Note 173 — ARMTHORPE BELLS.[173]

From a MS. penes Rev. H. J. Branson, M. A., Rector of Armthorpe. It is not now known with certainty to whom we are to attribute the authorship of these lines. They appeared in the "Yorkshire Journal," of Saturday January 19, 1788, a newspaper at that period printed and published at Doncaster, by Thomas Sanderson. In introducing the subject he says, "The following Ballad on Armthorpe Bells was wrote some years ago, supposed by a gentleman of this town, sometime since deceased, and were sent to Mr. Anstey, author of the Bath Guide, nephew to the Rev. Christopher Anstey, the then rector of Armthorpe. They were for some time handed about in manuscript, but having never appeared in public may not prove unacceptable to our readers; and we hope the vein of wit and humour, which runs through the whole poem, will sufficiently apologize for its length." Who the gentleman thus alluded to was we are unable to state. An impression has prevailed that they were written by Mr. Anstey, the author of the Bath Guide; but, in the absence of any positive evidence to that effect, we must assume that the proprietor of the Yorkshire Journal, writing in 1788, when the subject would be fresh and talked about, is more likely to be correct in the statement above made. Mr. Christopher Anstey, the poet, was born 31 Oct. 1724, and died 3 Aug. 1805. The Rev. Christopher Anstey, rector of Armthorpe from about 1771 to 1784, died June 17, 1784, aged 73, and was buried at Doncaster.