Unlike her contem basket invariably hung on her little thin arm. porary, Betty Higgin, of Monsal Dale, we can find no supernatural gifts ascribed to our Lilliputian friend—no case of butter kept from coming, or of child or beast bewitched by her evil eye-indeed, so conscientiously were her last injunctions respecting her coffin observed by the village carpenter, that he was never even revisited by her boggart,' as he had been threatened in case of non-compliance. It is however on record, and we quote it as an instance of the immaculate propriety of her principles, and to silence all future cavillers, that finding her neighbour, Widow Hales (Alice) Thorpe, was living with old "sojer John" as his Omphale, she, after many persuasions, succeeded in making them respectable members of society, by marrying them over the broomstick! Molly, when found dead in her hovel, had attained a ripe old age (between eighty and ninety it was conjectured), although, like many other long livers, she indulged somewhat immoderately in the narcotic weed, that "Little tube of wondrous power, Solace of a weary hour Object of our warm desire, JOHN SLEIGH. Thornbridge. The portrait at the head of this notice, is said by those who remember the "Ashford Dwarf," to be an excellent and characteristic likeness. It is taken from a drawing by the late clever geologist, White Watson, of Bakewell, of whom I hope some day to give my readers a notice in the " RELIQUARY," and shows the little old lady in her everyday costume, as she used to wander about from house to house, and from place to place. "Owd Molly Bree" as she was always called by the "natives," was well known throughout the district, and despite her unclean habits, was a general favourite with all, and had entree into most of the houses in the place. She was perfectly harmless, and appeared to be devoid of that cunning which usually marks the characters of dwarfs. The following note on Molly Bray, from an esteemed correspondent- Mr. T. Brushfield, a magistrate of London, and one of the oldest natives of Ashford-in-the-Water-in reply to an inquiry of mine, will be read with interest: "I fear my information respecting old "Mally Bree" (by which name I always knew her), "Owd Mally Bree," will be very uninteresting. I very well remember the little woman, a poor harmless creature, moving about the village at a very slow pace, using, on all occasions, a short strong staff to lean upon. She was in the habit of making frequent calls on the more Kindly disposed among the villagers in the winter months, squatting down upon the hearth before the fire, at the houses of those who permitted her to do so She had the character of not being particularly cleanly, and I know the persons where she called frequently swept the floor where she had been squatting, I could not call it sitting, for she appeared to cower down without effort, and without any movement of the upper part of her body except the cowering down, as I call it. She was rather a favourite notwithstanding this drawback, and was spoken of, and to, by the villagers, always in a kind and gentle manner, as if her figure and helplessness had stamped the seal of commiseration on the hearts of her neighbours. She looked the picture of simple-mindedness, and far as I ever knew, passed through life respected by all who knew her. Her peculiar habits kept society from her at her own cottage, where she lived alone. I remember well the morning of her death, I was one of the first to enter the little cottage where she lay on the floor dead; it was supposed that her death was caused by a fall, on her attempting to get on to her bed, for she lay with her head near the fireplace, as if she had fallen there and died from the fall; and even for that poor woman many a lamentation went forth, the people of the village felt this poor woman's death had created a blank which I think they would willingly have filled up. I heard several persons, on the morning of her death, express sorrow at her loss. Poor, deformed, and in some sense, offensive as some of her habits were, it was felt that one of the peculiar inhabitants of Ashford had passed away on the day when poor "Owd Mally Bree" had ceased to be a living being in their streets." I have heard it said, that Mary Bray when young was extremely beautiful and sylph-like. If this were so, she must, apparently, have sadly altered as she grew older, but she had nevertheless, even in the wrinkles of her face, but more especially in the remaining brightness of her eye, traces of her former self, which told that she had been at least "good looking" in her youth. It would be well if people of larger growth than poor dwarfish Molly Bray passed through life as harmlessly as she did. She was small, it is true, but her loss seemed to leave a larger void in the village she had lived in so long, much greater than would be felt at the death of one-half of its full-grown population. Derby. LL. JEWITT. ACCOUNT OF SOME ANCIENT MINING TOOLS, ETC., FOUND AT THE HILLTOP MINE, GREAT HUCKLOW. BY BENJAMIN BAGSHAWE, JUN. THE "Hucklow Edge Vein"-a rich vein of lead ore, near Eyam, in the County of Derby-has been worked for about three centuries, being cut down to the water in the year 1650. In the course of recent operations in this mine some silver coins of Charles I. have been met with in the old workings, together with long brass pins slightly ornamented, and numerous tobacco pipes; also two tokens dated 1667.* These, with the articles shewn on the accompanying engravings, were found at depths varying from fifty to seventy fathoms. All the tools shown on the engraving (Plate II.) are made of oak, and have become black and hard. The water bucket or "kibble" in the centre of the illustration is made very narrow at the top to prevent the water spilling when drawn up the shaft of the mine. The small bucket to the left hand of the group had undoubtedly been used for carrying the "boose" (ore and rubbish as drawn out of the mine), along a narrow gate to the bottom of a "sump," or little shaft. The spades are of the rudest make, some of them being entirely of wood, and others "shod" with iron. In the centre of the group one of these "shoes" is shown detached from the wood, while another attached to the spade is shown near it. Amongst the numerous collection of tools which have been found, portions of a "rag pump" occur. This kind of pump is now quite gone out of use in the mines of Derbyshire. It consisted of a short cylinder, grooved, which turned an endless chain with buckets attached at short intervals. The amount of water lifted by this contrivance could not have been *These tokens are one of Tideswell, a mining village of Peak, and the other of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. They are as follows: Obverse--EDWARD ASHE. In the field the grocer's arms within the inner circle. ED. RELIQ.] |