Visit ebookmass.

com to download the full version and

explore more ebook or textbook

Statistics and Data Analysis for Nursing Research

(2nd Edition ) 2nd Edition

_____ Click the link below to download _____

https://ebookmass.com/product/statistics-and-data-analysis-
for-nursing-research-2nd-edition-2nd-edition/

Explore and download more ebook or textbook at ebookmass.com

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

Statistics for Nursing Research: A Workbook Evidence-Based

Practice 2nd Edition – Ebook PDF Version

https://ebookmass.com/product/statistics-for-nursing-research-a-
workbook-evidence-based-practice-2nd-edition-ebook-pdf-version/

Introduction to Python for Econometrics, Statistics and

Data Analysis Kevin Sheppard

https://ebookmass.com/product/introduction-to-python-for-econometrics-
statistics-and-data-analysis-kevin-sheppard/

Introduction to Python for Econometrics, Statistics and

Data Analysis. 5th Edition Kevin Sheppard.

https://ebookmass.com/product/introduction-to-python-for-econometrics-
statistics-and-data-analysis-5th-edition-kevin-sheppard/

Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis 6th Edition

Roxy Peck

https://ebookmass.com/product/introduction-to-statistics-and-data-
analysis-6th-edition-roxy-peck/
Statistics for Business: Decision Making and Analysis 3rd
Edition

https://ebookmass.com/product/statistics-for-business-decision-making-
and-analysis-3rd-edition/

(eTextbook PDF) for Introductory Statistics Exploring the

World Through Data 2nd

https://ebookmass.com/product/etextbook-pdf-for-introductory-
statistics-exploring-the-world-through-data-2nd/

Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for

Nursing Practice 10th Edition, (Ebook PDF)

https://ebookmass.com/product/nursing-research-generating-and-
assessing-evidence-for-nursing-practice-10th-edition-ebook-pdf/

Geostatistical Functional Data Analysis (Wiley Series in

Probability and Statistics) 1st Edition Jorge Mateu
(Editor)
https://ebookmass.com/product/geostatistical-functional-data-analysis-
wiley-series-in-probability-and-statistics-1st-edition-jorge-mateu-
editor/

Introduction to Research Methods and Data Analysis in

Psychology Darren Langdridge

https://ebookmass.com/product/introduction-to-research-methods-and-
data-analysis-in-psychology-darren-langdridge/
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

Researchers constructing a frequency distribution manually list the data values

(the Xs) in a column in the desired order, and then keep a tally next to each value for
each occurrence of that value. In Table 2, the tallies are shown in the second column,
using the familiar system of four vertical bars and then a slash for the fifth case. The
tallies can then be totaled, yielding the frequency (f) or count of the number of cases
for each data value.
In constructing a frequency distribution, researchers must make sure that the
list of data values is mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. The sum of the
frequencies must equal the number of cases in the sample.
Σf ⫽ N
where Σ ⫽ the sum of
f ⫽ the frequencies
N ⫽ the sample size
This equation simply states that the sum of (symbolized by the Greek letter sigma, Σ)
all the frequencies of score values ( f ) equals the total number of study participants (N).
A frequency count of data values usually communicates little information in and
of itself. In Table 2, the fact that five patients had a heart rate of 70 bpm is not very in-
formative without knowing how many patients there were in total, or how many pa-
tients had lower or higher heart rates. Because of this fact, frequency distributions al-
most always show not only absolute frequencies (i.e., the count of cases), but also
relative frequencies, which indicate the percentage of times a given value occurs. The
far right column of Table 2 indicates that 5% of the sample had a heart rate of 70.
Percentages are useful descriptive statistics that appear in the majority of research
reports. A percentage can be calculated easily, using the following simple formula:
% ⫽ (f ⫼ N) ⫻ 100
That is, the percentage for a given value or score is the frequency for that
value, divided by the number of people, times 100. The sum of all percentages must
equal 100% (i.e., Σ% ⫽ 100%). You will probably recall that a proportion is the
same as a percentage, before multiplying by 100 (i.e., proportion ⫽ f ⫼ N ).
Of course, researchers rarely use a tally system or manually compute percentages
with their dataset. In SPSS and other statistical software packages, once the data have
been entered and variable information has been input, you can proceed to run analyses
by using pull-down menus that allow you to select which type of analysis you want to
run. For the analyses described in this chapter, you would click on Analyze in the top
toolbar, then select Descriptive Statistics from the pull-down menu, then Frequencies.
Another commonly used descriptive statistic is cumulative relative frequency,
which combines the percentage for the given score value with percentages for all val-
ues that preceded it in the distribution. To illustrate, the heart rate data have been an-
alyzed on a computer using SPSS, and the resulting computer printout is presented in
Figure 1. (The SPSS commands that produced the printout in Figure 1 are Analyze
➞ Descriptive Statistics ➞ Frequencies ➞ hartrate.)

3
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

Frequencies

Heart Rate in Beats per Minute

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent

Valid 55 1 1.0 1.0 1.0

56 2 2.0 2.0 3.0
57 3 3.0 3.0 6.0
58 3 3.0 3.0 9.0
59 4 4.0 4.0 13.0
60 4 4.0 4.0 17.0
61 4 4.0 4.0 21.0
62 6 6.0 6.0 27.0
63 6 6.0 6.0 33.0
64 8 8.0 8.0 41.0
65 8 8.0 8.0 49.0
66 11 11.0 11.0 60.0
67 9 9.0 9.0 69.0
68 7 7.0 7.0 76.0
69 6 6.0 6.0 82.0
70 5 5.0 5.0 87.0
71 4 4.0 4.0 91.0
72 5 5.0 5.0 96.0
73 2 2.0 2.0 98.0
74 2 2.0 2.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

FIGURE 1 SPSS printout of a frequency distribution.

In Figure 1, cumulative relative frequencies are shown in the last column,

labeled Cumulative Percent. The advantage of these statistics is that they allow you to
see at a glance the percentage of cases that are equal to or less than a specified value.
For example, we can see that 87.0% of the patients had heart rates of 70 bpm or
lower. This figure also has a column labeled Valid Percent. In this example, the values
in this column are identical to the values in the preceding column (Percent) because
there are no missing data—heart rate information is available for all 100 patients. It
is common, however, to have missing data in actual studies. The percentages in the
column Valid Percent are computed after removing any missing cases. Thus, if heart
rate data were missing for ten sample members, the valid percent for the value of 55
would be 1.1% ([1 ⫼ 90] ⫻ 100) rather than 1.0%.

Grouped Frequency Distributions

The values in the heart rate example ranged from a low of 55 to a high of 74, for a
total of 20 different values. For some variables, the range of values is much greater.
For example, in a sample of 100 infants, it would be possible to obtain 100 different
values for the variable birth weight measured in grams. An ordinary frequency table
to examine the birth weight data would not be very informative, because each value
would have a frequency of 1. When a variable has many possible values, researchers

4
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

sometimes construct a grouped frequency distribution. Such a distribution

involves grouping together values into sets, called class intervals, and then tabulating
the frequency of cases within the class intervals. For example, for infants’ birth
weights, we might establish the following class intervals:
• 1,500 or fewer grams
• 1,501–2,000 grams
• 2,001–2,500 grams
• 2,501–3,000 grams
• 3,001 or more grams
In grouping together data values, it is useful to strike a balance between insuffi-
cient detail when too few groups are used, and lack of clarity when too many groups
are created. For example, if infants’ birth weight was grouped in clusters of 10 grams
(e.g., 1,001 to 1,010; 1,011 to 1,020, and so on), there would be dozens of groups. On
the other hand, for some purposes it might be inadequate to cluster the birth weight
data into only two groups (e.g., ⬍2,000 grams and ⱖ2,000 grams). As a rule of thumb,
a good balance can usually be achieved using between four and 10 class intervals.
Once you have a general idea about the desired number of intervals, you can
determine the size of the interval. By subtracting the lowest data value in the dataset
from the highest data value and then dividing by the desired number of groups, an
approximate interval size can be determined. However, you should also strive for in-
tervals that are psychologically appealing. Interval sizes of two and multiples of five
(e.g., 10, 100, 500) often work best. All class interval sizes in a grouped frequency
distribution should be the same.
Given that the heart rate data resulted in a total of 20 different values, it might be
useful to construct a grouped frequency distribution. Clustering five values in a class
interval, for example, we would have four intervals. The printout for this grouped fre-
quency distribution is shown in Figure 2.1 In this distribution, we can readily see that,
for example, there were relatively few cases at either the low end or high end of the
distribution, and that there is a substantial clustering of values in the 65 to 69 interval.
On the other hand, there is also an information loss: For example, we cannot deter-
mine from this distribution what percentage of cases is 70 or below, as we could with
the original ungrouped distribution. Decisions on whether to use an ungrouped or
grouped distribution depend, in part, on the reason for constructing the distribution.

Frequency Distributions for Categorical Variables

When a variable is categorical or qualitative (i.e., measured on the nominal scale),
you can also construct a frequency distribution. As with quantitative variables, the
variable categories are listed in the first column, followed by frequencies and/or
relative frequencies in succeeding columns. A fictitious example of a frequency
distribution for the nominal variable marital status is shown in Table 3.
With categorical variables, it is usually not meaningful to display cumulative
relative frequencies because there is no natural ordering of categories along any di-
mension. In Table 3, for example, the ordering of the categories could be changed
without affecting the information (e.g., the category “Single, never married” could
come first). Several strategies can be used to order the categories in tables prepared

1
For producing the frequency distribution in Figure 2, we created a new variable (we called it grouphr) by
using the Transform ➞ Compute commands. For example, we instructed the computer to set grouphr to
1 if hartrate ⬎54 and hartrate ⬍60. A procedure in SPSS called “Visual Binning” (within the
“Transform” set of commands) can also be used.

5
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

Frequencies

Grouped Heart Rate

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent
Valid 55-59 bpm 13 13.0 13.0 13.0
60-64 bpm 28 28.0 28.0 41.0
65-69 bpm 39 39.0 39.0 80.0
70-74 bpm 20 20.0 20.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

FIGURE 2 SPSS printout of a grouped frequency distribution.

for research reports. Two common approaches are ascending or descending order of
the frequencies, and alphabetical order of the categories. We ordered the categories
in Table 3 in descending order of frequency.

