on this she fixed the cauldron, which she had half filled with water. She then commanded me to take my station at the further end of the circle, which I did accordingly. Bertha then opened the sack, and taking from it various ingredients threw them into the "charmed pot." Among other articles, I noticed, a skeleton head, bones of different sizes, and dried carcases of some small animals. While thus employed, she continued muttering some words in an unknown language; all I remember hearing was the word konig. At length the water boiled, and the witch, presenting me with a glass, told me to look through it at the cauldron. I did so, and beheld a figure enveloped in the steam; at the first glance I knew not what to make of it, but I soon recognised the face of N— a friend and intimate acquaintance; he was dressed in his usual mode, but seemed unwell and pale. I was astonished and trembled. The figure having disappeared, Bertha removed the cauldron, and extinguished the fire. "Now," said she, “do you doubt my power?" I have brought before you the form of a person who is some miles from this place; was there any deception in the appearance? I am no imposter, though you have hitherto regarded me as such.' She ceased speaking. I hurried to the door, and said, "Good night, Bertha."Stop,' said she, 'I have not done with you; I will show you something more wonderful than the appearance of this evening; to-morrow at midnight, go and stand upon Arncliffe Bridge, and look at the water on the left side of it. Nothing will harm you; fear not.' "And why should I go to Arncliffe Bridge? What can be answered by it? The place is lonely, I dread to be there at such an hour; may I have a companion?'"

“I will not give you any further information; obey me, nothing shall harm you.'

666

Well,' I said, 'You shall be obeyed. I believe you would do me no injury. I will repair to Arncliffe Bridge to-morrow at midnight: good night.' I then left the cottage and returned home. When I retired to rest I could not sleep; slumber fled my pillow, and with restless eyes I lay ruminating upon the strange occurrences at the cottage, and on what I was to behold at Arncliffe Bridge. Morning dawned: I arose unrefreshed and fatigued. During the day I was unable to attend to my business; my coming adventure entirely engrossed my mind. Night arrived, I repaired to the bridge; never shall I forget the scene. It was a lovely night, the full orbed moon was sailing peacefully through a clear, blue, cloudless sky, and its beams, like streams of silvery lustre were dancing on the waters of the Skirfare, and the moonlight falling on the hills formed them into a variety of fantastic shapes; here one might behold the semblance of a

ruined abbey, with towers and spires and Anglo-Saxon and Gothic arches; at another place there seemed a castle frowning in feudal grandeur, with its buttresses, battlements, and parapets. The stillness which reigned around, broken only by the murmuring of the stream, the cottages scattered here and there along its banks, and the wood wearing an unnatural tinge, all united to compose a scene of calm and perfect beauty. I leaned against the left battlement of the bridge,; I waited a quarter of an hour-half an hour-an hour— nothing appeared. I listened, all was silent; I looked around, I saw nothing. Surely, I inwardly ejaculated, I have mistaken the hour; no, it must be midnight-Bertha has deceived me; fool that I am, why have I obeyed the beldame? Thus I reasoned. The clock of the neighbouring church chimed; I counted the strokes, it was twelve o'clock. I had mistaken the hour, and resolved to stay a little longer on the bridge. I resumed my station which I had quitted and gazed on the stream. The river in that part runs in a clear, still channel, and all its music dies away. As I looked on the stream I heard a low moaning sound, and perceived the water violently troubled without any apparent cause. The disturbance having continued a few minutes, ceased, and the river became calm, and again flowed on in peacefulness. What could this mean? Whence came that low, moaning sound? What caused the disturbance of the river? I asked myself these questions again and again, unable to give them any rational answer. With a slight, indescribable kind of a fear, I bent my steps homewards. On turning a corner of the lane that led to my father's house a huge dog, apparently of the Newfoundland breed, crossed my path and looked wistfully on me. 'Poor fellow,' I exclaimed, 'has't thou lost thy master? Come home with me and I will use thee well till we find him.' The dog followed me; and when I arrived at my place of abode I looked for it but saw no traces of it, and I conjectured it had found its master.

"On the following morning I repaired again to the cottage of the witch, and found her as on the former occasion, seated by the fire. 'Well, Bertha,' I said, 'I have obeyed you; I was yesterday at midnight on Arncliffe bridge.'

