DOVER.—RomanDubris,on the Dour (dwr—water), the principal Cinque port, is situated close to the South Foreland, and is 72 miles from London.
It is the eye of England, looking over to the nearest part of the continent. It is also the gate of England, through which have come and gone in all historic ages kings and queens and lesser folk on all kinds of missions, relating both to war and peace. Geologically it is knit to the French shore, by the existence both ofwhiteandblackrocks,i.e., chalk and coal. At a time when Britain was joined to what is now Europe, when the cave bear devoured his prey in Kent's cavern, and the monkey gambolled in the lofty trees, when the Thames was a tributary of some great eastern stream, the Dour might have been a considerable river, as it has worked for itself a deep erosive valley. Even in early historic times its estuary must have occupied a great part of the land on which stands modern Dover. Originally wood fires were lighted on corresponding sites on the E. and W. cliffs to guide vessels into the intermediate beach and natural harbour during the darkness of a winter's night. Even when the Pharos was reared, the primitive mode of illumination by means of wood or coal was employed. The modern form of lighthouse, with glass or metal reflectors, dates but from 1758, when the first Eddystone lighthouse was built. A common coal fire-light was continued at St. Bees Head, in Cumberland, as late as 1820. Architecturally, the Dover Pharos (so called from one erected at Pharos, Alexandria, in 285B.C.—550 ft. high—said to have been visible 42 miles away) is interesting from the fact that the stones from which it is built are not native, but are supposed to have been brought over as ballast in Roman galleys. In some places it would appear that they were built up wall-shape, liquid cement being poured into the interstices. That the ubiquitous King Arthur built the first castle on the cliffs, 300 ft. above the sea, is a tradition—one we should like to believe. His name is also associated with sites on the Western Heights and Barham Downs. It is certain that the Roman invaders early took advantage of the position of this "key" of the island, and that amongst their five coast castles, under the control of "the Count of the Saxon Shore," Dover held a position second only to Richborough. In the Watling Street, the baths, now destroyed, the church within the Castle, the Pharos, the Romans have left clear evidence of their occupation. St. Mary's may be the first Christian church in Britain. To the beginning of the eighteenth century it was used for worship; it was then dismantled, and, after being filled with stores, at last became a coal cellar. With the greatest difficulty it was saved from destruction in 1860, and restored by Sir Gilbert Scott.
EXETER.—172 miles, W.S.W. from London.
Caer Isca of the Britons (Keltic,esk—exe—uisge—water). In Camden's time (1551-1623), the name was written Ex-cester.
Exeter is situated on a broad ridge of land, rising steeply from the left bank of the Exe. At the head of the ridge is the Castle, occupying the site of a strong British earth-work. Exeter was the Romano-British country town of Isca Damnoniorum, the most westerly town in the government of Roman Britain. Traces of Roman walls survive in mediæval walls, all the gates of which, however, have disappeared. Exeter is the nexus of a considerable number of roads.
GLOUCESTER.—114 miles W.N.W. of London. On the east bank of the Severn.
It is doubtful if it were a British settlement. The Roman municipality, or colonia, of Glevum, was founded by Nerva between 96 and 98. Part of the original walls of the town may still be traced.
ISLE OF WIGHT.—Called by the Romans,Vectis;Wight being a corruption of this word.
This island was known in early times to the ancients, and appears to have been used as a summer or sea-bathing resort. There are interesting remains of Roman villas at Brading and Carisbrooke.
KENCHESTER, or Magni, or Magna, sometimes Magnis, is situated on the Wye, about 4 miles west of the city of Hereford.
Discoveries of coins and other objects suggest that British villages existed here. The Watling Street running from Wroxeter to Caerleon passes near, communicating with Stoney Street, south of the Wye. The site has yielded considerable evidence of Roman occupation. Kenchester appears to have been a small town, in shape an irregular hexagon, with an area of some seventeen acres, surrounded by a stone wall pierced by four gates. The principal street, 15 ft. wide, ran from east to west; the houses contained tesselated pavements, hypocausts, leaden and tile drains; coins of various periods; fibulae (some of silver), glass, pottery, and the like, abound; while two inscriptions (one datedA.D.283), lend a distinctive Roman colouring. Suburbs lay outside; and there was a villa a mile to the west at Bishopstone. The town, though small, had pretensions to comfort and civilization; it is the only important Romano-British site in Herefordshire. A legion was stationed here.
