A. D. 1541 given out that the fire had been accidental, but it appears from certain family manuscripts, noticed in "Tickell's History of Hull," that it was a sacrifice made by this high-minded nobleman to avert the consequences apprehended from the contaminating presence of a licentious prince. The "Defender of the faith" offered to present his lordship with £2,000 towards the rebuilding of the castle, but the present was refused; and this once famous edifice was suffered to sink into uttter ruin. KEIGHLEY. Keighley is situated in a beautiful valley, near the confluence of the rivulets Worth and North Beck, which uniting their streams, flow into the river Aire. The houses are chiefly built of stone; the streets are paved and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water from copious springs in the vicinity. In 1835, a Mechanics' Institution was erected, at a cost of £1,050; the building contains a reading room, a spacious lecture room, and a library of 1000 volumes. The Rev. Theodore Dury, for twentysix years Rector of Keighley, and who died in 1850, will long be remembered as one of the most zealous advocates of education for the working classes. In December, 1851, a monument was placed in the church, to perpetuate his memory. The worsted manufacture is carried on extensively, and there are two establishments for cotton spinning, one erected about 1780, by the celebrated Sir Richard Arkwright, father of the cotton trade. A great part of the machinery used in the factories, is made in the town; and there are two paper mills, and several large corn mills. The worsted stuffs of the place are chiefly sent to the Bradford market, and are forwarded by the merchants to their various destinations. In addition to the Leeds and Liverpool canal, which passes within a mile, and opens a direct communication through Yorkshire and Lancashire with the eastern and western sea ports, Keighley has now the advantage of railway communication, by means of the Leeds and Bradford extension. The parish comprises about 10,160 acres, of which 2000 are peat moor; the soil in the valleys is rich, and the land is in profitable cultivation. Its surface is diversified with hills, and their rugged summits, covered with blue heath, contrast finely with the luxuriant verdure of the vales, and the view of the town, as seen from the several heights, is strikingly romantic. The substratum is partly of the coal formation, alternated with sandstone, and near the town are found large blocks of granite, deeply imbedded in the soil. The means of religious instruction are supplied by three churches in connection with the Establishment, and by chapels belonging to dissenters. There is a free grammar school, a national school, and several other educational institutions, so that the interests of the rising generation are properly cared for. A Savings Bank was established in 1819; and there are numerous friendly and benefit societies in the town and neighbourhood. The poor law union of Keighley comprises six parishes or places, and the population, in 1851, was 45,749, composed of 22,659 males, and 23,090 females, shewing an increase of 9,582 since the decennial period of 1841. The number of houses, according to the return of 1851, was 9,031. KNARESBOROUGH. This town, from the vestiges of an intrenchment, and the discovery of numerous coins, among which were some of the emperors Claudius and Constantine, is supposed to have been a Roman Station. At the time of the Conquest, the manor of Knaresborough, which comprehended that town and ten surrounding villages, was part of the demesnes of the crown. The Castle was built by Serlo de Burgh, Baron of Tonsburgh, in Normandy, who accompanied the Conqueror into England, and received this, together with several other lordships, as a reward for his services. In the year 1590, the Castle was repaired under the direction of Henry Slingsby, Esq. In the early part of the Civil wars in the time of Charles I. and till after the reduction of York by the parliamentarians, the royalist garrison of Knaresborough, consisting of a great number of horse and foot, was a terror to the surrounding country; but in November, 1644, after the battle of Marston-Moor, Lord Fairfax appeared before the town, which he took by assault, and on the 20th of December, the garrison, which had retired to the castle, surrendered. In 1648, the Castle of Knaresborough, with several other fortresses in Yorkshire, were, by an order of parliament, rendered untenable, and its massive walls and once formidable towers have ever since been mouldering away. Originally, the site of the Castle occupied a circular space about 300 