BOOTLE, a market-town and parish in ALLERDALE
ward above Darwent, county of CUMBERLAND, 5 miles
(S.S.E.) from Ravenglass, and 282 (N.W. by N.) from
London, containing 656 inhabitants. The name, formerly
"Bothill," is supposed to be derived from the
booths erected on a hill above the town, for the watchmen
whose duty it was to light the beacon on its summit,
upon the discovery of any ships in the Irish channel,
which might appear to threaten a descent tiponthe coast.
A Benedictine nunnery was founded at Seton, in this
parish, by Gunild, daughter of Henry de Boyvill, fourth
lord of Millorn, to which Henry IV. annexed the hospital
of St. Leonard, in Lancaster: its revenue, at the dissolution,
was £13. 17. 4.; there are still some remains.
The town is pleasantly situated within two miles of the
sea; the houses are neatly built, and the inhabitants
well supplied with water: the land in the neighbourhood
is in a high state of cultivation, and the environs abound
with pleasing scenery. The Corney and Bootle Fells,
eminences in the adjoining forest of Copeland, afford
extensive views; and from Black Coombe, which is nearly
two thousand feet high, may be seen the coast of Scotland,
the Isle of Man, and the Welch mountains. The
trade is principally in corn, pork, and bacon, which are
sent to Liverpool. The market is on Saturday: the
fairs are on April 5th and September 24th, for the sale
of corn, and for hiring servants; and April 26th and
August 3rd, for horses, horned cattle, and sheep. The
living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Richmond,
and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books at
£19. 17. 3-., and in the patronage of the Earl of Lonsdale.
The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a very
ancient edifice, though much modernised by successive
repairs; the interior, which has been deprived of its
original character, contains some interesting monuments
among which is an effigy 011 a brass plate of Sir Hugh
Askew, who was knighted at the battle of Musselburgh
and a large octagonal font of black marble, ornamented
on each side with two ancient shields, and bearing inscriptions
in old English and Saxon characters. There
is a place of worship for Independents, built in 1780, by
Mr. Joseph Whitridge, a native of Bootle, who endowed
it with £1000, vested in trustees. The free school was
founded in 1713, by Mr. Henry Singleton, who endowed
it with £200, which sum, with subsequent benefactions
produces about £20 per annum, as a salary to the master,
who is appointed by the rector and four trustees,
and teaches six boys gratuitously: there are other
bequests for the benefit of the poor. At Selker bay,
a small inlet of the sea, are sometimes seen the remains
of vessels, which are traditionally said to have
been Roman gallies, sunk there at the time of an invasion
by that people; and at Esk-Meots are vestiges
of an encampment, where Roman coins and fragments
of altars have been frequently discovered.