RENDERED AT CAISTOR, LINCOLNSHIRE. 241

rendered at Caistor Church, Liucohishire ; the property held by it, which is said to have comprised the Manor of iirough- toii and 2200 acres of land, lies in the parish of Broughton, near Brigg, in the same county, about twelve miles from Caistor, and was sold by auction in 1845, I cannot do better than state the ceremony from the Particulars of >Sale circu- lated in 1845, as the sellers had the best means of ascertain- ing the facts, and were concerned to set them forth correctly : " This estate is held subject to the performance, on Palm-Sunday in every year, of the ceremony of cracking a whip in Caistor Church, in the said county of Lincohi, which has been regularly and duly performed on Palm Sunday, from time immemorial, in the following manner : " The whip is taken every Palm-Sunday by a man from Broughton to the parish of Caistor, who, while the minister is reading the first lesson, cracks it three distinct times in the Church Porch, then folds it neatly up, and retires to a seat. At the commencement of the second lesson, he approaches the minister, and kneeling opposite to him, with the whip in his hand, and purse at the end of it, held perpendicularly over his head, waives it thrice, and continues it in a steadfast position throughout the whole of the chapter. The ceremony is then concluded. " The whip has a leathern purse tied at the end of it, which ought to contain thirty pieces of silver, said to represent, according to scripture, 'the price of blood.' Four pieces of Weechelm Tree, of difierent lengths, are affixed to the stock, denoting the different gospels of the holy Evangelists. The three distinct cracks are typical of St. Peter's denial of his Lord and Master three times ; and the waiving it over the minister's head, as an intended homage to the blessed Trinity." In addition to what is contained in the foregoing extract, Mr. Moore furnished the following information respecting this service and the estate for which it was rendered : " I have never been able to trace this custom to its source. It would appear to have prevailed in very primitive times, and yet the cii'cumstance of the custom requiring the more essential part of the ceremony to be performed during the reading of the second lesson, is scarcely reconcileable with this idea ; but I am induced to think that the custom prevailed long before our present ritual existed, and that it has in this respect been accommodated to the changes which Time has effected in the services of the Church. Unfortunately the title-deeds do not contain the slightest I'efer- ence to the custom. I have no means of tracing the title beyond 1U75. The parish of Broughton is a very lai'ge one, and anterior to lOT.J belonged, with some small exceptions, to the Anderson family ; but whether Stephen Anderson, the then owner of the manor, and the 2^00 acres of land sold in 18-15, was owner of the other jiart of Broughton, which has long been in the possession of Lord Yarborough's ancestors, I cannot say. A partition of the property appeal's to have been made between two coheiresses ; and tho manor and ■^•>;no acres being settled in 177'^ by Sir Stephen Andi^rsnn