Years ago, the Squire of Goathland had a very beautiful daughter. Some old chap with any amount of money, and quite ugly, wished to wed her, and for some unknown reason the Squire favoured his suit; but, as is often the case, the damsel had given her heart to a young farmer in the neighbourhood. The elder lover got it into his head the couple would elope, so he sought the aid of Nanny; and the old hag helped him with a vengeance, inasmuch as she so sorely afflicted the damsel that she could not rise from her bed, and her legs began to die—I don’t quite know what that means; anyway, her limbs became useless. Her father told her that one of the female saints was greatly displeased with her obduracy, and would not restore power to her limbs until she consented to marry the man of his choice. This she flatly refused to do, choosing rather to die outright. The younger lover was distracted; he could not gain any reliable information, and a personal interview was impossible. So he did as every one else did in those days—he paid a visit to the wise man of Scarborough. The wise man, after a considerable performance of his own, placed a seeing-glass in front of the young fellow, desiring him to gaze steadily thereon, and to tell him if he saw the likeness of any one appear. Presently the young chap swore he had seen the face of Nanny Pearson. The wise man, on hearing this, declared that she was the origin of all the evil, and told him to return home, procure by some means a drop of Nanny’s blood, and steal a few drops of holy water; these had to be mixed in a cup of milk drawn from a red cow, and rubbed by him on the soles and calves of his lady-love, when all would be well. This was a strongish order, and well-nigh staggered the young chap. Firstly, how was he to procure a drop of Nanny’s blood? Stealing the holy water was a simple affair, as also was the red cow’s milk; but how to gain admission to his lady-love’s chamber, and apply the remedies when obtained, was not only a task of difficulty, but of danger. Bear in mind this was in the days of dogs and horsewhips, which were often freely used; but then, as now, love laughs at difficulties. Once let him become possessed of a drop of Nanny’s blood, and he would overcome all the other obstacles. On making his trouble known to an old dame in the village, one Janet Haswell, she told him something he already knew in part, i.e. that in a certain field a hare nightly sat, which neither dog could catch nor man shoot; this hare, declared the old lady, was none other than Nanny herself. She further assured him that if he melted some silver and made shot of it, he would be able to hit the hare, and perhaps he might find some blades of grass stained with blood. Most carefully the young fellow carried out the old dame’s advice. He was successful; he hit the hare, and found several blades of grass spotted with blood, which he carefully gathered. Next day Nanny was confined to bed, and for some weeks after. At the time, he alone knew the cause. Having procured a ladder, he invaded his love’s room, and applied the remedy, when she recovered instantly; he then retired. The damsel, rising and dressing herself, descended the ladder, and was conveyed to a place of safety, where she remained until they were wedded. This, by-the-way, I believe is the first recorded case of massage.