reign of Kenelph, king of Mercia. Betham,
in his "Baronetage of England" (Ipswich, 1801, vol. i. page 476) says
the pedigree of the Thorolds is a "very fine" one, and enumerates its
several branches of Marston, Blankney, Harmston, Morton, and Claythorp,
and of the "High Hall and Low Hall, in Hough, all within the said county
of Lincoln." Betham, and other writers of his class, enumerate Thorolds,
sheriffs of Lincolnshire, in the reigns of Philip and Mary, Elizabeth,
James I. and Charles I.; and Sir George Thorold of Harmston was sheriff
of London and Middlesex, in 1710,--and afterwards Lord Mayor.

Sir John Thorold of Syston is now the chief representative of this Saxon
family; but report says that he delights to live abroad--rather than in
the midst of his tenantry and dependants, to gladden the hearts of the
poor, and receive happiness from diffusing it among others, after the
good example of his ancestors.

III.

FOSSE NUNNERY.

"The Nunnery of the Fosse was begun by the inhabitants of Torksey upon
some demesne lands belonging to the Crown, pretty early in King John's
time; but King Henry III. confirming it, is said to have been the
founder. The circumstance of the foundation by the men of Torksey is
mentioned in King Henry's charter. The Inspeximus of the 5th Edw. II.,
which contains it, also contains a charter of King John, granting to the
nuns two marks of silver which they had been used to pay annually into
the Exchequer for the land at Torksey. In this charter King John calls
them the Nuns of Torkesey."--_Dugdale's Monasticon_, vol. iv. p. 292.

IV.

SAINT LEONARD'S.

Bishop Tanner, following Speed and Leland, says, "Torkesey. On the east
side of the new town stood a priory of Black Canons, built by K. John to
the honour of St. Leonard."--_Notitia_, p. 278. This priory was granted
to Sir Philip Hobby, after the Dissolution: the Fosse Nunnery to Edward
Lord Clinton.

V.

THORNEY WOOD.

In the neighbourhood of Torksey, and, traditionally, part of an
extensive forest, in past times. A branch of the Nevils, claiming
descent from the great earls of Warwick and Montagu, reside at Thorney.

VI.

GRUNSEL.

This old word for _threshold_ is still common in Lincolnshire; and with
Milton's meaning so plainly before his understanding (_Paradise Lost_,
book i. line 460.), it is strange that Dr. Johnson should have given
"the lower part of the building" as an explanation for _grunsel_. Lemon,
in his