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^  x"^ 

PROCEEDINGS 


OF     THE 


erset  Ulistery  and 


EDITED    BY 


Professor  BUCKMAN,  F.G-S.,  F.L.S.,  &e, 


III. 


SHERBORNE: 


PUBLISHED     BY      LOUIS      HENRY      RUEGG,      SOUTH      STREET. 


1879. 


984(>b(> 
J)A 


v,3 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

List  of  Members               . .             . .             . .             . .             . .  . .    i7. 

Anniversary  Address  of  the  President  ...             . .              . .              . .  1 

Notes  on  Sandsfoot  Castle,  by  T.  B.  Groves               ...             ...  ....     20 

On  Bound  Oak,  by  Eev.  O.  P.  Cambridge         ..             ...             .,  25 

Notes  on  the  History  of  Shaftesbury,  by  Rev.  W.  Barnes      ...  . .     27 

On  an  Ancient  Hour  Glass  and  Stand  in  Bloxworth  Church,  Dorset,  by 

Rev.  0.  P.  Cambridge                ..             ..              ...             ,.  ..34 

On  the  Morel,  by  Professor  Buckman. .             ..             ...             ...  36 

On  Terebratula  Morierei,  by  A.  U.  Kent  ...            ...            ...  . .     39 

On  the  Terebratula  Morierei  in  England,  by  J.  F.  Walker,  M.A...  42 

The  Tout  Hill,  Shaftesbury,  by  Rev.  W.  Barnes     . .             . .  . .     48 

Cardinal  Morton,  Preface       C              ...             ..              ..              ,..  i.— iv. 

A    Biographical    Sketch    of     Cardinal     Morton,    communicated  by 

the  President         ..             ..             .,.             ...             ...             ...  49 

The  Welsh  in  Dorset,  by  Thomas  Kerslake               ...            ...  ..      74 

The  Ennobling  of  Beets,  by  Professor  Buckman               ...             ...  104 

On  the  Dorset  Trigoniae,  by  the  President                 ...             ...  ..Ill 

On  a  Series  of  Sinistral  Gasteropods,  by  Professor  Buckman         ...  135 

On  the  Belemnoteuthis  Montefiorei,  by  Professor  Buckman  ...  ..    141 

ENGKAVINGS. 

To  face 

Page 
Bound  Oak  ..  ...  ...  ...  ...  25 

Ancient  Hour  Glass,  &c.  ...  ...  ...  ...  34 

Cuts  of  Terebratula  Morierei  and  T.  Coarctata...  40 

Cuts  of  Beets     ..  ...  ...  ...  ...  107-8-9 

Cut  of  Trigonia  Conjungens  ...  ..  ...  122 

Trigonias  PL   1 — 5  ...  ..  ...  ...  134 

Sinistra  Univalves    ...  .  ...  ..  13g 

Belemnoteuthis  Montefiorei  ...  ..  ...  ^  142 


C|)t  $|0rs.et 


Jfidtr 


INAUGURATED    16th    MARCH,    1875. 


J.    0.    MANSEL-PLEYDELL,    ESQ.,    F.G.S.,    &c. 


EEV.  H.  H.  WOOD,  F.G.S.  (Treasurer). 
PROF.  JAMES  BUCKMAN,  F.G.S.,  F.L.S.  (Hon.   Secretary). 


Eev.  M.  J.  BERKELEY,  F.E.H.S.L.,  &o.,   Sibbertoft  Vicarage, 

Northampton. 

M.  H.  BLOXHAM,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  &c.,  Eugby. 
E.  BRISTOW,  Esq.,  F.E.S.,  F.G.S.  ,  Ordnance  Geological  Survey. 
W.  CARRUTHERS,  Esq.,  F.E.S.,  F.G.S.,  F.L.S.,  British  Museum. 
THOMAS  DAVIDSON,  Esq.,  F.G.S.,  3,  Leopold  Eoal,  Brighton. 
E.    ETHERIDGE,    Esq.,    F.E.S.,    F.G.S.,    Ordnance    Geological 

Survey. 

E.  A.  FREEMAN,  Esq.,  D.C.L.,  Summerleaze,  "Wells. 
E.  LEES,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  F.G.S.,  Vice-President  of  the  Worcester- 

shire Naturalists'  Cliib,  Worcester. 

ALFRED  NEWTON,  Esq.,  Professor,  Magdalen  College,  Cambridge. 
J.  H.  PARKER,  Esq.,  C.B.,  Oxford. 
J.   PRESTWICH,   Esq.,   F.E.S.,   F.G.S.,    Professor  of    Geology, 

Oxford. 

Eev.  Prebendary  SCARTH,  F.S.A.,  &c.,WringtonEectory,  Somerset. 
CHARLES  WARNE,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  45,  Brunswick  Eoad,  Brighton. 
H.  C.  WATSON,  Esq.,  Thames  Ditton,  Surrey. 
J.  O.  WESTWOOD,  Esq.,  Professor  of  Zoology,  Oxford. 
G.  B.  WOLLASTON,  Esq.,  Chiselhurst. 


The  Eight  Hon.  the  EAEL  OF  SHAFTESBUEY,  K.G..  St.  Giles's 
House,  Cranborne,  Salisbury. 

The  Eight  Hon.  LORD  DIGBY,  Minterne,  Dorchester. 

The  LOED  EICHAED  GEOSVENOE,  M.P.,  Brook-street,  London. 