GRAPHIC DISPLAY OF FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS

Frequency distributions can be presented either in a table, as in Tables 2 and 3, or
graphically. Graphs have the advantage of communicating information quickly, but
are not common in journal articles because of space constraints. By contrast, graphs
are excellent means of communicating information in oral and poster presentations
at conferences. They can also be useful to researchers themselves early in the analy-
sis process when they are trying to understand their data.

Bar Graphs and Pie Charts

When a variable is measured on a nominal scale, or on an ordinal scale with a small
number of values, researchers can construct a bar graph to display frequency infor-
mation. An example of a bar graph for the marital status data from Table 3 is present-
ed in Figure 3. A bar graph consists of two dimensions: a horizontal dimension (the X
axis) and a vertical dimension (the Y axis). In a bar graph, the categories are typical-
ly listed along the horizontal X axis, and the frequencies or percentages are displayed
on the vertical Y axis. The bars above each category are drawn to the height that indi-
cates the frequency or relative frequency for that category. In a bar graph for categor-
ical data, the bars for adjacent categories should be drawn not touching each other;
each bar width and the distance between bars should be equal. Researchers sometimes
indicate exact percentages at the top of the bars, as shown in Figure 3.

TABLE 3 Frequency Distribution of a Nominal-Level Variable:

Patients’ Marital Status

Marital Status Frequency (f) Percent (%)

Married 124 49.6
Single, Never Married 55 22.0
Divorced 49 19.6
Widowed 22 8.8
Total N ⫽ 250 100.0%

6
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

Marital Status of Study Participants

50%
49.6%

40%
Percent

30%

20% 22.0%
19.6%

10%
8.8%

0%
Married Single Divorced Widowed

FIGURE 3 Example of an SPSS bar graph for a nominal-level variable.

An alternative to a bar graph is a pie chart (sometimes called a circle graph),

which is a circle divided into pie-shaped wedges corresponding to the percentages.
Figure 4 presents an SPSS-generated pie chart for the marital status data. All the
pieces of the pie must add up to 100%. The pie wedges are generally ordered from
highest to lowest frequency, with the largest segment beginning at “12 o’clock.”2

Marital Status of Participants

Marital status
8.80% of participants
Widowed Married
Single
Divorced
19.60% Widowed
Divorced
49.60%
Married

22.00%
Single

FIGURE 4 Example of an SPSS pie chart for a nominal-level variable.

2
To produce Figures 3 and 4, we used the SPSS commands Analyze ➜ Descriptive Statistics ➜
Frequencies ➜ Charts for the variable marstat, opting for the Bar Chart option first and the Pie Chart op-
tion next. We could also have used the commands Graphs ➜ Legacy Dialogs ➜ Bar (or Pie).

7
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

12

10

0
0 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74
f

FIGURE 5 Example of a histogram: Heart rate data.

Histograms
Frequency information for interval-level and ratio-level data can be displayed in a
histogram, which is a graphic display similar to a bar graph. In a histogram, however,
the bars touch one another because adjacent values are not distinct categories, but
rather contiguous scores on an ordered dimension.
An example of a histogram is shown in Figure 5, which is a graphic presenta-
tion of the heart rate data from Table 2. Data values are typically indicated on the X
axis, arranged from lowest to highest, and the frequencies (or percentages) are pre-
sented on the Y axis. The numbering on this vertical axis normally begins with 0, or
0%. The height of each bar corresponds to the frequency or percentage of cases with
the specified score value. Note that the line of the X axis is broken, a convention that
is sometimes used to designate a gap between 0 and the first number shown on the
scale (American Psychological Association, 2001).
A histogram can also be constructed from a grouped frequency distribution. As
with a tabled frequency display, it is advantageous to group score values when the
range between the highest and lowest scores is great. Most histograms display no more
than about 20 bars, as in Figure 5. When the scores are grouped, the values shown on
the horizontal axis are usually the midpoints of the score intervals. Computer programs
can be instructed to produce histograms. Figure 6 presents a histogram of the heart rate
data,3 grouped into nine score intervals. Note the curved line that has been superim-
posed on this chart, which will be explained later in this chapter.

Frequency Polygons
Another method of displaying interval-level and ratio-level data is with a frequency
polygon. A frequency polygon uses the same X axis and Y axis as for histograms, but
instead of vertical bars, a dot is used above each score value (or midpoint of a class
interval) to designate the appropriate frequency. The dots are then connected by a
solid line. Figure 7, created within SPSS, displays the heart rate data from Table 2 in

3
To produce the histogram in Figure 6, we used the Graphs ➜ Legacy Dialog ➜ Histogram commands
in SPSS for the variable hartrate. We could also have used the Analyze ➜ Descriptive Statistics ➜
Frequencies ➜ Charts commands.

8
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

20

15
Frequency

10 20%
18%
16%

12% 12%
5 9%

6%
4%
3%

0
50.0 55.0 60.0 65.0 70.0 75.0
Heart Rate in Beats per Minute

FIGURE 6 Example of an SPSS histogram with grouped data.

a frequency polygon. Frequency polygons typically show one score value below the
lowest obtained value and one score value above the highest obtained value.
Sometimes the line connecting the dots is brought down to the horizontal axis to
show a frequency of 0 for these two out-of-range values.

TIP: There are no rules about whether a histogram or a frequency polygon

should be used to display data. By convention, histograms are often the
preferred method of displaying data for discrete variables, while frequency
polygons are more likely to be used with continuous variables. From a visual
perspective, a frequency polygon is more likely than histograms to emphasize
the shape of a distribution, and highlights the notion of a continuum.

12

10

8
Frequency

0
54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76

Heart Rate in Beats per Minute

FIGURE 7 Example of an SPSS frequency polygon.

9
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

General Issues in Graphic Displays

Graphic displays of frequency distributions can communicate information at a glance,
but graphs can be constructed in such a way that the information is misleading or inef-
fective. One issue concerns the grouping of values in a grouped distribution. If the
heart rate data were clustered into two class intervals, for example (55–64 and 65–74),
the resulting histogram or frequency polygon would not be especially informative.
Another issue concerns the height and width of the display. The American
Psychological Association (2001) has published guidelines that are used by many
nursing research journals. These guidelines suggest that the height of a graph (i.e., the
height at the highest frequency) should be about two thirds the width of the X axis.

SHAPES OF DISTRIBUTIONS
Distributions of quantitative variables can be described in terms of a number of fea-
tures, many of which are related to the distributions’ physical appearance or shape
when presented graphically.

Modality
The modality of a distribution concerns how many peaks or high points there are. A
distribution with a single peak—that is, one value with a high frequency—is a
unimodal distribution. The distribution of heart rate data (Figure 7) is unimodal,
with a single peak at the value of 66.
Multimodal distributions have two or more peaks, and when there are exactly
two peaks, the distribution is bimodal. Figure 8 presents six distributions with
different shapes. In this figure, the distributions labeled A, E, and F are unimodal,

A B C

f f f

X X X

D E F

f f f

X X X

FIGURE 8 Examples of distributions with different shapes.

10
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

while B, C, and D are multimodal. Distributions B and D have two peaks, and thus
can also be described as bimodal.

Symmetry and Skewness

Another aspect of a distribution’s shape concerns symmetry. A distribution is
symmetric if the distribution could be split down the middle to form two halves that
are mirror images of one another. In Figure 8, distributions A through C are symmet-
ric, while D through F are not.
Distributions of actual study data are rarely as perfectly symmetric as those
shown in Figure 8. For example, the distribution of heart rate values in Figure 7 is
roughly symmetric, and researchers would likely characterize the data as symmetri-
cally distributed. Minor departures from perfect symmetry are usually ignored when
describing the shapes of data distributions.
In asymmetric distributions, the peaks are off center, with a bulk of scores
clustering at one end, and a tail trailing off at the other end. Such distributions are
often described as skewed, and can be described in terms of the direction of the
skew. When the longer tail trails off to the right, as in D and E of Figure 8, this is a
positively skewed distribution. An example of an attribute that is positively skewed
is annual income. In most countries, most people have low or moderate incomes and
would cluster to the left, and the relatively small numbers in upper income brackets
would be distributed in the tail. When a skewed distribution has a long tail pointing
to the left (Figure 8, F), this is a negatively skewed distribution. For example, if we
constructed a frequency polygon for the variable age at death, we would have a neg-
atively skewed distribution: Most people would be at the far right side of the distri-
bution, with relatively few people dying at a young age.
Skewness and modality are independent aspects of a distribution’s shape. As
Figure 8 shows, a distribution can be multimodal and skewed (D), or multimodal and
symmetric (B and C)—as well as unimodal and skewed (E and F), or unimodal and
symmetric (A).
Statisticians have developed methods of quantifying a distribution’s degree of
skewness. These skewness indexes are rarely reported in research reports, but they can
be useful for evaluating whether statistical tests are appropriate. A skewness index can
readily be calculated by most statistical computer programs in conjunction with fre-
quency distributions. The index has a value of 0 for a perfectly symmetric distribution,
a positive value if there is a positive skew, and a negative value if there is a negative
skew. For the heart rate data (Figure 7), the skewness index is ⫺.20, indicating a very
modest negative skew.

TIP: In SPSS, if you request information about skewness within the

Frequency procedure, you will get a value for both the skewness index and
a standard error. As a rough guide, a skewness index that is more than
twice the value of its standard error can be interpreted as a departure from
symmetry. In our example, the skewness index of ⴚ.20 was smaller than
the standard error (.24), indicating that the heart rate distribution is not
markedly skewed.

Kurtosis
A third aspect of a distribution’s shape concerns how pointed or flat its peak is—that
is, the distribution’s kurtosis. Two distributions with different peakedness are super-
imposed on one another in Figure 9. Distribution A in this figure is more peaked, and

11
Visit https://ebookmass.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
Plus, don’t miss out on exciting offers that
let you access a wealth of knowledge at the
best prices!
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

A–Leptokurtic

B–Platykurtic

X
FIGURE 9 Example of distributions with different kurtoses.

would be described as a leptokurtic (from the Greek word lepto, which means thin)
distribution. Distribution B is flatter, and is a platykurtic (from the Greek word
platy, which means flat) distribution.
As with skewness, there is a statistical index of kurtosis that can be computed
when computer programs are instructed to produce a frequency distribution. For the
kurtosis index, a value of 0 indicates a shape that is neither flat nor pointed (e.g.,
distribution A in Figure 8). Positive values on the kurtosis statistic indicate greater
peakedness, and negative values indicate greater flatness. For the heart rate data
displayed in Figure 8, the kurtosis index is ⫺.55 (with a standard error of .48), indi-
cating a distribution that is only slightly more platykurtic than leptokurtic.

