ing upon a
tour in Devonshire, two men waited on him to beg certain lands in that
county; while they attended in the anti-room for the royal presence, a
stranger approached, and asked them a trifling question; they answered,
they wished to be alone--at that moment the King entered: They fell at
his feet: The stranger seeing them kneel, kneelt with them. They asked
the favor intended; the King readily granted it: They bowed: The
stranger bowed also. By this time, the stranger perceiving there was a
valuable prize in the question, claimed his thirds; they denied his
having anything to do with the matter: He answered, he had done as much
as they, for they only asked and bowed, and he did the same. The dispute
grew warm, and both parties agreed to appeal to the King, who answered,
He took them for joint beggars, therefore had made them a joint present.
They were then obliged to divide the land with the stranger, whose share
amounted to 240_l_. per annum."

The land formerly used for the priory of Birmingham, is now the property
of many persons. Upon that spot, whereon stood one solitary house, now
stand about four hundred. Upon that ground, where about thirty persons
lived upon the industry of others, about three thousand live upon their
own: The place, which lay as a heavy burden upon the community, now
tends to enrich it, by adding its mite to the national commerce, and the
national treasury.

In 1775, I took down an old house of wood and plaister, which had stood
208 years, having been erected in 1567, thirty-one years after the
dissolution of abbies. The foundation of this old house seemed to have
been built chiefly with stones from the priory; perhaps more than twenty
wagon loads: These appeared in a variety of forms and sizes, highly
finished in the gothic taste, parts of porticos, arches, windows,
ceilings, etc. some fluted, some cyphered, and otherwise ornamented, yet
complete as in the first day they were left by the chizel. The greatest,
part of them were destroyed by the workmen: Some others I used again in
the fireplace of an under kitchen. Perhaps they are the only perfect
fragments that remain of that venerable edifice, which once stood the
monument of ancient piety, the ornament of the town, and the envy of the
priest out of place.

JOHN A DEAN'S HOLE.

At the bottom of Digbeth, about thirty yards North of the bridge, on the
left, is a water-course that takes in a small drain from Digbeth, but
more f