Page:Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, Etc., with an Appendix Containing a Rare Tract.djvu/47

 unexpectedly presented herself. She asked them to turn up an ace, promising, in case of compliance, that she would build several yards of the steeple; upon which they fortunately turned up the ace of spades. This tale, says Mr Roby, in his "Traditions," may owe its origin to the following circumstances:—Upon the marriage of Sir Thomas Assheton with the daughter of Ralph Stayley, a considerable accumulation of property was the consequence. This might induce him to repair the church and perform sundry other acts of charity and beneficence. Whilst the work was going on. Lady Elizabeth Assheton, it is not improbable, surprised the workmen at their pastime, and might desire that her arms should be fixed in the steeple, impaled with those of her husband. The shape of an escutcheon having a considerable resemblance to a spade-ace, in all likelihood, gave origin to the fable.

BARCROFT HALL AND THE IDIOT'S CURSE. Barcrofts of Barcroft were for many generations a most respectable Lancashire family. The Hall is not more than a mile from Townley, and the fine estate by which it is surrounded must have been often coveted by their more ancient and wealthy neighbours. Barcroft is still a good specimen of the later Tudor style, and its ample cellarage not only conveys an idea of the liberal hospitality of its former owners, but has given occasion for a tradition which is not to the credit of one of the last possessors. The tradition states that one of the heirs to Barcroft was either an idiot or imbecile; that he was fastened by a younger brother with a chain in one of the cellars, and that he was there starved to death. This