Transcriber’s Note:
This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects.
Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Bold and
blackletter fonts, used for inscriptions, are delimited with ‘=’.
Illustrations and maps are indicated as [Illustration: caption], and
have been positioned to fall between paragraphs. On several occasions,
the order of the illustrations is reversed, to better follow the text.
The footnotes, which were marked using the typical symbols (e.g.,
asterisks), have been numbered consecutively for uniqueness, and placed
following the paragraph where they appear. On several occasions (44.8,
48.10, 59.13, 259.59), a single footnote is referenced multiple times in
the text.
Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please
see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding
the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation.
THE STORY OF THE
EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE
_A COMPANION VOLUME._
_304 Pages, Crown 8vo, with 56 Illustrations._
_Cloth Boards_, =1/8= _net_.
YORK
IN ENGLISH HISTORY
BY
J. L. BROCKBANK, M.A.,
AND
W. M. HOLMES.
_A typical Press Opinion._—"We have nothing but praise for this
charming book. It has well been said that ‘to master thoroughly the
story of the city of York is to know practically the whole of English
history,’ and the authors of this new history have demonstrated the
truth of this opinion. No pains have been spared by the publishers to
give the letterpress a perfect setting; binding, paper, illustrations,
and general finish are alike admirable."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONDON: A. BROWN & SONS, Ltd., 5 Farringdon Av., E.C.
And at Hull and York.
[Illustration:
THE PRIDE OF THE EAST RIDING.
BEVERLEY MINSTER FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
]
THE STORY OF
THE EAST RIDING OF
YORKSHIRE
BY
HORACE B. BROWNE, M.A.
_WITH ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY
ILLUSTRATIONS_
LONDON
A. BROWN & SONS, LTD., 5 FARRINGDON AVENUE, E.C.
AND AT HULL AND YORK
---
1912
PRINTED AT BROWNS’ SAVILE PRESS,
SAVILE STREET AND GEORGE STREET, HULL.
TO THE
BOYS AND GIRLS
OF THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE,
IN THE HOPE THAT THE STORY OF THE LIVES OF THEIR
FOREFATHERS MAY INSPIRE THEM TO HELP IN
ROLLING ONWARDS THE WHEELS OF
PROGRESS THAT HAVE BEEN IN
MOTION EVER SINCE THE
FIRST LIVING BEING
CAME INTO
EXISTENCE.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes herein to acknowledge his indebtedness:—
(1) To the published works of local historians, and to the
publications of local learned societies, into all of which he has
delved, and from many of which he has ‘lifted’ such local records as it
served his purpose to use.
(2) To MR. JOHN BICKERSTETH, of the East Riding County Council, for
valuable help in the chapter on _How the East Riding Governs Itself_,
and in the general planning of the book; to MR. JOHN SUDDABY, for much
information that is embodied in Chapters XXIV.-XXVII.; to the WARDENS OF
THE HULL TRINITY HOUSE, and MR. E. J. HESELTINE for extracts from the
records of the Trinity House; to MR. J. H. HIRST, Hull City Architect,
for the draft of the illustration on p. 167; and to MR. W. G. B. PAGE,
for revising the proofs of _The East Riding Roll of Honour_.
(3) To COL. MARK SYKES, M.P., CANON GRIMSTON of Stillingfleet,
ALDERMAN JOHN BROWN, DR. J. WRIGHT MASON, MRS. WATSON, of Hedon, MR. W.
MORFITT of Atwick, the CURATOR of the Hull Museums, and others, for
permission to take photographs of objects in their possession.
(4) To the EDITOR of the Transactions of the East Riding Antiquarian
Society, the Hull Scientific Club, and the Hull Museum Publications, for
the loan of several blocks; to PROFESSOR COLLINGWOOD and the EDITOR of
the ‘Yorkshire Archæological Journal’ for the loan of blocks for the
illustrations on pp. 55, 63, 64; to MR. T. A. J. WADDINGTON of York, and
the EDITOR of the ‘Port of Hull Annual’ for that of the blocks used on
pp. 236 and 248; and to the HEAD-MASTERS and HEAD MISTRESSES of the East
Riding Schools for that of the blocks used in Chapter XXX.
(5) To his friend, MR. E. HAWORTH EARLE, and to his colleagues, MR. C.
BAZELL and MR. J. V. PUGH, for reading the proofs of the entire book and
correcting many errors that would otherwise have escaped detection.
(6) To his friend and old pupil, MR. C. W. MASON, for the great amount
of time and care which he has bestowed upon the taking of special
photographs.
(7) To the PUBLISHERS of the book, who have placed in his hands every
possible facility for enriching its pages with whatever illustrations
they thought would prove of interest, and who have thereby produced a
book which it is hoped will reach the high-water mark of excellence in
artistic production.
