Yorkshire Almanac 2025

Unedited excerpt

The excerpt in the book is shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.

And how swiftly doth time run on, and hours, days, weeks, month, years, do pass like a swift river by a city, and never turn again. All things here below are upon the wheel of change, nothing continues in a fixed station, generations of men and women, enter upon, and pass off the stage of the world apace, the sun also riseth and the sun goeth down, the wind whirleth about continually, rivers do run into the sea, and thence vapours do ascend, and are emptied out of the clouds upon the Earth (Eccl. 1 4-7). Yea, the stage itself must be taken down, this visible world upon which are acted so many comedies and tragedies, the two sides of this great globe must be folded together, as an old vesture they must be changed into another form, but (I think) not annihilated (Psal. 102 26). I expect no constancy in this inconstant world. The world passeth away, and the lust thereof. Heaven and earth pass away. The glory of this world fadeth as grass. It shall not be my centre. I will fix the anchor of my hope beyond the vail [the setting of the sun]. The immutable god shall henceforth be my strength, treasure, refuge and portion for ever. Farewell transitory, transient world, welcome a city not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Yea, life itself is short, every day and year added to my life is so much taken from it. It’s a flitting shade, a weaver’s shuttle, a flying eagle, a post, a watch by night, we fly away. How soon are these 60 years of my life past, like a tale that’s told, a dream when one awakes, it’s but t’ other day that I was an infant, a child, a schoolboy, and now I am grown of the older sort, and anon I shall not be here my place will know me no more : my soul must launch into the Ocean of Eternity and my body be laid in a bed of dust. My life is not to be reckoned by years, but months, days, hours, hand-breadth, yea it’s as nothing before the Lord (Psal. 39 4 5). Few and evil are my years, it’s well they are few since they are so evil. Lord, suffer me not to build tabernacles here: and comforts and crosses do also fly away apace, day and night are like two worms that hourly gnaw the root of this tree of life and comforts thereof, yea sorrows also pass as the waters that pass away. I will not be daunted with troubles, nor exalted with enjoyments, both are short-lived: heaven or hell swallow up both. I will look through clouds and thick mists on a fair day beyond, and I will despise these glorious gleams that will end in horrid mists of eternal darkness.

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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.

Comment

Comment

Heywood lived another 11 years.

I’m curious about his reading. For example, one of the few recent appearances of “vail” is in Troilus and Cressida:

Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set;
How ugly night comes breathing at his heels;
Even with the vail and dark’ning of the sun,
To close the day up, Hector’s life is done.
(Shakespeare 1998)

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Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• Death (18) W/G ·
• Ecclesiastes (1) W/G ·
• 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 ·
• Immortality (1) W/G ·
• Nonconformism (47) W/G ·
• 📌Northowram (14) W/G ·
• Presbyterianism (20) W/G ·
• Protestantism (25) W/G ·
• Psalms (13) W/G ·
• Shakespeare, William (1564-1616) (14) W/G ·
• Troilus and Cressida (1) W/G ·

All tags.

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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.

Comment

Comment

Heywood lived another 11 years.

I’m curious about his reading. For example, one of the few recent appearances of “vail” is in Troilus and Cressida:

Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set;
How ugly night comes breathing at his heels;
Even with the vail and dark’ning of the sun,
To close the day up, Hector’s life is done.
(Shakespeare 1998)

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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)

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

5 April 1674: An anonymous message to a preacher

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

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

14 March 1670: The itinerant Presbyterian, Oliver Heywood, is arrested for preaching in a private house at Little Woodhouse, Leeds

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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.

Comment

Comment

Where is Capon Hall/Capon Call/?? Godrey Lawson was mayor at the time.

On 13 July 1670 bailiffs acting under the new Conventicle Act apparently seized the contents of his house to the value of approx. £1550 (2021):

I stayed at home and preached 3 times last lords day – on Monday morning the church-warden and overseer came to this house, told Capt. Hodgson they had a warrant on Sabbath-day night from the justices Mr White and Mr Copley to make distress upon my goods for £10 and bec[?] of my poverty to lay it upon other two men rich: Kershaw and Will Pollard of Wyk – £5 a piece, and some 8 or 10 more their 5s a piece for being at that conventicle at Coley Chapel when I preached there these officers wanted Mr Hodgson’s assistance being an overseer, – on Tuesday morning they came and showed me the warrant, demanded £10 told me it was best to pay, since money cannot be undervalued, but goods may, upon my refusal, they came on wednesday morning i.e. James Mitchel of Crow-Nest constable, Thomas Hanson of Mitham church-warden, Samuel Wadington of Norwood-Green overseer, and brought three men with them, Will Liversidge a joiner and his men, to take down and help to hurry out my goods, they swept all away, three good chests, three tables, chairs, stools, my bed, bedding, curtains — all my goods except a cupboard, and few chairs are gone, – they caryed them to John Appleyards, at Shut, appointed R. Langley, Mic. Empsal – to prize them, they rated them togather with 10 books to ten pound and a noble – cheap penyworths — all this was on Wednesday July 13 1670: blessed be God.

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