Acton,  Eev.  J. 
Allen,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  . .         . 
Aldridge,  Dr. 
Amyatt,  Capt.,  F.G.S. 
Andrews,  Thos.  0.  W.,  Esq. 
Baker,  Eev.  Canon,  Bart.     . 
Barnes,  Eev.  W. 
Baskett,  C.  H.,  Esq.  . . 
Baskettj  Miss  Etheldred 
Batten,  John,  Esq.     . . 
Bell,  E.  W.,  Esq.       . . 
BetheU,  E.,  Esq. 
Bennett,  H.  E.,  Esq. 
Blanch,  Eev.  J. 
Blennerhassett,  Eev.  J. 
Bond,  N.,  Esq. 
Bond,  T.,  Esq. 
Bosanquet,  Mrs. 

Boucher,  Eev.  H. 
Brand,  J.  S.,  Esq.     . . 


Iwerne  Minster,  Blandford 

Grove  House,  Stalbridge 

Yeovil 

Weymouth 

Dorchester 

Eanston  House,  Blandford 

Came  Eectory,  Dorchester 

Evershot 

Evershot 

Aldon,  Yeovil 

Gillingham 

London 

Shaftesbury 

Sherborne 

Eyme  Eectory,  Sherborne 

Holme  Priory,  Wareham 

Tyneham,  Wareham 

Grange  House,    Wootton   Fitz. 

paine,  Charmouth 
Thornhill  House,  Blandford 
N.P.  Bank,  Sherborne 


VI. 


Broadley,  Eev.  Canon 
Buckman,  Prof.,  F.G.S.fFice- 
President  and  Hon.  Secretary} 
Bullen,  Oapt. 
Bullen,  Mrs. 
Burdon,  Eev.  E. 

Oalcraft,  J.  H.,  Esq 

Cable,  J.  S.,  Esq 

Cambridge,  Eev.  0.  P. 
Clapin,  Eev.  A.  C. 
Cleminshaw,   E.,  Esq.,  M.A., 

F.G.S 

Colby,  Eev.  F.  J.,  D.D. 

Colfox,  T.,  Esq 

Colfox,  Mrs 

Colfox,  Miss 

Colfox,  Miss  A 

Colfox,  W.,  Esq 

Colfox,  T.  A.,  Esq 

Cox,  Lieut.-Col. 
Crickmay,  GK  E.,  Esq. 
Cunnington,  Edward,  Esq.  . . 

Dale,  C.  W.,  Esq 

Damon,  E.,  Esq. 
Davies,  Trevor,  Esq. 
JDavies,  Mrs.  T. 
Day,  Eev.  Eussell 
Dayman,  Eev.  Canon 
Dowland,  Eev.  E. 


Bridport 

Bradford  Abbas,  Sherborne 
Manor  House,  Charmouth 
Manor  House,  Charmouth. 

Haselbury  Eectory,  Blandford 

Eempstone,  Wareham 
Yeovil 

Bloxworth,  Blandford 

Sherborne 

Sherborne 

Litton  Cheney,  Dorchester 
Eax  House,  Bridport 
Eax  House,  Bridport 

Eax  House,  Bridport 

Eose  House,  Bridport 

Westmead,  Bridport 

Westmead,  Bridport 

Manor  House,  Beaminster 

Weymouth 

Dorchester 

Glanvilles  Wootton,  Sherborne 

Weymouth 

Sherborne 

Sherborne 

Lytchet  Minster 

Shillingstone  Eectory,  Blandford 

Tarrant  Keynston,  Blandford 


Vll. 


Digby,  G.  D.  W.,  Esq. 

Dunman,  H.,  Esq 

Durden,  H.,  Esq 

Edwards,  Eev.  Z.  J 

Eliot,  E.  ff.,  Esq 

Farquharson,  Eev.  Canon    . . 
Ffooks,  T.,  Esq., 
Filliter,  Freeland,  Esq. 

Fletcher,  W.,  Esq 

Floyer,  J.,  Esq.,  M.P.,  F.G.S. 

Freame,  Miss  E.  M 

Freame,  E.,  Esq., 

Fyler,  J.  W.,  Esq 

Galpin,  G.,  Esq 

Galpin,  John,  Esq. 

Glyn,  Sir  E.,  Bart 

Goodden,  J.  E.  P.,  Esq. 

Green,  M.  H.,  Esq 

Gresley,  Eev.  N.  W 

Groves,  T.  B.,  Esq 

Gundry,  J.  P.  F.,  Esq. 
Guest,  Sir  Ivor,  Bart. 
Guest,   Montagu,    Esq.,  M.P. 
Hambro,  C.  J.  T.,  Esq. 

Herford,  Capt 

Hetherington,  "W.  L.,  Esq.  . . 
Hodges,  Eev.  F.  P.,  D.C.L. . . 
Hosegood,  Eev.  J 


Sherborne  Castle 

Troy  Town,  Dorchester 

Blandford 

Misterton  Vicarage,  Crewkerne 

Eadipole 

Langton  Eectory,  Blandford 

Totnel,  Sherborne 

Wareham 

Wimborne 

Stafford,  Dorchester 

Gillingham 

Gillingham 

Heffieton,  Wareham 

Tarrant,  Keynstone,  Blandford 

Cullif ord  House,  Dorchester 

Leweston,  Sherborne 

Compton  House,  Sherborne 

(  Lincoln  College,  Oxford 

(  Steepleton  Eectory,  Dorchester 

Milborne    St.   Andrew,    Bland- 
ford 

Weymouth 
Cotton,  Bridport 
Canford,  Wimborne 
Bere  Eegis,  Blandford 
Milton  Abbey,  Blandford 
Tarrant  Keynston,  Blandford 
Sherborne 
Lyme  Eegis 


Vlll. 

Howard,  E.  N.,  Esq 

Jolinstone-Lavis,  H.  J.,  Esq. . . 
Kemp-Welch,  E.  B.,  Esq.  . . 

Hill,  Eev.  Arthur 
Langford,  Eev.  J.  F. 
Lee-Warner,  Eev.  J. 

