so thickly (and many buttons were of rare patterns), that it is said to have weighed over 30lbs.—"Jemmy the Rockman," who died here in September, 1866, in his 85th year, was another well-known figure in our streets for many years. His real name was James Guidney, and in the course of a soldier's life, he had seen strange countries, and possibly the climates had not in every case agreed with him, for, according to his own account, he had been favoured with a celestial vision, and had received angelic orders no longer to shave, &c. He obtained his living during the latter portion of his existence by retailing a medicinal sweet, which he averred was good for all sorts of coughs and colds.—Robert Sleath, in 1788, was collector at a turnpike gate near Worcester, and, 'tis said, made George III, and all his retinue pay toll. He died here in November, 1804, when the following appeared in print:—
"On Wednesday last, old Robert Sleath
Passed thro' the turnpike gate of Death.
To him Death would no toll abate
Who stopped the King at Wor'ster gate."
Eclipses, more or less partial, are of periodical occurrence, though many are not observed in this country. Malmesbury wrote of one in 1410, when people were so frightened that they ran out of their houses. Jan. 12, 1679, there was an eclipse so complete that none could read at noonday when it occurred. May 3, 1715, gave another instance, it being stated that the stars could be seen, and that the birds went to roost at mid-day. The last total eclipse of the sun observed by our local astronomers (if Birmingham had such "plants") occurred on May 22, 1724. An account of the next one will be found in the Daily Mail, of August 12, 1999. Oa August 17, 1868, there was an eclipse of the sun (though not noticeable here) so perfect that its light was hidden for six minutes, almost the maximum possible interval, and it may be centuries before it occurs again.
Economy.—Our grandfathers, and their fathers, practised economy in every way possible, even to hiring out the able-bodied poor who had to earn the cost of their keep by spinning worsted, &c., and they thought so much of the bright moonlight that they warehoused the oil lamps intended for lighting the streets for a week at a time when the moon was at its full, and never left them burning after eleven o'clock at other times.
Edgbaston.—The name as written in the earliest known deeds, was at first Celbaldston, altered as time went on to Egebaldston. Eggehaston, and Edgbaston. How long the family held the manor before the Conquest is unknown; but when Domesday Book was written (1086), the occupying tenant was one Drogo, who had two hides of land and half a mile of wood, worth 20s.; 325 acres were set down as being cultivated, though there were only ten residents. The Edgbastons held it from the lords of Birmingham, and they, in turn, from the lords of Dudley. Further than the family records the place has no history, only 100 years ago Calthorpe Road being nothing but a fieldpath, and Church Road, Vicarage Road, and Westbourne Road merely narrow lanes. After the opening up of these and other roads, building sites were eagerly sought by the more moneyed class of our local magnates, and the number of inhabitants now are sufficient to people a fair-sized town. In 1801 the population was under 1,000; in 1811, just over that number; in 1851, it was 9,269; in 1861, 12,900; in 1871, 17,442, and on last census day, 29,951; showing an increase of more than 1,000 a year at the present time; while what the rentals may amount to is only known inside "the estate office." Some writers say that the parish church dates from about the year 775. The earliest register book is that for 1635, which escaped the notice of Cromwell's soldiers, who nearly destroyed the church in 1648; and from an entry in
