Grain and Chaff from an English Manor
by
Arthur H. Savory
Part 6 out of 6
FALL--verb active; _Comedy of Errors_, Act II., Scene 2; _Midsummer
Night's Dream_, Act V., Scene 1.
CUSTOMERS--companions; _Comedy of Errors_, Act IV., Scene 4.
KNOTS--flower beds; _Love's Labour's Lost_, Act I., Scene 1; _Richard
II_., Act III., Scene 4.
TALENT--for talon; cf. "tenant" for tenon; _Love's Labour's Lost_, Act
IV., Scene 2.
METHEGLIN--mead, a drink made from honey; _Love's Labour's Lost_, Act
V., Scene 2; _Merry Wives_, Act V., Scene 5.
HANDKERCHER--handkerchief; _King John_, Act IV., Scene 1; _King
Henry V_., Act III., Scene 2.
NOR NEVER SHALL--two negatives strengthening each other; _King John_,
Act IV., Scene 1, and Act V., Scene 7.
CONTRARY--stress on the penultimate syllable; cf. "matrimony,"
"secretary," "January," etc.; _King John_, Act IV., Scene 2.
To RESOLVE--to dissolve; _King John_, Act V., Scene 4; _Hamlet_, Act
I., Scene 2.
STROND--strand; cf. "hommer"--hammer, "opples"--apples, etc.;
_1 King Henry IV_., Act I., Scene 1.
APPLE JOHN--John Apple (?); _1 King Henry IV_., Act III., Scene 3;
_2 King Henry IV_., Act II., Scene 4.
GULL--young cuckoo; _1 King Henry IV_., Act V., Scene 1.
TO BUCKLE--to bend; _2 King Henry IV_., Act I., Scene 1.
NICE--weak; cf. "naish"--weak; _2 King Henry IV_., Act I., Scene 1.
OLD--extreme, very good; _2 King Henry IV_., Act II., Scene 4.
PEASCOD-TIME--peapicking time; _2 King Henry IV_., Act II., Scene 4.
WAS LIKE--had nearly; _King Henry V_., Act I., Scene 1.
SCAMBLING--scrambling; _King Henry V_., Act I., Scene 1.
MARCHES--boundaries; cf. Moreton-in-the-Marsh, _i.e._, March; _King
Henry V_., Act I., Scene 2.
SWILLED--washed; _King Henry V_., Act III., Scene 1.
To DRESS--to decorate with evergreens, etc.; _Taming of the Shrew_,
Act III., Scene 1.
YELLOWS--jaundice; _Taming of the Shrew_, Act III., Scene 2.
DRINK--ale; "Drink" is still used for ale as distinguished from cider;
_Midsummer Night's Dream_, Act II., Scene 1.
BARM--yeast; _Midsummer Night's Dream_, Act II., Scene 1.
LOFFE--laugh; _Midsummer Night's Dream_, Act II., Scene 1.
LEATHERN--(bats); cf. "leatherun bats," as distinguished from
"bats"--beetles; _Midsummer Night's Dream_, Act II., Scene 3.
EANING TIME--lambing time; _Merchant of Venice_, Act I., Scene 3.
SPET--spit; cf. set--sit, sperit--spirit, etc.; _Merchant of Venice_,
Act I., Scene 3.
FILL-HORSE--shaft horse; cf. "filler" and "thiller"; _Merchant of
Venice_, Act II., Scene 2.
PROUD ON--proud of; _Much Ado_, Act IV., Scene 1
ODDS--difference; cf. "wide odds"; _As you Like It_, Act I., Scene 2.
COME YOUR WAYS--come on; _As You Like It_, Act I., Scene 2.
TO SAUCE--to be impertinent; _As You Like It_, Act III., Scene 5.
THE MOTION--the usual form; _Winter's Tale_, Act IV., Scene 2.
INCHMEAL--bit by bit; _Tempest_, Act II., Scene 2.
FILBERDS--filberts; _Tempest_, Act II., Scene 2.
TO LADE--to bale (liquid); _3 King Henry VI._, Act III., Scene 3.
TO LAP--to wrap; _King Richard III._, Act II., Scene 1; _Macbeth_, Act
I., Scene 2.
BITTER SWEETING--an apple of poor quality grown from a kernel; cf.
"bitter sweet"--the same; _Romeo and Juliet_, Act II., Scene 4.
VARSAL WORLD--universal world; _Romeo and Juliet_, Act II., Scene 4.
MAMMET--a puppet; cf. "mommet"--scarecrow; _Romeo and Juliet_,
Act III., Scene 5.
TO GRUNT--to grumble; _Hamlet_, Act III., Scene 1.
TO FUST--to become mouldy; _Hamlet_, Act IV., Scene 5.
DOUT--do out; cf. "don"--do on; _Hamlet_, Act IV., Scene 7.
MAGOT PIES--Magpies; _Macbeth_, Act III., Scene 4.
SET DOWN--write down; _Macbeth_, Act V., Scene 1.
TO PUN--to pound; _Troilus and Cressida_, Act II., Scene 1.
NATIVE--place of origin; cf. "natif"; _Coriolanus_, Act III., Scene 1.
SLEEK--bald; cf. "slick"; _Julius Caesar_, Act I., Scene 2.
WARN--summon; cf. "backwarn"--tell a person not to come; _Julius
Caesar_, Act V., Scene 1.
BREESE--gadfly; _Antony and Cleopatra_, Act III., Scene 8.
WOO'T--wilt thou; _Antony and Cleopatra_, Act IV., Scene 13.
URCHIN--hedgehog; _Titus Andronicus_, Act II., Scene 3.
MESHED--mashed (a term used in brewing); _Titus Andronicus_, Act III.,
Scene 2.
All the above words and phrases the writer has frequently heard used
in the neighbourhood in the senses indicated, but to make the list
more complete the following are added on the authority of Mr. A.
Porson, in the pamphlet referred to:
COLLIED--black; _Midsummer Nights Dream_, Act I., Scene 1.
LIMMEL--limb from limb; cf. "inchmeal"--bit by bit; _Cymbeline_, Act
II., Scene 4.
TO MAMMOCK--to tear to pieces; _Coriolanus_, Act I., Scene 3.
TO MOIL--to dirty; _Taming of the Shrew_, Act IV., Scene 1.