The Normal Distribution

A distribution that has special importance in statistical analysis is the normal distri-
bution (also known as the bell-shaped curve, normal curve, or Gaussian
distribution). A normal distribution is one that is unimodal, symmetric, and not too
peaked or flat. Figure 8 (A) illustrates a distribution that is normal. The normal dis-
tribution was given its name by the French mathematician Quetelet who, in the early
19th century, noted that many human attributes—such as height, weight, intelli-
gence, and so on—appeared to be distributed according to this shape. Most people
are in the middle range with respect to say, height, with the number tapering off at
either extreme: Few adults are under 5 feet tall, for example, and similarly few are
over 7 feet tall.

TIP: Because of the importance of normal distributions in statistical

analysis, some computer programs have a command that allows
researchers to examine visually the extent to which their data approximate
a normal distribution. For example, SPSS has an option to display the
actual distribution for a variable, with a normal distribution superimposed,
as illustrated in Figure 6. When this option is selected, it can readily be
seen how “far off” the distribution is from being normal.

12
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

RESEARCH APPLICATIONS OF FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS

Readers who have some experience reading research reports in professional journals
may have noticed that most journal articles do not present entire frequency distribu-
tions in either tabular or graphic form. This does not mean, however, that frequency
distributions are unimportant in data analysis. This section examines some of the
main reasons for constructing frequency distributions, and offers suggestions for
reporting frequency distribution information in reports.

The Uses of Frequency Distributions

There are many reasons for constructing frequency distributions within a research context,
several of which are described here.
1. Becoming familiar with the dataset Most researchers routinely begin their
data analysis by instructing a computer program to construct frequency distri-
butions on all or most variables in their dataset. Researchers want to make
sense of their data, and a good place to begin is to inspect the data after they
have been organized in frequency distributions. The initial inspection usually
involves tabled displays, as in Figure 1.
2. Cleaning the data Data that have been entered into a computer file for sub-
sequent analysis almost always contain some errors. One aspect of data cleaning
involves a search for outliers—that is, values that lie outside the normal range
of values for other cases. Outliers can be found by inspecting the values in a
frequency distribution, with special scrutiny of the highest and lowest values.
For some variables, outliers are legitimate. For example, a question about
sample members’ annual income might yield responses primarily in the
$20,000 to $200,000 range, but a response of $2 million could be legitimate. In
many cases, however, outliers indicate an error in data entry that needs to be
corrected. There are also situations in which frequency distributions reveal a
code that is impossible. For example, Figure 10 presents a frequency distribu-
tion for responses to the question, “Have you had a mammogram in the past 12
months?” In this example, only the codes 1 (yes) and 2 (no) are valid
responses. The codes 3 and 5 are wild codes resulting from data entry errors.
In this situation, the researcher would need to identify the four cases with the
improper codes (three cases coded 3 plus one case coded 5), determine the
correct codes, and then make the needed corrections. After data cleaning is
completed, a new set of frequency distributions should be run to make sure
that the problems have been corrected as intended.

TIP: Within SPSS, you can get help with outliers through the
commands Analyze ➜ Descriptive Statistics ➜ Explore ➜ Statistics
for the variable in question. This will show the five highest and five
lowest values, and the case numbers with these values in the data file
so that corrections, if needed, can readily be made.

3. Inspecting the data for missing values Researchers strive for a rectangular
matrix of data—data for all participants for all key variables. This ideal is sel-
dom achieved, and so researchers must decide how to handle missing values. The
first step is to determine the extent of the problem by examining frequency dis-
tributions on a variable-by-variable basis. In Figure 10, only one case (1% of

13
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

Frequencies

Mammogram in past year?

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent

Valid Yes 23 23.0 23.2 23.2

No 72 72.0 72.7 96.0
3 3 3.0 3.0 99.0
5 1 1.0 1.0 100.0
Total 99 99.0 100.0
Missing System 1 1.0
Total 100 100.0

FIGURE 10 SPSS printout of a frequency distribution with wild codes and missing data.

the sample) had a missing value (in this case, a “system missing” or blank) on the
mammogram question.
4. Testing assumptions for statistical tests Many widely used inferential sta-
tistics are based on a number of assumptions. In statistics, an assumption is
a condition that is presumed to be true and, when ignored or violated, can
lead to misleading or invalid results. Many inferential statistics assume, for
example, that variables in the analysis (usually the dependent variables) are
normally distributed. Frequency distributions and the associated indexes for
skewness and kurtoses provide researchers with information on whether the
key research variables conform to this assumption—although there are addi-
tional ways to examine this. When variables are not normally distributed, re-
searchers have to choose between three options: (1) Select a statistical test
that does not assume a normal distribution; (2) Ignore the violation of the
assumption—an option that is attractive if the deviation from normality is
modest; or (3) Transform the variable to better approximate a distribution
that is normal. Various data transformations can be applied to alter the dis-
tributional qualities of a variable, and the transformed variable can be used
in subsequent analyses. Some data transformation suggestions are shown in
Table 4.
5. Obtaining information about sample characteristics Frequency distribu-
tions are used to provide researchers with descriptive information about the
background characteristics of their sample members. This information is often
of importance in interpreting the results and drawing conclusions about the
ability to generalize the findings. For example, if a frequency distribution
revealed that 80% of study participants were college graduates, it would be im-
prudent to generalize the findings to less well-educated people.
6. Directly answering research questions Although researchers typically use
inferential statistics to address their research questions, descriptive statistics
are sometimes used to summarize substantive information in a study. For ex-
ample, Lauver, Worawong, and Olsen (2008) asked a sample of primary care
patients what their health goals were. They presented several descriptive tables
with frequency and relative frequency (percentage) information. For instance,
as their primary health goal, 40% of participants (N ⫽ 24) said they wanted to
get in better shape and 30% (N ⫽ 18) wanted to lose weight. Only 6.7% (N ⫽ 4)
mentioned the desire to manage stress as their primary goal.

14
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

TABLE 4 Data Transformations for Distribution Problems

Problem Type of Transformation SPSS Functiona, b

Positive skew, moderate Square root newvar ⫽ SQRT (var)
Positive skew, substantial Base 10 logarithmic newvar ⫽ LG10 (var)
Positive skew, severe Inverse newvar ⫽ 1 ⫼ var
Negative skew, moderate Reversed square root newvar ⫽ SQRT (K ⫺ var)
Negative skew, substantial Reversed base 10 logarithmic newvar ⫽ LG10 (K ⫺ var)
Negative skew, severe Reversed inverse newvar ⫽ 1 ⫼ (K ⫺ var)
a
Within SPSS, a new variable would be created through the Transform ➞ Compute Variable
command. The new variable (newvar) would be set equal to a mathematical function of the original
variable (var). The SQRT and LG10 functions are in the “Arithmetic” function group of the Compute
Variable dialog box.
b
K is a value from which each score is subtracted, such that the smallest score ⫽ 1; K is set equal to
the highest score value in the distribution ⫹ 1.

The Presentation of Frequency Information in Research Reports

Frequency distributions are rarely presented in full in research journal articles
because of space constraints and because full distributional information is rarely of
interest. Tables and figures take a lot of space and are usually reserved for presenting
more complex information. Take, for example, the marital status information shown
in Table 3 and in graphic form in Figures 3 and 4. This information could be more ef-
ficiently reported as text:
Nearly half (49.6%) of the sample was married, while 22.0% had never been
married, 19.6% were divorced or separated, and 8.8% were widowed.

Note that results are always reported in the past tense, not the present tense.
Results reflect measurements taken on a sample of study participants at a particular
time in the past.
The publication guidelines of the American Psychological Association (2001)
advise that tables should not be used for simple data presentations (e.g., one column
by five or fewer rows, or two columns by two rows). Frequency information is most
likely to be presented in a table or figure when several variables are being reported
simultaneously, or when there is a time dimension.

TIP: Whenever you include tables or figures in a report, they should be

numbered (e.g., Table 1, Figure 2), and cited in the text of the report.

Tables with frequency information often are used to summarize the back-
ground characteristics of study participants. For example, Liu and co-researchers
(2008) studied the effects of age and sex on health-related quality of life among pa-
tients with kidney transplantation. Table 5, an adaptation of a table in their report,
shows frequency distributions for three background variables. Two variables, sex
and race, are nominal-level variables. Age is a ratio-level variable, shown here in a
grouped frequency distribution with five class intervals. This method of presentation
is efficient, because it provides readers with a quick summary of important sample
characteristics.
Researchers are most likely to present substantive frequency information in
tables or graphs when there are several variables that have the same codes or score

15
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

TABLE 5 Example of Table with Frequency Distribution Information

for Sample Description

Participants’ Characteristics Number %

Sex
Male 72 52.2
Female 66 47.8
Age
25–34 20 14.5
35–44 31 22.5
45–54 44 31.9
55–64 30 21.7
ⱖ65 13 9.4
Race
White/Caucasian 106 76.8
Other 32 23.2
Total Number 138

Adapted from the study by Liu et al. (2008) of patients with kidney transplantation, using
information from their Table 1 (p. 85), titled “Samples and Demographic Data.”

values, so that an entire matrix of frequency information can be presented simultane-

ously. For example, Kennedy-Malone, Fleming, and Penny (2008) studied prescrib-
ing patterns among gerontologic nurse practitioners. Their report included a table
(an abbreviated, adapted version of which is shown in Table 6) that showed the fre-
quency with which the nurse practitioners in their sample prescribed 29 medications
deemed inappropriate for people aged 65 and older. Such a matrix, with multiple
medications and three response categories, presents a wealth of descriptive frequency
information in a compact format.
In summary, frequency information is often presented in the text of a research
report—typically as percentages—rather than in graphs or tables. Yet, when multiple
variables or multiple data collection points can be presented simultaneously, a

TABLE 6 Example of Frequency Distributions for Multiple Variables

Medications Prescribed Inappropriately by Gerontological

Nurse Practitioners (N ⴝ 234)

Never Occasionally Frequently

Medicationa % % %

Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) 44 48 8
Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) 55 39 6
Amitriptyline (Elavil) 60 35 5
Ticlopidine (Ticlia) 74 23 3
Diazepam (Valium) 80 18 2
Chlorzoxazone (Parafon Forte) 90 9 1
Propantheline 98 2 0
a
A selected, illustrative list; the original table included 29 medications
Adapted from Table 4 in Kennedy-Malone et al. (2008), titled “GNPs Patterns of Inappropriate
Prescribing Based on the 1997 Modified Beers Criteria.”