HYMERS COLLEGE, HULL,
1912.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. WHAT THE EAST RIDING IS 1
II. HOW THE EAST RIDING WAS MADE 3
III. MEN OF THE STONE AGE 8
IV. MEN OF THE BRONZE AGE—THE ANCIENT BRITONS 20
V. MEN OF THE IRON AGE—THE ROMANS IN EAST YORKSHIRE 29
VI. OUR ANCESTORS 40
VII. HOW THE MEN OF THE NORTH BECAME CHRISTIANS 47
VIII. THE COMING OF THE NORTHMEN 56
IX. IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 892 65
X. TWO FAMOUS BATTLES OF LONG AGO 74
XI. HOW THE NORMANS CAME TO YORKSHIRE 85
XII. HOW OUR ANCIENT PARISH CHURCHES WERE BUILT 95
XIII. THE BIRTH OF HULL AND THE ROMANCE OF THE DE LA POLES 111
XIV. MONKS, NUNS, AND FRIARS 123
XV. SAINT JOHN OF BEVERLEY AND HIS MINSTER 135
XVI. SANCTUARIES 145
XVII. HOW TWO KINGS OF ENGLAND LANDED AT SPURN 155
XVIII. LIFE IN A MEDIÆVAL TOWN 162
XIX. THE TRADE UNIONS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 179
XX. THE SUPPRESSION OF THE MONASTERIES AND THE PILGRIMAGE 188
OF GRACE
XXI. HOW THE GREAT CIVIL WAR BEGAN AT HULL 202
XXII. HOW HULL WAS TWICE BESIEGED 212
XXIII. SOME ANCIENT EAST RIDING FAMILIES 223
XXIV. STAGE COACH AND RAILWAY 238
XXV. ENGLAND’S THIRD PORT—THE MODERN GROWTH OF HULL 253
XXVI. FAMOUS SONS OF THE EAST RIDING 269
XXVII. SHIPS OF THE HUMBER 284
XXVIII. FOLK-SPEECH OF THE EAST RIDING 301
XXIX. HOW THE EAST RIDING GOVERNS ITSELF 311
XXX. EAST RIDING SCHOOLS 321
XXXI. THE EAST RIDING ROLL OF HONOUR 344
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE PRIDE OF THE EAST RIDING _Frontispiece_
THE THREE RIDINGS OF YORKSHIRE 2
ONE OF THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF THE EAST RIDING 4
RELICS OF THE ICE AGE 6
SKULL AND ANTLERS OF A RED DEER 7
BONE IMPLEMENTS AND WEAPONS FROM BARROWS ON THE WOLDS 9
SECTION OF HOWE HILL, DUGGLEBY 12
POLISHED FLINT KNIFE FOUND IN DUGGLEBY HOWE 14
FLINT IMPLEMENT AND WEAPONS 15
UNFINISHED STONE ADZE HEAD AND WHINSTONE AXE HEAD 16
FOOD VESSEL FROM A BARROW ON ACKLAM WOLD 17
THE RUDSTONE MONOLITH 18
THE EARLIEST KIND OF AXE USED IN EAST YORKSHIRE 19
BRONZE CELT OR AXE HEAD FOUND AT SWINE 21
PLAN OF A BARROW ON CALAIS WOLD, AND IDEAL RESTORATION
OF THE SITE OF BURIAL 23
BRITISH GOLD COIN FOUND AT ATWICK 24
HOW A BRITISH CHIEFTAIN’S WIFE WAS BURIED IN GARTON
SLACK 25
A BRITISH WAR CHARIOT 26
EARTHWORKS AT SKIPSEA BROUGH 28
STATUE OF A ROMAN SOLDIER IN THE YORK MUSEUM 30
SECTION OF A ROMAN MILITARY HIGHWAY 31
ROMAN ROADS AROUND THE HUMBER 35
ROMAN PIG OF LEAD FOUND AT SOUTH CAVE 36
ROMAN ‘PENS’ FOUND AT BROUGH 36
RELICS OF ROMAN FEASTS FOUND AT EASINGTON 37
A ‘SAFETY-PIN’ SIXTEEN HUNDRED YEARS OLD 38
DESIGN OF THE PAVEMENT OF A ROMAN VILLA AT HARPHAM 39
IRON KNIFE AND BRONZE SPOON FROM AN ANGLIAN CEMETERY 45
CHILD’S TOYS FOUND IN A BURIAL VASE AT SANCTON 45
‘FINDS’ IN AN ANGLIAN CEMETERY NEAR GARTON GATEHOUSE 46
GOODMANHAM CHURCH (From an Old Engraving) 52
TWO SIDES OF AN ANGLIAN CROSS SHAFT AT LEVEN 55
DANISH SETTLEMENTS IN A PORTION OF NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE 60
DANISH CROSS HEAD AT NORTH FRODINGHAM 63
DANISH SUN-DIAL BUILT INTO THE WALL OF ALDBROUGH
CHURCH 64
PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE 81
HOLDERNESS IN THE DOMESDAY BOOK 93
A NORMAN FONT IN KIRKBURN CHURCH 96
A PISCINA IN PATRINGTON CHURCH 97
PART OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE TOWER OF HOLY TRINITY
CHURCH, HULL 99
FILEY CHURCH, SHOWING THE LINES OF THE ORIGINAL ROOF 100
THE ‘BEVERLEY IMP’—ST. MARY’S CHURCH, BEVERLEY 101
DIFFERENT FORMS OF ARCHES 103
‘NORMAN’ AND ‘EARLY ENGLISH’ SOUTH DOORS 105
PART OF THE SOUTH WALL OF THE CHURCH AT
GARTON-ON-THE-WOLDS 106
‘CHURCHWARDEN’ RESTORATION AT WELWICK CHURCH 108
A GROTESQUE ‘POPPY-HEAD’ AT HOLY TRINITY, HULL 109
BRASS OF THOMAS TONGE, RECTOR OF BEEFORD 110
ARMS OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL 111
SILVER PENNY COINED AT HULL IN THE REIGN OF EDWARD I. 112
PHOTOGRAPH OF THE HULL CHARTER 113
EFFIGIES OF SIR WILLIAM AND DAME KATHERINE DE LA POLE 117
ARMS OF THE DE LA POLES 118
COMMON SEAL OF THE CORPORATION OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL 119
SEAL OF EDMUND DE LA POLE 121
PEDIGREE OF THE DE LA POLES 122
ARMS OF BRIDLINGTON PRIORY 123
A CISTERCIAN MONK 124
A BENEDICTINE NUN 125
PLAN OF THE CISTERCIAN ABBEY OF KIRKSTALL 127
THE PRIORY CHURCH, BRIDLINGTON 129
A CORNER OF THE CLOISTER COURT AT KIRKHAM PRIORY 131
THE BAYLE GATE, BRIDLINGTON 132
A WHITE FRIAR IN HIS STUDY 133
ARMS OF BEVERLEY MINSTER 135
BEVERLEY MINSTER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 137
‘EARLY ENGLISH’ DOORWAY IN THE SOUTH TRANSEPT 138
SMALL ‘DECORATED’ DOORWAY AT THE WEST END 139
PART OF THE ARCADING ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE NAVE 141
‘HEY-DIDDLE-DIDDLE, THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE’ 142
PLAN OF BEVERLEY MINSTER 143
SANCTUARY CROSS AT BISHOP BURTON 147
THE BEVERLEY FRITH-STOOL 150
SANCTUARY KNOCKER AT ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH, YORK 151
HENRY OF LANCASTER’S CROSS 161
PRESENT SEAL OF THE BOROUGH OF HEDON 162
NORTH BAR WITHOUT, BEVERLEY 163
PART OF A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY PLAN OF HULL 165
HIGH STREET, HULL 166