SALLET--salad; 2 _King Henry VI_., Act IV., Scene 10.
UTIS--great noise; _2 King Henry IV_., Act II., Scene 4.
Place-names everywhere are a most interesting study; as a rule, people
do not recognize that every place-name has a meaning or reference to
some outstanding peculiarity or characteristic of the place, and that
much history can be gathered from interpretation. In cycling, it is
one of the many interests to unravel these derivations; merely as an
instance, I may mention that in Dorset and Wilts the name of
Winterbourne, with a prefix or suffix, often occurs; of course,
"bourne" means a stream, but until one knows that a "winterbourne" is
a stream that appears in winter only, and does not exist in summer,
the name carries no special signification.
One hears some curious personal names in the Worcestershire villages;
scriptural names are quite common, and seem very suitable for the
older labourers engaged upon their honourable employment on the land.
We had a maid named Vashti, and she was quite shy about mentioning it
at her first interview with my wife. In all country neighbourhoods
there is a special place with the unenviable reputation of stupidity;
such was "Yabberton" (Ebrington, on the Cotswolds), and Vashti was
somewhat reluctant to admit that it was her "natif," as a birthplace
is called in the district. Among the traditions of Yabberton it is
related that the farmers, being anxious to prolong the summer, erected
hurdles to wall in the cuckoo, and that they manured the church tower,
expecting it to sprout into an imposing steeple! There is a place in
Surrey, Send, with a similar reputation, where the inhabitants had to
visit a pond before they could tell that rain was falling!
But perhaps the best story of the kind is told in the New Forest,
where the Isle of Wight is regarded as the acme of stupidity. When the
Isle of Wight people first began to walk erect, instead of on all
fours, they are said to have waggled their arms and hands helplessly
before them, saying, "And what be we to do with these-um?"
Classical names are very uncommon among villagers, but in my old
Surrey parish there was one which was the cause of much speculation.
The name was Hercules; it originated in a disagreement between the
parents, before the child was christened. The mother wanted his name
to be John, but the father insisted, that as an older son was Noah,
the only possible name for the new baby was "Hark" (Ark). They had a
lengthy argument, and there was no definite understanding before
reaching the church. The mother, when asked to "name this child,"
being flustered, hesitated, but finally stammered out, "Hark, please."
The vicar was puzzled, and repeated the question with the same result;
a third attempt was equally unsuccessful, and the vicar, in despair,
falling back upon his classical knowledge, christened the child
Hercules. A few days later the vicar called at the cottage, and the
mother explained the matter, relating how indignant she was with her
husband, and how on the way home, "Hark, I says to him, ain't the name
of a Christian, it's the name of a barge!"
CHAPTER XXVI.
IS ALDINGTON (FORMER SITE) THE ROMAN ANTONA?
"Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:
O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe
Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw!"
--_Hamlet_.
One of my fields--about five acres--called Blackbanks from its
extraordinarily black soil, over a yard deep in places, and the more
remarkable because the soil of the surrounding fields is stiff
yellowish clay, showed other indications of long and very ancient
habitation. Among the relics found was a stone quern, measuring about
21 inches by 12 by 7-3/4, and having, on each of two opposite sides, a
basin-shaped depression about 6 inches in diameter at the top, and
2-3/4 inches in depth; also a small stone ring, 1-1/4 inches in
diameter, and 3/8ths in thickness, with a hole in the centre 1/4 inch
across; the edges are rounded, and it is similar to those I have seen
in museums, called spindle whorls. The quern and the ring I imagine to
be British. This field and the fields adjacent on the north side of
the stream formed, I think, primarily a British settlement and area of
cultivation, afterwards appropriated by the Romans in the earliest
days of the Roman occupation of Britain, and inhabited by them as a
military station until they left the country.
Among other relics found in Blackbanks and in the fields to the north,
called Blackminster, between Blackbanks and the present line of the
Great Western Railway, aggregating about a hundred acres, there were
found large quantities of fragments of pottery of several kinds,
including black, grey, and red, and among the latter the smoothly
glazed Samian. Many pieces are ornamented with patterns, some very
primitive, others geometrical; others are in texture like Wedgwood
basalt ware, and similar in colour and decoration. The Samian is
mostly plain, but a few pieces have patterns and representations of
human figures.
The fields, but especially Blackbanks, contained quantities of bones,
the horns of sheep or goats, pieces of stags, horns, iron spear and
arrow-heads, horses' molar teeth, and flint pebbles worn flat on one
side by the passage of innumerable feet for many years. A millstone
showing marks of rotation on the surface, a bronze clasp or brooch
with fragments of enamel inlay, the ornamental bronze handle of an
important key, a glass lacrymatory (tear-bottle), numerous
coins--referred to below--and other objects in bronze and iron, were
also found.
Only centuries of habitation and cultivation could have changed the
three feet of surface soil in Blackbanks from a stiff unworkable clay
to a black friable garden mould, and it is probable that the British
occupation had lasted for a very long period before the Romans took
possession. The settlement must have been a place of importance,
because it was approached from the north by a track, still existing
though practically disused, probably British, from a ford over the
Avon, near the present Fish and Anchor Inn. This track passes to the
west of South Littleton, on through the middle of the Blackminster
land, and immediately to the east of Blackbanks, joining what I
believe to be the Ryknield Street at the bridge over the stream on the
South Littleton road. Near the present Royal Oak Inn it formerly
crossed the present Evesham-Bretforton road, and became what is still
called Salter Street. It appears to have given access to two more
sites on which Roman coins and relics are found--Foxhill about 9-1/2
acres, and Blackground about 4 acres--and passing east of the present
Badsey church, proceeded through Wickhamford, and by a well-defined
track to Hinton-on-the-Green, and on to Tewkesbury and Gloucester.
The occurrence of the name Salter Street gives a clue to one of the
original uses of the road, at any rate in Roman times, for salt was an
absolute necessity in those days, as may be gathered from a passage in
_The Natural History of Selborne_, written in 1778:
"Three or four centuries ago, before there were any
enclosures, sown grasses, field turnips, or field carrots,
or hay, all the cattle which had grown fat in summer, and
were not killed for winter use, were turned out soon after
Michaelmas to shift as they could through the dead months;
so that no fresh meat could be had in winter or spring.