LANCASTER.—Castra ad alaunam—camp on the Lune, from Gaelicall—white. Therefore we haveal—white;avn,orafon—water; which the Romans latinized into Alauna.
LEICESTER.
Before the Roman invasion, Leicester was inhabited by the Coritani. Under the Romans it formed part of the province of Flavia Cæsariensis. Watling Street,3the Fosse Way and Via Devana converge on Leicester.
3This does not actually pass through Leicester, but is twelve miles away at nearest.
The principal Roman stations near were:
In this region Roman remains have been found at: Leicester,4Rothley, Wanlip, Hasby, Bottesfold, Hinckley, Sapcote, and Melton Mowbray. In 1771 a Roman milestone of the time of Hadrian (76-138) was discovered at a spot two miles from Leicester. Near Blaby, over the Soar, is a bridge locally known as the Roman Bridge.
4There is to be seenin situbeneath the Great Central Station here a beautiful and almost perfect tesselated pavement.
LINCOLN.—Llyn—a deep pool, andColonia. The Britons called itLind-coit. The nameLinn-dun,of whichLindumis the Romanised version, meansThe hill-fort of the pool.
The territory hereabouts was first settled by Belgae; who, however, at the time of Cæsar's invasion, had become a mixed race with the real Britons. The country was conquered by the Romans about 70A.D., and formed part of the province of Flavia Caesariensis. The tribe which occupied Lincolnshire were the Coritani, who had Lindum and Ratae for their tribal centres. In this territory remains of British camps are found at Barrow, Folkingham, Ingoldsby, Revesby, and Wells. Also traces of Roman camps are discoverable at Alkborough, Caistor, Gainsborough, Gadney Hill, near Holbeach, Honington, near Grantham, South Ormsby, and Yarborough. The Roman roads in this neighbourhood are nearly perfect. There is Ermine Street on the eastern side of the Cliff Hills and the Fosse Way, running S.W. from Lincoln. There is a famous arch—the Newport—at Lincoln. It is one of the most perfect specimens of Roman architecture in England. It is sunk fully eleven feet below the present level of the street, and has two smaller arches on each side, the one to the west being concealed by an adjoining house. The Ermine Street passes through this gate, running north from it for eleven or twelve miles as straight as an arrow. Many Roman coins and ornaments have been found in the immediate vicinity of this gate. In the Cloister garden of the Cathedral are preserved a tesselated pavement and the sepulchral slab of a Roman warrior.
LONDON.—Londonum, Londinium, the Augusta of the Romans.Llyn Din—the Black Llyn or Lake, or perhaps from Celto-Saxondun,ordon—a hill fort. This fort may have been situated where abouts St. Paul's now stands, or, in a more extended form, it may have been constituted by Tower Hill, Cornhill, and Ludgate Hill; bounded thus by the Thames on the South, the Fleet on the West, and the Fen of Moorfields and Finsbury (afterwards by Hounsditch and the Tower) on the East.
It must be premised that the course of the Thames, the containing bounds, the depth of the stream, the character of the rivulets—such as the Lea, the Fleet, Wall-brook, West-Bourne, Tye-Bourne—presented marked differences in early historic days from the appearance they show to-day. The sites north and south of the line where London Bridge now stands constituted firm ground, with a tendency to an elevation in the north. These facts determined the position of the British settlement. At that part of the river the Britons had, if not a ford, at least a ferry, and finally a rough bridge—perhaps of coracles or boats—the progenitor of the noble structure now existing. The ferry went from what is now Dowgate to a similar opening still existing to the west of St. Saviour's, Southwark.
