custody of the Marshal for two months, and till the fine was paid. In April, 1732, Edward Dalton and Richard Griffiths were tried at the Old Bailey for the murder of John Waller, in the pillory, by pelting him with cauliflower stalks, &c. and found guilty, and both executed at Tyburn. Stephen M' Daniel, John Berry, James Egan, and James Salmon, were convicted of a wicked conspiracy to procure two youths to commit a robbery on Salmon, in order to obtain for themselves the rewards for the apprehending of highwaymen. They were sentenced to be imprisoned seven years in Newgate, and to be pilloried twice. On Friday, the 5th of March, 1756, Mr Daniel and Berry stood in the pillory, near Hatton Garden, and were so severely handled by the populace, that it was with the utmost difficulty that one of the sheriffs and the keeper of Newgate, who stood in a balcony just by, prevented their being utterly destroyed; and so great was the mob, that the peace-officers found it impossible to protect the prisoners from their fury. On Monday, the 8th, Egan and Salmon stood in Smithfield. They were instantly assaulted with showers of oyster-shells, stones, &c. and had not stood above half an hour, before Egan was struck dead, and Salmon so dangerously wounded in the head, that it was thought impossible he could re cover. Whatever punishment they might deserve from the law, it is certain they ought not to be killed through the rage of the populace. (Howell's State Trials, vol. xix. p. 809.) ANECDOTE OF SIR W. NOY, ATTORNEY GENERAL TO KING CHARLES THE FIRST. Three graziers at a fair left their money with their hostess, while they went to transact their business. A short time after one of them returned, and under pretence that they had occasion for the whole money, received it from the hostess, and made his escape with it. The other two sued the woman for delivering that which she had received from the three, before the three came and demanded it. The cause was tried, and a verdict found against the woman; when Mr. Noy, then making his first appearance at the bar, desired to be feed by her, because he could not plead without it. He then moved in arrest of judgment, that he was retained by the defendant, and that the case was this:-the defendant hath received the money of the three together, and confesses that she was not to deliver it until the same three demanded it, and therefore the money is ready, let the three come, and it shall be paid. This motion altered the whole course of proceeding, and first brought Mr. Noy into notice, CURIOUS CUSTOMS OF MANORS. Rochford,-County of Essex. On King's Hill, in Rochford, in the county of Essex, on every Wednesday morning, next after Michaelmas day, at cocks' crowing, there is, by ancient custom, a court held by the lord of the honour of Raleigh, which is vulgarly called, the Lawless Court. The steward and suitors whisper to each other, and have no candles, nor any pen and ink, but supply that office with a coal; and he that owes suit or service thereto, and appears not, forfeits to the lord double his rent, every hour he is absent. The Court is called Lawless, because held at an unlawful or lawless hour, or quia dicta sine lege. The title of it in the rolls runs thus: King's Hill, in Rochford} §} Curia de Domino Rege, Dicta sine Lege, Tenenda est ibidem, Per ejusdem consuetudinem, Ante ortum solis Luceat nisi polus, Nil scribit nisi colis. Totius voluerit, Gallus ut cantaverit ; Et dum sunt sine lumine Curia sine Cura, Jurati de Injuria. Tenta ibidem Die Mercurii (ante Diem) proximi (r. proxime or proximo) post Festum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli, Anno Regni Regis, &c. This Lawless Court is imperfectly mentioned by Camden in his description of Essex; who says, "this servile attendance was imposed on the tenants of that manor, for conspiring, at the like unseasonable time, to raise a commotion." Kidlington, County of Oxford. At Kidlington, in Oxfordshire, the custom is, that on Monday after Whitsun week, there is a fat live lamb provided, and the maids of the town, having their thumbs tied behind them, run after it, and she that with her mouth takes and holds the lamb, is declared lady of the lamb; which being dressed, with the skin hanging on, is carried on a long pole before the lady and her companions, to the green, attended with music, and a morisco dance of men, and another of women, where the rest of the day is spent in dancing, mirth, and merry glee. The next day the lamb is part baked, boiled, and roast, for the lady's feast, where she sits majestically, at the upper end of the table, and her companions with her, with music and other attendants, which ends the solemnity. Montgomery,-The town of. Whereas, through scolds and whores, many evils arise in the town, viz. strifes, fightings, defamations, &c. and many other disturbances by their shoutings and bawling, our practice concerning them is, that when they are taken, they are adjudged to the goging stode,* and there to stand with their feet naked, and their hair hanging and dishevelled, for such time as they may be seen by all persons passing that way, according to the will of our chief bailiffs. * The same as cucking stool, which is a punishment invented for the punishment of scolds, by ducking them in the water. Lamb. Eiren. b. i. chap. 12. |