st have known Sir William
Slingsby, a contemporary. Finally, Grainge only consulted the summary of
"Spadacrene Anglica" and not the actual work, and it is to be noted that
Deane in Chapter 6 says the first discoverer "so far forth as I can
learn." These words are not in the summary, but they show that Deane had
given care to his work, and if Sir William Slingsby had been the
discoverer, Deane could have obtained his information at first hand, and
would have given Sir William Slingsby as his authority.

Grainge was an eminent and careful historian, and he has written a
number of valuable works. He had the acumen to see that Sir William
Slingsby could not possibly have been the discoverer in 1571, and it is
fairly certain that if he had had access to Deane's work, he would have
rectified the error as regards Sir William, instead of questioning the
accuracy of Deane's statement.

Little has been added to the account of Mr. William Slingsby as given by
Deane, but it has been shown at any-rate that the facts of his life fit
in perfectly with that account.

The medicinal qualities of the Tuewhit Well having been discovered by
Mr. William Slingsby in or about the year 1571, this gentleman did
"drink the water every yeare after all his life time" and averred that
"it was much better, and did excell the tart fountaines beyond the
seas." Much pains were taken to bring the waters into notoriety in the
interests of humanity, and by reason of a pardonable national pride that
the country could boast of a health resort in every way comparable with
the famous German health resort of Spa. Chief among these early
advocates of this home fountain was Dr. Timothy Bright, who is
responsible for naming the well the "English Spa," which name was
apparently adopted by the gentry partaking of the water, whereas the
common folk still cling to the ancient name of Tuewhit Well.

Timothy Bright has had a varied literary history. For about three
centuries he was almost entirely forgotten, and some of his works even
ascribed to purely imaginary authors. In recent years full justice has
been done to his name as the "father of shorthand" following the
publication by J.H. Ford in 1888 of the tercentenary edition of his work
entitled "Characterie," and since that year there has been much written
of him. The curious may therefore consult the works mentioned in the
footnote,[15] but it will suffice for my purpose to give a brief sketch
of his life, not