A British settlement of an early date would not now be thought to deserve the name of town. No less an authority than Julius Cæsar tells us that it was nothing more than a thick wood, fortified with a ditch and rampart, to serve as a place of retreat from the inroads of enemies. At that time, we may, therefore, imagine a clearing carved out of the forest, extending probably from the site of St. Paul's Cathedral to that of the Bank of England, the dwellings of the Britons being spread about the higher ground looking down upon the river, including Tower Hill. At the time of the revolt of the Iceni, the Roman governor, Paulinus Suetonius, being unable to make a stand, abandoned London to Boadicea, who entirely destroyed the city, after having massacred the inhabitants. We find London holding an important place in the Antonine Itinerary, Londinium being a starting point for nearly half the routes described in the portion devoted to Britain. Traditionally, Constantine the Great walled the city, at the request of his mother Helena, who is said to have been a native of Britain. Probably we should place the northern wall somewhere along the course of Cornhill5and Leadenhall Street; the eastern in the direction of Billiter Street and Mark Lane; the southern in the line of Upper and Lower Thames Streets; the western on the S.W. side of Walbrook. About the centre of each side might be placed the four main gates, corresponding with Bridge Gate, Ludgate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate.
5Perhaps somewhat to the north of the modern street. A portion is to be seen in the churchyard of St. Giles, Cripplegate.
The vision of Geoffrey of Monmouth of a great British city, Troy Novant, founded by Brut, a descendant of Æneas, must be relegated to the limbo of myths. A more probable story is that one Belinus formed a port or haven on the site of the present Billingsgate, though it does not follow that he built a gate of wonderful structure, still less that he built over it—as the story goes—a prodigiously large tower. It should be noted that "gate" may not mean a gate at all in the modern sense of the word, but only an opening or an entrance, even as the "Yats" leading to the harbour of Yarmouth.6Mayhap this settlement constituted the headquarters of Cassivellaunus, which were taken and sacked by Julius Cæsar. At all events, Tacitus (61-117A.D.) the first Roman author who mentions London by name, speaks of it as an important commercial centre. It had not, up toA.D.61, been dignified by the name of a Colony. A temple, dedicated to Diana, appears to have stood on the site of our Eastminster, S. Paul's, and another, to Apollo, at Westminster. When Tacitus wrote, Verulamium and Camulodunum possessed mints, whilst London did not. The earliest Roman London must have been a comparatively small place, with a fort to command the passage of the Thames. Perhaps to the Romans are due the primitive embankments which were designed to restrain the vagaries of the river at the times of tide and flood. London Stone, built into another stone in Cannon Street, outside the wall of St. Swithin's Church, is generally considered to be a milliarium (to mark so many thousand paces) or central station from which to measure distances, but it may conceivably have had some more ancient and peculiar designation in connection with a public or sacred building. Old London lies 20 feet or so below the present street level, so that, when excavations are made for any purpose, Roman remains are frequently found and parts of the Roman wall uncovered.
6In like manner we have Margate, Kingsgate, Westgate, Ramsgate, Sandgate, &c., indicating probably sites where a passage has been cut through the cliff by a stream or human agency.
Remains—pavements, etc.—are to be seen in abundance in the Guildhall Museum.
When the old General Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand was demolished a large series of Roman rubbish pits was disclosed. The lowest portions of 120 of these were carefully excavated. The "finds" included a few whole pots and many thousands of fragments of Samian and coarse pottery, besides building materials, whetstones, beads, knives, coins, and other small articles. It has been possible to assign dates to most of the holes—betweenA.D.50 and 200. By the association in the same hole of datable with undatable pottery, light has been thrown upon many types of the latter.
Not long ago, while the buildings 3-6 King William Street were being demolished, another series of five large Roman pits was uncovered. From the fragments obtained therefrom nine Samian vessels of the first century have been pieced together, and are now in the Guildhall Museum. These include a decorated vessel, finer than any previously found in London, and two specimens of a shape unknown hitherto in England. A lamp, two coins, and other objects of pottery and bronze were also obtained from this source.7
7Besant'sLondonand hisWestminsterconvey a fascinating account of what was a labour of love on the part of the author to compile. All sorts of unexpected pleasures await the wanderer in London's highways and byeways. One of these may be noticed in respect of the Roman bath in the Strand. Turning down Strand Lane (a narrow passage between King's College and Surrey Street), a few yards bring one to the baths. The lane itself is as ancient as anything in London, inasmuch as it must have been in very early times a path by the side of the stream fed by the bath spring, and perhaps by the Holy Well, which afterwards gave its name to the notorious Holywell Street, this stream finally flowing into the Thames.