Hence the vast stores of salted flesh found in the larder of
the elder Spencer in the days of Edward II., even so late in
the spring as the 3rd of May." A note adds that the store
consisted of "Six hundred bacons, eighty carcasses of beef
and six hundred muttons."
It is not difficult to trace the route over which the salt was carried
from Droitwich. Starting thence the track can be approximately
identified by the names of places in which the root, _sal_ (salt),
occurs, and we find Sale Way, Salding, Sale Green, and, further south,
Salford. Crossing the Worcester-Alcelster road at Radford, and
proceeding through Rouse Lench and Church Lench, we reach Harvington,
from whence the track takes us across the low-lying meadows to the
ferry and ford over the Avon, near the Fish and Anchor Inn mentioned
above.
In recent times it has been assumed that the road from Bidford to
Weston Subedge, known as Buckle Street, is identical with Ryknield
Street, but I should prefer to call Buckle Street a branch of the
latter only, for the purpose of joining Ryknield Street and the Foss
Way near Burton-on-the-Water. I consider the real course of Ryknield
Street to be as described in Leland's _Itinerary_ (inserted by
Hearne), Edition III., 1768, in which he quotes, from R. Gale's _Essay
concerning the Four Great Roman Ways_, that "from Bitford on the
southern edge of Warwickshire it (Ryknield Street) runs into
Worcestershire, and taking its course thro' South Littleton goes on a
little to the east of Evesham, and then by Hinton and west of
Sedgebarrow into Gloucestershire, near Aston-under-Hill, and so by
Bekford, Ashchurch, and a little east of Tewksbury, thro' Norton to
Gloucester."
Such a course for Ryknield Street would make it the connection between
the north, running through the Roman Alauna (Alcester) to Glevum
(Gloucester). It must be remembered that there was, in Roman times,
nothing at Evesham to take the road there, for Evesham did not exist
as a town until long after the Romans left. Leland says that there was
"noe towene at Eovesham before the foundation of the Abbey," which
took place about A.D. 701, about 250 years later, and there was no
road from Alcester to Gloucester except the one we are following.
Another important road passed the northern extremity of Blackminster
and crossed the road just referred to so that the Blackminster area
was situated at the junction. This was the old road from Worcester,
passing the present site of Evesham a mile or more to the north,
crossing the Avon at Twyford, and the Ryknield Street at Blackminster,
and going onwards through Chipping Campden towards London.
The following passage in the _Annals_ of Tacitus, Book XII., chapter
xxxi., _Ille (Ostorius) ... detrahere arma suspectis, cinctosque
castris Antonam et Sabrinam fluvios cohibere parat_, which refers to
the fortification of the Antona and Severn rivers by the Roman general
P. Ostorius Scapula, has been the subject of various readings and
controversy about the word _Antona_, no river of that name having been
identified. The reading given above may not be good Latin, but the
names of the rivers are quite plain. Another reading substitutes
_Avonam_ for _Antonam_; but probably Tacitus avoided the use of the
word Avon because it was then a Celtic term for rivers in general, and
confusion would arise between the Avon which joins the Severn at
Tewkesbury and the Avon a little further south which runs into the
Severn estuary at Bristol. To make his meaning quite clear he did
exactly what we do now in speaking of the Stratford Avon (_i.e._,
river) and the Bristol Avon(_i.e._, river) when he prefixed _Antonam_
(_et Sabrinam_) to the word _fluvios_.
If, therefore, we can find a place of importance with the name of
Antona, or a name that may fairly represent it, having regard to
subsequent corruptions, existing also in Roman times on or near the
Avon branch of the Severn, we shall be justified in assuming that this
particular Avon was the river he had in his mind. Such a place is the
area I have described as full of traces of long Roman and pre-Roman
occupation, situated at the junction of two ancient roads, very
important from the military point of view, and within a mile of the
Avon.
On the supposition that Antona and Aldington may be identical, the
present site of the latter is perhaps a quarter of a mile from the
Roman area which I have described, but the original Aldington Mill,
traces of the foundations of which are still to be seen, was actually
on the Roman area. A better position for it was found later, away from
the difficulties of approach caused by floods, and it was moved to the
site occupied by the present mill just below the Manor House, probably
in Anglo-Saxon times. Although the name of the village became, in
Anglo-Saxon, Aldington, or something similar, the old name of Anton or
Aunton was evidently in common local use, as appears in the following
list of names which the present village has borne at different times.
It is specially interesting to notice that the more elaborate
"Aldington" and its variants appear in the more scholarly records,
such as those of Evesham Abbey and Domesday Survey, written by people
not living in the village; while the parish churchwardens 1527-1571,
the will of Richard Yardley 1531, the village constable 1715, and the
villagers at the present day, all living in the place itself, carry on
the old tradition in the names they use which approximate very closely
to the Roman Antona, and are indeed identical in their manuscripts, if
the Latin terminal _a_ is omitted.
_Date_
Aldintone, Charter of the Kings Kenred and Offa,
possessions of Evesham Abbey 709
Aldingtone }
Aldintun } Domesday Survey _circ._ 1086
Aldintona }
Aldringtona, An Adjudication; Evesham Abbey 1176
Aldetone, Institutes of Abbot Randulf, died 1229
Awnton, Will of Richard Yardley of Awnton 1531
Aunton, Churchwardens accounts 1527 to 1571
Anton, Old MS. "A Bill for ye Constable" 1715
Alne or Auln, Villagers present day
As parallels of the local persistence of old names, the neighbouring
village of Wickhamford (present-day name) is still called Wicwon by
the villagers, the same name under which it appears in the Charter of
the Abbey possessions in 709. And the Celtic London still persists in
spite of the Roman attempt to confer upon it the grander name of
Augusta.
The disappearance of anything in the shape of foundations of former
buildings is accounted for by the fact that the whole area was
quarried many years ago for the building stone and limestone beneath,
and any surface stone would have been removed at the same time. One of
the fields still bears the name of the "Quar Ground," and the remains
of lime-kilns can be found in several places.
