"_
[Illustration: MAB'S CROSS, WIGAN.
_Drawn by G. Pickering. Engraved by Edw^d Finden._]
MAB'S CROSS.
"A pilgrim came from o'er the sea;
_Benedicite! benedicite!_
And he brought a ring to that proud ladye.
His grave is wide, his grave is deep;
On that bosom cold he shall quietly sleep:
_Benedicite!_"
The following extract from the genealogical roll of the Bradshaighs is
the principal source from whence this tale has originated:--
"Sir William Bradshaighe, second son to Sir John, was a great traveller
and a souldger, and married to Mabell, daughter and sole heire of Hugh
Norris de Haghe and Blackrode, and had issue," &c.
Of this Mabel is a story by tradition of undoubted verity, "that in Sir
Wm. Bradshaghe absence (beinge 10 years away in the holy wars), she
married a Welsh knight. Sir William, returning from the wars, came in a
palmer's habitt amongst the poor to Haghe, who, when she saw and
congetringe that he favoured her former husband, wept, for which the
knight chastised her; at which Sir William went and made himself known
to his tenants; in which space the knight fled, but neare to Newton
Parke Sir William overtook him and sleu him.
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