It is a moot point whether the Saxon migration along the Thames waterway was checked by the presence of London, which remained a city stronghold since Roman times, but it is evident that a gap was made in the history of the city just after the departure of the Romans, and the theory of continuous occupation can hardly be maintained in face of the fact that the mediæval City streets in no case follow the Roman roads traces of which lie beneath the mediæval houses.
LYMPNE, orLemanae.—Pevensey District, Anderida.
It is considered that Reculver was the earliest Roman coast-fortress in Kent, that Richborough was founded somewhat later, and that Lympne and Pevensey constituted the latest stations; also, that (probably even before the time of Constantine) a division of the Romano-British fleet was stationed at Lympne and a series of buildings erected by their crews. When Romney Marshes were covered by an inland sea, and many streams drained this eastern side of the Andred Forest, the Romans established the military station Lemanae, at the estuary of the chief of those streams, and defended it by the castrum, the ruins of which are now known as Stutfall Castle. Some of the stones of this castrum were used by Archbishop Lanfranc in the construction of a church at Lympne.
MALDON, Essex.—Situated on an acclivity rising from the south side of the Blackwater—44 miles E.N.E. of London, and 16 S.W. from Colchester or Camulodunum, with which it has sometimes been identified, or rather, confounded.
It is supposed to have received its name8(Cross Hill) from a cross erected on the eminence. A large number of Roman remains have been found in the neighbourhood, testifying to the importance of the place during the time of their occupation. On the West side of the town there are also traces of a large camp, which was doubtless utilized by different bodies of invaders and settlers. The oldest historical mention of Maldon is in 913, when Edward the Elder encamped near it to oppose an incursion of the Danes.
8Maldon may be a shortened form of a second Camulodunum.Dunwould be ahill-fortress,and a cross being erected thereon would give rise to the appellationCross Hill.
MANCHESTER.—180 miles N.W. of London. (Celticman—a district).
It is situated in the neighbourhood of four rivers, viz., the Irwell, Medlock, Irk, and Tib. It has been conjectured that at Castlefield there stood a British fortress, which was afterwards taken possession of by the soldiers of Agricola; at all events, it would appear to be certain that a Roman Station of some importance existed in this locality, as a fragment of a wall still exists. Even up to the end of the eighteenth century considerable evidences of Roman occupation were visible in and around Manchester, and from time to time in the course of excavation (especially during the digging for the Bridgewater Canal) old-time remains have been found. The coins recovered were those of Vespasian, Antoninus Pius, Trajan, Hadrian, Nero, Domitian, Vitellius, and even as late as the time of Constantine. The period immediately succeeding the Roman occupation is largely legendary; but up to the seventeenth century there was a floating tradition that Tarquin, an enemy of Arthur, kept the castle of Manchester, but was subsequently killed by Launcelot of the Lake. The town was probably one of the scenes of the preaching of Paulinus, the celebrated Bishop of York and of Rochester (597-644), and is said to have been the residence of Ina, King of Wessex, and his queen, Ethelburga, after he had defeated Ivor, in the year 689. It suffered greatly from the ravages of the Danes. In Domesday Book, Manchester, Salford, Rochdale, and Radcliffe are the only places named in South-east Lancashire.
PORTSMOUTH.—74 miles S.W. of London.
To the north of the harbour is situated Porchester Castle, a ruined Norman fortress occupying the site of thePortus Magnusof the Romans. Portsmouth and Southampton must have been used by the Romans as a passage way to the Isle of Wight, where the remains of villas show that the island furnished a place of residence for rich and distinguished Romans.
RECULVER.
At the time of the Roman occupation Thanet was an island, and to guard the north-west end of the important channel of the "Wantsume," which separated the island from the main part of Kent, the Romans built Regulbium, corresponding to the greater Rutupiae of the southern outlet.9The Roman fort was probably one of the earliest in the country. It must have covered about eighty acres, and was garrisoned by the first cohort of Vetasii from Brabant. In 670, Bassa, a priest, erected a monastery and church here, which, nearly three hundred years later, were annexed by the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury. The greater part of these buildings was ruthlessly destroyed by the villagers in 1809, but the intervention of the Trinity House authorities in the following year saved the towers of the church, to serve as landmarks to the mariner. The churchyard is being slowly eroded by the sea.