16
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

frequency graph or table can be quite efficient. Even though graphs require consider-
able space, they do have an arresting quality that captures people’s attention, and so
are preferred in any type of oral presentation where space constraints are not an
issue. They also can be very effective if used sparingly in reports to emphasize or
clarify important pieces of information.

Tips on Preparing Tables and Graphs for Frequency Distributions

Although frequency distributions are not often presented in tables or graphs in research
reports, following are a few tips for preparing them. Some of these tips also apply to
displays of other statistical information.
• When percentage information is being presented, it is generally not necessary
(or desirable) to report the percentages to two or more decimal places. For
example, a calculated percentage of 10.092% usually would be reported as
10.1% or, sometimes, 10%.
• In reporting percentages, the level of precision should be consistent through-
out a specific table or figure. Thus, if the percentages in a distribution were
10.1%, 25%, and 64.9%, they should be reported either as 10%, 25%, and 65%
or 10.1%, 25.0%, and 64.9%.
• A reader should be able to interpret graphs and tables without being forced to
refer to the text. Thus, there should be a good, clear title and well-labeled
headings (in a table) or axes (in a graph). With frequency information, the
table should include information on the total number of cases (N) on which the
frequencies were based. Acronyms and abbreviations should be avoided or
explained in a note.
• Occasionally there is a substantive reason for showing how much missing
information there was. For example, if we were asking people about whether
they used illegal drugs, it might be important to indicate what percentage of
respondents refused to answer the question. In most cases, however, missing
information is not presented, and only valid percentages are shown.

TIP: If you are preparing figures or charts for a poster or slide

presentation at a conference, charts created by programs like SPSS, Excel,
or Word may suffice. However, for publication in journals, it may be
necessary to hire a graphic artist to create professional images. You can
also consult books such as those by Few (2004) or Wallgren, Wallgren,
Persson, Jorner, and Haaland (1996) for additional guidance on how to
prepare statistical graphs.

Research Example
Almost all research reports include some information on Study Purpose: The purpose of this research was to de-
frequencies or relative frequencies. Here we describe a scribe patterns of physical injuries reported on hospital
published study that used frequency information exten- visits for assault among women during their pregnancy
sively. or postpartum period.
Study: “Physical injuries reported in hospital visits for Research Design: Using hospital records (linked to
assault during the pregnancy-associated period” (Nannini natality records) in Massachusetts during the period
et al., 2008). 2001 to 2005, the researchers obtained data for a sample

17
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

of 1,468 women for 1,675 hospital visits for assault. The (ordinal), and age (ratio level, but shown in a grouped
first physical injury was noted for each visit that had a frequency distribution with five class intervals: ⬍20,
physical injury diagnostic code (N ⫽ 1,528 visits). 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, and 35⫹).
Key Variables: The hospital records data were used to Key Findings: The women in this sample of assaulted
describe the distribution of physical injuries by body re- pregnant or postpartum women tended to be young
gion and nature of the injury. The variable body region, a (64.0% were under age 25) and single (82.6% were un-
nominal-level variable, had five categories: head and married). The distribution of injuries indicated that the
neck, spine and back, torso, extremities, and unclassifi- women’s head and neck were the most commonly in-
able. Nature of injury, another categorical variable, had jured body regions (42.2% overall). Injuries to the torso
six categories: fracture, sprain, open wound, contusion, were observed for 21.5% of the pregnant women and
system wide, and other. The researchers also had data 8.7% of the postpartum women. In terms of nature of the
regarding the women’s characteristics, including race/ injury, the most prevalent type was contusions, observed
ethnicity and marital status (nominal variables), education for 46.5% of the women.

Summary Points
• A frequency distribution is a simple, effective way interval and ratio data are usually presented in
to impose order on data. A frequency distribution or- histograms or frequency polygons.
ders data values in a systematic sequence (e.g., from • Data for a variable can be described in terms of the
lowest to highest), with a count of the number of shape of the frequency distribution. One aspect of
times each value was obtained. The sum of all the shape is modality: A unimodal distribution has
frequencies (Σ f ) must equal the sample size (N). one peak or high value, but if there are two or
• In a frequency distribution, information can be pre- more peaks it is multimodal.
sented as absolute frequencies (the counts), relative • Another aspect of shape concerns symmetry: A
frequencies (that is, percentages), and cumulative symmetric distribution is one in which the two
relative frequencies (cumulative percentages for a halves are mirror images of one another.
given value plus all the values that preceded it). • A skewed distribution is asymmetric, with the
• When there are numerous data values, it may be peak pulled off center and one tail longer than the
preferable to construct a grouped frequency other. A negative skew occurs when the long tail
distribution, which involves grouping together is pointing to the left, and a positive skew occurs
values into class intervals. when the long tail points to the right.
• Frequency distribution information can be pre- • A third aspect of a distribution’s shape is kurtosis:
sented in graphs as well as in tables. Graphs in- Distributions with sharp, thin peaks are
volve plotting the score values on a horizontal axis leptokurtic, while those with smooth, flat peaks
(the X axis) and frequencies or percentages on the are platykurtic.
vertical axis (the Y axis). • A special distribution that is important in statistics
• Nominal (and some ordinal) data can be displayed is known as the normal distribution (bell-shaped
graphically in bar charts or pie charts, while curve), which is unimodal and symmetric.

Exercises
The following exercises cover concepts presented in this chap- PART A EXERCISES
ter. Answers to Part A exercises are indicated with a dagger (†)
are provided here. Exercises in Part B involve computer analy- † A1. The following data represent the number of times that a
ses using the datasets and answers and comments are offered sample of nursing home residents who were aged 80 or
on the Web site. older fell during a 12-month period.

18
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

0 3 4 1 0 2 0 1 2 0 † B2. Re-run the frequency distribution for racethn. This time, use
1 0 0 1 2 5 0 1 0 1 the toolbar with icons that is second from the top. Put the
0 2 1 0 1 1 3 2 1 0 mouse pointer over the icons, from left to right. Find the icon
1 3 1 1 0 4 6 1 0 1 (likely to be the fourth one) that has a “Tool Tip” that reads
“Recall recently used dialogs” when you use the mouse
Construct a frequency distribution for this set of data, pointer.
showing the absolute frequencies, relative frequencies, and
cumulative relative frequencies.
† A2. Using information from the frequency distribution for Recall recently used dialogs
Exercise A1, answer the following:
(a) What percentage of the nursing home residents had at Click on this icon—it will bring up a list of recently used
least one fall? analytic commands. The “Frequencies” command should
(b) What number of falls was the most frequent in this be at the top of the list because it is the one most recently
sample? used, so using this “dialog recall” feature is a useful
(c) What number of falls was the least frequent in this shortcut when running multiple analyses with different
sample? variables. For this run, when the Frequencies dialog box
(d) What percentage of residents had two or fewer falls? appears, click on the “Charts” pushbutton, and then select
(e) What is the total size of the sample? “Bar Chart” and “Percentages.” Compare the tabled versus
(f) Are there any outliers in this dataset? graphic results from Exercises B1 and B2.
A3. Draw a frequency histogram for the data shown in Exercise † B3. Now execute the SPSS Frequency command once again for
A1. Now superimpose a frequency polygon on the his- the variable higrade, highest grade of education for partici-
togram. Using a ruler, measure the height and width of your pants (Variable 6). (If you do this analysis right after the pre-
graphs: Is the height about two thirds of the width? vious one, you will need to remove the variable racethn
from the variable list with the arrow push button, and then
† A4. Describe the shape of the frequency distribution drawn in
Exercise A3 in terms of modality and skewness. Is the move higrade into the list for analysis.) Examine the fre-
number of falls normally distributed? quency distribution information and answer these questions:
A5. If you wanted to display information on patients’ age (a) What percentage of women completed 16 years of
using the data in Table 5, would you construct a histogram, education?
bar graph, frequency polygon, or pie chart? Defend your (b) What percentage of women had 10 years or less of
selection, and then construct such a graph. education?
(c) How many women had exactly 12 years of education?
PART B EXERCISES † B4. Now focus on missing data for the variable higrade, using
the same frequency distribution output as in Exercise B3.
† B1. Using the SPSS dataset Polit2SetA, create a frequency distri- Answer these questions:
bution for the variable racethn. You can do this by clicking (a) How many cases altogether had valid information, and
on Analyze (on the top toolbar menu), then select what percentage of the overall sample did these cases
Descriptive Statistics from the pull-down menu, then represent?
Frequencies. (b) How many different types of missing values were there?
(c) What were the missing value codes (available by look-
ing at the Variable View screen of the Data Editor, or
in the Codebook)?
(d) What do these missing values codes mean?
† B5. Re-run the frequency distribution for higrade. This time,
when the dialog box comes up, click the pushbutton for
This will bring up a dialog box (this is true in almost “Statistics.” When a new dialog box appears that asks
all SPSS menu options) in which you can designate the which statistics you would like, click the “Skewness” and
variables of interest and specify certain statistical or output “Kurtosis” options that appear in the lower right section
options. For this exercise, click on the variable racethn under the heading “Distribution.” Then return to the main
(the fourth variable in the list) and then click on the arrow dialog box (Click Continue) and click OK. Examine the
in the middle of the dialog box to move this variable into resulting output and then answer these questions:
the list for analysis. Then click OK. Based on the output (a) What are the values for the skewness and kurtosis in-
you have created, answer these questions: dexes?
(a) What percentage of women in this study were “White, (b) Based on the information shown on the output,
not Hispanic”? would you conclude that this variable is normally
(b) Does the column for “Cumulative Percent” yield distributed?
meaningful information for this variable? (c) How would you describe the distribution of scores?

