CHAPTER III.
AMONG THE PRESTON OPERATIVES.
Proud Preston, or Priest-town, on the banks of the beautiful Ribble, is a place of many quaint customs, and of great historic fame.

Its character for pride is said to come from the fact of its having been, in the old time, a favourite residence of the local nobles and gentry, and of many penniless folk with long pedigrees.

It was here that Richard Arkwright shaved chins at a halfpenny each, in the meantime working out his bold and ingenious schemes, with patient faith in their ultimate success.

It was here, too, that the teetotal movement first began, with Anderson for its rhyme-smith.

Preston has had its full share of the changeful fortunes of England, and, like our motherland, it has risen strongly out of them all.