9It is possible that works now proceeding, necessitated by the Great War, may result in the regulation of the waterways close to Sandwich and in its neighbourhood in such wise as to open up again this channel, and constitute Thanet once more an island in fact as well as in name.
RICHBOROUGH.—Rutupiae.
This furnishes one of the finest remaining relics of Roman Britain. Built somewhat later than Reculver—about the middle of the third centuryA.D.—the castle guarded the principal and oldest port of entry into Britain in the Roman period. The rectangular enclosure still existing was the fortress of a considerable Roman settlement which lay to the south and south-west. At a little distance is an amphitheatre with three entrances. Out of the West or Decuman Gate, the Roman road to London and the North started. In the centre of the North wall is the opening of the Postern Gate, and there were probably central gates on the east and south. The feature of greatest interest remaining is the subterranean structure in the centre. This consists of an overhanging platform on a concrete foundation. There are traces of an encircling wall, and projecting upwards from the centre is an extraordinary cruciform platform. An underground passage runs round the whole. Some antiquaries consider that all this formed part of some temporary or substitutional building raised in lieu of an original more ambitious design; others think it may have been a signal tower combined with a lighthouse. In the Liverpool Museum are to be found many objects discovered here, including mural paintings, pottery, toys, dice, a steelyard with weights, and bone spurs, used for cock-fighting.
ROCHESTER.—Durobrivæ; Horfcester, 33 miles E.S.E. of London.
Its situation on the Roman Way from the Kentish ports to the metropolis, as well as its strategical position on the bend of the Medway, gave Rochester and the adjacent places on the river early importance. It was a walled Romano-British town, though of no great size. The original bridge across the Medway to Strood probably dates from the Roman period, taking the place of a ferry.
SILCHESTER.—In North Hampshire—Calleva, 10 miles south of Reading.
A Romano-British town, which was thoroughly explored under the auspices of the Society of Antiquaries between 1890 and 1909. The whole plan of the ancient town within the walls was disclosed as successive portions were uncovered. The suburbs, and the cemeteries, which, as usual, were located without the gates, have not yet been excavated. The ruins of the Town Hall still remain. The Duke of Wellington, whose residence is at Strathfieldsaye, is the owner of the site. He has arranged that most of the objects found at Silchester shall be deposited in the Museum at Reading.
ST. ALBANS.—Verulamium.
Originally within the limits of the territory of the tribe of which Cassivellaunus was, at one time, the head. Before the Roman Conquest it was a British capital. In Roman times it received the dignity of amunicipium—implying municipal status and Roman citizenship for its free inhabitants. Tacitus informs us that the town was burnt by Boadicea in 61A.D., but it soon rose again to prosperity. The site is still easily recognisable, its walls, of flint rubble, surviving in stately fragments, enclosing an area of well-nigh 200 acres. Of the buildings formerly occupying this area but little is now known. The theatre was excavated in 1847, and parts of the forum in 1898. The tower of the famous Abbey is largely built of bricks taken from the Roman buildings!
During the first three centuries ten distinct general persecutions swept over the nascent Christian Church. Owing to the remote position of Britain, it appears to have escaped these fiery trials until the time of the Emperor Diocletian, about 304. Several names among the Britons have been traditionally handed down to us as having received the honour of martyrdom, but the premier place among them has always been accorded to a young soldier who was stationed at Verulam. It appears that he was converted by an evangelist named Amphibalus, to whom, when the trial came, he gave shelter, and even facilitated his escape by an exchange of garments. When brought before the judges and charged with concealing "a blasphemer of the Roman gods," Alban avowed himself a convert to the proscribed religion and refused, in spite of torture, to burn incense upon the heathen altars. He was therefore beheaded outside the city about the year 285 (although the precise date is uncertain).10AboutA.D.785, Offa, king of that part of Britain which we call the Midland Counties, caused search to be made for the bones of the proto-martyr, and built a noble monastery and church where they were found, which possibly may be identified with the older parts of the present structure.11Eventually his shrine was reared up in the South transept of the Cathedral. Behind and just above the shrine is the Watching Gallery, where devotees offered continual prayer and guarded the relics from fire and robbery. Close by is another shrine in memory of S. Amphibalus. The monastery attained to great eminence—its head was the premier Abbot of England—and the shrine was loaded with ornaments of enormous value. The glory departed at the time of the Dissolution under Henry VIII. The Monastic Church is now admitted to the rank of a Cathedral. The building was restored (or deformed?) at great cost by the first Lord Grimthorpe, who did things with all his right, but, as in this case, as some say, with all his wrong.