SECTIONS OF A MEDIÆVAL AND A MODERN STREET 167
PARISH STOCKS PRESERVED IN BEVERLEY MINSTER 169
ARMS OF THE HULL TRINITY HOUSE 172
A MIRACLE PLAY IN THE OLDEN TIME 174
NOAH’S ARK 175
A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY ‘SHOW’ 177
BEAR-BAITING 178
THE BEVERLEY MINSTRELS 185
ARMS OF THE HULL MERCHANTS’ COMPANY 186
THE GATEWAY OF KIRKHAM PRIORY 190
RUINS OF THE EAST END OF THE CHURCH 191
BADGE OF THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE 193
HOWDEN CHURCH FROM THE SOUTH 196
HOWDEN CHURCH—RUINS OF THE CHAPTER HOUSE 198
ALL THAT REMAINED OF MEAUX ABBEY IN 1900 201
A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF KYNGESTON-VPON-HVLL, A.D. 1640 206, 207
KING CHARLES I. AT THE BEVERLEY GATE,
KINGSTON-UPON-HULL 211
SIR JOHN HOTHAM 216
MEDAL STRUCK IN MEMORY OF SIR JOHN HOTHAM 219
HULL’S WATER GATE 221
WRESSLE CASTLE 225
THE PERCY TOMB, BEVERLEY MINSTER 230
BURTON CONSTABLE HALL 232
BRASS OF SIR THOMAS DE ST. QUINTIN IN HARPHAM CHURCH 233
BURTON AGNES HALL 234
EFFIGY OF A KNIGHT IN PLATE ARMOUR AT SWINE 235
EFFIGY OF A KNIGHT IN CHAIN ARMOUR AT HOWDEN 236
COAT-OF-ARMS OF THE STRICKLANDS 237
ON THE ROAD IN 1812 238
HULL AND YORK COACHING BILL, A.D. 1787 241
COACHING ROADS AND EARLY RAILWAYS 243
PISTOLS AND HOLSTERS FORMERLY USED ON THE HULL AND
PATRINGTON COACH 245
THE FIRST TIME-TABLE OF THE HULL AND SELBY RAILWAY 248
THE HULL AND BEVERLEY STAGE COACH 251
ON THE ROAD IN 1912 252
WHITEFRIARGATE BRIDGE AND THE VICTORIA SQUARE, HULL 255
PLAN OF DOCKS WEST OF THE RIVER HULL 258
PLAN OF DOCKS EAST OF THE RIVER HULL 259
THE WILSON LINER ‘ESKIMO’ GETTING UP STEAM 260
GRAIN SHIPS DISCHARGING THEIR CARGOES 261
AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY ON THE WAY TO RUSSIA 264
A STEAM TRAWLER 265
N.E.R. RIVERSIDE QUAY 267
THE GARDEN VILLAGE, HULL 268
JOHN ALCOCK, BISHOP OF ELY 270
JOHN FISHER, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER 272
ANDREW MARVELL 273
BIRTHPLACE OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE 275
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE 277
SIR TATTON SYKES 281
CHARLES WILSON, FIRST BARON NUNBURNHOLME 282
ARTHUR WILSON 283
AN ANCIENT ‘DUG-OUT’ FOUND IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE 285
A VIKING SHIP ON A CHURCH DOOR 286
ANCIENT SEAL OF THE CORPORATION OF HEDON 287
ENGLISH WARSHIPS IN THE TIME OF THE ARMADA 289
A NEWS SHEET OF 1837 291
THE HULL WHALER ‘TRUELOVE’ 293
THE FIRST STEAMSHIP BUILT ON THE HUMBER 295
A HUMBER PILOT BOAT 297
SHIPS OLD AND NEW—THE ‘SOUTHAMPTON’—‘BAYARDO’ 299
ENTRANCE TO THE OLD HARBOUR 300
ANCIENT ARMS OF BEVERLEY 311
MODERN ARMS OF BRIDLINGTON 313
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN THE EAST RIDING 314
THE HEDON MACE—THE OLDEST CIVIC MACE IN BRITAIN 316
CREST OF THE EAST RIDING COUNTY COUNCIL 318
COUNCIL CHAMBER AT THE COUNTY HALL, BEVERLEY 320
ARMS OF BEVERLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL 322
ARMS OF HOWDEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL 322
ARMS OF BRIDLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL 323
ARMS OF HULL GRAMMAR SCHOOL 324
ARMS OF POCKLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL 325
AT SCHOOL IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 325
PART OF THE SEAL OF A LINCOLNSHIRE GRAMMAR SCHOOL 326
ANCIENT COCK-FIGHTING BELL OF POCKLINGTON SCHOOL 328
A BOYS’ PLAY-GROUND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 330
THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, HULL 333
THE HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, BRIDLINGTON 335
SEAL OF THE GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL, HULL 336
BRIDLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL 339
ARMS OF HYMERS COLLEGE 340
HYMERS COLLEGE 341
A TYPICAL SCHOOL ON THE YORKSHIRE WOLDS 342
A MODERN CITY COUNCIL SCHOOL 343#
MAP OF THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE _End Cover_
THE STORY OF
THE EAST RIDING OF
YORKSHIRE.
I.
WHAT THE EAST RIDING IS.
That an English county which is nearly as large as the ancient kingdom
of Wales should become divided into separate portions for the purposes
of local government is only what one would expect. But it is not obvious
why the number of these portions should be three, and there is even an
air of mystery about the name given to them. ‘North Riding,’ ‘West
Riding,’ ‘East Riding’—what is this word ‘Riding’?
For the answer to this question we must go back many centuries, to the
time of the hardy Norsemen who, as we shall see, settled in such large
numbers in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It was common among the Norsemen
of old to divide lands into three portions for the purposes of
government, and their name for each portion was _thrithjungr_.[1]
Footnote 1:
_Thríth-yunger_
This mysterious word means in our tongue ‘a third part,’ and from it
arose the English word THRIDING as companion to _feorthing_, another
word which we use to-day in a very slightly altered form. But the
difficulty of pronouncing distinctly and easily the combination ‘North
Thriding’ is evident, and the troublesome word suffered the same fate as
commonly then befell the troublesome man—it got, quite naturally,
beheaded.
