om which is still remembered by some of the older villagers
was the roasting of a sheep by the small bridge on the green on November
23rd in Martinmas week. The children used to go round a few days before,
collecting money for the purchase of the sheep. Although these quaint
customs are no longer continued at Sinnington the green has retained its
picturesqueness, and towards evening, when the western sky is reflected in
the rippling waters of the Seven, the scene is a particularly pleasing
one.

Between Sinnington and Kirby Moorside about three miles to the west is the
site of the priory of Keldholm, but there are no walls standing at the
present time. Kirby Moorside is one of the largest villages in the
neighbourhood of Pickering. It has been thought that it may possibly have
been in Goldsmith's mind when he described the series of catastrophes that
befell the unfortunate household of the Vicar of Wakefield; but although I
have carefully read the story with a view to discovering any descriptions
that may suggest the village of Kirby Moorside, I can find very little in
support of the idea. Before the construction of the railway connecting
Pickering and Helmsley, this part of Yorkshire was seldom visited by any
one but those having business in the immediate neighbourhood; and even now
as one walks along the wide main street one cannot help feeling that the
village is still far removed from the influences of modern civilisation.
The old shambles still stand in the shadow of the Tolbooth, the somewhat
gaunt but not altogether unpleasing building that occupies a central
position in the village. Adjoining the shambles is the broken stump of the
market-cross raised upon its old steps, and close by also is the entrance
to the churchyard. The church occupies a picturesque position, and
contains, besides the Elizabethan brass to Lady Brooke, a _parvise_
chamber over the old porch. This little room is approached by a flight of
stone steps from the interior of the church and possesses a fireplace. It
has been supposed that the chamber would have been used by the monk who
served from Newburgh Priory when he had occasion to stay the night. The
brick windmill, built about a hundred years ago, that stands on the west
side of the village, is no longer in use, and has even been robbed of its
sails. At the highest part of the village street there are some extremely
old thatched cottages which give a very good idea of what must have been
t