19
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

† B6. Re-run the frequency distribution for higrade a third time. (Continue) and hit OK. Examine the table labeled Extreme
Now, when the initial dialog box opens, click the pushbut- Values. It will show the highest five values and the lowest
ton for “Charts.” When a new dialog box appears, click on five values for the designated variable—i.e., potential out-
“Histogram” and “With normal curve.” Return to the main liers. Answer these questions:
dialog box and click on OK. Examine the resulting output (a) What is the grade for the highest value? How many
and then answer these questions: cases had this value? Would you consider this value an
(a) Did the SPSS program produce a histogram with orig- outlier?
inal values or class intervals—and, if the latter, what (b) What are the grades for the lowest value? How many
class interval did the SPSS program use? cases had each value? Would you consider these
(b) Does the graph confirm your conclusions about the values outliers?
normality of the distribution? (c) What are the ID numbers for those whose highest
† B7. To examine the issue of outliers, use the SPSS Explore grade completed was 1?
command by clicking on Analyze in the top toolbar, then † B8. Run Frequencies for the following three demographic/
selecting Descriptive Statistics, then Explore. Move the background variables in the dataset: educational attainment
variable higrade (highest grade completed) into the Depen- (educatn, variable number 5); currently employed (worknow,
dent Variable list using the arrow; then move the variable id variable 7); and current marital status (marital, variable 9).
(Identification number) into the slot “Label cases by:” At Create a table (in a word processing program or by hand)
the bottom left, where there are options for Display, click that would display this information, using Table 5 as a
on Statistics. Then click on the Statistics pushbutton and model. Then write a paragraph summarizing the most
click on Outliers. Then return to the main dialog box salient characteristics of the sample.

Answers to Exercises
A1. Number of Falls f % Cum %
0 13 32.5 32.5
1 15 37.5 70.0
2 5 12.5 82.5
3 3 7.5 90.0
4 2 5.0 95.0
5 1 2.5 97.5
6 1 2.5 100.0
Total 40 100.0
A2. a. 67.5% b. One fall c. Five and six falls
d. 82.5% e. Sample size ⫽ 40
f. There are no outliers, although it would perhaps be prudent to double check to see if the patients coded with five and six
falls actually fell five/six times.
A4. The distribution is unimodal and positively skewed. The data are not normally distributed.

REFERENCES
Barnett, V., & Lewis, T. (1994). Outliers in statistical data (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
DiCenso, A., Guyatt, G., & Ciliska, D. (2005). Evidence-based nursing: A guide to clinical practice. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier
Mosby.
Grbich, C. (2007). Qualitative data analysis: An introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2005). Evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare: A guide to best practice.
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

20
 Frequency Distributions: Tabulating and Displaying Data

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2008). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (8th ed.).
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Polit, D. F., & Sherman, R. (1990). Statistical power in nursing research. Nursing Research, 39, 365–369.
Barnett, T., Li-Yoong, T., Pinikahana, J., & Si-Yen, T. (2008). Fluid compliance among patients having haemodialysis: Can an
educational programme make a difference? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 61, 300–306.
Bennett, J., Young, H., Nail, L., Winters-Stone, K., & Hanson, G. (2008). A telephone-only motivational intervention to in-
crease physical activity in rural adults. Nursing Research, 57, 24–32.
Bu, X., & Wu, Y. B. (2008). Development and psychometric evaluation of the instrument: Attitude toward patient advocacy.
Research in Nursing & Health, 31, 63–75.
Certain, H., Mueller, M., Jagodzinski, T., & Fleming, M. (2008). Domestic abuse during the previous year in a sample of post-
partum women. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 37, 35–41.
Cha, E., Kim, K., & Burke, L. (2008). Psychometric validation of a condom self-efficacy scale in Korean. Nursing Research,
57, 245–251.
Chang, S., Wung, S., & Crogan, N. (2008). Improving activities of daily living for nursing home elder persons in Taiwan.
Nursing Research, 57, 191–198.
Cho, J., Holditch-Davis, D., & Miles, M. (2008). Effects of maternal depressive symptoms and infant gender on the interactions
between mothers and their medically at-risk infants. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 37, 58–70.
Good, M., & Ahn, S. (2008). Korean and American music reduces pain in Korean women after gynecologic surgery. Pain
Management Nursing, 9, 96–103.
Im, E. O., Chee, W., Guevara, E., Lim, H., & Shin, H. (2008). Gender and ethnic differences in cancer patients’ needs for help:
An Internet survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 45, 1192–1204.
Kowalski, S., & Bondmass, M. (2008). Physiological and psychological symptoms of grief in widows. Research in Nursing &
Health, 31, 23–30.
Lee, E., Fogg, L., & Menon, U. (2008). Knowledge and beliefs related to cervical cancer and screening among Korean American
women. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 30, 960–974.
Li, Y., Scott, C., & Li, L. (2008). Chinese nursing students’ HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and practice intentions. Applied
Nursing Research, 21, 147–152.
Mak, S. S., Yeo, W., Lee, Y., Mo, K., TRse, K., Tse, S., et al. (2008). Predictors of lymphedema in patients with breast cancer
undergoing axillary lymph node dissection in Hong Kong. Nursing Research, 57, 416–425.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2008). Is there gender bias in nursing research? Research in Nursing & Health, 31, 417–427.

GLOSSARY
Continuous variable A variable that can take on an infinite range of values between two points on a continuum (e.g., height).
Data analysis plan The overall plan for the analysis of research data that serves as a guide to answering the research questions and
interpreting the results.
Data analysis The systematic organization and synthesis of research data, and the testing of hypotheses with those data.
Data matrix A two-dimensional array of data (subjects ⫹ variables).

21
Visit https://ebookmass.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
Plus, don’t miss out on exciting offers that
let you access a wealth of knowledge at the
best prices!
Other documents randomly have
different content
moon struggling amidst clouds would allow him to gaze, gazed and
wept.
The same ruins seen now, after the mellowing influences of time
have toned down the painful features, excite interest unmingled, in
the case of most visitors, with regret, and they say, “What a
beautiful ruin;” but it was different then: a visit to Glastonbury,
Tintern, or Furness, must have rent the heart of any one who could
feel for the victims of injustice, or grieve over the wanton mutilation
of all that was beautiful in architecture, or sacred in religion.[24]
When our hero entered the once beautiful Abbey church, when he
saw the ashes of the holy dead scattered abroad, their tombs
defaced; above all, when he saw the altar which had been stripped
and rent from its place, and this by a people who had not yet
renounced their faith in the sacramental presence, by a king who at
the same time sent men and women to the stake because they
disbelieved in Transubstantiation,[25] he fell upon his face and
sobbed, while the words escaped his lips, “How long, O Lord, how
long?” All his early teaching had led him to revere what he saw thus
desecrated, and he was shocked to the very core of his heart.
He saw the moonbeams fall through broken windows and chequer
the mutilated floor with light; he sought in vain a place of rest, until
it occurred to him that the organ loft which was over the entrance to
the monk’s choir, and which was reached by a winding staircase,
would be the best place of refuge, in case he should be sought,
which he deemed unlikely; there were but few who would harm him,
and they were off the scent.
I do not attempt to analyse his feelings towards Grabber, neither
would it have been well for the latter to have met Cuthbert just
then; warm-hearted and loving to his friends, nay, Christian in heart
as Cuthbert was, it would have been hard at that time to put in
action the spirit of forgiveness as one ought.
Up the spiral staircase he crept into the loft; there some cushions
were left by chance amongst the remains of the organ; he contrived
to make a couch out of two or three of them and slept.
How long he knew not, but at length he seemed to hear the bells
ring out the midnight hour, and he began to dream that he was
assisting at a solemn office for the dead. He awoke and raised
himself up; the same sounds he had heard in his dream were
actually ascending from below.
“Requiem æternam dona eis Domine et lux perpetua luceat eis.”
Then followed the words of the psalm:—
“Te decet hymnus Deus in Syon, et tibi reddetur votum in
Jerusalem.”[26]
He gazed around him in amazement. He discovered the familiar
odour of incense, he perceived the glimmer of many tapers. He
dared at last, not knowing whether he beheld ghosts or living men,
to look over the edge of the gallery, and saw a company of monks in
the familiar Benedictine habit, standing around an open grave, while
beyond them the desecrated altar was set up, and furnished with its
accustomed ornaments, and the Celebrant with his assistant
ministers, stood before it.
Then he was convinced that he beheld living men and no
phantoms, and that he saw before him those who survived of his
former preceptors and teachers, the monks of Glastonbury.
Whom then were they burying? for whom did they chant the
requiem Mass?
And now the epistle was read, and afterwards the solemn sounds
of the sequence arose:—

“Dies iræ Dies illa

Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla.”[27]

He hesitated no longer, he glided down the stairs, and soon his

boyish voice was heard in the sweet verse:—
 “Recordare Jesu pie
Quod sum causa tuæ viæ
Ne me perdas illa die.”[27]

As he sang Cuthbert saw he stood by the good parochus.