Long,  E.  G-.,  Esq 

Luff,  J.  W.,  Esq 

Lovett,  Eev.  E.  L.  . .  . . 
Lyon,  Eev.  W.  H.  . .  . . 
McAlister,  Miss  . . 

Maggs,  T.  0.,  Esq 

Malan,  Eev.  S.  C 

Mansel-PleydeU,  J.    C.   Esq., 

F.GKS.  (President} 
Maunsell,  Eev.  F.  W. 

Mayo,  Eev.  0.  H 

Medlycott,  H.  B.,  Esq. 
Middleton,  H.  B.,  Esq. 
Middleton,  H.  N.,  Esq. 

Miller,  Eev.  J 

Montague,  J.  M.  P.,  Esq.     . . 
Montefiore,  Eev.  T.  Law 
Moorhead,  Dr. 

Napean  Sir  Molyneux  H.  . . 
Parsons,  J.  F.,  Esq. 

Payne,  Miss 

Pearce 


Weymouth 

1 6,       Dinmore       Westbourne, 

Bournemouth 
Preston,  Weymouth 
Bere  Eegis,  Blandford 
Tarrant  Gunville,  Blandford 
Stalbridge 

Walton  End  House,  Marnhull. 
Bishops  Caundle,  Sherborne 
Sherborne 
Colyford,  Axminster 
Yeovil 
Broadwinsor,  Bridport 

Longthorns,  Blandford 

Iwerne  Eectory,  Blandford 

Longburton  Eectory,  Sherborne 

Yen,  Sherborne 

Bradford  Peverell,  Dorchester 

Bradford  Peverell,  Dorchester 

Weymouth 

Down  Hall,  Bridport 

Charmouth 

Weymouth 

Loders  Court,  Bridport 

Portland 

2,  Westerhall  Villas,  Weymouth 


IX. 


Penny,  Rev.  J.  . . 

Phillips,  Eev.  GK  E 

Pickard,  Col.,  E.A 

Pike,  T.  M.,  Esq 

Pope,  A.,  Esq.  . .         . . 

Portman,  Hon.  Miss 
Portman,  Hon.  W.  H.  B.,  M.P. 
Eavenhill,  Eev.  H.  E. 

Eaven,  T.  E..  Esq 

Eaymond,  W.,  Esq 

Eaymond,  F.,  Esq 

Eawlinson,  Eev.  H.  . .         . . 
Eeid,  Miss      . .         . . 

Eeynolds,  E.,  Esq 

Eeynolds,  A.,  Esq. 
Eickman,  Chas.,  Esq. 

Eoberts,  Eev.  E 

Eobinson,  J.  Esq.,  F.S.A.    . . 
Eoxby,  Eev.  Wilfred 

Euegg,  L.  H.,  Esq 

Sanctuary,  Yen.  Archdeacon . . 
Serrel,  H.  D.,  Esq 

Smith,  Eev.  J 

Shipp,  H.,  Esq 

Sparks,  D.,  Esq 

Stephens,     E.    Darell,    Esq., 
F.GKS. 


Tarrant  Eushton 

Stalbridge  Eectory,  Blandford 

11,  Carlton  Cresent,  Southamp- 
ton 

Wareham 

Dorchester 

Bryanstone 

Durweston,  Blandford 

Buckland  Vicarage,  Dorchester 

Sherborne  School 

Vicarage  Street,  Yeovil 

Church  House,  Yeovil 

Symondsbury 

Bridport 

Haselbury,  Crewkerne 

Bridport 

Summerhayes,  Blandford 

Milton  Abbas,  Blandford 

Newton  Manor,  Swanage 

Thornford,  Sherborne 

Sherborne 

Powerstock,  Bridport 

Haddon    Lodge,    Stourton 
Caundle,  Blandford 

Kington  Magna   Eectory,    Gfil- 
lingham 

Post  Office,  Blandford 
Crewkerne 

Chideock,  Bridport 


X. 


Stephens,  Miss 
Stuart,  J.  Morton,  Esq. 
Surtees,  N.,  Esq. 
Symonds,  Miss  Juliana 

Tancock,  Eev.  0.  W. 
Thompson,  Eev.  GK   . . 
Todd,  Colonel. . 
Udal,  J.  S.,  Esq. 
Warre,  Eev.  F. 
Watts,  Eev.  E.  E.     . . 
Wetherby,  Eev.  0.    . . 
West,  GK  Herbert,  Esq. 
Weld,  0.,  Esq. 
Whitehead,  C.  S.,  Esq. 


Hill  Side,  Bridport 

Blandford 

Purse  Caundle,  Sherborne 

Waterloo  House,  Lennox-street, 

Weymouth 
Sherborne 

Leigh  Vicarage,  Sherborne 
Keystone  Lodge,  Blandford 
12,  Victoria  Square,  S.W. 
Melksham,  Wilts 
Stourpaine,  Blandford 
Weytown,  Bridport 
Woodcote,  Bournemouth 
Chideock,  Bridport 
Sherborne  School 


Williams,  W.  H.,  Esq.,  M.D.     Sherborne 


Wood,  Eev.  A. 

Wood,  Eev.  H.  H.,  F.GKS. 

Woodforde,  Beadon,  Esq. 
Yarrow,  T.,  Esq. 
Yeatman,  M.  S.,  Esq. 
Yeatman,  Captain,  E.N. 
Young,  Eev.  E.  M. 


