It will not be out of place to mention here that Farndon is one of the parishes which keep up a _Rush-bearing Sunday_. Of course this does not imply, as in olden days, the strewing of the church with fresh rushes, which was done for the comfort of the worshippers. At stated times, and generally at the time of the patronal feast of a church, the old rushes were cleared away and new ones carried in, and this was done with due solemnity, and the occasion made into a parochial festival. Now at Farndon, Shocklach, and some other places, the graves are decked with rushes and flowers, and thus the memory of departed friends is cherished, whilst it is a time for reunion of families, and distant members revisit their homes. We can give no account, not even traditional, of the prowess of Patrick de Barton and the other knights whose effigies have been mentioned. They probably would have been worth recording if this had been possible. But Farndon can, at any rate, boast of some distinguished natives. The Barnston Chapel in the church cannot but remind us of some, and specially Wm. Barnston, portrayed in the window there. He died 6th March 1664, and on the tablet to his memory he is thus described: “He was a person of great worth and integrity, ventured his life and fortune with King Charles the First; was sent prisoner from Oxford to London, where he continued till he paid his composition for his estate.” In later years a member of the same family, Roger Barnston, distinguished himself in the Crimea and in the Indian Mutiny, dying of his wounds at Cawnpore; and his deeds are commemorated by a tall stone obelisk by the side of the road in the parish. But Farndon has produced one distinguished man of peace at least besides these strenuous soldiers. John Speed, generally known as the historian, was born here in 1552. He was a tailor by trade, and migrated first to Wrexham and then to London. Here, “under the favour of the Company of Merchant Taylors, he was rescued from his menial employment.” He must, of course, have shown some aptitude for study to have attracted this notice. His opportunities at Farndon cannot have been great, as the school there was only founded in the year of his death. In passing we may note that this place produced another antiquary in the person of Dr. Williamson, who was born at Chilton, a township of this parish, and whose manuscript history of the Cheshire manors (_Villare Cestriense_) has been of much use to subsequent writers. Speed apparently rose to high office in the company, which had just shown its warm interest in education by establishing in 1561 the Merchant Taylors’ School, which has proved such a valuable institution. Queen Elizabeth had two favourite antiquarians--one was Sir John Camden and the other John Speed. The former of these is no doubt the more famous of the two, and his researches have been of great benefit to subsequent historians, whilst his name is perpetuated in the title of one of the History