"And of what sight were you a witness?'

"I saw nothing except a slight disturbance of the stream.'

66

"I know,' said she, 'that you saw a disturbance of the water, but did you behold nothing more.'

'Nothing! your memory fails you.'

"I forgot, Bertha; as I was proceeding home I met a Newfoundland dog, which I supposed belonged to some traveller.'

"That dog,' answered Bertha, never belonged to mortal; no human being is his master. The dog you saw was Bargest; you may perhaps have heard of him.'

"I have frequently heard tales of Bargest, but I never credited them. If the legend of my native hills be true, a death may be expected to follow his appearance.'

"You are right, and a death will follow his last night's appearance." 666 Whose death?'

"Not yours.'

"As Bertha refused to make any further communication I left her. In less than three hours after I quitted her I was informed that my friend N, whose figure I had seen enveloped in the mist of the cauldron, had that morning committed suicide by drowning himself at Arncliffe Bridge, in the very spot where I beheld the disturbance of the stream."

M.Ps.' for Yorkshire in the Long Parliament.

I want to ask some of the Correspondents of Y.C.M., who have the opportunity of consulting local Records, to aid in solving a difficulty in connection with the Representation of Yorkshire in the Long Parliament. As well known the members returned at the General Election of Oct. 1640, were Ferdinand Lord Fairfax, and Henry Belasyse, Esq., who in the Civil War that followed took adverse sidesFairfax for Parliament, Belasyse for the King.

On the 6 Sept., 1642, Belasyse was disabled from being a member, "for setting his hand to a Petition contrived in Yorkshire and sent up to Parliament in great dishonour and to the scandal of the Parliament. No attempt was made for nearly six years to fill up the vacancy created by Belasyse's disablement. In March 1647-8, Fairfax died, and both seats being thus vacant, on the 16th March, a Writ was ordered for the Election of two Knights for Yorkshire, "in the places of Henry Bellasis disabled, and Lord Fairfax deceased."

Did an election follow upon this Writ? In the usual sources of information no trace of such election appears, and it seems generally to be taken for granted that none took place. I do not however feel sure of this. In cases where the returns are missing, it is often very difficult to trace elections that may have happened upon the eve of "Pride's Purge." In several known instances writs were ordered, but either not issued or rendered inoperative owing to the disturbed condition of the localities. But on the other hand there are cases in which an election occurred within a few weeks of the Purge, but the newly elected Member or Members had scarcely taken their seats, before the "seclusion" of Dec. 1648, deprived the House of four-fifths of its Members. It does not seem that either of these reasons can be applied to Yorkshire. From March to Dec. is a long stretch for a Writ to remain inoperative, and unless special local reasons existed rendering an election impossible, or undesirable, prima facie I should imagine that an election took place.

An examination of the House of Commons' Committee Lists will often furnish names of Members not obtainable from any other source. In the matter of Yorkshire these do not help much. On the 15 Feb. 1648-9, I find among others a Mr. Thomas Harrison serving on Committee as a Member of the House. Who this Thomas Harrison

was, I know not. Certainly not the well known Major General Thomas Harrison, M.P. for Wendover, whose name appears as serving in the same Committee as "Colonel Harrison." I take it therefore that this Thomas Harrison unless an error in the journals was some Member of the House elected not long before, and on the eve of the Purge.

Now it is somewhat singular that in the first Parliament of the Protectorate 1654-55, one of the Members for the North Riding of the Co. York, was a Thomas Harrison esq.,—he was also returned for the County in the Parliament of Richard Cromwell, 1659, and for Thirsk, in 1660, when his election was found void. May not this same Thomas Harrison have been elected under the Writ of March 1648? I have no proof that he was so, but throw out the suggestion, with the statement that if so elected he doubtless had a colleague, who may have been secluded in the Purge.

I know nothing of the identity of this Thomas Harrison, beyond that he served the office of Sheriff in 1656-7, and in the return of 1660 is described as "of Allerthorpe."

Perhaps some of your correspondents who have access to the Records of the County can throw light upon this doubtful point in Yorkshire Parliamentary history. W. D. PINK,

LEIGH, LANCASHIRE.