It is right to add that Blackbanks as the site of Antona was suggested
to me many years ago by the late Canon Winnington Ingram, Rector of
Harvington; in discussing the matter, however, we got no further than
the bare suggestion derived from the appearance of long habitation and
the occurrence of Roman coins and pottery in Blackbanks only, and
without reference to the much larger area of Blackminster. Canon
Winnington Ingram was not familiar with the place, and I had not
apprehended the importance of the track from the "Fish and Anchor" as
a salt way starting from Droitwich, nor was I aware of Salter Street,
its continuation after passing Blackbanks. Neither had I distinguished
between Buckle Street as the junction between Ryknield Street and the
Foss Way, and Ryknield Street itself as the direct road from the north
through Birmingham, Alcester, Bidford, Antona(?) Hinton, and
Gloucester.
Virgil, in his first _Georgic_, refers to the possible future
discovery of Roman remains, and Dryden translates the passage thus:
"Then after lapse of time, the lab'ring swains,
Who turn the turfs of these unhappy plains,
Shall rusty piles from the plough'd furrows take,
And over empty helmets pass the rake."
Such is almost prophetic of my Roman site to-day; little did Virgil
imagine that his lines would apply so nearly in Britain two thousand
years later.
A LIST OF THE COINS FOUND AND NAMES OF THE EMPERORS TO WHOSE REIGNS
THEY BELONG, WITH SHORT NOTES ON THE LEADING INCIDENTS IN CONNECTION
WITH BRITAIN WHICH OCCURRED IN THEIR REIGNS:
1. A Denarius, 88 B.C.
2. A Denarius, 88 B.C. plated. As consular denarii passed
out of circulation soon after A.D. 70, these two coins
suggest that the site was under Roman influence by that date
at the latest.
3. Claudius, Emperor (A.D. 41-54).
4. Nerva, Emperor (96-98).
5. Antoninus Pius, Emperor (138-161).
6. Marcus Aurelius, Emperor (161-180).
7. Severus Alexander, Emperor (222-235).
8. The Thirty Tyrants (211-284). Several coins of this
period, badly defaced.
9. Etruscilla, wife of Traianus Decius (249-251).
10. Gallienus, Emperor (253-268).
11. Postumus, Gallic Emperor (258-268)
12. Claudius Gothicus, Emperor (268-270)
13. Tetricus, Gallic Emperor (270-273).
14. Tacitus, Emperor (275-276)
15. Diocletianus, Emperor (284-305).
16. Carausius, Emperor in Britain (286-294).
17. Allectus, Emperor in Britain (294-296).
18. Theodora, second wife of Constantius I. (Chlorus, Caesar,
293-305; Augustus, 305-6).
19. Licinius, Emperor (307-324).
20. Constantinus Emperor (306-337); (Constantine the Great).
21. Coin with head of Constantinopolis (City Deity)(_circ._ 330).
22. Constantinus II., Emperor (337-340).
23. Constantius II., Emperor (337-361).
24. Gratianus, Emperor (367-383).
BRITISH COIN.
25. Antedrigus, British Prince (_circ._ 50).
The figures in brackets in the following notes refer to the coins as
numbered in the above list:
(3) The Claudian invasion of Britain was begun in A.D. 43 by an army
under the command of Aulus Plautius Silvanus. He led his army from the
coast of Kent, where he probably landed, to the Thames, and waited for
Claudius himself, in whose presence the advance to Camulodunum
(Colchester) was made during the latter part of 43. Claudius
apparently left Rome in July, and was absent for six months, but his
stay in Britain is said to have lasted only sixteen days.
In the pacification which occupied the next three years there are two
points of interest to notice. The first is a series of minor campaigns
conducted by Vespasian--Emperor 69-79--who subdued the Isle of Wight
and penetrated from Hampshire, perhaps, to the Mendip Hills. The
second is the submission of Prasutagus, the British philo-Roman prince
of the Iceni.
It is conjectured that his policy led a certain number of patriots
under a rival prince, Antedrigus, to migrate towards the unoccupied
west. A coin (25) of Antedrigus, with an extremely barbarous head in
profile on the obverse and a horse on the reverse, was found on the
Roman area at Aldington. The types of this coin are ultimately derived
from those on the gold staters struck by Philip of Makedon, father of
Alexander the Great. The original had a young male head (? of Apollo)
on obverse and a two-horse chariot as reverse type. The influence came
to Britain from Gaul, where the coins of Makedon may have arrived by
the valleys of Danube and Rhine; but it is not improbable that the
types reached Gaul through Massilia (Marseilles).
In 47 Plautius was succeeded by P. Ostorius Scapula, who pressed
westwards and fought a great battle with the nationalist army of
Caratacus in 51. Camulodunum became a colonia in 50, and the military
organization of Britain then began to take shape by the establishment
of four legionary headquarters--Isca Silurum (Caerleon-on-Usk),
Viroconium (Wroxeter), Deva (Chester) and Lindum (Lincoln). This
disposition, which faced north and west, came near to breaking down in
61, when the east rose under Boudicca (Boadicea), queen of the Iceni,
partly in protest against the usury of Seneca, the philosopher and
tutor of Nero.
(4) It was in the year 97, during the principate of Nerva, that
Tacitus the historian was consul. By this time the IXth Hispana legion
had been transferred from Lindum to Eburacum (York).
(5) Under Antoninus Pius a revolt of the Brigantes (between Humber and
Mersey) was put down by A. Lollius Urbicus in A.D. 140. Lollius also
completed the northern defences, begun by Hadrian, with a new wall
further north between the Firth and the Clyde.
(6) While Marcus Aurelius was emperor, according to a tradition
preserved by Bede, the British Church came into close connection with
Rome and received what he calls a mission--more probably a band of
fugitives from persecution. Though the tale is doubtful in details, it
is evidence to show that Christianity was strong in the island by this
time.
(9) Decius, husband of Etruscilla, was responsible for the great
persecution of Christians in 250-51; the occasion was the 1,000th
anniversary of Rome's foundation.
(10) Gallienus, son of Valerian, was entrusted with the west on his
father's accession in 253 and defended the Rhine frontier until he was
left sole Emperor in 258, when Valerian was captured by Shapur of
Persia. Various usurpations compelled Gallienus to enter Italy, and he
left the Rhine defences in charge of a general--M. Cassianius Latinius
Postumus.
(11) Postumus at once had to face a great invasion of Franks. He
gained some successes and was therefore proclaimed emperor by the
armies of Gaul and Britain. Before long dissensions broke out in the
Gallic empire and several commanders rose and fell in rapid
succession. It is conceivable that some of these are represented in
the coins found in Blackbanks, but these specimens are too badly
weathered for certain identification to be possible.