10Appendix D.
11These words are written within a mile of a site in Kent which bears the name of St. Albans, inasmuch as a small daughter-house was established there.
The church in the neighbourhood of old St. Albans, on the North side of the chancel, contains a monument to the memory of Francis Bacon, Viscount St. Albans, a great lawyer, an incisive thinker, the founder of the school of inductive philosophers—a man who, unhappily, was cast from his exalted legal position by the malice of his foes. How far he himself contributed to his disgrace we will not say.
WINCHESTER.—Wynton, otherwise, Venta Belgarum (Venta,a Latin form ofWin,which is derived from the Celtic,gwent,a plain; hence alsoVenta Silurum,and Bennaventa=Daventry); 66½ miles S.W. London.
The city is situated in and above the valley of the Itchen, mainly on the left bank. Tradition ascribes its foundation to Tudor Rous Hudibras, and dates it 99 years before the first building of Rome! Earthworks and relics testify that the Itchen Valley was originally occupied by Celts, and it is certain from its position at the centre of six Roman roads, and from the relics found there, that the Caer Gwent (White City of the Celts—Ghwin—white12) under the name of Venta Belgarum, was an important Romano-British country town. Legends accumulate here around the persons of Arthur and his knights. After the conquest of Hampshire by Gervisus, the place became the capital of Wessex, then of England, when the Kings of Wessex consolidated the kingdom. Alfred and Canute resided here, amongst other English sovereigns; and here were laid to rest Alfred's remains, until—at the close of the eighteenth century—the coffin that contained them was sold by a mercenary municipality for the sake of the lead in which they were enclosed! Egbert, Edmund the Elder, and Canute were also buried here. Edward the Confessor was crowned in the Minster in 1043. Being near the New Forest, and only 12 miles from Southampton, Winchester was much frequented by the Norman Kings. William I wore the crown there at Easter, even as at Westminster at Whitsuntide, and at Gloucester at Christmas.
12The two wordsgwentandghwinprobably look to each other in a common meaning.Gwent,that which is extended, as a plain;ghwin,that which presents a uniform lightish tint, such as a plain or a lake, as contrasted with dark patches or morass.
WROXETER.—(Towards the Welsh border thec.orch.ofchesterbecomes anx,and the tendency to elision is very strong.) The equivalent is Uriconium, properly Viroconium. The original Celtic name survives inWroxeterandWrekin,it being derived from Celticrhos—a moor. Wroxeter is situated on the Severn, 5 miles E. of Shrewsbury.
It was a large Romano-British town, originally the chief town of the Cornovii. At first (perhaps about 45-55A.D.) it constituted a Roman legionary fortress, held by Legio XIV (Gemina) against the Welsh hill tribes. However, its garrison was soon removed, and it became a flourishing town with stately Town Hall, Baths and other appurtenances of a thoroughly Roman and civilised city. It was larger and probably richer than Silchester. The lines of its walls can still be traced, enclosing about 170 acres. Parts of important public buildings have been disclosed by the excavations, which are still progressing. They are carried on under the auspices of the Society of Antiquaries.13
13SeeAppendix D.
YORK.—(Celtic, contracted fromeure-wic;wic,from L. vicus), otherwise Eboracum.
It lies in a plain watered by the Ouse, at the junction of the Foss stream with the main river, 188 miles N. by W. of London.
