick by it, are de-
nominated squaws. The men of this tribe enjoy them-
selves exceedingly at their villages during the wirver,
visiting one another with great sociability. All the hard
work devolves upon the women, who cult down trees for
firewood, make the fires, and minister like slaves to the
comfort and luxury of their lords. These Indians, not-
withstanding their neglect of the squaws, have many
courteous and gentlemanly habits. They have no profane
word in their vocabulary, and the most abusive words
employed by them are liar, rascal, hog, and squaw.
They, however, catch with facility the profane expressions
of the whites, which they use with great readiness, an .I
without understanding their signification. Thus, they
will often employ an oath as a friendly salutation ; and,
while kindly shaking hands with a friend, will curse him
in cheerful and pleasant tones of voice.—The Cilg of lhe
Mormons; or, Three Days at Nauvoo.
FARMINI IN VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.—" What system
of farming," said I, " do they follow most in this coun-
try?" " System? Bless you, you don't suppose they
follow any system here. The way they go on is quite
disgusting to me ; they know no more of farming than a
Londoner. They don't know how to grow anything."
"No wheat?" " Yes, they do grow wheat—such as it
is." " Barley?" " Yes ; barley." " Oats ?" " Not
seen much oats; however. I believe they can grow."
" Potatoes? " "Oh ! plenty of potatoes." " Vegeta-
bles?—cabbages, peas, beans, and such like? " " Yes ;
I can't say but they can grow 'em ; but they're too large
to please me, and I'm sure they grow too quick ; besides,
it stands to reason that things can't grow properly with
the soil just disturbed as it 's done here. A man in my
country would be ashamed to call it digging. And then
to see what they call a field of wheat! I call it a field of
stumps And where there's no stumps they don't do
much better. They just put the plough once through it,
and there lies the sod turned up with the grass growing
on it ; and, then a weaver chap, or a London pickpocket,
comes with the seed in a bag, and oh, my eves, how
I tughed 1 he flings it about as if he was feeding the
chickens; and then another chap comes with a large
branch of a tree, drawn by a couple of o. en, and he
sweeps the grain about, and that they call harrowing!
and when that's done they just leave it." " And what
becomes of it ?" " Oh, first the cockatoos get a good
bellyful, and then the parrots and magpies have a peck
at it. But it comes up at last." " Well, that's
some-
thing." " Yes, maybe ; hut it oughtn't to come up done
in that slovenly way. Its a shame to waste good seed
so. And then. when they do get a hit of hued a little—
no, not in order, but—out of disorder, fitly they do work
eh,.ie sr
g very
be-
when
erzit, dear me ! What do you think a sort of cockney chap
said to me at Pitt.watei, for / 'ye been over there? Says
I to him, • Friend,' says I,liw often do you let your
land lie fallow in these parts ? ' Fallow,' says he, ' what's
that?' ' You 're a pretty chap to be a farmer,' said I.
' not to know what lying fallow means. Why, lying
fallow means letting the land rest a hit to recover itself
for another crop.' Oh,' says be, our land in this place
never lies fallow, as you call it ; we just put the same
cforro pe everyilenven year.
years. vv h
, `There—that eraetT
havetl t fieldyou
hadhas
tigrowne wh
cruelty,'wheat
said 1,4 to put wheat on that bit of land for eleven years?'
To be sure I have,' said he, and shall grow wheat on it
for eleven years longer, if I live.' Master, you might
have knocked me down with a. feather; I never before
heard anything so horrid. I felt sure at once that no
good was to be done
-in a country where creatures harrow
with branches of trees, and treat their land so cruelly.
But it .was worse than that when I came to look more
into it. I know you won't believe it; they'll nT
backu o
t tot.
that Shropshire.the
creature
bliietvoefitiaOnfdmniaeel
gtoetldyo
corn on, for eleven year without stopping, never had—no
—not so much as a handful of manure the whole eleven
year. - What do you think of that ? Would any Christian
far..er In. England treat his land so? Why, it 's against
nature!" I now began to 'understand the sort of matt I
hail to deal with ;1, one of, those obstinate sons of the suit
who cannot be made to understand that it is possible to
ruirry on farming in any other way than the way which
they have been accustomed to ; and whose prejudices
against innovation are so strong, that they will not believe
in the truth of what they see with their own eves, arid
wring everything from its true bearing to the backing tip
of their own notions.,-Tale, of the Colonies; or, the
Advent vres of an Emi.grant.