* * * * *
[Illustration: THE THREE RIDINGS OF YORKSHIRE.]
A glance at the small map on this page will show how the county of
Yorkshire is divided. By no means are the three Ridings equal in area,
the East Riding being far the smallest. In order of size they stand as
follows:—
West Riding 2,766 square miles.
North Riding 2,128 " "
East Riding 1,172 " "
—-—-—-—-—-—-—
6,066 square miles.
The map shows another point of contrast between the three Ridings.
Whereas the West and North Ridings have numerous ranges of hills and
correspondingly numerous water-channels, the East Riding is, with the
exception of its northern extremity, an eastward extension of the ‘Vale
of York’ and very nearly as flat as the proverbial pancake. Its only
rivers are the Hull and the Derwent, and the latter for more than half
its course forms the boundary of the Riding.
An uninteresting part of the county it looks to be, does it not? But,
nevertheless, it has an interesting history behind it, and men and women
have been born and bred in it—men and women who have helped to make our
country what it is to-day. Who they have been, how they have lived, and
what they have done in the ages before we ourselves were born, it is the
purpose of the following pages to show.
II.
HOW THE EAST RIDING WAS MADE.
Stand on the very highest point of the white limestone cliffs that
stretch northwards from Flamborough Head, and realise that you are
standing on what was once the bed of the sea.
Strange though this be, it is nevertheless true. Countless ages ago what
now towers up 450 feet above sea-level had over it the ceaseless rolling
of the waters of the ocean, and during countless ages it was slowly
formed out of the shells and teeth and bones of the creatures that lived
in these waters.
Men who know tell us that the layer of chalk at the bottom of the ocean
to-day is composed principally of the remains of creatures so minute as
to be visible only by the aid of a microscope, and that this layer grows
in thickness at the rate of not more than one-tenth of an inch per year.
They tell us also that the layer of chalk which extends under our county
is not less than 1200 feet in thickness, and thus a simple calculation
will help us to form some idea of the extent of time necessary for its
formation. But however long this time actually was, it came to an end
with a tremendous upheaval of a portion of the ocean bed, and the
formation of a new area of ‘dry land.’
All the coast line of the East Riding, however, does not consist of
chalk cliffs. North of Bempton and Speeton lie cliffs of sandstone and
clay, which have yielded the fossil remains of living beings that once
inhabited the water and the shore. Such are the belemnites and
ammonites—the ‘thunderbolts’ and ‘St. Hilda’s snakes’ we may have heard
them called—and the _Ichthyosaurus_, whose skeleton was recently
discovered embedded in the clay cliffs at Speeton and may now be seen in
the Hull Museum. Not a very handsome gentleman in the flesh he must have
been, unless appearances are deceptive.
[Illustration:
ONE OF THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF THE EAST RIDING.
Actual length about twelve feet.
]
Again, walk southwards from Flamborough Head, and the chalk cliffs are
found to get less and less in height until they disappear altogether,
and their place is taken by cliffs of clay. Then these disappear, and
are succeeded by the long, flat bank of sand and shingle which is known
as Spurn Point; and if we round this point and follow the river bank, we
find it nothing but mud and clay until we get past the mouth of the
river Hull. At Hessle the chalk cliffs break out once more, and we know,
from investigations, that the bed of chalk comes to the surface
completely westwards of a line drawn from Flamborough to this point.
Draw on a map of the East Riding a line from Sewerby, through Driffield
and Beverley, to Hessle, and you are drawing the line of the old
sea-beach when the upheaval previously mentioned had taken place. This
was the shore of a land inhabited by races of animals now found living
only in tropical regions. The elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and
hyena ranged the land for food, and bones of these creatures have been
found in considerable numbers in the caves that exist at Kirkdale in the
North Riding.
* * * * *
Then came a great change. The climate of Northern Europe became colder
and colder till there prevailed what scientists call the ‘Great Ice
Age.’ This was the time of formation of huge glaciers which spread from
the mountains of Scandinavia, Scotland, and north-west England
southwards and eastwards into the sea, until they met and made its whole
area a slowly moving mass of ice. With the ice were carried sand,
gravel, clay, boulders torn from projecting rocks, and bones of Arctic
animals, such as the walrus, the reindeer, and the Irish elk; and as the
ice gradually melted, all these were deposited at the base of the line
of chalk cliffs, or even on the summit of the cliffs where these were
low. From the gravel pits at Burstwick excavations of ballast for the
embankments of the North Eastern Railway brought to light animal bones
in such quantities that many tons were sold to chemical manure
manufacturers, and it is probable that many tons still remain
undiscovered.
[Illustration:
_Photo by_] Relics of the Ice Age. [_C. W. Mason_
]
A walrus tusk from Kelsey Hill and the tooth of a mammoth from the
cliffs at Atwick.[2]
Footnote 2:
The weight of this tooth is 9½ lbs. One side has been worn down and
polished smooth by the friction of the ice in passing over it.
In this way was formed the ‘great mass of gravel, clay, and sand ...
east of the Yorkshire Wolds’ which we know as the Plain of Holderness.
Here is what one of our foremost local geologists has to say of its
beginnings:—
‘Let us imagine the probable appearance of East Yorkshire on the final
melting of the ice. Huge fans or sheets of gravel occur at Bridlington
and other places as a result of the floods. Rounded hillocks of gravel
and clay stand out in all directions; the hollows in between are filled
with water, forming miniature lakes or meres. Of animal or plant life
there is little or none. The climate gradually becomes milder; at first
Arctic plants and animals exist in small numbers. Later, the margins of
the meres become clothed in vegetation; peat is eventually formed, and
huge trees of Oak and Fir thrive. The Red Deer, Beaver, Short-horned Ox,
Otter, and Wild Horse, haunt the woods, and finally primitive man makes
his appearance.’
[Illustration:
SKULL AND ANTLERS OF A RED DEER FOUND IN THE HORNSEA
PEAT-BED.
]
III.
MEN OF THE STONE AGE.