(12) On March 4, 268, Gallienus was assassinated. His successor was M.
Aurelius Claudius, afterwards surnamed Gothicus, a skilful general who
did the empire great service by his victories over invaders from
Switzerland and the Tyrol by the shores of the Lago di Garda, and over
the Goths at Naissus (Nish).
(13) Tetricus is of interest only because his surrender to Aurelian in
273 marks the collapse of the Gallic empire.
(15-18) Diocletian became Augustus in 284, and co-opted Maximian as
his colleague two years later. About the same time Carausius,
commander of the Channel fleet, crossed to Britain and had himself
proclaimed independent emperor. In 290 he was acknowledged as third
colleague by the Augusti, but no place was found for him when in 293
the government of the Roman world was divided between Diocletian,
Maximian, and two newly chosen Caesars--Galerius and Flavius Valerius
Constantius, later called Chlorus. By this arrangement the recovery of
Britain from Allectus--who had murdered Carausius about 294--fell to
Constantius, and he accomplished this by a sudden attack in 296.
Constantius was twice married. His first wife, Helena, bore him a son,
Constantine the Great; his second was a step-daughter of Maximian,
named Theodora, to whom coin 18 belongs.
Britain was now divided into four Diocletian provinces, to which a
fifth--Valentia--was later added when the country north of Hadrian's
wall was re-occupied. The only other event of Diocletian's reign to be
noticed is the persecution of Christians in which, according to
tradition, St. Alban lost his life at Verulam about 303.
(19-20) On May 1, 305, Diocletian and Maximian abdicated. Constantius
and Galerius now became Augusti. Trouble arose over the two vacant
Caesarships. It was the aim of Galerius to exclude Constantine, but the
latter escaped to his father's camp at York, a few weeks before
Constantius died on July 25, 306, after a victory over the Picts and
Scots. Constantine was in power under various titles in Gaul and
Britain for five years until, in 311, when Galerius died, he began his
march on Rome, during which he is said to have had his vision of the
cross with the words [Greek: en touto nika]. In 314 the bishops of
York, London, and some other uncertain British see attended the
Council of Arles which sat to deal with the Donatist schism. The
British Church was also represented at the Council of Nicaea, called by
Constantine in 325 to consider the Arian heresy, when the Nicene Creed
in its original form was authorized; the British vote was orthodox. It
was Constantine who in 321 first made Sunday a holiday, but whether
Christianity or Mithraism prompted him to this is doubtful.
(22-23) When Constantine the Great died in 337 the empire was divided
between his sons. Constantius II. received the east; Constans, Africa,
Italy, and the Danuvian region; Constantine II., Gaul and Spain. In
340 Constantine II. attacked Constans and was killed. Constans then
ruled the united west; it seems that Constans and Constantius II.
visited Britain in 343. Constans was assassinated in 350; this left
Constantius II. alone. His policy of toleration towards the Arians led
to a great Church Council in 359. The eastern bishops met at Seleucia,
the western at Ariminum, where Britain was represented. By a certain
amount of coercion Constantius forced his views on the Western
Council. At this time the prosperity of Britain was great and corn was
exported in large quantities.
(24) In 367 Valentinian I. made his son Gratian, Augustus. Gratian was
later married to Constantia, daughter of Constantius II. Roman power
was now asserted once more against the Picts and Scots, and also
against the Saxon raiders by Theodosius, whose son became Augustus in
379. Gratian himself was occupied on the Continent. In 383 Magnus
Maximus was proclaimed emperor in Britain, and Gratian was murdered on
August 25.
The coins were not a hoard; they were found all over the Roman area I
have described, but especially in Blackbanks, and they became visible
generally when the surface was fallow and had broken down into fine
mould from the action of the weather. Their scattered occurrence, and
the period they cover, suggest continuous habitation throughout the
most important part of the Roman occupation of Britain, and, with
their related history, they occupy a distinguished place in a record
of the harvest of Grain and Chaff from an English Manor.
NOTES
[1: Celebrated breeders of the respective sorts.]
[2: Fig. 1 shows the flattened _S_ formed by the stream.
Fig. 2 shows the short circuit formed later at _A_ and the island _B_
When the old bed of the stream round _B_ gets filled up, the island
_B_ disappears, and its area and that part of the old bed formerly on
the west side of the stream is transferred to the east side.]
[3: Mr. H.A. Evans sends me a very interesting note on this subject.
He refers me to Shakespeare, _Henry VIII., III., II., 282_, where
Surrey, alluding to Wolsey, says:
"If we live thus tamely,
To be thus jaded by a piece of scarlet,
Farewell nobility; let his grace go forward,
And dare us with his cap like larks."
The verb _dare_ here used is quite a distinct word from _dare_ = to
venture to do. It means to daze or render helpless with the sight of
something. To dare larks is to fascinate or daze them in order to
catch them. The "dare" is made of small bits of looking-glass fastened
on scarlet cloth. Shakespeare's use of the word in the passage quoted
is evidently an allusion to the scarlet biretta of the cardinal. In
Hogarth's "Distressed Poet" a "dare" is suspended above the
chimney-piece.]
INDEX
"AKERMAST," 197.
.
Albinism, 255.
"Alcoholiday," 177.
Aldington, 1;
band, 122;
chapel, 5;
concerts, 123;
constable, 8;
derivation, 1;
farm, 3;
hosiery factory, 7;
manor, 2;
prepares to resist Jacobites, 7;
variants, 5, 8, 298, 299;
village, 3.
Allsebrook, Rev. W.C., 5.
Alresford fair, 49.
Antona, 294, 297, 298.
Apples, 103, 169, 170, 171.
Archdeacon's visitations, 101, 102.
Arch, Joseph, 59.
Asparagus, 85, 86, 87.
Avebury, Lord, 214.
Avon, meaning of, 297.
Bad debts, farmers', 215.
Badsey, 1;
church innovations, 102, 110;
church restoration, 89, 90;
churchyard, 97, 98, 101;
"Feld," 207;
market gardeners, 85.
Barley, 216, 217.
Barnard, Mr. E.A.B., 5.
Barnard, parish clerk, 65, 92, 93, 95.
Bateman, Miss Isabel, 92.
