This circumstance, according to some accounts, was occasioned
by the removal of part of the bells from Burscough at the dissolution of
the monasteries, when the existing spire steeple was found to be not
sufficiently capacious. The tenor bell, said to have been the third
bell, at Burscough, bears some apparent proof of its translation. Round
the circle, below the ear, is the following inscription in black letter,
except the initials of the founder:--
"J.S. * de Burscough * Armig. * et * e * vr. * me fecerunt in honorem
Trinitatis * R.B. 1497."
About half-way down the bell is another date, 1576.
Where each asterisk is marked are the _rose, portcullis_, and _fleur de
lis_. Beneath the inscription a neat border is cast, filled up in the
centre with the _rose, portcullis_, and _fleur de lis_, repeated so as
to occupy the whole circumference of the bell. We have been thus
particular in our description, as it may not be uninteresting to pursue
this inquiry, connected as it is with some important historical facts,
not irrelevant to the subject.
The following remarks may preclude any further observations of our
own:--
"The _red rose_ is well known to have been the favourite emblem of the
house of Lancaster, from whom Henry VII.
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