ABBERTON. 5

Dormston. He resides in the ancient hall or manor-house of Abberton, and although frugal in his own style of living is nevertheless kind and liberal to the poor of the neighbourhood, to whom he lets small allotments of land, and some years ago he presented twenty acres for a, new cemetery to the citizens of Worcester, who, however, were ungrateful enough at a subsequent election to refuse to return him again to the House of Commons on account of his having left the Liberal ranks. A curious custom obtains in this part of the county: the " rurals " celebrate weddings by serenading the house of the newly-married pair at night and firing off guns, pistols, and other explosive weapons—a custom believed to be as "old as Adam," though it is not known where the father of the human race got his powder from. Apropos of marriage customs, there is another curious practice in some parishes of this county, where the ringers after the last peal of the day foretell upon the great bell the number of children with which the marriage is to be blessed. The married pair therefore know what to expect, and can make their preparations accordingly. Abberton church is small, chiefly of the Early English and Perpendicular styles, and contains a Norman font. There is no dissent in the parish. Mineral springs exist here, whose waters, bitter and cathartic, containing steel mixed with salt, are supposed to be little inferior to those of Epsom or Cheltenham. Wheat, barley, beans, and roots, are the main produce of the soil. The principal inclosure of the parish took place in 1776. Among the old names here are Saltway Piece and Puck Pit Ground. The London, Worcester, and South Wales Railway, for which an Act was recently obtained, is intended to pass near this parish, and a station will be erected about a mile from the Hall.