The gospel followed, telling of Him Who is the Resurrection and
the Life; after which one of the brethren, a man with the aspect of
one in authority, stood forth, and began a short address:—
“We are met to-night, brethren, like the faithful of old, to render
the last rites of the Church to the mutilated remains of our beloved
brethren; gathered, at what risk ye know, from the places wherein
the tyrant had exposed the sacred relics, which were once the home
of the Holy Spirit, wherein Christ lived and dwelt; yea, and which
shall rise again from the dust of death, when body shall unite with
the redeemed regenerate soul, and soar from death’s cold house to
life and light.”
He was interrupted by a sob (it was from Cuthbert), but he went
on.
“And now we bury them in peace, we place the bones of the last
Abbot,—and one more worthy has never presided over Glastonbury,
—with those of his sainted predecessors: together they sleep after
life’s fitful penance, together they shall arise, when the last trump
shall echo over the vale of Avalon. Nor do we forget his faithful
brethren, once the Prior and Sub-Prior of this holy house; they were
with him in his hour of trial, they rest with him now, their mortal
bodies, all that was mortal, here, but their souls, purified by
suffering have, we doubt not, entered Paradise, where they hear
those rapturous strains, that endless Alleluia which no mortal ear
could hear and live. In peace; but secure as we feel for them, we
have yet to implore God’s mercy for ourselves, and His suffering
Church, upon which blows so cruel have fallen. In these holy
mysteries, while we commend our dear brethren to His mercy, our
supplications are turned (as saith Augustine) to thanksgivings; but
for ourselves, oh, what need of prayer that we may breast the
waves, as they did, and when the Eternal Shore is gained, who will
count the billows which roar behind?”
The service proceeded, and when all was over, the stone was
replaced over the grave, which was made to appear as though
nought had disturbed its rest in its bed, the tapers were
extinguished, and but one solitary torch left alight.
He who appeared the leader of the party, now approached
Cuthbert.
“My son,” he said, “dost thou know this ring?”
“I do,” and Cuthbert bent the head.
“Thou meetest me fitly here; and here, over his grave who loved
thee, I take thee to be my adopted child; thou hast found another
father in the place of him thou hast lost; fear not thy foes, I know
thy danger, ere the dawn break thou shalt be in safety.”
End of the First Part.

FOOTNOTES

[24] See Note I. The Abbey Church.

[25] The Six Articles became law the same year, enforcing
nearly all Roman doctrine.
[26] Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light
shine upon them.
Thou, O God, art praised in Sion, etc.
[27] 398, Hymns A. and M.
“Day of wrath, O day of mourning.”
“Think, good Jesu, my salvation, etc.”
 PART II.

Cuthbert the Foundling.

O fair Devonia!
Land of the brave and leal, how bright thy skies!
How fresh do show thy rich and verdant meads!
How clear the streams! which from thy hills do run:
How grim the tors! which granite rocks do crown:
How sweet the glens! whose depths the forest hides:
How blue the seas! which ruddy rocks do bound:
Fain would I seek amidst such beauty—rest:
And bid the world—Adieu.
 CHAPTER I.
THE OLD MANOR HOUSE.

here are few districts in England more picturesque than

the southern slopes of Dartmoor; the deeply wooded
glens, the brawling mountain torrents, the huge tors
with their rock-crowned summits and the mists curling
around them, the fertile plains beneath with their deep
red soil, the blue ocean girdling all with its azure belt; all these unite
to form a picture, which once seen, recurs again and again to the
memory, while life lingers.
A few years after the scenes recorded in the first part of this
tragical history, a young traveller left the inn of the “Rose and
Crown,” Bovey Tracey, late one September evening, bound for the
moorland. The sun was sinking towards the western heights which
bounded the plain, the giant bulwarks of the moorland—Hey Tor,
with its fantastic crown of gigantic rocks, Rippon Tor, with its cairn of
stones,—were already tinged with the glorious hues of sunset, and
the purple heather which covered their slopes, looked its best in the
tints of the departing luminary.
Our traveller was a youth who had perhaps seen some twenty
summers, but whose smooth face was yet undignified by the beard
of manhood; his attire was of the picturesque style made familiar to
us by the pencil of Holbein: over a close-fitting doublet and nether
garments hung a mantle, flowing open and sumptuously
embroidered; his velvet cap was bound round with a golden band,
and adorned with a bright feather and a jewelled clasp, a silver-
hilted sword hung by his side.
“You must ride quickly, Master Trevannion, or you will hardly climb
the pass before dark, and it is a bad road by the side of the Becky,
especially opposite the fall,” said the landlord, kindly.
“I know every foot of it, my Boniface, and so does my steed;
never fear for us.”
 “It will be dark early, and perhaps wet; look at that cap of mist
upon Hey Tor.”
The youth glanced at the little cloud. “I shall be home before it
descends,” he said; “Good night, landlord,” and he rode quickly
away.
“Who is yonder stripling?” said a dark-browed stranger, as the
landlord re-entered the inn.
“The son and heir of Sir Walter Trevannion,” replied the landlord
respectfully, for the stranger had announced himself as “travelling on
the King’s business,” and was evidently a “man of worship.”
“And how do you name him?”
“Cuthbert Trevannion, some day to be Sir Cuthbert, when Sir
Walter, now past his fiftieth year, is gathered to his fathers.”
“And this Sir Walter, what was he doing in his father’s life-time?”
“That is hardly known—some say that he was a monk before bluff
King Hal pulled down the rookeries, and that he keeps up the old
cloister life with a few brethren in the old hall, which he seldom
leaves; but that can hardly have been the case, for then how could
he have been married and become possessed of so goodly a son?”
“And the son—does he confine himself much to the hall?”
“Oh, he hunts and hawks like other young men, only he keeps
somewhat to the home preserves, and seldom shows abroad.”
“Are there any other children?”
“No, this is the only child.”
“And the mother?”
“Died before Sir Walter came home.”
“What year was that?”
“I cannot remember—but——”
 “Go to, refresh thy memory with a cup of thine own best sack at
my expense, it is before thee on the table.”
“Well, I think it was in forty.”
“And this youngster seems about twenty years old; he would have
been a boy of fourteen then.”
“Your worship has some interest in him?”
“Nay, only a passing recollection.”

We will leave the worthies to their talk, and follow the traveller.
He had now ridden about three miles from Bovey, when he
entered a long pass between two ridges of hills; by his side a trout
stream, called the Becky, tumbled along, larch trees grew on the
banks, and the heights above were crowded with dwarf oaks,
beeches, and other forest trees.
Whistling to himself he rode along, hastening to get home ere it
was quite dark, for the roads were both difficult and dangerous, save
to those who knew them well.
Soon the valley contracted, and there was only room for the
torrent and the road, while the craggy wooded heights rose yet
more lofty above: sometimes, over their summits could be seen the
rounded heights of the moorland.
The tumbling of a cascade to the left, was heard as the road
parted from the river, and began to ascend a dark pass, where the
faint decaying light was almost excluded by the foliage.
In devious zig-zags the road ascended to the upper plateau, and
our rider, the summit attained, looked back at the valley. It was a
mass of foliage, which hid the depth; the upper branches glimmered
in the rays of the departing sun which was just disappearing behind
a wild-looking hill, whereon appeared a mass of rocks, so closely
resembling the ruins of a castle, that it needed a keen eye to
discover the deception at a glance.
But the rocks of Hound Tor were too familiar to our youthful friend
to detain him a moment, and riding through a few meadows, he
drew up at the gate of an ancient manor house, beneath the slope
of a rock-clad hill, which was crowned by a mass of granite
resembling the human form, and from the protuberance of what
represented the nasal organ, called “Bowerman’s Nose.”
The reader will search in vain for that manor house now; the park
in which it stood has been disafforested, and subdivided into
numerous farm holdings; the stones which formed that mighty wall
which encircled the pleasaunce or garden, or which composed the
stately pile within, may yet exist amidst the materials of many
cottages, where beside poverty and squalor one beholds a carved
architrave, or shattered column; but we are writing of days long
gone by.
Cuthbert Trevannion, to give him the name by which mine host of
the “Rose and Crown” distinguished him, rode up an avenue, and
throwing the bridle of his horse to a groom who stood ready to
receive it, asked—
“Is my father at leisure?”
“The supper bell has just sounded.”
Retiring for one moment to wipe off the sweat and dust of the
road, our youth entered the “refectory,” as they called it at that
house.
It was indeed to all appearance a monastic house—within a room,
wainscotted with dark oak, nine or ten grave old men sat on each
side of the board, and at the head sat Sir Walter Trevannion; all
present wore the dress of the Benedictine order, which, banished
from the stately abbeys founded for the exercise of its splendid
worship, lingered on by the charity of a few worthy knights or nobles
in many a similar asylum, where, until death the poor brethren still
kept up the exercise of their self-discipline.
 To this, Henry had no objection, now that he had their money; for
had not the statute of the six articles just declared that vows of
celibacy were binding until death; a piece of cruel sarcasm, when
everything which could render them tolerable, had been taken away,
so far as the power of the crown extended.
During the supper, all were silent, while one of the brethren read a
homily of S. Augustine; but the meal ended, Sir Walter beckoned to
his son to follow him into the study.
But it is time that we drop the mask, and explain ourselves.
Cuthbert Trevannion, now so called, was our Cuthbert; Sir Walter
was that Ambrose, the bearer of the ring, who had received him into
his care, as related at the conclusion of the former part of this tale;
where he had passed six eventful years: years which had witnessed
the dastardly end of the life of the “malleus monachorum,”
Cromwell;[28] the divorce of one queen, the execution of another,
and had seen the tyrant pass into the last stage of his sanguinary
reign—burning the Reformers, and butchering the Romanists who
would not acknowledge his supremacy; the only tyrant upon record,
who had the privilege of persecuting both sides at once.
The inn-keeper’s account of Sir Walter was true so far as it went;
we will supply the necessary details.
He was the second son of Sir Arthur Trevannion, the head of an
old Devonian family, but against the will of his father he had
assumed the Benedictine habit, and become the Prior of the famous
Abbey of Furness, in the far north, under the name of Ambrose, so
that his father and he did not meet for many many years.
Under that name he became implicated in the rising called the
Pilgrimage of Grace, and when his Abbey was dissolved found refuge
abroad, where the news of his elder brother’s death reached him. It
was then thought expedient that he should return home in the guise
of a layman, where owing to the fact that he had taken the monastic
vows under an assumed name, his identity with the Father Ambrose
of Furness, proscribed by the government, was not suspected, and
he was received by his father as a returned prodigal, fresh from
abroad.
The old knight only survived his return a few months, and for the
sake of offering a home to the poor houseless Benedictines whom
he gathered round him, Father Ambrose accepted the facts of his
position, and became, without question, Sir Walter Trevannion of
Becky Hall, and the protector of Cuthbert, to whom he had
conceived so great an attachment (which the lad well deserved) that
he adopted him as his son, whereas his first intention had been to
place him in a more subordinate position until he should shew
himself worthy of higher promotion.
Thus to the outward world he was the country knight, but when
the gates were shut and he was alone with his brethren, he was
Prior Ambrose.
Thus six uneventful years—uneventful, that is, to them—had
passed away, in the quietude of their moorland home, beneath the
shade of the mighty hills, far from the scenes of political strife.
And there Cuthbert’s education had been completed; when we
reintroduced him to our readers he was already in the bloom of early
manhood.
“Happy the people, who have no history,” says an old well-worn
proverb; for history is only interesting when it deals with those days
of war and excitement which were miserable to contemporaries, but
lend a charm to tradition: “nothing in the papers to-day,” say we
moderns, almost vexed that no train has run off the lines, no steam-
boat exploded, no murderer exercised his art, to fill the columns.
Similarly those six years of Cuthbert’s past life would have no
interest for the reader, but they had been happy ones to him—

“The torrent’s smoothness ere it dash below.”

