The manor of Spotland, forfeited by the
rebellion of Paslew, Abbot of Whalley, was granted by Henry the Eighth
to Thomas Holt, afterwards knighted in Scotland by Edward, Earl of
Hertford, in the thirty-sixth year of the reign of that monarch. The
present possessor of the same name, grandson to Sir Thomas, resided at
Grislehurst during the latter part of Elizabeth's reign and that of
James. He married Constance, the daughter of Sir Edward Littleton of
Pillaton Hall, Stafford. One son, Francis, and a daughter named
Constance, were the fruit of this union. At the commencement of our
narrative he had been for some years a widower, and his son was then
absent on foreign travel.
It was in the memorable year 1603, the last of Elizabeth. The rebellion
in Ireland had been smothered, if not extinguished; and the great
O'Neale, Earl of Tyrone and King of Ulster, together with many other
chiefs, were forced to remain concealed in woods and morasses. Outlawed
and outcast, some of them crossed over into England, remaining there
until pardoned by the Queen.
Constance was now in her nineteenth year. Bright as her own morn of
life, she had seen but few clouds in that season of hope and delight.
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