rters,
ending at Candlemas, Whitsuntide, Lammas, and Martinmas, and this was as
common as the present divisions of Lady day, Midsummer, Michaelmas, and
Christmas. In regard to Lammas, in addition to its being one of the days
of reckoning, it appears from the Confessor's laws, that it was the
specific day whereon the Peter-pence, a tax very rigorously executed, and
the punctual payment of which was enforced under a severe penalty, was
paid. In this view then, Lammas stands as a day of account, and Latter
Lammas will consequently signify the day of doom, which in effect, as to
all payments of money, or worldly transactions in money, is never. Latter
here is used for last, or the comparative for the superlative, just as it
is in a like case in our version of the book of Job, "I know that my
redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth,"
meaning of course the last day, or the end of the world. That the last day,
or Latter Lammas, as to all temporal affairs is never, may be illustrated
by the following story:--A man at confession owned his having stolen a sow
and pigs; the father confessor exhorted him to make restitution. The
penitent said some were sold, and some were killed, but the priest not
satisfied with this excuse, told him they would appear against him at the
day of judgment if he did not make restitution to the owner, upon which
the man replied, "Well, I'll return them to him then."

"_Lydford Law_." In Devonshire and Cornwall this saying is common:

"First hang and draw,
Then hear the cause by Lydford Law."

Sometimes it is expressed in this manner; "Lydford Law, by which they hang
men first, and try them afterwards." Lydford was formerly a town of note,
but now an inconsiderable village on the borders of Dartmoor, not far from
Tavistock. It is famous for a ruined castle, under which is a dungeon that
used to be a prison for the confinement of persons who offended against
the Stannary Courts of Tavistock, Ashburton, Chapford, and Plimpton. These
Stannary Courts were erected by a charter of Edward III. for the purpose
of regulating the affairs of the tin mines in Devonshire, and of
determining causes among the tinners, whether criminal, or actions for
debt. The proceedings were very summary, and the prison horribly offensive.
Near Lydford is a famous waterfall, and a most romantic view down the
river Lyd; over which is a curious bridge built with one arch. The parish
is the larg