feet in diameter, overlooking the river; but the ruin now in existence, consists only of a part of the south point of the keep, of dismantled towers, dilapidated arches, and a vaulted room which was used as a prison. A. D. 1819 1066 1648 St. Robert's About half a mile to the south of the Castle is an excavation in a rock, called St. Robert's Chapel, ten feet six inches in length, Chapel. nine feet wide, and seven feet high, formed by Robert Flower, son of Duke Flower, a native of Knaresborough, and twice Lord-Mayor of York, in the reign of Richard I. This he designed as a place of solitary seclusion, in which he passed the remaining years of his life; and after his death, the monks of Fountains Abbey interred him in their monastery. Within is seen the figure of a hermit, in a monastic habit, with his books, beads, and cross. There are various other excavations in the rock; among which is one called A. D. 1752 St. Robert's Dropping Well. The fort Fort Montague, in honour of the Duchess of Buccleuch. An ancient subterraneous excavation in the neighbourhood, called St. Robert's Cave, became memorable in modern times for the murder of Daniel Clark, by Eugene Aram, a schoolmaster, of Knaresborough. This occurrence took place about 1752, but the foul deed remained enveloped in mystery till fourteen years afterwards, when, by an extraordinary train of circumstances, Aram was apprehended at a grammar school, at Lynn, in Norfolk, and being brought to trial at York, the evidence was deemed so conclusive against him, that the jury found a verdict of guilty, and he underwent the penalty of the law at Tyburn, a mile from York, the place of execution at that period. It appears that he attempted to commit suicide while in the condemned cell, but in this object he was frustrated by the turnkey. The defence made by Aram has been regarded as a masterpiece of eloquence and ingenious reasoning; and in addition to the interest which his case excited, owing to this production, his name has been handed down to posterity by Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer, M.P., who, a few years ago, Eugene Aram," a novel in three volumes, which had a very extensive sale. Norrisson Scatcherd, Esq., of Morley, near Leeds, also collected numerous particulars relative to the learned and unfortunate schoolmaster, which he published as a pamphlet, for the purpose of throwing additional light on his history, and of correcting errors that had been handed down as facts. wrote " In the Long Walk, on the south-western bank of the Nidd, is the celebrated Dropping Well, familiar to all tourists. The spring from which this well is supplied, rises at the foot of a limestone rock. After running about twenty yards towards the river, it spreads itself over the top of the rock, from whence it drops very fast, creating a tinkling sound, owing probably to the cavity of the rock. This rock, which is about thirty feet high, forty-five feet long, and forty feet broad, is covered with plants, flowers, and shrubs; and it is supposed that the petrifying principle exists in the water, which abounds with fine gritty particles, depositing them in its descent, and thus forming an incrustation on the bodies met with in its course. Amongst our extraordinary men, few have been more remarkable than John Metcalfe, usually called “Blind Jack of Knaresborough." Though deprived of sight at the early age of four years, he acquired considerable proficiency as a musician, a soldier, a common carrier, a guide, a fortune hunter, and a projector and constructor of public highways! This extraordinary man died in the year 1810, in the ninety-fourth year of his age, having previously published a memoir of his own life, dictated by himself. Knaresborough is delightfully situated on the northern bank of the river Nidd, and consists of several streets diverging from a spacious market-place, which are well paved and lighted with gas, under an act of parliament obtained in 1823; the houses, many of which are of superior style, are chiefly of stone found in the vicinity. There is a subscription library, and news-room, well supplied. The Court House is a handsome building, erected in 1838, at an expense of £2000. The environs abound in beautiful and picturesque scenery; and the town was formerly a fashionable resort on account of the efficacy of its medicinal waters; but these have long since been abandoned for those of Harrogate. The sulphurous spring, at Starbeck, however, is still in public estimation, and excellent accommodations exist for warm and cold bathing. A. D. 1823 The linen manufacture was formerly carried on here to a great Manufac extent, and obtained