What sort of man was it who first inhabited Holderness and how did he
live? Artists in his day were few and far between, and the few who did
exist in Europe gave pleasure to themselves and to their companions by
drawing portraits of reindeer and horses on pieces of bone. To draw
portraits of their fellows was probably the last thing they would think
of doing. Reindeer and horses are graceful creatures, but the artists’
fellows were anything but graceful.
As far as we know, the first inhabitants of Holderness were a race of
short, dark-haired men, who depended for their food and clothing on the
animals of the forest and the mere, who pursued their prey and fought
one another with weapons of stone, and who lived in dwellings built on
piles driven into the bed of a lake in exactly the same way as the New
Guinea islanders live to-day.
Something definite about their dwelling-places we know; for what is
appropriately called a _lake-dwelling_ was discovered thirty years ago
at Ulrome. This was a structure made of tree trunks laid side by side
and held together by piles driven into the bed of what was then a large
mere.
[Illustration: BONE IMPLEMENTS AND WEAPONS FROM BARROWS ON THE WOLDS.]
A, B. Hammer head and pick made from the shed antlers of
a red deer (1/1, 1/4).
C. Bodkin or needle (1/1).
D. Dagger made from a man’s thigh-bone (1/3).
On this rough sort of platform, which measured 90 feet by 60 feet,
dwelling-places had been constructed, and a ‘popular watering-place’ it
must have been; for there was evidence that it had been built in the
first place by a race of people whose tools were of flint and bone, and
that this race had been ousted many years later by another more advanced
race who had weapons and tools of bronze. That the dwellers here were
mighty hunters and mighty eaters was proved by enormous accumulations of
animal bones under and around the platform. That they were also
cannibals is likely from the presence of human bones among this refuse.
* * * * *
So much for the ‘lake-dwellers’ of Ulrome. Up on the Wolds there were
men living a somewhat different life. These hunted and ate the same
kinds of creatures, and they used the same kinds of weapons, but their
dwellings were dug out of the soil—shallow circular or elliptical pits
each covered over with a conical roof of branches and turf, supported on
a central post; or deeper troughs covered over with sods and scrub laid
on slabs of chalk, so that the roof was level with the surrounding earth
and indistinguishable from it.
Of the former kind of _pit-dwelling_ an example has been discovered in
the hollow known as Garton Slack, the pit measuring rather less than 9
feet by 6 feet in length and breadth, and 5 feet in depth; while one of
the latter kind has come to light under Kemp Howe, a few miles north of
Driffield.[3] The underground chamber here measured 25 feet by 4½ feet,
had a depth of 6 feet at its deeper end, and was approached by a sloping
passage 11 feet in length, the entrance to which would doubtless be
hidden with scrub. The roof had been supported on six upright posts, and
for twelve feet along one side of the chamber ran a stone ledge—this
last being evidently a luxury.
Footnote 3:
Groups of circular _pit-dwellings_ have been discovered at Bempton and
at Atwick—the latter by Mr. William Morfitt, whose house at Atwick
contains many ‘treasures’ which he has unearthed in the district
around Hornsea.
It is probable that these two kinds of dwellings may have been
respectively the summer and winter houses of the same people. For the
Roman historian Tacitus says of the ancient tribes on the other side of
the North Sea:—
Besides their ordinary habitations, they have a number of
subterranean caves, dug by their own labour and carefully covered
over with soil, in winter their retreat from cold and the repository
for their corn. In these recesses they not only find a shelter from
the rigour of the seasons, but in times of foreign invasions their
effects are safely concealed.
Of the men who lived on the Yorkshire Wolds we know a great deal; for it
was their custom to raise over the burial places of their chiefs
circular mounds of earth, some still very large, others now only a foot
or two high. The relative size of a burial mound, which we speak of
either by the Latin name _tumulus_ or by the English names _barrow_ and
_howe_, marks the importance of the chieftain whose body or ashes once
lay under it.
These _tumuli_, or barrows, are very plentifully strewn over the
Yorkshire Wolds, and for more than fifty years the late Mr. J. R.
Mortimer, of Driffield, devoted all his leisure time to their
excavation. The results of his labours are to be seen in his private
museum—the Mortimer Museum—and details of his ‘finds’ are recorded in
his large book on the _Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire_, some of the
illustrations in which are here reproduced.
A general idea of how a barrow has been constructed, and of what it may
contain, can be gained from the illustration on the next page.
Howe Hill, Duggleby, is one of the larger barrows, built on a sloping
hillside, and having at its base a diameter of 125 feet and at its
flattened top one of 47 feet.
[Illustration: SECTION OF HOWE HILL, DUGGLEBY.]
A-K. Skeletons in position as buried.
O. Cremated remains. Y. Band of blue clay impervious to
water.
W. Inner mound of clay. Z. Outer mound of chalk.
X. Bed of chalk grit. * Probable summit of the barrow when
built.
From the diagram we see that the bodies first interred have been placed
at the bottom of a cavity dug out of the solid chalk. This hole not
proving large enough for the numbers to be buried, an extension has been
begun, but not finished. Time was evidently pressing, for some bodies
have been buried above the surface of the ground. They have been placed
in different positions, but the legs of all have been bent at the knees
and all are enclosed in a low mound of clay. Above this lie the remains
of numerous other bodies, which have been burnt before burial; and over
them comes a twelve-inch layer of a blue clay which is impervious to
water. Then a large mound of soil and pieces of chalk has been raised
over all, the mound being originally much higher than it is to-day.
Such has been the building of Howe Hill. But it must not be thought that
all barrows contain the remains of a large number of bodies. Most
contain one only, and the body has either been buried as it was when
life left it or been burnt and the calcined bones gathered up in an
earthenware vessel, or pinned in a skin garment. The eight full-grown
skeletons discovered under Howe Hill are those of men, and we may
suppose that they represent a chieftain and his relatives killed in the
onslaught by a hostile clan. The cremated bodies, forty of which were
discovered in the digging of a trench through the barrow, would be those
of his dependants, who died fighting in defence of their lord and
master.
