Yorkshire Almanac 2026

Unedited excerpt

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Having preached in the morning and coming out of the meeting-place at noon, as my custom is to refresh myself in the parlour, I met with a note lying upon the table. I took it up and read it, in these words,

One that hath made some profession of religion, but now finds that they never had their heart truly broken for their sin, and hath great cause to fear that the Lord will no longer strive with her, desires your prayers that the Lord would meet her in his ordinance, and let her find that her conscience is truly awakened by convicting grace.

This note I took notice of, and though I did not read it publicly, yet prayed for her particularly, and god helped my heart in sweet and suitable pleas for her soul. My heart was much affected therein, and so were others’ hearts, as I sensibly perceived by their groans. God made it a blessed note, though from an unknown hand. Blessed be god.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

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• Heywood, Oliver (1630-1702) (34), Bolton-born nonconformist minister and diarist, active in the West Riding, resident at Northowram, ejected for his beliefs W/G ·
• Nonconformism (47) W/G ·
• 📌Northowram (14) W/G ·
• Prayer (7) W/G ·
• Presbyterianism (20) W/G ·
• Protestantism (25) W/G ·

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

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Similar

2 January 1673: Despite Charles II’s Declaration of Indulgence, Presbyterians Oliver Heywood and Christopher Richardson are detained while preaching at Lascelles Hall (Kirkburton)

5 February 1691: Approaching 60, Oliver Heywood contemplates his place in the cosmos

11 December 1680: The Great Comet is seen in Halifax as a natural event, in London – amid Popish Plot hysteria – as a portent

23 August 1681: John Heywood’s is ordained at John Hey’s in Craven

2 April 1683: A domestic dispute at the Heywoods’ in Northowram (Halifax)

29 November 1673: A verse warns Charles II against his brother James, six days after the latter’s marriage to an Italian Catholic

24 January 1680: Miners rob, murder and burn a pit-owning nonconformist minister and his mother and maid at Beeston (Leeds)

24 June 1679: The world’s oldest wool carders?

27 September 1680: The Rev Oliver Heywood manifests disregard for Calvinist views on fasting, for his horses, and for his wife

23 October 1679: Presbyterian emotion at Gisburn, Ribble Valley (West Riding)

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

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Unfortunately 17th century charismatic Presbyterian preachers didn’t use YouTube. What rather puzzles me is Heywood’s use of “melt”. Is it OED’s 3.c. – “transitive. To overwhelm, touch, or soften (a person, a person’s feelings, etc.), esp. by appealing to pity, love, etc.; to persuade, bring round; to delight, thrill” – or its 3.e. – “intransitive To become ecstatic; to yield to rapture or delight; spec. to experience sexual orgasm”? OED doesn’t seem to have the noun form, “melting.” Private and public examples in diverse functional contexts ex op. cit.:

1. God wonderfully melted my heart when Jo Lister and myself were at prayer
2. God sweetly melted my heart, helped me in discoursing extempore on Psalm 56.8
3. God helped my heart, melted several others
4. God wonderfully assisted my head in my Lord’s work, melted some hearts when speaking of this work in young men
5. God melted my heart in secret prayer in the morning
6. In the afternoon, my son, wife and I spent some time in prayer, all excercised, wonderfully melted, oh what a flood of tears!
7. Eliezer prayed sensibly, but John exceeded in self-abasings, meltings, tears

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