"O Jesu I for Thy mercies' sake,
And for Thy bitter passion,
Save us from the axe of the Tower,
And from Sir Ralph of Assheton!"
It would be a curious inquiry to trace the origin of services and other
customs, paid by tenants to their feudal sovereign. Connected as the
subject is with the following tradition, it may be worth while if we
attempt to throw together a few notices on that head. A rose was not a
very unfrequent acknowledgment. Near to the scene of our story, the
tenant of a certain farm called Lime Hurst was compelled to bring a rose
at the feast of St John Baptist. He held other lands; but they were
subject only to the customary rules of the lordship, such as ploughing,
harrowing, carting turves from Ashton-moss to the lord's house, leading
his corn in harvest, &c. This species of service was called boon-work;
and hence the old adage, "I am served like a boon-shearer." It, however,
seems that some trifling present was made in return. In a MS. of
receipts and disbursements belonging to the Cheethams, kept in the time
of Charles II., there is an item for moneys paid for gloves to the
boon-shearers at Clayton Hall, where Humphrey Cheetham, founder of the
college at Manchester, then resided.
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