* * * * *
But the barrow contains evidence of the lives of the people of the time
as well as of their deaths. Scattered through the soil under the band of
blue clay were found many broken bones of the ox, roebuck, red deer,
fox, goat, and pig, the remains of the burial feast; and among these
were human bones which had quite evidently been broken and cooked. It is
horrible to think of the people of our East Riding as having once been
cannibals, but the evidence to that effect is indisputable.
Here and there were also found portions of the weapons with which the
defenders of the settlement had fought—the hammer head shown on page 9,
made from the shed antler of a red deer, and the broken javelin head of
flint shown on page 15. In this barrow was also found the wonderfully
made flint knife represented below—an implement fashioned out of a piece
of flint with no other tools than such as are mentioned below, and yet
fashioned so delicately that its greatest thickness is only
one-sixteenth of an inch.
[Illustration:
POLISHED FLINT KNIFE FOUND IN DUGGLEBY
HOWE (1/1).
]
A clever workman he must have been who made this wonderful knife. But
such beautifully wrought implements are very rare. Only one similar
knife—found in a barrow at Aldro—was known to its discoverer, and he had
himself superintended the excavation of no fewer than two hundred and
eighty-eight barrows.
The weapons and tools which have been buried with their owners are more
commonly of the rougher types figured on the opposite page. They include
knives, chisels, spear heads, saws, and arrow heads, all made from
flints by the processes of chipping and flaking, with hammer heads,
picks, needles and daggers of bone.
Compare the figures A and B given on page 9 with the illustration of the
antlers of a red deer on page 7, and see how cleverly the hammer head
and the pick have been fashioned. Equally clever has been the adaptation
of a bone in the making of the very primitive dagger figured at D on the
same page. But in this case it has been not the antler of a red deer
that has been brought into use, but the thigh-bone of a man.
[Illustration:
FLINT IMPLEMENT AND WEAPONS.
A. Chisel from Aldro (1/1). B. Barbed arrow head from
Grimston (1/1) C. Javelin head from Duggleby Howe (1/1).
]
So far we have spoken of weapons and implements of bone and of flint.
Others were then in use made of whinstone and greenstone, such as the
axe heads figured overleaf. Notice the different arrangement of the
cutting edge in these two implements, and notice also that in the first
one the hole intended for the insertion of a wooden handle has, for some
reason or other, not been finished. Perhaps the maker was killed before
he had time to finish it, or perhaps he grew tired of his work and threw
it away. At any rate this unfinished adze head was found loose on the
surface of the ground, and not buried under a howe as was the other.
[Illustration:
UNFINISHED STONE ADZE HEAD
PICKED UP ON ACKLAM WOLD (1/1).
]
[Illustration:
WHINSTONE AXE HEAD FROM
A BARROW ON CALAIS
WOLD (2/3).
]
Weapons and implements of stone! May we not justly call their makers MEN
OF THE STONE AGE? They lived before man knew how to dig metals from the
earth, and how, having obtained them, to melt and mould them to his
wish.
But besides these weapons which have lain buried with their owners for
some thousands of years, there are yielded up by the barrows earthenware
vessels of different sizes and shapes. Some, like that shown below, are
wide-mouthed and have a thick rim; others are narrower, and their rim is
not thickened. Then others have an overhanging rim; and others, again,
are small, only an inch or two in height, and have from two to six holes
perforated in their sides. All are marked with simple patterns, made by
pressing the pointed end of a stick or the thumb-nail into the moist
clay, or by pressing round it a twisted thong of hide. There has been no
glazing and no attempt to make use of artificial colour.
[Illustration: FOOD VESSEL FROM A BARROW ON ACKLAM WOLD (1/2).]
Each of these vessels has had its particular use. The first-named
vessels, which are by far the most common, are always found to be
stained with some decomposed matter on the inside of the bottom, and
their use has undoubtedly been as _food vessels_. So also we may
consider the second group to be _drinking vessels_. The food and drink
which these two contained when they were buried have been intended for
their owners in the new life to come, when food and drink would be again
required. The vessels of the third kind are always found to contain
remains of a body which has been cremated before burial—hence their name
_cinerary urns_—and the last-named and smallest, which are found with
them, have probably been used to hold the precious spark of fire which
lit the funeral pyre.
[Illustration: THE RUDSTON MONOLITH]
Let us leave these howes and barrows and examine another example of the
work of the Men of the Stone Age. Close to the wall of the village
church at Rudston stands a huge upright stone, or monolith. Twenty-five
feet is its height above the ground, and sixteen feet its girth, while
it is said to be embedded in the ground as deep as it is high above the
surface. Its weight is estimated as not far short of forty tons. What is
it doing in a village churchyard, and who put it there? When and how was
it placed where it now stands?
[Illustration: THE EARLIEST KIND OF AXE USED IN EAST YORKSHIRE.]
It is impossible to give any definite answers to these questions. A
century ago, however, the village people answered them all very easily.
The Devil, they said, objected to the building of the church, and flung
this stone to destroy it before its completion. But his aim was not so
accurate as it was intended to be, and the missile missed its mark.
Asked for a proof of their wonderful story, they would point to the
stone itself. There it was for everyone to see. What further proof could
be needed?[4] Whether we believe this legend or not, two things are
certain. First, that the stone is as old as the barrows in the
surrounding wolds; secondly, that there is no rock of the same nature
nearer to it than Filey Brig and the Brimham Rocks. Was it brought down
by the great ice sheet and then erected by the men of the Stone Age to
serve some purpose in their heathen rites, or did they bring it up from
Filey or down from the hills of the North Riding on wooden rollers?
Perhaps it is not more difficult to conceive of their doing this than of
their raising such a huge barrow as that which stands unopened at the
foot of Garrowby Hill—a mound 250 feet in diameter at its base and 50
feet in height.
Footnote 4:
The ‘Devil’s Arrows’ is the name by which three similar huge stones
are known at Boroughbridge.
IV.
MEN OF THE BRONZE AGE.
THE ANCIENT BRITONS.
With the coming of Julius Caesar to Britain in the middle of the first
century before the birth of Christ, we reach the time in the history of
our country when definite facts about its people begin to be recorded.
Thus we know from Caesar’s own writings that the Britons lived in houses
like those of the Gauls, that they had great numbers of cattle, that
they used copper coins, that many of the inland tribes did not grow corn
but lived on milk and flesh and went clothed in skins, that in war time
they dyed their bodies with a blue stain to give them a more terrible
aspect, and that they wore long hair on their heads and their upper
lips.
