closure it was awarded to the Lord of the Manor as a piece of waste land and of whom it is now rented as a garden. The entry is as follows.

This place had formerly the privilege of a market and an annual fair; for, in the valuation of issues and profits of the Manor of Epworth, taken during the usurpation of Cromwell, "The tolls, tollages, profits, commodities, dues, and duties, of two fairs yearly kept, namely, one at Belton, on the 15th of September, commonly called Holy-rood Day; and another at Kinnald Ferry, upon the 10th day of August, are valued to be worth, per annum, one pound."

On what day of the week the market was held I have not been able to discover; but a petition from the inhabitants to Lord Carteret, lessee under the Crown of the Manor of Epworth, dated 1690, states that, "antiently the Lords of the Manor had a weekly market held in the town of Kinnard Ferry, as appears by the antient records of the Tower of London; that the said market had for many years been discontinued for reasons unknown to the petitioners; that in the rebellious times some Epworth men got a grant from Cromwell to hold a market there, notwithstanding they had no warrant or legal title to hold the same*."

The latter part of this petition cannot be true, as we find from the inquisitiones ad quod damnum, that the market at Epworth was held under the authority of the Lord as early as the time of Richard the Second. It appears to me extremely probable that, when the castle was standing, the market, for the sake of security, was held under the protection of its walls; but after it had been dismantled, and when the Mowbrays had fixed their residence

*From the original document, in the possession of R. P. Johnson, Esq.

dence at Epworth, they wished to have the convenience of a market in that town, for which purpose the writ was issued. When this new market was established at Epworth, the more antient one at Kinnard Ferry became gradually less and less frequented, until at last it was discontinued altogether. This place has of late years been called the town and port of Ferry, on account of the number of vessels, keels, and sea-sloops which trade from hence to Hull, Gainsbrough, and the West of Yorkshire. These vessels carry the produce of the neighbourhood, fruit, carrots, onions, potatoes, and corn to Doncaster, Leeds, Wakefield, and Huddersfield, and Gainsbrough; and also the coarse hempen goods which are manufactured principally in West Ferry and Epworth; and return laden with coals, lime, manure, &c. &c. There is little doubt now, that if the experiment were tried of re-establishing the antient market in this town, it would, to use the words of the petition before alluded to, "in a few years become a very great market," or at least one where considerable business might be done in the corn trade, to the great convenience both of growers and purchasers. Formerly a packet sailed once a week to Hull; it was two days in making the voyage down, and one tide in returning, sometimes two. On the voyage down, the pas sengers stopt all night at Burton-Stather. The steam packets now accomplish the voyage in about four hours. Once a fortnight a person may embark at Ferry at half-past nine, get to Hull about two, stay there until near four, and return to Ferry again the same day by seven o'clock in the afternoon.

It appears from the Parish Registers that the family of Pindar was settled here as early as the year 1670, when John Pindar, Esq. married a widow of the name of Ann Bollome, of Owŝton. He was an attorney, and had considerable practice, and was frequently employed by the Isle Commoners during their litigations with the Participants. His first residence was at West Ferry, now made use of as a farm-house; and the last descendant of the family, a person remarkable for the oddity of his manners, used to say to his tenant, "now Saul, this house is original * Pindar."

Afterwards a

family

*This epithet of "original" is frequently made use of in the Isle to designate any thing highly

esteemed,

family mansion was built at Owston, the site of which is now marked by trees planted for that purpose. This house was inhabited by some of the family until it was pulled down by the individual just mentioned, as the means most congenial to his method of proceeding to eject an old aunt out of possession, to whom he bore a mortal antipathy. With this person the family of Pindar, in the male line, became extinct, and he left the property by will to the Honourable Mr. Lygon, now Earl Beauchamp.

In the summer of 1882, the village of West Ferry was very severely visited by the Asiatic cholera. During the month of April a man died of

this

esteemed. It has arisen probably from its being applied to the old inhabitants, to distinguish them from the Dutch settlers. So even now we have it perpetually used when a man gets a little joyous over his cups,-"you are my original friend;" i. e. as was meant by those who first used the expression," you are not one of these scamping Dutchmen, but one of the original or aboriginal inhabitants of the country."

this disorder in the little hamlet of Gunthorpe: he was a debauched character, and had been drunk the day before. About the same time several deaths took place at West Butterwick, in this parish, from the same disor der, all very decided cases. Nothing more was heard of this formidable invader until the 10th of June, when the weather being wet and cold, the disorder again made its appearance in the house of one Joseph Waite, a labouring man, who, though he had made no previous application for relief, was found to be in a very destitute condition. Sarah Waite, Joseph Waite, and Hannah Waite, were all buried between June the 11th and 15th: the mother very soon after lay-in, was safely delivered, and recovered, escaping the disorder altogether. She was a great opium eater. A man of the name

of Keightly was the next victim, a very bad case: he was buried on the 15th of June, at midnight; and as he had helped to carry some of the other corpses, it was with great difficulty that any one could be prevailed upon to carry him, or even to lend a horse and cart for that purpose Three other victims were added to the number in the next three days. All these cases began very early in the morning, and when medical aid was sent for, the chance of reThe inhabitants now began to be very much alarmed, covery was gone. and refused to go into the fields to work, lest they should be taken ill suddenly, and die before they could get home. The Church was opened for divine service occasionally in the evening, and was very numerously attended. The public houses were entirely deserted.

On the 18th of June an old man fell down in the street, and died in a few hours. When this happened one dwelling was entirely depopulated. Every possible precaution having been taken to stop the progress of the disorder, the next ten days passed without another fatal case, and I began to hope that the worst was over; but on the third of July two more persons died of the disorder. A profligate female pauper, who had been removed from London, endeavoured to cause a riot when one of these corpses was to be buried, under the pretence that the person was about to be interred alive. "I have," said she, "felt the corpse under the armpits, and she is warm," "If you have done so,” replied the author of this work, who had

arrived

arrived on the spot in order to quell the disturbance, " go into your chamber, and pray for the forgiveness of your sins, for your time in this world is short." This unfortunate woman was taken ill a few hours after, died, and was buried the day after. On the 8th and 9th of July, three more fatal cases occurred, and four more between that date and the 28th of the same month. After that time, there was only one single case more, which was on the 9th of September.

It was asserted by several people, that, at the beginning of this visitation, the first of flood, as it is termed, i. e. when the tide begins to flow up towards Gainsbrough, it was accompanied by a very nauseous smell. I cannot substantiate the truth of this assertion by my own personal observation; but I am quite certain, that the ravages of the disorder were confined to the river side, and that no case occurred at a greater distance than two hundred yards. It has been frequently observed that, at the commencement of this disorder, all the people attacked will die under any medical treatment whatever; and that, towards the close of its career, they will recover under any treatment. The preceding narrative does not, however, warrant any such conclusion: for wherever the symptoms were decided, it seems to have been attended with results as fatal at the close as at the commencement. No healthy person was attacked. The deaths amounted to one in fifty of the whole population. The number of burials during the year was increased exactly in proportion to the number of persons who died from this disorder: the average number of funerals in the parish of Owston, in other years being forty, and in this year seventy-three.

When the the cholera had been raging here some time, the next place visited was Gainsbrough; after that it attacked the villages on the other side of the river in succession. East Ferry, exactly opposite to West Ferry, though quite free in the month of June and July, was visited very severely in August. A few cases also occurred about that time at East Butterwick and Burringham.

LOW MELWOOD.