[85] In 1338 the Abbot of Whalley charged certain persons armed “with swords and bows and arrows” with having taken away his goods, and, inter alia, 300 pieces of iron, and from the evidence adduced it appears that near Whitworth (in Rochdale parish), which is adjoining Rossendale, the Abbot and others were accustomed to dig up the ironstone and smelt it. (See Fishwick’s “History of Rochdale,” p. 84.)
[86] Merchats = fines paid to the lord for marriage of a daughter. The above sum was the sum returned to the tenant because it was found that the women were not daughters of villeins.
[87] Treasury Receipts, 21a/3 Record Office; also English Hist. Review, 1890.
[88] Lancashire is said to have enjoyed the privilege of a palatinate in the time of Roger de Poictou, but the evidence is not convincing.
[89] So described on his tomb in Westminster Abbey.
[90] Baines’ “History of Lancashire,” i. 45 (second edition).
[91] The records of this court are preserved in the Record Office.
[92] In 1850 the revenue account of the duchy shows a very long list of estates in many counties. One half of the whole yearly income was, however, derived from Salford, the largest rent being £285 for land in Pendleton. The Corporation of Salford still pay in lieu of tolls a fixed rent of £5 a year. In 1850 the payments from the duchy to the Queen amounted to £12,000, which in 1893 had increased to £48,000.
[93] See Baines’ “History of Lancashire,” i. 57 (second edition).
[94] Meyrick’s “Ancient Armour,” i. 137.