The following is an interesting and instructive record of one of the family placed in the honourable position of local steward or agent at Rotherham to the great Earl of Shrewsbury in the year 1611 :-" Md to serch the old book of accounts in Henry th eightes tyme whereby it appearith how thes closes (of common lands) have bene letten for herbage for winter pasture and fallowe yeare "—and the first entry is noteworthy :

Thomas Clayton firmarius Comitis Salopie (fermer to th' erle of Shrewsbury) for all ye closes beyond his orchard a dioyninge together (lying along the banks of the Ryver of Don) being as ye first inclosure thereof at iijs iiijd the winter pasture and xs the fallowe yere and afterwards every yeare at five shillings ye herbage to ye towne but sithence with drawne to

-ijs vjd.

If one member of the Clayton family tended towards the clerical office, and another found employment as "fermer " of the large Shrewsbury properties in and about Rotherham, there is abundant evidence, that from early period, others of the Clayton name were settled as substantial and prosperous inn-keepers and wine-merchants. The following entry in the Feoffees' accounts for 1600 speaks for itself :

:

"Item payd Andrew Cleyton, for 8 score and 9 quartes and one pint of wyne, for the Comminiors this year, at 6d qt-4, 4, 9."

This was apparently a year's consumption of " wyne granted to the holders of the extensive Common lands at the audits or days of rent-payments, and these tenants could thereby be the more induced to pay up to the date. Another record, soon to follow, will indicate that this hostelry was in "Ratten Row," now called Church Street, and opposite the church steps.

The association of the Church and Inn in olden times was very general. The Rotherham parish was most extensive, stretching for miles round, and worshippers from a distance would need the hospitable entertainment of the nearest hostelry. The occurrences of baptisms, marriages, burials at the church would render the inn-parlor a very comfortable and convenient place of assembly for the respective companies. Indeed, nothing of a social character could take place in those old days without the quaffing of wine by the better-off people, and the drinking of beer by the ordinary folks. Coffee and tea had not yet been heard of by the English people. Evelyn

records in his diary, May, 1637, how when at Baliol College, Oxford, he was introduced to a Greek gentleman, afterwards Bishop of Smyrna, and he adds, " He was the first I ever saw drink coffee, which custom came not into England till 30 years after." Chocolate was a newly imported beverage from Spain in the reign of Charles, but was only indulged in by the richer classes. Tankards of ale were served up at all meals, early breakfast, noon dinner, and early evening supper. "Rhenish," "Burgundy," Burgundy," "Bordeaux,' Claret, "Canary Sack" were the ordinary wines, and potently imbibed were they by those who could afford them. The old toasts were, at the invitation to a glass or tankard, “Washael "—and the return "Drink hael." An old authority states, The usuall and naturall drink of the country is beer, which, without controversie, is a most wholesome and nourishing beverage." It was an old proverb, that "a quart of ale is a dish for a king." Moreover, the churchwardens enjoyed a special privilege in regard to Whitsun ales, which were the more modern representation of the early Christians' Agapos or love-feasts. The church wardens of every parish used to collect presents and buy large quantities of malt, which they brewed into beer, and sold at Whitsuntide for people to drink together in the churchyard, and even in the church itself, and the profits were given to the poor. Public games and much hilarity accompanied the old custom, and the "Book of Sports"" first issued by James I., and afterwards sanctioned for reading in churches by Charles I., encouraged all these merry-makings and jousts on the greens, after morning services on Sundays, including dancing, bowling, shooting at butts, &c. Now, these old English festivities greatly scandalised the Puritan section of the population, and when the Parliament became supreme after the overthrow of the Royalist forces and execution of the King, severe measures were taken to prohibit all theatrical performances, to pull down all the May-poles, and prohibit all the old national gaity and festivity. But the English nation would never take to such an austere and gloomy mode of living as the Presbyterians and Independents were destined to discover, to their tribulation, at the restoration of the "Merrie Monarch." The abolition of the old holidays,

Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, &c., as being superstitious was a grave misunderstanding of and rash affront to the national sentiment. Fancy, the Parliament ordering and keeping a fast on Christmas Day.

As an old "Song in defence of Christmass," expresses it

"I cannot but wonder, that the souldiers should plunder,

For keeping our Saviour's birth,

For all Christians then, or I cannot tell when,

Should shew forth their joy and their mirth.

But our Saints now adayes, despise good old wayes,

'Gainst which they both preach and pray,

But to give them their dues, they're no better than Jewes,
That speak against Christmass Day."

Even the London apprentices, though so much subject to their Puritan masters, were at length driven to demand, in 1647, some day of recreation, and, happily, secured as a great concession the appointment of the second Tuesday in every month for recreation of scholars, apprentices, and servants. We must take into account national habits, tastes, sports, peculiarities to understand a people. They must be studied from all sides.

OLD INNS OF THE TOWN.

It is, therefore, well to give attention to a remarkable assessment return, of 1627, upon the inhabitantes within the towne of Rotherham, for and towards the disbursementes of the churchwardens for the parish of Rotherham." Therein, we find recorded, "Westside of the churchyard,” “William Clayton, Inkeper-20s. Od." This thoroughfare, then very narrow, was called Ratten Row," not a pleasant name,' says Alderman Guest, who adds, "a large inn, kept by William Clayton, was situate in this Row, which must have been one of the principal thoroughfares of the town." Mr. Guest thinks very reasonably this William Clayton was not unlikely related to Luke Clayton, the Puritan Vicar. This assessment of 20s. was a very considerable amount, denoting the importance of the hostelry, which must have extended considerably with principal buildings. For the "Inne, called the Crown," Francis Dickenson was assessed 30s., showing it was the principal "Inne," being in "Highe Streete." Another inn was that of "The Bull," kept by