And often in later years did he recall them with regret.

 And although he and his adopted father knew it not, another
period of deep excitement and great trial lay before them, upon the
eve of which we draw up our curtain and arrange our dramatis
personæ.

FOOTNOTES

[28] “Dastardly,” for he who had with such cruel indifference

sent others to the stake, the quartering block, or the axe, lost all
his own courage when a like doom impended over himself—when,
without a trial, he was sentenced, by the process of a “bill of
attainder,” which he had first invented. In the most abject manner
he fawned on the tyrant, and besought mercy in terms which
were a disgrace to his manhood. Innocent of intentional treason
against Henry no doubt he was; but was he more so than many
of his own victims, whom on the fifth of July, 1540, he went to
meet before the bar of God?

CHAPTER II.
AN EVENTFUL RAMBLE.
 uthbert, my son,” said Sir Walter, “thou hast brought
letters from the town.”
“Here they are, father,” said Cuthbert, producing a
packet which bore the traces of a long journey, “letters
from across the sea.”
The good knight, or father, whichever we may call him, perused
them eagerly, and Cuthbert sat patiently gazing at a black letter
martyrology to wile away the time.
“My news concerns thee, dear son,” said his adopted father.
“Cuthbert, thou hast now attained years of discretion, and thy
education has not been neglected; thou art a fair master of English,
French, and Latin, with some knowledge of German; thy
mathematics are tolerable as things go; meanwhile thou hast not
neglected the divinest of studies—theology.”
“Nor, father, have I forgotten that in this world we must learn to
fence, wrestle, shoot, and if need be, fight.”
“Nor hunting and hawking, alack-a-day; ‘vanitas vanitatum,’ all is
vanity; but, my son, we must seriously consider now what thy future
life shall be. Here I have letters from two quarters, amongst others,
which concern thee; my good brother, the Abbot of Monte Casino, in
far off Italy, would gladly receive thee as a neophyte, and fit thee to
make thy profession in that holiest and most learned of houses,
where as yet the wild boar rooteth not, neither doth the beast of the
field devour.”
The old man looked eagerly on the youth, but no answering
response met his gaze.
“And again,” continued he, “my friend the Baron de Courcy,
descendant of an old and famous Norman house, distinguished even
in the days of the Conquest,[29] offers to receive thee as an esquire
and candidate for the future honour of knighthood, in the service of
France, now happily at peace with England.”
Cuthbert’s face brightened now—this was the lot which he desired.
 “Ah, my son, I see the world hath hold of thee; would thou
could’st feel the noble ambition to die for the Church, like thy once
revered preceptor.”
“Father, dear father, believe me no ingrate; for the Church I would
willingly die; but let it be as a warrior, sword in hand, fighting for her
rights, she needs such,—the warrior’s death if need be, but not the
stake or quartering block, unless God call me to it,—and then thy
child may not disobey.”
“I have ever foreboded this decision, yet it ruins my fondest hopes
—but if God has not given the vocation man can do nought—and
therefore I have sought the double opening for thee; thou choosest,
then, the soldier’s life, under my old friend of Courcy, whom I know
to be as valiant and devout a warrior as one could find, yet withal
one who will not spare correction, and who can be stern at need.”
“I do choose it, since you leave it to me, yet I grieve to cross thy
will.”
“Take till to-morrow to consider of it; a ship, under a captain
whom I know, will leave Dartmouth shortly for France, and thou
mayest go under his care. But first there is a duty to discharge; we
must both go to Glastonbury, where the lapse of time will have
obliterated thy remembrance from the towns folk, and destroy those
papers; there is no longer any occasion for their existence.”
“When shall we travel?”
“I have engagements which detain me here for another week,
then we shall set out; and now, my son, commend thyself to God,
and seek His grace to guide thee at this solemn turning-point in thy
life. Benedicat te Deus, et custodiat te semper, noctem quietam
concedat Dominus.”
It was not till the midnight hour had passed that Cuthbert could
sleep; he realised that he had come to a point in the road of life,
where two ways branched off to right and left, either of which,
fraught with diverse issues, he might follow, but which?
 And the same figure continually haunted him in his dreams, even
the two roads; sometimes the strife of battle and death in the forlorn
hope, or in the deadly breach, seemed the goal of the one, and then
the other appeared to lead to a desert of racks, stakes, and other
appliances, too familiar to the proselytizing zeal of that era.
There were other visions, but visions of peace—of a home of rest
beyond some fearful toil, some deadly peril which had preceded it in
the dream.
Wakeful, but not refreshed, Cuthbert rose with the sun; the words
of Sir Walter, “Take a day to consider,” rang in his mind; it should be
a day of solitude.
He took a slight breakfast, and then ascended the hill above the
house, crowned with the Druidical idol of a long vanished day;
through furze and crag he scrambled to the summit; before him lay
a land of desolation; moor after moor, swelling into hills, subsiding
into valleys, tinged with light or shade as the shadows of the clouds
drove over the wastes before the wind; like the restless ocean, it
had a strange charm in its very boundlessness; its vastness seemed
to calm one, as if an image of the illimitable eternity.
And above rose the mis-shapen token of a faith and worship long
extinct; a few huge blocks of granite composed the figure, so
arranged, whether by nature or art, that they looked human in
outline; and before, on that flat slab of stone, many victims must
have bled—human victims perhaps, in honour of the Baal-God.
That distant ridge of serrated teeth-like mountains, perpetuates
the name Bel Tor; perchance Phœnicians of old, brought over the
worship dear to Jezebel, and in these latter days, the name still
speaks of that dread idolatry.
So man passes away like the shadows of the clouds over the
moor, and yet these bare hills and rocky tors remain the same, as
when the smoke from the idol sacrifice ascended.
Then Cuthbert descended; he reached the valley, climbed the
opposite ridge—that strange pile so like a ruined castle which men
call Hound Tor; onward again up a deep valley, then a scramble
amidst rocks and heather, and the huge granite blocks which form
the summit of Hey Tor, are gained.
Oh, what a variegated view of land and sea—the wild hills over
the Dart, nay, over the Tavy; the huge bulk of Cawsand in the north;
the estuaries of the Dart and Teign; nay, across the sea, a cloud-like
vision of Portland Isle, full sixty miles away.
But our young mountaineer has seen enough, and his thoughts
are ever busy; he descends the hill and enters the forests which
then fringed their bases. Has he an object in view? Yes, there is one
he would fain see near Ashburton, pure and fair Isabel Grey,
daughter of a neighbouring squire, whose beauty had revealed to
him the secrets of his own heart, and steeled him against entering
the ranks of a celibate priesthood.
This is not a love story, and we shall not follow him to listen to his
vows, to hear him implore his charmer to tarry till he can return
crowned (he doubts not) with glory gained in the wars, and offer her
the heart of a would-be bridegroom.
He returns at length by the lower road, strikes the pass he
ascended, last night, at about the same hour, but the long ramble
has fatigued him; he rests for one moment at the summit of the
ridge.
It wants an hour to sunset, he will go to the point of Hound Tor
Coombe; it is but a few steps, and is a projecting spur of the range
which separates the two wooded, rock-strewn valleys, Lustleigh and
Becky, just before they unite in one beautiful vale, above Bovey
Tracey.
There he lies listening to the streams which babble on each side
far below, and anon—shall we tell it to his shame—falls asleep.
He is awoke by the murmur of voices.
“I tell thee the old fellow is worth a mint of money, and Jack
Cantfull, who is the ostler at the ‘Rose and Crown,’ says he rides all
alone to Moreton, and goes through this pass, but why he takes this
road instead of the other I know not, only Jack is to be his guide.”
“He will pay for knocking on the head!”
“Jack will expect his share when the deed is done.”
“Nay,” said another voice, “no throat cutting or head splitting, if it
can be done without.”
“Thou hast become scrupulous, Tony; hast thou forgotten the
colour of blood?”
“Nay, as I am a true Gubbing,[30] I mind it no more than ale,
when called upon to shed it, but we need not make the country too
hot to hold us.”
“Dead men tell no tales.”
“Well, we must be moving, he was to start at six.” And soon
Cuthbert heard them climb down the slope from a cave (well known
to him, but which happily he had not entered) below the summit on
which he had been reposing.
They had gone to beset the pass higher up.
So soon as the sound of their footsteps had ceased, Cuthbert
descended or rather slid down the hill into the road beneath, behind
the men, and in spite of his fatigue, walked rapidly back towards
Bovey.
Soon he came to the junction of two roads—the one, the upper
way, leading through the pass and so to Chagford, and by a
circuitous route to Moreton; the other a branch road which led more
directly to the latter town, which the traveller had abandoned: to
take, for his own reasons, a more circuitous and difficult route under
a treacherous guide.
At the point where the ways met Cuthbert waited, and shortly
heard the sound of horses; he then beheld the riders—the one a tall
dark looking man, evidently of rank and importance, the other a sort
of stable helper from the inn at Bovey.
 “Stand,” cried Cuthbert, “I would fain speak with you, sir.”
“Who is this, who cries ‘stand’ upon the King’s highway?”
“A friend, one who would save you, Sir John, if you be Sir John;
danger lurks ahead; three cut-throats, ‘Gubbings,’ they call them
about here, a half-gipsy brood, lie in wait at the pass, and lurk for
your life.”
“How sayest thou, my lad? Look, sirrah, what sayest thou to this?”
But the treacherous groom had heard all, and rode on at full
gallop, barely escaping a pistol-shot his indignant employer sent
after him.
“He will bring them back in no time: take the lower road.”
“And thou, my poor lad, they will avenge themselves on thee.”
“Nay, I know every turn in the woods; I can run home.”
“Sore uneasy should I be for thee. Ah, see, the rogues appear,
they heard the shot.”
About half-a-mile along the road, moving forms rapidly running
towards them might be obscurely discerned as they turned a crest of
the hill.
“Jump behind, thou canst ride ‘pillion.’”
Cuthbert complied, and Sir John spurred his horse and galloped
along the lower road; even then, by cutting across a shoulder of the
hill, the Gubbings, as Cuthbert called them, gained upon them and
shot two or three useless arrows, and then they could do no more,
for the road lay straight forward, and they had no further advantage.
After a little while Sir John said—
“I think we may now take our ease; thou hast saved my life, lad,
and I shall not forget it. What is thy name?”
“Cuthbert Trevannion; and thine, sir?”
 The rider started perceptibly as he heard the name, and Cuthbert
noticed it. After a moment he said, with emphasis—
“Sir John Redfyrne, a poor knight of his sacred majesty’s
household.”
Cuthbert remembered the name too well, and his earnest desire
was to get away without any further revelations.
“I have lately come from Glastonbury,” said Sir John; “dost thou
know the place?”
Cuthbert could not lie. “I have been there,” he said.
“There was some talk of a lad of thy name when I first knew the
town, who was educated at the Abbey.”
“It may be, sir; but see, that road will take me home, and there is
no danger now; may I dismount?”
“Not just yet; here is a roadside inn, thou must at least grace me
with thy presence over a cup of sack.”
“But my father will be uneasy.”
“I will answer for him.”
Not to increase Sir John’s suspicions, Cuthbert dismounted at the
inn, and allowed himself to be led into a private chamber. Sir John
waited for a moment, and descended the stairs.
“Dost thou know that youth?” he asked of the landlord.
“The son of Sir Walter Trevannion.”
“He lives near here?”
“Yes, at Trevannion Hall.”
He returned to Cuthbert.
“My lad,” he said, “I owe thee many thanks, and grieve that I may
not stay longer to repay them than suffices to discuss this sack; my
road now lies to Moreton, and I shall soon have quitted these parts;
perhaps I may call some future day upon thy father, who, I hear,
lives near, to thank thee in his presence.”
“I may go then, sir?”
“With my best thanks; nay, wear this chain as a memento of the
giver and the Gubbings; fare thee well.”
And Cuthbert hastened home.
But Sir John remained yet a little while, seated in the saddle, as he
made several innocent enquiries of the landlord.
And they were all about Trevannion Hall.

