There seems to have been no substantial ground for suspecting the loyalty of the Earl of Derby, which remained unshaken through another ordeal, the conspiracy of the Duke of Norfolk to marry the Queen of Scots, and place her on the English throne. But the Bishop of Ross gave evidence, that in Mary's design, in 1571, to escape from Sheffield Castle to the Continent, she was aided by several Lancashire gentlemen; and adds, that she wrote a letter by a little priest of Rolleston's to Sir Thomas Stanley. Sir Thomas Gerrard and Rolleston devised a cypher for her; and they offered to convey her away, and willed the Bishop to ask the Duke of Norfolk's opinion therein. The prelate further stated that Hall told him that if the Queen [Mary] would get two men landed in Lancashire, Sir Thomas Stanley, and Sir Edward Stanley, along with Sir Thomas Gerrard, and Rolleston, would effect her escape to France or Flanders, &c. Upon this evidence Sir Thomas Stanley, Sir Thomas Gerrard, and Rolleston, were apprehended, and committed to the Tower as state prisoners.[87] FOOTNOTES: [75] Allen's _History of Yorkshire_, vol. iii. pp. 421-425. [76] _Gort_, narrow; _gor_, upper, Brit.; _gór_, blood, A.-S. _Gorple_ may mean the bloody pile, or the upper pile. [77] From _Sceot-hull_, afterwards _Scout_ or _Shoot-hill_, and _worth_--_i.e._, the farm or hamlet of the projecting ledge or hill. [78] Dr. Borlase's argument is cumulative. He observes that rock basins are always on the _top_, never on the _sides_ of the stones; that the ancients sacrificed on rocks; that water was used by them for lustration and purification; that snow, rain, or dew, was preferred by them to running water; that it was not permitted to touch the earth; that the Druids practised similar rites, and held rain or snow-water to be holy; and they attributed a healing virtue to the gods inhabiting rocks; that their priests stood upon rocks to wash, sprinkle, and drink, &c. All these considerations, he conceives, favour his opinion that rock basins were _used_, if not _formed_, by the Druids. [79] See Watson's _History of Halifax_, pp. 27-36. [80] Professor Hunt is of the same opinion. See his recent work on the _Drolls of Cornwall_, vol. i. pp. 186-228. [81] T. G. C., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. vii. p. 177. [82] In his _History of Blackpool_, pp. 333-4. [83] Speet, spit, or spittle, are names in Lancashire for a spade. [84] L. B., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. viii. p. 613.--_Bibliographical Notice of the Works of the Learned and Rev. Divine, John White, D.D., &c._ London, 1624; in _Chet. Soc. Books_, vol. xxxviii. p. 52.