Beech, 195, 196, 197;
"groaning tree," 197;
stage effect, 198, 199;
Waterloo beeches, 197, 198.
Beef, American, 72, 155.
Bees, 17, 18.
Bell, William,
farm bailiff, 12;
bee-master, 17;
brewer, 18;
courage, 14, 15;
generosity, 13;
honesty, 20;
limited outlook, 18;
memory, 16;
peace-maker, 15;
quoted, 11, 14;
repartee and wit, 13, 24;
salesman, 17.
Bell, Mrs. William, 21.
Bellows, antique, 285.
Bell-ringers, 94.
Bewick, 258.
Bible, cunning use of, 40.
Blackbanks, 294.
Blackbirds, 265.
Blackminster, 294, 299.
Blackmore quoted, 182, 196, 225.
Blacksmith, 151, 152.
Blue distance, 237, 238.
Boer War, 66.
Boys at farm work, 39, 69.
Brandram, Mr., 92.
Bredon Hill, 237.
"Breese," 156.
Brigg, 241.
Brooks,
changing course, 239, 241;
diagram of, 252.
Buckle Street, 166, 296.
Buggilde Street, 157.
Bull, 54.
Bullfinch, 185, 186.
Buller, C.F., 113.
Butterflies, 273, 274, 275, 276.
Caldecott, Randolph, 191, 225, 236, 265.
Caravoglia, Signor, 123.
Carter boys, 39.
Caterpillars, 184, 248, 259.
Cattle, 153, 154, 157.
Chamberlain, Mr. Arthur, 88.
"Chap-money," 127, 129, 216.
Charles II., 7, 190, 227.
Charley, "silly," 93.
"Chawns," 211.
Cherries, 185.
China, old, 285, 286, 287.
Chinese slavery, 88.
Chippendale furniture, 95, 165, 285.
Chipping Campden, 18, 129.
Christ Church, Oxford, 90, 98.
Christmas, 21, 79, 95.
Church music, 102, 103.
Churning, 154.
Cider, 174-177;
apples, 176;
lead poisoning, 178.
Cirencester College, 147, 148.
Climate, effects on animals, 135, 136.
Cloud-burst, 249.
Coal-club, 63, 64.
Cockatoo, 265.
Coffers, antique, 193.
Coins, Roman, 300.
Coleridge quoted, 234.
Collins, Mr. Thomas, 90.
Colour, discordant, 95.
Competition, American, 59, 208.
Compton, Lady Alwyne, 92.
Confirmation, 103.
Constable, John, painter, 193.
"Co-rider," 30.
Coroner's jury, 64, 65.
Cotswolds, 2, 19, 29.
Cottagers, _see_ Labourers;
married couples, 72.
Council, County, election, 65.
Councils, parish, etc., 100.
Courtene, Sir Peter, 5.
Cowper quoted, 106, 264.
"Crabbing," 130.
Cream separator, 82.
Cricket, 119, 120;
Eton and Harrow match, 234, 235.
Cromwell, 227.
Cronje, 66.
Cruikshank, George, 133, 207.
Cuckoo, 184, 249, 259.
Curmudgeon, village, 99.
Cycling, 278;
geology, 282;
pageants of the roads, 279;
pictures, real, 280;
roadside creatures, 281, 282.
Dairy, 153, 154, 155.
Damsons, 182.
Dandie Dinmont, 266.
Daniel, M.N., on Pekingese, 268.
Daniel, S., 105.
D'Aumale, Duc, 203.
Dealers,
artificial fertilizers, 149, 150;
cattle, 127, 134, 135;
horse, 126, 127;
pig, 130;
sheep, 127, 128, 129;
wool, 145, 146.
Dewponds, 242.
Dialect, 158, 288-291.
Disease, human and plant, analogy, 224.
Dorset labourer, a, 71, 72.
Draining, 212, 213.
Duck, pet, 264.
Edgehill, Battle of, 6, 7.
Education, compulsory, 58, 116, 117, 118.
Eggs,
disqualified, 121;
hens', 164, 165, 166.
Elephant, African, 115, 116.
Elevator, 82.
Elms, 187, 188.
Emperors, Roman, 300-305.
Ermine, 281.
Evans, Mr. Herbert A, 263.
Evesham,
Abbey, 1, 4;
agricultural depression, 245, 246;
Vale of, 2;
water supply, 243, 244.
Fairs, 37, 49, 130, 227, 228.
Fairy rings, 47.
Farmers Newstyle and Oldstyle, 217, 218, 219.
Farrar, Dean, 111, 112, 113, 114, 288.
Fields,
derivation, 207;
large and small, 83.
Finance, 58, 68.
Fishing, 35, 36.
Flail, 80.
Floods, 241, 242.
Flower show, village, 121.
Foley, Lady Emily, 91.
Football, 120.
Forks, steel, 85, 86.
Foxes, 201, 254.
Fox terrier, "Chips," 266.
Fruit markets, 172.
Furniture,
antique, 284;
Chippendale, 285, 286;
faked, 97.
Gainsborough, market cart, 193.
Gardener, an old, 53.
Ghosts, 67, 93.
Gipsies, 49, 200, 228.
Gladstone quoted, on ancient church, 89.
Gleaning, 211.
"Gloving," 77.
Goldfinch, 260.
Gold, hoarded, 58.
Goose, pet, 264.
Grace, Dr. W.G., 119.
Grafter, a, 141, 142.
Gray's _Elegy_ quoted, 23, 46, 198.
_Gryphea incurva_, 213.
"Hag-ridden," 47.
Hardy, Mr. Thomas, 77.
Harrow School, 111;
chapel, 113;
fourth form room, 114;
cricket match at Lords, 234, 235.
Harvest, 33, 244.
Hawfinch, 259.
Hawks, 202.
Hay-making, 69.
Hazel, 202.
Hedges,
overgrown, 205;
"pleaching," 59.
Heredity, 117, 118.
Herrick, reference to Gospel Oak, 195.
_History of Evesham_, May's, 68;
Tindal's, 8.
Hoarding gold, 58.
Hoby, Sir Philip, 4.
Holiday outings, 78, 79.
Holly, 205.
Hood, reference to butterflies, 276.
