drawing room. A common shrub of our hedgerows and copses is the spindle
tree (euonymus europeus), so named because of its compact, yet light,
wood was made the spindle of the spinster. An old MS., kept by Sarah
Cleveland, shows how not only the poor but ladies of all ranks, like the
Homeric Penelope and her maidens, practised spinning; the younger with a
view to providing a marriage portion for themselves; whence, until
marriage, they were called "spinsters," a term still in use. [Berenden
Letters of William Ward and his family, of Berenden, Kent, 1758-1821,
edited by C. F. Hardy. Dent & Co., 1901.] It may be here mentioned that
the ancient building in Boston named Shodfriars' Hall, was formerly a
spinning school. In the Parish Register of Wispington, in this
neighbourhood, not only is the female mentioned as "spinster," but the
male is called "weaver," and in the adjoining parish of Woodhall there is
a "weavers' close," part of which is named "tailors' garth," in the same
connection, and the present parish clerk's grandmother, a Mrs. Oldfield,
had herself a hand loom; and in the parish of Minting weaving is known to
have been carried on extensively, an informant telling the present writer
that his grandmother had a hand loom, see _Records of Woodhall Spa_, &c.,
under Minting, by the author. In Horncastle a weaver, named Keeling,
formerly occupied the premises now the bookseller's shop of Mr. Hugh
Wilson; another lived in the house, 3, North Street, now occupied by Mr.
G. Walkley.

{134f} The members of this committee are given as Rev. Jas. Fowler
(Vicar), Joshua Towne (a well-known clock maker, whose clocks are still
valued), Geo. Heald (gent), James Watson, William Maddison, Robert
Boulton, John Spraggings, Francis Rockliffe, and Joshua Vickers (hatter).

{134g} In digging to lay the foundations of the building, a considerable
number of ancient jars were exhumed, which passed subsequently into the
possession of the Chaplain, the late Rev. E. M. Chapman, Rector of Low
Toynton. After disappearing for some years, several of these were sold
in 1905. They are supposed to be Cyprus ware. The present writer has
three of them, others have been presented to different museums, &c.

{135} The only town constable at that time was a feeble old man (it was
said) a former smuggler. He afterwards retired from this post, for which
he was unfitted, and became host of the Lord Nelson Inn, close by the
former scene of hi