Luke Robinson, M.P. for Scarborough in the Long Parliament. He was elected 25 Oct. 1645, in the place of the unfortunate Capt. John Hotham. Sat for the N. R. Co. York, in 1656-58—returned for Malton in 1659 till found void, and for Scarborough again in 1660, until repelled for being a Member of the Council of State during the Protectorate.

The identity of this active Member of the Rump Parliament has, I believe, never been satisfactorily determined. The following entry in the Greys Inn Admission Register indicates it, "1629-30. Feb. 11. Luke Robinson son and heir of Arthur Robinson of Dighton, Co. York, gent." Arthur Robinson received Knighthood at Whitehall, on the 15 Feb., 1630-1. He was the third son of John Robinson, Citizen and Merchant Taylor, "Merchant of the Staple of England and Alderman of the City of London," who died on the 19 Feb. 1599-1600 and to whose memory a handsome Monument still exists in the Church of St. Helens Bishopgate, London. Alderman Robinson by his Will gave to his son Arthur,a tenement in the Parish of St. Olive near the Tower of London, and his Will is "that for ever shall be paid out of the said Capital house to the Persons and Churchwardens by quarterly payments, £5 4 0 which they shall distribute weekly by the shillings every Sunday morning in bread to the poor people inhabiting in this parish, with a clause for distress if unpaid after the space of forty days." (Annals of St. Helens, Bishopgate, by Dr. Cox. p. 75.)

Sir Arthur Robinson married at Hackney, Co. Middlesex, Elizabeth dau. of William Walthall of St. Peter's, Cornhill, mercer. Marr. Lic.

dated 20 April 1603 (Bishop of London,) he is described as of St. Peter's Cornhill, London, mercer. She, of the same, Spinster. We learn from Foster's Visitations of Yorkshire, that Sir Arthur Robinson had a second wife, the daughter of Sir John Garrard, Alderman and Sheriff of London, and Lord Mayor in 1601.

Luke Robinson was eldest son of Sir Arthur by his first marriage. His associations would seem thus to have been almost exclusively confined to the Metropolis. Can any reader of Y.C.M. say when and under what circumstances Sir Arthur Robinson was first located in Yorkshire? Also what became of Luke Robinson after 1660 ?

Col. William White was elected M.P. for Pontefract in Oct. 1645, in the place of Sir George Wentworth of Wolley, disabled. He was Secretary to Sir Thomas Fairfax, and at the beginning of the Civil War had served as Lieutenant in the Earl of Stamford's Regiment under the Earl of Essex, (vide Peacock's Army Lists of Cavaliers and Roundheads.) In the Convention Parliament of 1660 he represented Clitheroe in Lancashire. Any further information respecting him will oblige.

Henry Benson, M.P. for Knaresborough in 1626, 1628-9 and 1640, until expelled 2 Nov. 1641 for granting protections to divers persons not his menial servants. He was ordered also to be sent for as a delinquent, and after setting at defiance the Sergeant at Arms, sent to arrest him, was ultimately apprehended by Lord Fairfax in March 1643 and committed to Newgate. Is anything known of the parentage and ultimate fate of this turbulent Member? Was he related to Robert Benson, M.P. for Aldborough in 1673, whose son was created Lord Bingley? On 2 April, 1633, marriage license was granted to Henry Benson of Knaresborough and Elizabeth Dearlove widow of John Dearlove of the same place, he aged 54, Bachelor, she aged 40. (Harl. Soc. Vol.) William Dearlove, one of the sons of the last named John Dearlove, and "a man of very mean or no fortune or condition" (Common Journals) was elected as Member for Knaresborough in Nov. 1641, upon the expulsion of his step father, by a majority of 33 voices over his competitor Sir William Constable who had but 13. The House of Commons notwithstanding resolved that Dearlove's return was “an undue and void return" and that Sir William Constable should be admitted to sit as Member for Knaresborough. William Dearlove appears to have had two brothers John and Thomas, both of whom were ordered by the House to be sent for as delinquents "for rescuing Mr. Benson from the Sergeant's men employed by the House for arresting the said Mr. Benson as a delinquent." W. D. PINK,

LEIGH, LANCASHIRE.

THE CLAPHAM PEDIGREE.-In this Pedigree given on p. 225 of the "Yorkshire Genealogist" it is stated that John Clapham, born 1749, mard. Hannah Lumb of Wakefield, born 16th August 1746, died Decr.