Hops,
aphis, 221;
dioescious, 226;
drying, 31, 32;
introduction of Flemish, 205;
natural protection, 222;
pocket at R.A.S.E. show, 139;
Saturnalia, 227;
tying, 75.
Hop-poles, 202, 203.
Hop-yards, derivation, 221.
Horace, reference to farm work, 207.
Horizon, parochial, 18, 19.
Horses, 36, 40.
Hoskins, Chandos Wren, _Talpa_,
on farming, 132;
draining, 133;
illustrates Horace's lines, 207.
Hospitium at Badsey, 67.
Huguenots, 7.
Hurdle-making, 150, 151.
Indian troops at Lyndhurst, 158.
Ingram, Canon Winnington, 300.
Inquest, 64, 65.
I.P., honesty, 56.
Irving, Sir Henry, 120.
Irving, Washington, _Bracebridge Hall_, on public distress, 245.
Jackdaw, pet, 264.
Jackson, Sir Thomas Graham, 90,96.
Jacobites, 7, 8.
Jarge, 23;
_bon vivant_, 28;
cider-maker, 175;
daughter, 24, 26;
discrimination, 26;
hop foreman, 25;
London trip, 28;
narrow escape, 201;
soloist, 29;
sporting reputation, 24.
Jarrett monument, 6.
Jays, 265.
J.E.,
carter, accidents, 54, 55;
hop-washing, 55.
J.E., Mrs., 55.
Jim,
carter, 35;
angler, 35;
foresight, 41;
French horses, 37;
loyalty, 37;
ploughman, 38;
rheumatism, 40;
salesman, 37;
tender-hearted, 38.
"Jingoism," derivation, 72.
John C., shepherd, 46.
Keats, reference to trees, 187.
"King Arthur," 254.
King Edward VII., 138, 203, 234.
Kingfisher, 257.
King George V., 19, 249.
_Kingham Old and New_, 77.
Kingham Station, 59.
"Know-all," the, 73, 74.
Kruger, 66.
Labourers,
agricultural: bad temper, effect on animals, 74;
aesthetic feeling, 61;
enfranchised, 83;
enjoyment of grievance, 65;
feuds, 71;
honesty, 56;
interest in horrors, 64;
limited vocabulary, 62;
literal use of words, 62, 63;
not callous, 62;
"not paid to think," exceptional, 45;
recognize visible property only, 57;
resignation and fortitude, 60;
responsibility, effect of, 73;
reticence, 61;
savings, 57;
seldom slackers, 69;
suspicious of change, 63;
sympathetic, 58;
understand sarcasm, seldom irony, 73.
Ladybirds, 225.
Lamb, New Zealand, 162.
Lambs not to be killed, 160, 161, 162.
Land, division of, 84.
Land girls, 76.
"Leasing," derivation of, 211.
Leland, 4, 296.
Lind, Jenny, 124, 125.
Liver-rot, 160.
London, Bishop of, a former, 198.
Long Marston, 7.
Loudon, John, 197.
Machinery, 80.
Magpies, 256.
Maid-servants, 76.
Malvern concerts, 27, 90, 91, 92.
Martin, Mr. C.S., 139, 140;
on cabbage butterflies, 275;
wasps, 275.
Martin, Mr. Wm., on finding wasps' nests, 274.
Matriculation, young yeoman's, 283, 284.
May's _History of Evesham_, 68.
May, shelter during, 155.
Medicinal herbs during war, 45.
Melanism, 255.
"'Merican beef," 72, 155.
Merry gardens, derivation, 186.
Meteorology, 230-234, 237.
Mickleton tunnel, 29.
"Mist-bow,", 251.
Mistifier, 55.
Mist-lake, 252.
Mistletoe, 173.
Mole-catcher, 143.
Moths, 271, 272, 273.
Mountford's restaurant, 20, 21.
Mowing machines, 81.
"Mug," a, 140.
Names,
place, 291-292;
villagers, 292-293.
New Forest,
"commoners," 194;
communion between man and trees, 199;
land mostly poor, 188;
oaks, 189, 190, 199;
timber during war, 194, 204.
Nightingales, 261.
Nuthatch, 257.
Oak, 188, 189;
American, 96, 97;
attitudes of, 190;
bark, 193;
"Gospel," 195;
history in, 195;
heart of, 193;
plantations, 192.
Obadiah B., thatcher, 148.
Onomatopoeia, use of, 196, 256.
Omnicycle, 22, 61.
Orchards, 167, 168.
Overton fair, 49.
"Ox-droves," 157.
Pageants of the roads, 279.
Parochial horizon, 18, 19.
Peacocks, 253, 254.
Pear trees, 179, 180.
Peking, relief of, 104.
Pekingese, 267, 268, 269.
Perry, 179, 180.
Pershore, 37, 197.
Peruvian guano, 87.
Pheasants, 204, 255.
Philips, _Cyder_, 175.
Picker, a, 103.
"Pleaching," 59.
Ploughing, 38, 39, 213, 214.
Plumber's story, 45.
Plums, 182, 183, 184.
Pony, "Taffy," 270.
Poodle, 266.
"Popery," 20, 110.
Postman, 122.
Potatoes, 18;
disease, 222;
Myatt's ashleaf, origin, 54.
Poulton, Miss, 90.
Poultry, 164.
_Punch_ quoted, 19, 102.
Queen Victoria, 255.
Railway accident, 163;
sleepers, 204-205.
Randell, Mr. Charles, 81.
Randulf, Abbot, 4.
Rat-catcher, 143.
Rats, 143.
"Reconstruction," 246.
Ridge and furrow, 213, 214.
Rival hedgers, 105.
Roads, ancient, 279-280, 283, 296-297.
Roberts, Lord, 66.
Roman coins, 300;
Emperors, 301-305;
remains, 294, 295.
Rooks' arithmetic, 260;
building, 91.
Rottingdean, 262, 271, 276.
Rough music, 77, 78.
Royal Agricultural Society of England, 138, 139.
_Rus in urbe_, 234-237.
Ruskin, 81.
Ryknield Street, 156, 295-297, 300.
Sabbath-breaking, 163, 164.
Sales,
by bailiff, 132, 133;
books, 133;
fruit, 172;
sheep, 136, 137;
short-horns, 134, 135.
Salisbury, Lord, 90, 91.
Salter Street, 296.
"Satan leading on," 105.