Sherborne 

Holwell     Eectory,      Sherborne 
(  Vice  President  and  Treasurer) 
Sherborne 

Cleveland  House,  Weymouth 
Stock  House,  Sherborne 
West  Lodge,  Blandford 
The  King's  School,  Sherborne 


*#*  Please  notify  any  errors  or  omissions  to  the  Secretary. 


tf  tfa 


SHALL  endeavour  to  lay  before  you  a  general 
view  of  the  results  of  the  various  physical 
changes  of  the  earth  in  past  ages  affecting  the  climates 
of  Europe  and  the  distribution  of  life,  especially  of 
plant-life.  I  am  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  the  task, 
both  on  account  of  my  own  inability  as  well  as  the 
mass  of  matter  to  be  examined  and  epitomized  into  a 
short  address  such  as  this. 

Before  entering  into  the  subject  I  beg  to  congratu- 
late you  upon  the  issue  of  the  second  Volume  of  the 
Proceedings,  which  contains  useful  information  on 
various  subjects  connected  with  the  natural  history  and 
antiquities  of  our  county.  The  paper  by  Mr.  Clemen- 
shaw,  which  goes  into  the  region  of  chemical  geology, 
will  be  read  with  interest,  and  I  hope  it  is  an  earnest  of 
future  contributions  from  him.  The  botany  of  Holwcll, 
by  our  Treasurer,  is  an  important  addition  to  this 
section  of  our  work,  and  not  the  least  instructive  part 
of  the  Paper  is,  the  discovery  of  an  isolated  calcareous 
deposit  by  the  presence  of  Clematis  Vitalba,  a 
plant  which  renounces  all  connection  with 


the  surrounding  aluminous  beds.  The  various 
papers  by  our  Secretary  add  much  to  the 
value  of  the  volume,  especially  that  of  the  "  Worked 
Flints,"  illustrated  by  two  plates,  with  representations 
of  twenty  individuals.  The  plates  accompanying  the 
Professor's  notes  upon  the  Portisham  cromlech  are 
from  drawings  by  the  artistic  hand  of  Mrs.  Colfox.  I 
must  not  omit  Mr.  J.  J.  Buckman's  (the  Professor's 
son)  paper  upon  the  genus  Astarte,  with  two 
plates  and  seven  paginal  figures,  describing  no  less  than 
fifteen  species  and  three  sub-species,  many  not  before 
described.  We  hail  the  youthful  contributor  with 
pleasure  and  joy. 

The  most  ancient  condition  of  the  earth  consisted  in 
extensive  seas  ;   the  land  was  then  confined  to  islands 
with  a  special  and  simple   vegetation,  while  the  seas 
were  peopled  with  various  marine  tribes,  some  living, 
as  now,   at   great  depths,  some  near  the  coasts,  and 
others  between  high  and  low  water-mark.  The  presence 
of  graphite,  a  nearly  pure  carbonaceous  substance,  which 
occurs  in  the  laurentian  beds,  prove  a  vegetation  then, 
in    some     abundance.       The    first     animal,    Eozoon 
Canadense  occurs    in  this  very  early  palaeozoic  rock. 
A  large  alga,  Cruziana  D'orb.,  of  considerable  height, 
with  fronds  upon  a  thick  cartilagenous  stem,  grew  in 
the  lower  silurian  seas.      The  most  ancient  land-plant 
known  is  a  fem^Eopteria  Morierei,  somewhat  resembling 
Cydopteris  of  the  coal-measures,  but  with  this  differ- 
ence, the  stipes  of  the  frond    bear  unequal  sized  and 
irregularly  arranged  pinnules ;   it  was  found  in  the 


middle  silurian,  at  Angers,  in  France.  The  first  evi- 
dence of  a  Lycopodiacea  occurs  in  the  upper  Silurians  of 
Canada,  Psilophyton,  Daw,  a  dichotomous  branched 
plant  with  slender  bifurcating  stems  proceeding  from  a 
horizontal  rhizome  ;  the  surface  of  the  stem  is  destitute 
of  scars,  but  marked  with  spiral  ridges,  as  if  rudimentary 
leaves.  The  internal  structure  of  the  axis  shows 
loose  cellular  tissue  sunounded  by  a  cylinder  of 
elongated  woody  cells  without  distinguishable 
pores,  but  with  traces  of  spiral  fibres,  which 
point  not  only  to  its  affinity  with  the  Lycopodiacese 
but  especially  with  the  recent  Psilotum,  a  genus 
of  club-mosses  found  in  America  and  Australia. 
The  rhizomata  of  this  ancient  plant  occur  in  situ  in  a 
number  of  argillaceous  beds,  in  a  manner  which  shews 
that  they  crept  in  immense  numbers  over  flats  of  sandy 
clay,  which  were  frequently  inundated.  The  succeeding 
devonian  age  produced  several  new  forms  of  plants 
which,  with  few  exceptions,  generally  resemble  those 
of  the  coal-measures,  among  which  a  single  species  of 
the  genus  Lepidodendron  may  be  mentioned ;  also  a 
conifer  Prototaxites,  having  spirally-marked  cells* 
characteristic  of  the  genera  Taxites  and  Spiropites  of 
Goeppart,  but  differing  in  the  cylindrical  form  and  loose 
aggregation  of  the  wood-cells.  Doctor  Dawson  found 
in  the  devonian  beds  of  the  State  of  JSTew  York  and 
Canada,  thirty-two  genera,  and  sixty-nine  species  of 
plants,  comprising  Bigillatfiafy  Calamites,  Aster- 
ophyllites,  the  Lepidodendron^  conifers  and  ferns  of  the 
genera  Cyclopteris,  Neuropteris,  S]?henoj)teris,alsofrmts, 


