"_Bachelors of every Station_" (Vol. ix., p. 301.) is the beginning of the
_Berkshire Lady_, an old ballad nearly extinct, and republished by me some
years ago in the form of a small pamphlet, which sold rapidly. If I can
procure one, it shall be forwarded to Mr. Bell.
The story is a true one, and related to a daughter of Sir William
Kendrick's, who succeeded him, and was possessor of Calcot Place in the
parish of Tylehurst, and to Benjamin Child, Esq., whom she met at a
marriage feast in the neighbourhood. A wood near Calcot is where the party
met to fight the duel in case Mr. Child rejected the proposals of marriage
made to him by Miss Kendrick.
I had the account from an old man between eighty and ninety years of age,
clerk of the parish; and my friend Miss Mitford agreed with me in the
accuracy of the story: she had it from the late Countess Dowager of
Macclesfield, an old lady celebrated for her extensive and accurate
knowledge of legendary lore.
In opening a vault in St. Mary's, Reading, last year, her coffin was found
entire, with this inscription:
"Frances Child, wife of Benjamin Child. Esq., of Calcot, and first
daughter of Sir Benjamin Kendrick, Bart. Died Feb. 27, 1722, aged 35.
The Lady of Berks."