FOOTNOTES

[29] Read “The Andredsweald,” by the same Author. (Parker’s

Oxford.)
[30] See Note J. The Gubbings.
 CHAPTER III.
AN ACT OF GRATITUDE.

ir Thomas Stukely of Chagford, gentleman, was a type of

the old English justice of his day; a hundred pounds a
year, equivalent to a thousand now, represented the
condition of the squire of the parish, and heavy duties
had he to perform; to wit, it was his duty to know
everything and everybody; did any parent bring up his child in
idleness, it was his place to interfere and see that the child was
taught an honest trade; did any vagrants go about begging, it was
his duty to see them tied to a cart’s tail and flogged, or even in
extreme cases of persistence to see them hanged out of the way, for
the days were stern days.
It was his to bridle all masterless men, and, if they would not
work, to send them to gaol; and to see that all youths, forsaking idle
dicing and gaming, or the frequenting of taverns, gave themselves
to manly exercises, archery, cudgel playing, and the like; that each
might be a soldier in time of need.
His hour of rising, in summer, was four o’clock, with breakfast at
five, after which his labourers went to work, and he to his business;
in winter, perhaps an hour later was allowed to all. Every unknown
face, met in the country roads, was challenged by the constables,
and if the stranger gave not a good account of his wayfaring, he was
brought before the justice; did the grocer give short weight, or the
cobbler make shoes which let water, it must all come before Sir
Thomas, as he was called in courtesy, for he was only “a squire.”[31]
At twelve he dined in company with his household: good beef,
mutton, ale, and for the upper board wine—Canary, Malmsey, or the
like; bread was plentiful, both white and brown, vegetables, before
the advent of potatoes, scarce;[32] the ladies made the pastry with
their own fair hands.
 The doors stood open to all comers at the hours of dinner and
supper; they of gentle degree fared at the squire’s table, of simple at
the lower board with the servants, which formed with the upper one
the letter T.
Free board and free lodging to all honest comers; it might be
rough but it was ready; as the squire and his household fared, so did
the guests, both in bed and board.
Early after his dinner, the squire went hunting, or rode about the
farms and looked after his tenants; saw that the fences were in good
repair, the roads well kept; and returned at sunset to supper.
In his old wainscotted hall, panelled with black oak, its ceiling
decorated with the arms of the Stukelys between the interlacing
beams, a fire of logs in the huge hearth, and two favourite hounds
lying before it, sat Justice Stukely and his wife at supper.
A ring at the bell, and the porter ushered in a stranger.
“My name is Redfyrne, Sir John Redfyrne, travelling upon the
King’s business, and craving your hospitality.”
“It is thine, man,” said the host, “sit down there,” as he pointed to
the vacant seat of honour by his side; “beef and bread are by thee,
and here is good October, or there fair Malmsey, to wash it down.”
Sir John ate heartily; and his host did not ply him with many
questions until he had finished a huge platter of meat, and discussed
a jorum of ale.
“Hast ridden far, Sir John?”
“From Bovey only.”
“Which way, round Moreton or by the Becky?”
“By the Becky, where I narrowly escaped the Gubbings.”
“The Gubbings!” and the squire with difficulty repressed a
malediction, which rose to his lips. “They are like wasps, kill one, a
hundred come to his funeral. Only last month we caught a party of
them red-handed, and hung them up on the spot, for they are not
Christians or Englishmen, and we thought it wasn’t worth while to
trouble judge or jury over them. There we strung them up from the
beeches of Holme Chase, the prettiest beech-nuts honest eyes could
rest upon—five men, two women, and three boys; yet they are not
frightened away from these parts yet.”
“Nor ever will be unless you hunt them from the moor with
bloodhounds.”
“It may come to that; they are a plague-spot in the
Commonwealth, and especially upon our fair country of Devon. But
what news from court, Sir John?”
“The King’s Majesty’s health is better, but he hath been sorely
tried by the humour of one Dr. Crome, who preached in a sermon,
that no one could approve of the dissolution of the monasteries, and
at the same time admit the usefulness of prayers for the souls in
purgatory; his majesty thought the speech levelled against himself,
and Dr. Crome being examined before the Council, criminated ex-
Bishop Latimer and many others. Crome and Latimer saved
themselves by recantation, but Anne Askew, a maid of honour about
the court; Adlam, a tailor; Otterden, shame to say, a priest; and
Lascelles, a gentleman in waiting, have all been burnt alive at
Smithfield. Shaxton, late Bishop of Worcester, smelt strongly of the
faggot, but he recanted just in time, and preached the funeral
sermon over his late allies as they smouldered.”
“That reminds me of the old song,” said the Justice, “which they
sang in France when I made my first essay in arms there, the King
was young then.

“‘Apotre de Luthere,
Si l’on brule ta chair,
C’est seulement que tu saches d’avance
Les tourments d’enfer.’”[33]

“Well, for the witch and for the heretic a faggot is the best cure.
What else is going on?”
 “They say that an ingenious mechanist has invented a machine to
move the King upstairs and down in his chair without difficulty; he is
so corpulent that little trace is left of the princely gallant of the Cloth
of Gold.”
“Queen Catharine has a hard time of it?”
“She is a good nurse, but she is careful not to cross the royal
temper.”
“There are five good examples set before her in her predecessors.”
And so the talk went on, over the recent peace concluded with
France in the previous summer; over the disputes in court between
the party of Cranmer and the Seymours on the one hand, and that
of the Duke of Norfolk, and Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, on the
other. But we will not weary the reader with any more of the chit-
chat of the latter days of Henry VIII., now drawing near his end,
furious as a wild beast at the slightest contradiction, worshipped by
his courtiers on bended knee, and putting to the death Catholic and
Protestant alike, if they varied from the doctrines stated in the
“King’s Boke.”
The supper over and the servants dismissed, the real purpose of
Sir John’s visit came out, and the Justice learned with deep surprise
mingled with disgust, that he sought a warrant for the arrest of Sir
Walter Trevannion and his reputed son Cuthbert, and men to
execute the same.
“Sir Walter Trevannion! why, what has he done?”
“Nought as Sir Walter, but much as Father Ambrose of Furness
Abbey.”
“Pooh! pooh! if the old man has been a monk it was lawful to be
so once; and if they still play at monkery, why the King has their
money, let them play.”
“It is, I fear, a more serious business than you imagine, Sir
Thomas; this Father Ambrose was art and part in the northern
insurrection, which they call the ‘Pilgrimage of Grace,’ and moreover,
attainted for that very crime.”
“But how dost thou identify him with Sir Walter, who seems a
harmless country gentleman?”
“I have been on his track for many years; it was I who detected
that traitor, the some-time Abbot of Glastonbury, in correspondence
with him, and I am well assured that buried somewhere beneath the
foundations of the ruined pile of that Abbey lies a secret chamber
containing papers and documents, which would reveal the names
and machinations of many traitors to his royal highness; but there is
only one who knows the secret of its whereabouts, and that one is
the adopted son of Sir Walter.”
“The adopted son, young Cuthbert, is he not the real son?”
“No, Sir Walter was a monk till the dissolution; this young
Cuthbert was a foundling, brought up at Glastonbury, who
disappeared when we were on the point of seizing him, and has
never been heard of since, till, being on the trail of Father Ambrose,
I unearthed him as Sir Walter Trevannion, and at the same time,
killing two birds with one stone, found my master Cuthbert. It is a
glorious stroke of luck, and will make my fortune at court.”
“And the poor Trevannions,—for there is no doubt Sir Walter is Sir
Walter?”
“None at all, his father denounced him for becoming a monk
against the paternal will.”
“Well, the poor Trevannions, what of them? what will be their
fate?”
“If, Sir Thomas, you are a friend to King Harry, as holding his
commission you must be, you will accompany me with the dawn of
day to the manor house, with a guard of constables in case of
resistance, and so enable me to seize the couple of traitors, and
lodge them safely in Exeter gaol.”
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookmass.com