This singular custom formerly prevailed in Manchester, and it is now common in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, in the parish of Whalley, at Warrington, Bolton, and in some other parts of Lancashire, especially in rural districts, though it is by no means general, and in some places is quite unknown. A Manchester man, in 1784, thus describes it:--"_Lifting_ was originally designed to represent our Saviour's resurrection. The men lift the women on Easter Monday, and the women the men on Tuesday. One or more take hold of each leg, and one or more of each arm, near the body, and lift the person up, in a horizontal position, three times. It is a rude, indecent, and dangerous diversion, practised chiefly by the lower class of people. Our magistrates constantly prohibit it by the bellman, but it subsists at the end of the town; and the women have of late years converted it into a money job. I believe it is chiefly confined to these northern counties." The following [translated] extract from a document entitled _Liber Contrarotulatoris Hospicii_, 13 Edward I. [1225], shows the antiquity of the custom:--"To the Ladies of the Queen's Chamber, 15th of May; seven ladies and damsels of the queen, because they took [or lifted] the king in his bed, on the morrow of Easter, and made him pay fine for the peace of the king, which he made of his gift by the hand of Hugh de Cerr [or Kerr], Esq., to the lady of Weston, £14."[162] On Easter Monday, between Radcliffe and Bolton, we saw a number of females surround a male, whom they mastered, and fairly lifted aloft in the air. It was a merry scene. What humour in the faces of these Lancashire witches! What a hearty laugh! What gratification in their eyes! The next day would bring reprisals: the girls would then be the party to be subjected to this rude treatment.[163] EASTER GAME OF THE RING. In his _History of Lancashire_, Mr. Baines states that the Easter Game of the Ring, little known in other parts of Lancashire, prevails at Padiham, in the parish of Whalley, on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in Easter week; when young people, having formed themselves into a ring, tap each other repeatedly with a stick, after the manner of the holiday folks at Greenwich. The stick may be a slight difference; but the game of Easter ring, with taps of the hand, or the dropping of a handkerchief at the foot, the writer has seen played at Easter and at Whitsuntide in many villages and hamlets round Manchester. PLAYING "OLD BALL."