a very high repute, but of late years it has ture. diminished; though the facilities now afforded by railways, for the conveyance both of goods and coal, must tend to its revival. inconsiderable trade is also carried on in cotton. An The parish comprises 12,382 acres; the soil, though various, is generally fertile, and a large proportion of the population is agricultural: the surface is boldly undulated, and the scenery in some parts highly romantic, and in others, beautifully picturesque. The Church, erected at different periods, is a spacious and handsome structure, in the early and later English styles; it has a beautiful east window, and by a recent erection of a gallery, 850 additional sittings were obtained, of which 620 are free, in consideration of a grant of £300 from the Incorporated Society. On the death, in 1851, of the Rev. Andrew Cheap, who had been Vicar of the parish for nearly half a century, the Rev. James Fawcett, M.A., Imcumbent of St. Mark's Church, Woodhouse, Leeds, was appointed to the vacant living. There is a Chapel of Ease, and churches respectively at High Harrogate, Brearton, and Arkendale; also places of worship for dissenters. The means of instruction, by various schools, are ample; and provision is made for the indigent, by numerous bequests. The borough, though it has no charter of incorporation, first received the elective franchise in the reign of Queen Mary, since which it has continued to return two members to parliament. The right of election was originally vested in the proprietors of the burgage tenements, eighty-eight in number; but, under the reform act, the limits of the borough have been extended, and the right of election is vested in the resident £10 householders. The following gentlemen have represented the borough since the alteration of the law : A. D. 1851 The election of 1851 was caused by the lamented death of the Right Hon. W. S. Lascelles, Comptroller of Her Majesty's household, and one of the brothers of the present Earl of Harewood. On the last mentioned occasion, Mr. Collins was opposed by Andrew Lawson, Esq., without success. The fortunes of this gentleman, with reference to the representation of Knaresborough, have undergone marked fluctuations, he having been twice elected and four times defeated. Among the distinguished men who have sat for the borough in past times, may be mentioned the Right Hon. G. Tierney, Sir J. Mackintosh, and Henry Brougham, Esq., afterwards Lord Brougham and Vaux, Lord Chancellor of England. Population. The population of the parish, and the chapelries and townships included therein, in 1851, was 27,780, of whom 13,825 were males, and 13,955 females, showing an increase since 1841 of 527. The number of houses in 1851 was 6,424. Ribstone. Ripley RIBSTONE, four miles from Knaresborough, is remarkable for being the place where that delicious apple, called the Ribstone Pippin, was first cultivated in this kingdom. The original tree was raised from a pippin brought from France, but died in 1840; the fruit, however, has been extensively propagated, and is still preferred before every other apple produced in the English orchards. RIPLEY CASTLE, five miles from Knaresborough, is a handsome castellated mansion, finely situated in a beautifully wooded park. The apartments are elegant, and in the great staircase is a superb Venetian window, of stained glass, ornamented with a series of escutcheons, displaying the quarterings and intermarriages of the Ingilby family during a period of 443 years. After the battle of Marston Moor, Oliver Cromwell passed one night at Ripley Castle. Courageous Tradition relates, that Sir William Ingilby, being then from home, conduct of his lady, who was ardently attached to the fortunes of the king, Lady Ingilby. received the general at the lodge-gate, with a pair of pistols stuck in her apron strings, and having conducted him to the hall, they passed the night together in different parts of the same room, equally jealous of each other's intentions! At his departure, this high-spirited dame intimated to Cromwell, that it was well he had behaved in so peaceful a manner, for had it been otherwise, he would not have left the house alive. MALTON. This place is of very remote antiquity, and the discoveries made at various times, seem to indicate its importance as a Roman Station. A spacious castle of formidable strength was erected here soon after the Conquest, and destroyed by Henry II. In the reign of James I., Lord Eure erected a handsome mansion on the site of the ancient castle, but in consequence of some disagreement between his grand-daughter and a co-heiress, it was taken down, and |