The Leigh family have lived at Adlington since 1315. It has long been said in the family that one of their forebears, Sir Urian Legh, took part in the Siege of Cadiz in 1596, where he was knighted by the Earl of Essex, and that a Spanish lady of noble birth fell in love with him and pleaded with him to take her to England. When he admitted that he was already married, she gave him a fine gold necklace as a present to his wife, which his descendants kept as an heirloom.
This adventure is credited to several other heroes in other parts of England, and is described in a ballad, ‘The Spanish Lady’s Love’ (p.452). A contemporary portrait of Sir Urian Leigh of Adlington, who took part in the siege of Cadiz in 1599, and who was popularly linked with the events described in the ballad ‘The Spanish Lady’s Love’, is preserved at Adlington Hall.