In British times the city bore the name of Caer-Ebroc. It was chosen by the Romans as an importantdepôtafter the conquest of the Brigantes by Agricola in 79. Ultimately it became the most important Roman centre in North Britain. The fortress of Legio VI (Victrix) was situated near the site of the present Minster, and a municipality or colonia sprang up where now stands the railway station on the opposite side of the Ouse. There is a large collection of remains to be found in the hospitium of St. Mary's Abbey, derived from the cemetery and the site of the railway station. The base of the Multangular Tower, N.W. of the walls, is Roman, of mingled brick and stone work. The present names of the Bars are Micklegate, Bootham, Monk (Goodrum), and Walmgate. Of the Norman fortress erected by William the Conqueror in 1068 some portions were probably incorporated in Clifford's Tower, which was partly destroyed by fire in 1684. The Cathedral, or Minster of St. Peter, if surpassed by some other English fanes in certain special features, is on the whole the most striking and imposing specimen of ecclesiastical architecture in Britain.
The Emperor Hadrian visited York in 120. The Emperor Severus died in this city in 211, and his body was probably burnt on the hill which now bears his name. After the death of Constantius Chlorus at York, his son, Constantine the Great (who, according to an ancient but incorrect tradition, was born at York), was inaugurated in this imperial centre. The Romans withdrew in 410, and after that, scarcely is anything known of the state of things hereabouts until 627, when King Edwin was baptized and Paulinus consecrated in what then constituted the metropolitan church.
Of late years measurements and records in regard to racial characters have been made more or less thoroughly throughout Europe, partly by individual enterprise, partly by Government officials, who have mainly taken children and soldiers as the material of observation. It is thus established that there is along the Mediterranean, throughout the Spanish Peninsula, extending into the western borders of France, and as far north as the West of England, parts of Wales and of Scotland, and of Ireland (where dwell the descendants in the British Isles of the ancient Picts or long-barrow men), a predominating race which is called "the Mediterranean" or "Iberian" race, characterized by a narrow, long, skull, dark colour of the hair, eyes, and skin, and short stature.
Fringing the north and north-west border of Europe, occupying Scandinavia, and largely dominating Great Britain and Ireland (where it has overrun the earlier Iberian, or Pictish people) is the second great European race—the Nordic. It was formerly called the "Teutonic," but, as this term has been misapplied in Germany for political reasons, so as to include a large body of the last, or third, race, it is better to use the word "Nordic." The Nordic race is, like the Iberian, long-headed, but in contrast it is blond and very tall.
The third great European race occupies a vast wedge intruding between the areas occupied by the Iberian race to the South and the Nordic people to the North. It fills all but the northern border of Russia and occupies Hungary (where there are also intrusive Huns of Mongolian origin), Austria, Roumania, Serbia, and Bulgaria. It also populates Germany (except its northernmost provinces) and occupies the north and north-west of Italy, the west and centre of France and half of Belgium. It is characterized by the round head, sturdy size, and a colouration intermediate between that of the Iberians and Nordics, a colouration which may tend to brunette or blond according as either of these races is mixed with it. It is best called the Alpine race, but is also styled the Celtic, on account of its association with the Celtic culture and language; though it never occupied Ireland, and does not exist at the present day in Cornwall and Scotland, and is hardly recognisable in Wales.
The Nordic element is predominant in Great Britain and Ireland, associated with the earlier and partly absorbed Iberian, with hardly a trace of the Alpine or Celtic race, in spite of the talk about Celtic fringes and the ancient introduction and prevalence of Celtic language and culture due to the influence of small groups of Celtic immigrants.
In the course of an enquiry in Australia, having for its object the fostering a love of the country districts and stemming the exodus to the cities, which is a disquieting feature of life in the Commonwealth, medical inspectors in the schools of Victoria have come to the conclusion that blue-eyed people seek the land, and that the city populations are recruited largely from the brown-eyed. If this conclusion could be generally supported, it opens up interesting questions as to the connection of eye-pigmentation with race, and its possible modification by inter-marriage. From the uncertainty of our knowledge as to the immediate cause of eye and hair pigmentation one cannot but be faced with the alternative—either that little formal attention has been paid to the subject, or that the elements of investigation are uncertain and conflicting. What would Mendel have said to this problem?