INTRODUCTION The district covered by this volume is the south-east corner of the diocese of Lancaster . As Kendal , the only old register in Westmorland , is now in type for another volume of the Catholic Record Society, this leaves only the Preston registers to be printed to finish the parishes of this diocese . There are still four old Missions, north of the Ribble, whoseregisters have not yet been published , Chipping , Lee House, Ribchester and Stonyhurst , all of the diocese of Salford. When these are done and it is hoped that they will soon be dealt with the northern half of the county will be complete. The three Missions included in this volume , Fernyhalgh , Goosnargh and Alston Lane, cover a district of great Catholic interest , because the hill country, lying off the main west route to the north, was an even better country for running to earth than the flat reaches of the Fylde and the history of the Missionary priests, at least, was largely a history of running to earth. So, the woods whichhid the old halls, the ravines running up to lonely farmsteads, and the top of this little world , the Forest of Bowland, all provided grateful shelter when a Bishop of Chester or an Earl of Derby was organising a drive . To walk these lovely fells is to be reminded of Cicero's praise of Athens : Ubicumque vestigia ponimus, historiam premimus. After this the reader will turn to the historical notes for a wealth of information, and he will be sadly disappointed . Nobody can be more consciousof their inadequacy than , the compiler . would need persevering research to do justice to this hidden region . The backwaters of English life in post-Reformation times provide the fullest flood of Catholic activity ; but in proportion to their isolation, the ordinary sources of information are correspondingly reticent. A life-time of research, such as the late Mr. Gillow devoted to the subject , would still yield a mighty harvest ; the district is rich in traditions and I cannot but think there are many old papers which have survived the carelessness or ignorance of generations. These need time and knowledge to discover, and am completely unequipped for the task, being busy about many things and havinghad no previous experience of Lancashire or other records. Therefore have thought it better to confine my historical notes to the barest outlines ; enough, hope, to indicate the story of each Mission, but not such as to suggest that further research would be a waste of time. A sketch can be useful so long as it avows its limitations ; is positively misleading if it pretends to be a history, and in present circumstances anything could produce would only be such a pretence. This, then, must be my apology for the scantiness of the historical notes that follow ; they are a sad decline from the standard set in previous volumes. But at least they have the virtue of putting on no false airs.
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