Trigonocarpum  and  Gardiocarpum  (which  latter  was 
thought  by  Brongniart  to  belong  to  a  Lepidodendrous 
plant) ;  but  our  distinguished  fellow-member,  Mr. 
Carruthers,  considers  it  to  be  a  gymnosperm  of  an 
extinct  type,  confined,  as  far  as  is  yet  known,  to  the 
palaeozoic  rocks,  and,  possibly,  to  have  been  the  fruit 
of  the  Taxinian,  Dadoxylon.  The  devonian  flora  in 
many  respects  resembles  that  of  the  mesozoic  period, 
and  of  modern  tropical  countries  more  than  the 
carboniferous,  which  might,  possibly,  arise  from  the 
absence  of  the  wide  undulated  plains  of  that  period, 
and,  perhaps,  from  a  higher  temperature.  From  the 
great  diversity  of  the  devonian  rocks,  it  seems  that 
during  their  deposition,  Europe  was  an  archipelago, 
the  sea,  of  course,  predominated,  and,  as  far  as  is 
known,  there  were  no  fresh-water  deposits.  Gmynos- 
perms  and  acrogens  form  the  two  prominent  groups  ; 
the  former  are  the  lowest  of  the  flowering  plants,  the 
latter  the  highest  of  the  flowerless. 

In  the  succeeding  carboniferous  age,  Cordiates 
appears  for  the  first  time ;  it  is  a  gymnosperrnous  tree  of 
considerable  height,  resembling  the  recent  Podocarpus 
in  its  growth,  bearing  coriaceous  leaves  several  feet 
long,  and  fruit  analogous  to  the  Taxinece.  No  less  than 
three  hundred  and  twenty  land  plants  are  found  in 
the  carboniferous  beds  ;  the  conditions  favourable  for 
their  pieservation  was  forest  growth,  in  swampy  ground 
about  the  mouth  of  a  river  with  rapid  oscillations  of 
level,  the  coal  produced  during  subsidence  being 
covered  over  by  the  sediment  brought  down  by  the 


river,  which,  on  re-elevation,  formed  the  soil  for  fresh 
growths,  the  alternation  being  occasionally  broken  by 
the  deposit  of  purely  marine  beds.  The  coal  of  this 
age  is  mainly  confined  to  countries  north  of  the 
equator,  and  was  not  probably  under  the  influence  of 
extreme  heat  at  the  time  of  deposition.  The  coal  of 
the  oolitic  and  cretaceous  ages  belong  to  the  southern 
hemisphere  ;  the  tertiary  coal  is  uniformly  distributed 
inespective  of  latitude. 

Before  leaving  this  period  let  us  carry  our  imagina- 
tion back  to  its  morasses  and  lagoons,  scarcely  raised 
above  the  sea-level,  and  encircled  by  rising  ground  not 
worthy  to  be  designated  hills,  on  which  hung  dank 
mists,  feeding  the  streams  which  flowed  through  the 
masses  of  matted  verdure.  Let  us  picture  to  our- 
selves, the  erect  naked  Calamite,  the  columnar  trunked 
Sigillaria,  the  Lepidodendron,  the  graceful  arborescent 
ferns  with  their  magnificent  crowns  of  leaves,the  climbing 
Asteropliyllites,  all  combining  to  excite  admiration, 
but  no  lovely  petalled  flower  broke  the  monotony  of 
this  verdant  scene ;  the  organs  of  reproduction  were 
not  at  that  time  enclosed  in  a  covered  receptacle,  but 
merely  furnished  with  insignificant  scales,  and  no 
nature-painted  petal,  which  now  adorn  so  large  a  pro- 
portion of  plant  life,  ravished  the  eye  as  now  with  their 
many  coloured  bridal  garments.  The  first  evidence 
of  a  rnonocotyledonous  plant  occurs  in  the  lowest 
beds  of  the  carboniferous  series  ;  the  spadix  of  an 
Aroid,  Pothocites,  was  found  by  Doctor  Paterson  in 
the  bituminous  shades  of  the  coal-measures,  near 


Edinburgh.  The  plants  of  this  family  are  chiefly 
natives  of  countries  near  the  Equator,  many  of  them 
arborescent  and  of  considerable  size. 

The  flora  of  the  succeeding  permian  age  is  marked  by 
the  preponderance  of  cycads  and  conifers,  also 
ferns  similar  to  those  now  limited  to  the  southern 
hemisphere.  Several  plants  now  disappear. 
Sigillaria,)  Aster  ophyllites^  most  of  the  woody 
Eyuisetacece  and  Lepidodendra,  whose  cones  surpassed 
in  elegance  of  structure  those  of  the  conifer,  which 
they  resemble  in  form,  while  the  cryptogamic  organi- 
zation of  their  fructification  and  the  separate  grouping 
of  the  male  and  female  spores  approach  the  recent 
Isoetes,  which,  as  is  well  known,  now  only  grows  at  the 
bottom  of  lakes.  Europe,  which  was,  until  the  end  of 
this  age,  an  archipelago  of  islands,  gradually  became 
united  so  as  to  form  a  continent.  Cycads  and  conifers 
continued  to  flourish  ;  angiosperms,  which  now  comprise 
more  than  nine-tenths  of  living  plants,  had  not  then 
appeared  on  the  earth's  surface.  The  cycads  do  not 
differ  from  those  which  now  grow  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  tropics  ;  many  of  the  conifers  were  of  great  height, 
allied  to  the  Aracaurias  and  Cypressinece.  Brachy- 
phyllum,  whose  leaves  were  reduced  to  simple 
mammilated  scales,  are  especially  distinctive  of  this 
period. 