So also, with regard to their religion, Caesar tells us that their
priests were called Druids; that if any crime had been committed, or if
there were any dispute about an inheritance or a boundary, it was the
Druids who gave judgment; that they had vast stores of learning, all of
which was committed to memory and none committed to writing; and that
their chief doctrine was that the soul of man did not perish, but passed
after death into another body, so that no man should fear death.
[Illustration:
BRONZE CELT OR AXE HEAD FOUND AT SWINE.
]
From these accounts we see that there had been great progress made since
the times described in the last chapter. This was due to the migration
westwards of a new race of people—the Kelts—who had gained a knowledge
of the use of metal, and who, consequently, had weapons and implements
made of bronze instead of stone. Their greater knowledge gave them
greater power, and the extinction of the men of the Stone Age was only a
question of time. For not often was the bronze-weaponed warrior slain by
a weapon of stone.
But the account written by Julius Caesar refers to the inhabitants of
the southern parts of our island. ‘Many of the inland tribes do not grow
corn, but live on milk and flesh and go clothed in skins.’ This passage
may be taken as true of the tribes living north of the Humber, known—so
later Roman writers tell us—as the BRIGANTES, the wildest and most
savage of the tribes inhabiting Britain.
Let us see what Mr. Mortimer’s discoveries have to tell us of these
BRIGANTES. The most interesting discovery, perhaps, was that made in a
barrow on Calais Wold, the highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds, 807
feet above sea-level. Here, on the mound being removed, a double row of
stake-holes was exposed in the surface of the ground. These were from 3
to 15 inches in diameter, and were arranged in circles having diameters
of 21½ and 28 feet. Outside these were four other stake-holes, and
beyond these again a circular trench 100 feet in diameter, 3 feet 9
inches deep, 9 feet across at the top, and 1 foot across at the bottom.
Within the double circle of stake-holes was a cavity cut in the chalk
and containing a skeleton lying on its side, with its knees bent.
The plan on the opposite page shows the arrangement exactly, and the
drawing which accompanies it gives Mr. Mortimer’s clever conjecture of
the meaning of the stake-holes. The space enclosed between the inner and
outer walls would be used, Mr. Mortimer thought, as a storage place for
food, skins, and weapons. It would also serve to keep the inside
living-room warm in winter.
[Illustration: IDEAL RESTORATION OF THE SITE OF BURIAL.]
[Illustration: PLAN OF A BARROW ON CALAIS WOLD, SHOWING THE ENCIRCLING
TRENCH AND STAKE-HOLES.]
‘We will bury our chieftain in his home, which no one after him shall
have power to defile.’ So, probably, thought those who buried him. But,
if so, time has played them false; for men of a race undreamt of and
speaking a tongue of which he would understand hardly one word, have
ruthlessly laid bare his burial place, and have carted away his bones to
be measured with tape and pencil, and his skull to have its brain cavity
estimated with grains of millet seed. What an insult added to injury!
A mighty chieftain he had doubtless been, and it must be his favourite
weapon that lies buried with him, so placed that he should be buried as
he slept—grasping its handle firmly in his right hand. One wonders how
many of his enemies’ skulls that weapon of his had beaten in before its
master ceased to use it. Perhaps it had been wielded against the Roman
legions brought north of the Humber by Ostorius Scapula in A.D. 50. Who
knows? If you would see the head of the weapon you must go to the museum
at Driffield; its likeness you will find on page 16.
The Brigantes buried their dead chiefs just as the earlier tribes had
done, and the photograph on page 25 shows very clearly the curious way
in which the legs were doubled and the head bent back. This skeleton was
obtained from a barrow in Garton Slack, and here is what its discoverer
says of the pains taken to obtain it:—
‘Being desirous of possessing this skeleton in its entirety, we obtained
a quantity of stiff, mortar-like material, scraped from the adjoining
high road, with which we covered the remains, in order to keep all the
bones in position. We then passed three broad pieces of sheet iron under
it without displacing any of the bones. The remains were then lifted on
a prepared board, and conveyed to Fimber. After being carefully cleaned,
the skeleton was mounted in a glass case, and now, with its relics, and
part of the ground on which it was found, forms a highly interesting
relic in the museum at Driffield.’
The skeleton is that of a woman, and with it, you will notice, are two
objects. There is no need to say what has been the use of the bone
ornament lying behind the head, but the use of the flint implement
placed before the jaw is not so obvious. This is one of a class of
implements known to us as _scrapers_—roughly chipped pieces of flint
used by the women of a household in scraping the insides of animal skins
when preparing them for human wear, and in scraping the roots that went
into the ‘stock-pot’ with the flesh of the animals that provided also
garments and beds for the household.
[Illustration: HOW A BRITISH CHIEFTAIN’S WIFE WAS BURIED IN GARTON
SLACK.]
[Illustration:
_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_
British Gold Coin.
Found at Atwick by Mr. W. Morfitt (1/1).
]
In neither of these two barrows was there any sign of a bronze
implement. Weapons and implements of bronze are rare among those found
in the barrows of East Yorkshire, and the few discovered are dagger or
knife heads and prickers. The Brigantes were far behind the Britons of
the south in their knowledge of the use of metal; and at the time when
the latter were making use of bronze, the wild and savage tribes of the
north were content still to make use of greenstone and flint.
Personal ornaments, too, are rare, and were found accompanying only
fifty-seven out of eight hundred and ninety-three burials that Mr.
Mortimer excavated. They include dress-fastenings, such as rings and
links of jet, and buttons of amber, jet and bone. With only one British
interment was gold found, and of silver ornaments none were discovered
at all.
* * * * *
[Illustration: A BRITISH WAR CHARIOT.]
Especially interesting to a Yorkshireman are the discoveries of what are
called ‘chariot burials.’ The Britons were renowned for their
war-chariots, of which the chieftain Caswallon is recorded to have had
4000 when he fought against Julius Caesar. To the Briton himself his
chariot was known as an _essa_, a word which his Roman conquerors
latinised as _essedum_. An _essedum_ was drawn by two horses, and driven
by a charioteer who was very expert at running out along the pole
between the horses. The _essedarii_, or charioteers, were held in high
esteem among the tribal armies, and when they happened to be captured by
the Roman soldiers were great favourites among the spectators of the
gladiatorial shows.