Savory, Mrs. A.H., 86, 90, 122-124, 153, 164.
Savory, Mr. F.E., 250.
Selborne (see White), Church, 94.
Seventh Division in New Forest, 280.
Scapula, P. Ostorius, 297.
School Board,
Badsey, 106;
chairman, 107;
economy, 115;
"first duty" of members, 107;
grouped parishes, 108;
"ignoramus," an, 115;
inspectors, 111, 114;
mares' nests, 116;
reading-book, 114;
religious instruction, 109-111;
reporters at meetings, 108;
site for building, 109;
"six little pigs," 114.
"Score," derivation of, 16.
Scots-fir, 204.
Scottish wool trade, 145.
Scot, Reynolde, on hops, 220.
Scrutator, 253.
Shakespeare,
local phraseology, 289, 290;
local reputation, 120.
Shakespeare quoted,
on bargains, 126;
carouse at Bidford, 179;
content, 57;
"daring" larks, 263;
England if true to self, 66;
fairy rings, 47;
fool i' the forest, 191;
gadfly, 156;
hope and despair, 220;
lady-smocks, 276;
narrow outlook, 19;
"pleaching," 59;
Providence, 1;
sweet of the year, 232.
Shappen, derivation, 129.
Sheep, 47-50, 158-160.
Sheep dipper, 142.
Shelley on skylark, 253.
Shepherds, 46, 50, 76, 77.
"Shepherd's neglect," 48.
Signhurst, derivation, 67.
Skylark, 263.
Sladden, Mr. Julius, 89, 121.
Snake and Toad, 282.
Snewin, carpenter, 42.
Squirrels, 281.
Stag-beetles, 277.
Steam power, 83.
Stockmen often resemble their animals, 162.
Stupid places, 292.
"Summer dance," 251.
"Summer-time," 230, 231.
Sunday work, 244.
Superstition, 18, 21, 46, 47, 67.
Tacitus, 297.
"Tantiddy's fire," 33.
Taylor, Chevalier, 52.
Telegraph wires in frost, 183.
Tennyson quoted,
on apples, 167;
business men, 141;
changes of earth's surface, 239;
dairy, 153;
farming walk, 207;
hazels, 202;
home-made bread, 211;
_Morte d'Arthur_, 1;
music, 119;
old oaks, 187;
onomatopoeic lines, 196;
our echoes, 288;
politics, 80;
royal oak, 195;
spring-time, 202;
steam cultivation, 83;
"summer dance," 251;
tea-cup times, 286;
town and country, 230.
Tennyson at agricultural show, 139.
Temper, effect on animals, 74.
Temple, Sir Richard, 83-86, 88.
Thatching, 148, 149, 200.
Thistles, 260.
Thomson quoted, 36.
Thoreau quoted, 199.
Thrashing, 80, 81, 215.
"Three acres and a cow," 84.
Tom, 29;
caution, 33, 34;
draining, 31;
harvesting, 32, 33;
hop-drying, 31;
mowing, 30;
musical critic, 33;
tree-felling, 30.
Tom G., 41;
accuracy, 42;
builder, 44;
carpenter, 41;
efficiency, 45;
epigram, 43, 44;
teetotal, 41.
Trees, paintings of, 192, 193.
Tricker, 50, 51, 52.
Trout, 35, 36, 49.
Truffle-hunter, 144, 145.
Tusser, Thomas, on hop-growing, 220, 221.
Urchins, 264, 282, 291.
Valentine's Day, St., 160.
Vestry meetings, 99, 100.
Veterinary surgeons, 147, 148.
Vicar (my first)
as prosecutor, 101;
former ways of parishioners, 94, 95;
impressive reader, 98, 99;
"new farmers," 13;
procession with choir, 102;
restoration of church, 89, 90.
Vicar (my second)
declines to act on School Board, 109;
religious instruction, 110;
scholar, 104.
Vicar (my third),
innovations, 110;
relief of Peking, 104;
religious instruction, 110, 111.
Vicar, a Gloucestershire, 104.
Vicar of Old Basing, 165.
_Victory_, old battleship, 194.
Villagers, see Labourers, funeral, 15.
Villages, Cotswold and Vale of Evesham, 283.
"Viper,"
egg-eater, 166;
rescues children, 21, 22;
avoids "dipping," 142.
Virgil, _Georgics_,
and farm work, 207;
onomatopoeic lines, 195, 196;
on planting trees, 168;
prophetic lines, 300.
Wages, 68, 69, 70.
Waggon,
an ancient, 139;
name on a, 131, 132.
Wakefield, Bishop of, 230.
Walnut chair, 7.
War, great, 45, 161, 227.
Warde Fowler, Mr., 77, 78.
Washington, Penelope, 9, 10.
Wasps, 274, 275.
Water-rats, 144.
Waterspouts, 250.
Way-warden, 100.
Weather, abnormal, 247, 248, 249;
signs, 233.
Wedding feast, a village, 65.
Weeds, 70.
Weighing machine, incorrect, 43.
Wellington, Duke of, 197.
"Welsher," a, 137.
"Wendy," Pekingese, 267.
Westwood, Professor, 276.
Weyhill Fair, 228.
Wickhamford, 8, 94, 299.
Wild geese, 263.
Wild, Miss Margaret, 92.
Will Hall farm, 235.
Will-o'-the-wisp, 249.
Willow ("withy"), 199, 201.
Wheatear, bird, 262.
Wheat:
growing, ruined by importations, 208;
harvest, 210;
hoeing, 70;
rick building, 212.
Whisky, 131, 178.
White, Gilbert,
black bullfinch, 257;
dew-ponds, 243;
salted flesh, 296;
Saxon plurals, 289;
Selborne Church bells, 94.
White, Miss Maude V., 124.
Women on the land, 74, 75, 76.
Woodcock, 258, 259.
Woodpecker, green, 256.
Woodpigeons, 261.
Wool, 146, 147;
staplers, 145.
"Woonts," 143.
Worcester,
Battle of, 7;
Bishops of, 103;
butter market, 154;
china, 161;
hop-fair, 227.
Words, confusion of, 51, 52.
Wordsworth quoted, 61, 263.
Wren, golden-crested, 261.
"Wusser and wusser, old," 29.
Wych-elm, 53.
Yardley, Richard, will of, 5.
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