At  the  summit  of  the  Hochrnad,  half-way  up  the 
Blumenstein,  (a  liassic  formation),  has  been  found,  a 
cycad  Zamites  gracilis^  Kurr,  also  two  conifers  Wid- 
dringtonia  liassica,  Kurr,  and  Thuites  fallax,  Herr, 


the  two  first  occur  with  an  Araucarites  in  the  upper 
lias  of  Wurtemburg,  with  numerous  marine  animals 
and  alga3.  The  physiognomy  of  plant-life  was  then 
uniform  ;  no  difference  seems  to  have  existed  from 
Spitzbergen  to  Hindoostan,  from  southern  Europe  to 
Siberia.  In  a  comparison  of  the  upper  oolite  flora 
with  the  lower  oolite  there  appear  to  be  several 
links  of  affinity,  and  at  the  same  time  wide 
differences.  During  the  deposition  of  the  purbeck 
beds,  Europe  became  more  decidedly  continental 
by  the  amalgamation  of  its  lands  and  the  formation  of 
considerable  lakes  and  estuaries.  The  oolitic  seas  in 
Western  Europe  formed  three  principal  basins,  one 
covering  the  north-west  of  France  and  the  eastern  part 
of  England,  marked  by  a  line  running  north-east  from 
Somersetshire  to  Durham;  another  from  Eochelle  to 
what  is  now  occupied  by  the  Pyrenean  range  from 
Bigorre  to  Perpignan  ;  and  the  third  extending  from 
Dauphine  and  Provence  to  the  present  site  of  the  Alps 
(which,  as  well  as  the  Pyrenees,  did  not  rise  until  a 
much  later  period),  also  Piedmont  and  Italy.  The 
shores  of  these  seas  gradually  retired,  forming  a  series 
of  consecutive  diminishing  circles.  At  Solenhofen  in 
Bavaria,  at  Stonesfield  in  Oxfordshire,  and  in  the  pur- 
beck-bedsof  Dorsetshire  and  Wiltshire,which  stand  near 
the  boundary  line  between  the  oolitic  and  cretaceous 
periods,  are  large  assemblages  of  insects,  cockroaches, 
beetles,  grasshoppers,  white-ants,  and  dragon-flies. 
Solenhofen  has  produced  a  fossil  bird,  Archceopterix 
macrura  (Owen,)  retaining  its  feathers  so  perfectly  that 


i 

the  vanes  as  well  as  the  shafts  are  preserved.  It  differs 
from  all  existing  birds  in  its  long  tail,  consisting  of 
twenty  vertebra?,  each  of  which  supports  a  pair  of 
quill  feathers.  From  the  form  of  the  tail,  the  animal 
was  at  first  regarded  as  an  intermediate  state  between 
a  bird  and  a  reptile,  until  Professor  Owen  showed  that 
it  had  no  reptilian  character.  Professor  Prestwich  has 
recently  discovered  in  the  Kimmeridge  Clay  the 
gigantic  reptilian  Iguanodon,  or  some  closely  allied 
Dinosaur,  which  has  hitherto  been  thought  to  have 
browsed  only  on  the  trees  and  herbs  of  the  wealden 
and  lower  cretaceous  forests,  proving  a  con- 
tinuity of  land-condition  from  the  upper  oolite  to  the 
lower  greensand  period.  We  now  arrive  at  a  very 
important  era  of  plant-life,  namely  y  the  first  appear- 
ance of  dicotyledonous  plants,  not  only  in  abundance, 
but  in  great  varieties  of  forms.  Unknown  before,  they 
rapidly  prevailed,  compelling  the  cycads  and  conifers 
to  decrease  and  abandon  their  hitherto  dominant  posi- 
tion. The  cretaceous  fresh-water  deposits  of  Bohemia 
are  rich  in  fossil-plants,  as  also  those  of  Moravia, 
Harz,  Saxony,  Westphalia ;  the  neighbourhood  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle  and  of  Toulon,  have  furnished  a  consider- 
able series  of  fossil-plants  from  the  middle-chalk,  which 
seem  to  have  grown  near  the  shores  of  a  cretaceous 
sea.  They  present  a  curious  assemblage  of  extinct 
genera,  with  some  which  now  only  grow  within  the 
tropics,  and  others  which  are  confined  to  northern  Europe. 
The  genus  Credneria  is  an  example  of  the  first  (now 
only  found  in  a  fossil  state) ;  while  Hymenoece^ 


Pandanacece  (screw  pine),  Aralias,  &c.,  were  pushed 
south  towards  the  equator.  About  this  period 
the  Palm  appeared  for  the  first  time  ;  fossil  trunks 
of  trees,  with  supposed  leaf-scars  (one  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  family)  from  the  carboniferous 
beds,  were  at  one  time  thought  to  be  palms,  but  now 
ascertained  to  be  cryptogams.  The  two  principal 
true  palms  of  this  period  are  Flabellariachamceropifolia> 
Goepp.,  represented  by  a  fan-shape  leaf  resembling 
Chamcerops,  and  consequently  allied  to  the  dwarf 
palmettos,  and  a  palm  from  a  fresh-lake  deposit  in 
Austria,  and  from  Provence  ;  the  leaf  of  which  is  large, 
with  disunited  segments,  or  only  divided  towards  its 
edges  ;  it  resembles  Phoenicophorium  Sechellarum^ 
WendL,  which  holds  amiddle  place  between  the  fan-shape 
and  the  pinnate-leaved  forms,  such  as  the  sabal  and 
the  date.  The  cretaceous  beds  of  North  America 
contain  a  large  assemblage  of  dicotyledonous  trees 
with  conifers  and  cycads.  Professor  Nordenskiold 
(now  an  ice-bound  prisoner  with  a  Swedish  scientific 
expedition  in  the  Vega,  near  Behring  Straits,  having 
been  overtaken  by  winter,  probably  in  October, 
when  on  the  point  of  conpleting  the  North- West 
passage),  found  in  the  peninsular  of  JNoarsoak,  Green- 
land, a  Zingileracea,  a  bamboo,  Arundo  Grcenlandica^ 
Heer.,  and  a  cycad,  Cycadites  DicJcsoni,  Heer.,  per- 
haps, the  last  of  the  family  which  grew  within  the 
polar  circle,  and  several  ferns  belonging  to  the  tropical 
order  of  Gleicheniacece,  also  Palmacece,  Pandanacece 
and  Drac&noe  ;  the  dicotyledons  comprise  coriaceous.- 


