PREFACE.

In addition to the Machel MSS., extensively used by Nicholson and Burn in their History of Westmorland and Cumberland, the Early Records of the Barony of Appleby have been dealt with, very exhaustively, by the late Rev. Frederick W. Ragg, For which see his various articles in the Transactions of this Society. And, seeing that it is the aim of this work not to repeat, intentionally, any matter that has been published before, the author has deemed it wise to confine himself, with a few exceptions, to the Later Records. The few exceptions are gathered from the Proceedings of the Court of Common Pleas, known as the De Banco Rolls, and from certain Inquisitions Post Mortem, all hitherto unpublished, together with a few items to prove the list of Incumbents in each ancient parish.

With this limitation the following disjointed paragraphs can form no complete narrative, they can fill in merely some of the gaps and help to record the building up of the mother churches and schools; the gradual growth of religious liberty as witnessed by the houses set apart for those "defealing " from the Church of England and the subsequent erection of their chapels; the Halls and the social development of the people; the punishments inflicted upon those offending against the common good; the substitution of stone for wooden bridges and their widening or rebuilding to accommodate vehicular traffic; and the construction of the railways.

The unfailing courtesy of Mr. H. B. Greenwood, Clerk of the Peace, by allowing careful search to be made through the Rolls of Quarter Sessions and other County Records, alone made this work possible; and the author is also proud to acknowledge the great assistance of that stupendous work of reference—Mr. W. G. Collingwood's Inventory of the Ancient Monuments.