On the death of a British chieftain who was a renowned chariot warrior,
it was the custom for him to be buried in his chariot together with his
horses and their trappings; and the East Riding has given more evidence
of this custom than any other part of our country of equal area. The
‘Yorkshireman’ even then, it seems, loved a horse.
Remains of British chariot burials have been discovered at Hesselskew
and Arras, near Market Weighton; at Beverley Westwood; at Danes’ Graves;
and, most recently, at Hunmanby. In all these instances there have been
interred two horses standing in their harness, and in the barrow opened
at Danes’ Graves in 1897 there were _two_ human skeletons, proving that
in this case the charioteer, as well as his chieftain, was buried.
Of course in all these interments the remains of the chariots themselves
have been small, little existing but fragments of the bronze naves and
iron rims of the wheels, and of the bridle bits of the horses. But these
have been sufficient to show that the diameter of the wheels varied from
2 feet 8 inches to 2 feet 11 inches, and that the horses themselves were
of a much smaller breed than those of to-day.
With three, at least, of these chariot burials, were also found remains
of an iron mirror, a thing not found elsewhere. We are accustomed in
these days of motor-cars to make use of mirrors for a knowledge of what
is happening on the road behind the driver, and these remains point to a
similar practice among the charioteers of the Brigantes. Really we are
not, perhaps, so far advanced in the twentieth century as we thought we
were.
[Illustration:
_Photo by_] Earthworks at Skipsea Brough. [_C.W. Mason_
]
* * * * *
Further evidence of the Brigantes in the East Riding is to be seen in
the wonderful series of entrenchments that are so noticeable in the Wold
districts. Dikes, double dikes, and treble dikes once covered the whole
of the Wolds, says Mr. Mortimer; in fact, in the area of 75 square miles
which he explored there are 80 miles of earthworks existing to-day.
These consist sometimes of one ditch and one rampart only, but commonly
of three ditches and four ramparts; and in one case, in the
neighbourhood of Huggate, the entrenchment consists of a series of six
parallel ditches and seven ramparts.
By far the most remarkable of these ancient entrenchments is the
so-called ‘Danes’ Dyke,’ which, 2½ miles in length, cut off the rocky
promontory of Flamborough Head, and converted it into an impregnable
fortress 5 square miles in area. In making it, advantage was taken of a
natural ravine—a relic of the Ice Age—which ran down to the south; but
in its northern portion, where the ground was naturally level, a huge
ditch roughly 60 feet wide and 20 feet deep was dug, the soil from this
being thrown up to form a dyke or rampart on its eastern face.
At Skipsea Brough, near Hornsea, may be seen other British earthworks,
consisting of a central mound 70 feet high, having a flat top one acre
in extent, and covering altogether an area of 5 acres, together with a
series of entrenchments forming the segment of a circle. The outer
rampart is half a mile in length. Other much smaller earthworks exist at
the ‘Castle Hill,’ Sutton, and the ‘Giant’s Hill,’ Swine.
V.
MEN OF THE IRON AGE.
THE ROMANS IN EAST YORKSHIRE.
In the last chapter we saw that the later Britons had some knowledge of
iron, as well as of copper and tin. But with the Romans the use of iron
was much more extensive, and hence they may be called MEN OF THE IRON
AGE.
The first Roman general to enter the territory of the Brigantes was
Ostorius Scapula, who came north in A.D. 50. Twenty-eight years later
came Julius Agricola, who penetrated as far north as the rivers Forth
and Clyde. By Agricola the ancient British camp CAER EBURAC—the camp on
the Ebura, or, by its modern name, the Ure—was made into a Roman walled
city under the latinised name Eburacum.
From this time EBURĀCUM,[5] or EBORĀCUM as later Roman writers spelt its
name, became the proud capital of Britain—_altera Roma_, a second Rome
in importance. Here died the great Roman Emperor Severus in A.D. 211,
and here was born the still greater Emperor Constantine, under whose
reign Christianity was established in the Roman Empire.
Footnote 5:
Pronounced _Eb-oo-ráh-kum_.
[Illustration:
STATUE OF A ROMAN
SOLDIER IN THE YORK
MUSEUM.
]
For nearly three and a half centuries the Roman armies ruled the land of
the Brigantes, during which time great alterations were taking place in
the lives of its people. Northwards came troop after troop of German and
Italian soldiers to subdue and enslave the people of the land north of
the Humber, and to wage incessant war against Rome’s enemies still
farther north. And southwards marched troop after troop of the men of
the Brigantes, on their way to Gaul and Italy and Spain, there to serve
as Roman soldiers. In A.D. 117 came to Eboracum the famous Sixth
Legion—LEGIO SIXTA, surnamed VICTRIX, the ‘All Conquering’—and Eboracum
was its headquarters thenceforth till A.D. 406, when it was withdrawn to
help in defending Rome against the enemies mustering on her threshold.
* * * * *
For the constant movement of troops the Roman invaders needed roads, and
the military highways which they constructed across Britain remain
foremost among the evidences of their occupation of the country. The
fact that their roads have existed for so many centuries—centuries of
hard use but of constant neglect—is due to the great care bestowed upon
their construction.
When a Roman road was made, the first thing done was to mark out its
course by the digging of two parallel ditches. This course was from 15
to 21 feet wide, and on it as the _gremium_, or foundation ground, was
placed a layer of large stones 5 inches deep. This, known as the
_statumen_, was followed by a fifteen-inch layer of broken stones
cemented with lime. The _rudus_ thus formed was succeeded by the
_nucleus_, a similar layer 10½ inches thick and constructed of small
fragments of brick and pottery. Last came the _pavimentum_, made of
large irregularly-shaped blocks of very hard stone fitted together and
cemented with lime so as to form a perfectly even surface. The
pavimentum was 5 inches thick, thus making a solid road raised about 3
feet above the level of the surrounding land.
[Illustration: SECTION OF A ROMAN MILITARY HIGHWAY.]