10 

leaved  poplars,  figs,  myrtles,  azalias,  magnolias, 
and  leguminous  plants  allied  to  the  Lotus 
among  the  conifers  are  Sequoias  several  species 
of  Cupressinece  and  a  Salisburia.  Monocotyledons, 
which  had  been  for  a  long  time  subordinate  and  weak, 
became  of  some  importance,  At  the  close  of  this  sera, 
there  was  a  large  increase  of  land  in  the  higher  tem- 
perate and  polar  regions  which  materially  affected  the 
climate  of  Europe.  The  sea  at  this  time  still  covered 
the  Alpine  and  Pyrenean  area.  A  few  islands  were 
sprinkled  here  and  there  indicative  of  the  subsequent 
line  of  elevation.  Of  all  rocks  of  this  period  no 
formation  is  of  such  great  geographical  importance 
as  that  of  the  nummulitic  ;  it  appears  that  of  more 
than  fifty  species  of  nummulites,  described  by 
d  Archaic,  there  are  only  one  or  two  species  in  the 
other  tertiary  beds.  The  nummulitic  Sea  traversed 
Europe  diagonally,  and  can  be  traced  through  northern 
Africa,  it  was  largely  quarried  of  old  for  the  pyramids 
of  Egypt,  and  is  met  with  in  Asia  Minor,  across  Persia  to 
the  mouths  of  the  Indus  ;  nummulites  have  been  found 
in  Western  Thibet  in  deposits  16,800  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  This  extensive  Mediterranean  Sea 
had  an  influence  of  some  importance  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  plants  among  which  is  Sabal  major, 
a  palm  of  majestic  height  resembling  the  Sabal 
umbraculifera,  Jacq.,  of  the  Antilles,  found  in  all  the 
European  miocenes,  several  Sequoias,  Taxodianece  and 
Libocedrus,  chiefly  allied  to  Arbor  vitce  (Thuja)  found 
now  only  in  Chili  and  New  Zealand,  An  important 


11 

change  with  regard  to  animal  terrestrial-life,  took 
place  at  this  time,  the  diminutive  marsupial  mammals 
of  the  mesozoic  age  were  succeeded  by  large  placental 
herbivors,  mostly  pachydermous — Palceotherium^ 
Lophiodon,  Anoplotherium,  and  Xiphodon  with  several 
rodents  and  bats.  The  preponderance  of  these 
pachyderms  in  the  eocene  forests  may  be  accounted  for 
by  the  paucity  of  carnivors.  The  London  clays  of 
Sheppey  contain  fruits  and  seeds  of  palms  belonging 
to  the  recent  type  Nipa,  now  only  found  in  the  salt- 
marshes  of  Malacca,  the  Philippine  Islands,  and 
Bengal.  We  have  now  arrived  at  the  horizon  of  the 
Alum  Bay  and  Bournemouth  beds,  the  latter  of  which, 
through  the  industry  of  Mr.  J.  E.  Gardner,  have 
yielded  a  large  and  highly  interesting  flora,  including 
Proteacece,  Dryandrce,  Stenocarpus,  cinnamon,  and 
other  Lauraceae,  Eucalyptus,  azalias,  figs,  beech, 
maples,  papilonacece,  cactus,  aroids,  conifers,  and  ferns, 
also  fruits  of  Nipites,  marine  shells,  a  freshwater  shell 
of  the  genus  Unio,  with  shore-crabs,  also  another 
crustacean  Callianassa,  which  has  its  living  repre- 
sentative, C.  subterranea.  Leach.,  on  the  Devon  coast 
attesting  the  passage  from  marine,  brackish  and  fresh 
water.  Some  of  the  types  are  now  residents  in 
Southern  Africa  and  India,  their  association  with  types 
of  the  temperate  zone  may  be  traced  to  an  approxima- 
tion of  high  land  to  the  seas  or  lakes  into  which  the 
rivers  carried  them.  A  similar  condition  of  plant-life 
may  now  be  seen  at  Teneriffe,  which  lies  at  the  very 
threshold  of  the  tropics.  Humbolt,  in  a  description  of 


12 

his  ascent  to  the  peak,  says  he  passed  five  different 
zones,  distinguished  by  their  vegetation,  the  first  being 
that  of  the  vine  and  palm,  the  thermometer  stand- 
ing, at  67°  in  January,  about  noon  ;  the  next  belt,  about 
5,780  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  consists  mostly 
of  forests,  oaks,  myrtles,  olives  ;  the  next  zone  extends 
more  than  8,000  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and  is  a 
region  of  pines  ;  the  fourth  and  fifth  zones  are  covered 
with  the  leguminous  Eetama  and  several  species  of 
Graminece,  a  few  of  which  and  lichens  struggle  for 
existence  among  the  volcanic  matter  at  the  summit.  In 
the  corresponding  beds  of  Puy,  in  the  centre  of 
France,  a  palm,  Phoenix  Aymardi,  has  been  met  with 
bearing  a  male  inflorescence  ;  as  it  belongs  to  a  family 
chiefly  African  it  gives  force  to  other  attested  proofs 
how  closely  allied  is  the  eocene  flora  of  Europe  with 
that  of  the  neighbouring  continent,  which  its  southern 
extremity  touches.  The  climate  of  that  period  was 
not  dissimilar  to  that  of  Central  Africa,  of  the  present 
day,  subject  to  intermittent  rains  at  intervals  of  con- 
siderable length  evidenced  by  the  meagre,  stunted  cori- 
aceous trees.  The  difference  of  latitude  had  now  a  more 
decided  influence  upon  plants.  There  was  a  gradual 
invasion  of  cold,  which  was  more  intense  at  one  time  than 
another,  supporting  the  theory  that  there  was  a  glacial 
period  during  the  eocene  as  well  as  the  well-attested 
pliocene  age.  The  succeeding  miocene  was  under  the 
influence  of  a  more  humid  climate,  and  its  vegetation 
unfitted  for  long  droughts.  In  the  southern  and  central 
parts  of  France  the  rniocenes  are  extensively  developed. 


13 

The  calcareous  concretes  of  Brognon,  near  Dijon,  con- 
tain unexhaustible  mines  of  vegetable  remains,  includ- 
ing    a    large-leaved     palm,     Flabellaria     latiloba, 
met  with  also  near  Lausanne  associated  with  ferns,  one 
of   which   appears  to  be  arborescent,  oaks,  laurels,  a 
jujube  tree,  and  fig  tree.     The  miocenes  are  supposed 
to  be  represented  in  England  by  the  lignites  and  clays 
of  Bovey  Tracey,  in   Devonshire  (but,  perhaps,    the 
result  of  Mr.  Gardner's  examination  of  the  Bournemouth 
Beds  and  a  correlation  of  both   may  relegate  them 
to  an  earlier  geological    period),  in  Ireland   by  the 
basalts  of  Antrim,  and  of  the  Giant's  Causeway,  and  the 
Island  of   Mull  in  Scotland.      The  miocene  flora  of 
Greenland  comprises  more  than  a  hundred  and  thirty 
species,  of  which  some  fifty-six  only  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  same  age  in  central  Europe,  and  more  than 
half  the  number  do  not  now  grow  within  ten  degrees 
of  the  South  of  Greenland.     M.  Herr  shews  that  in  the 
flora  of  the  Swiss  miocenes  about  nine  per  cent,  of  the 
vascular  plants  are  homologous  to  existing  species,  and 
of  seventy-two  species  thirty-three  live  in  America,  six- 
teen in  Europe,  and  twelve  in  Asia,  the  remaining  eleven 
are  scattered  about  elsewhere.     Prominence  is  given  to 
the  Atlantic  types  by  the  numerous  evergreen  oaks, 
maples,  poplars,  Eolinice^Sequoice^  Taxodia,  andternate- 
leaved  Pines,  thus  the  northern  hemisphere  has  played 
an  important  part  in  the  distribution  of  plants,  a  greater 
number  having  migrated  from  north  to  south  than  ia  the 
reverse  direction,  for  large  assemblages  of  plants  seem  to 
admit  of  being  traced  back  at  some  time  of  their  history 


14 

to  the  northern  hemisphere.  It  is  remarkable  while 
the  eocene  flora  of  Europe  was  largely  Australian  in 
character  the  miocene  has  an  American  facies.  The 
retreat  of  the  great  miocene  sea  and  the  elevation  of 
the  Alps  and  Pyrenees  were  the  two  great  events  of 
the  pliocene  age.  The  presence  of  mountain-ranges 
covered  with  snow  would  materially  lower  the  tempera- 
ture, and  had  doubtless  a  considerable  influence  ;  but 
the  glacial  state  of  Europe  cannot  be  accounted  for  by 
this  phenomenon  alone ;  it  may  have  been  aided, 
according  to  Count  Saporta,  by  the  diffused  sun-light 
and  a  densely-clouded  atmosphere  reducing  the  contrast 
between  the  polar  summer  and  winter,  or,  according  to 
Professor  Geikie,  to  an  alteration  of  the  position  of  the 
poles  and  the  winter  of  our  hemisphere  happening  in 
aphelion.  That  a  gradual  depression  has  taken  place 
is  clearly  shown  by  the  norwich  red  and  coralline  crags, 
the  latter,  which  is  the  older,  differs  less  in  the  character 
of  its  fauna  than  the  other  two,  as  it  contains  twenty- 
seven  molluscs  now  living  in  the  Mediteranean  and  one 
West  Indian  species ;  thirteen  only  occur  in  the  red- 
crag  associated  with  three  fresh  southern  species,  while 
the  whole  disappear  from  the  Norwich  beds,  and  are 
replaced  by  others  of  a  boreal  type,  sixty-nine  of  which, 
out  of  eighty-one,  are  still  living,  and  among  them  are 
no  species  of  southern  latitudes,  we  may  infer,  therefore, 
that  the  temperature  of  the  sea  must  have  gone  on 
gradually  diminishing.  In  the  immediate  overlying 
forest-bed  of  Cromer  which  extends  along  the 
Norfolk  coast  for  about  forty  miles  may  still  be 


15 

seen   the   erect   trunks   of    trees    attached    by   their 
roots  to   the   original   soil;    these   trees  are  covered 
by  a    clay-bed    containing    thin    layers    of    lignite ; 
between  the  trunks  of  the  trees  and  these  lignites  are 
found  cones  of  the  scotch  and  spruce  firs,  the  seeds  of 
the  yew,  the  horn  wort,  Ceratophyllum   demersum, 
the  seeds  of  the  buck-bean  Menyanthes  trifoliata,  the 
Hazel,  Corylus  Avellana  the  white  and  yellow  water- 
lilies,  and  with  them  are  found  the  teeth  of  elephas 
antiquus   and  two    other   elephants,  E.  meridionalis 
and  E  primigeneus,  hippopotamus,  ox,  horse,  stag, 
elk,  roebuck,  Cervus  poligniacius,  Cervus  verticornis, 
two   species    of   beaver,    narwhal,  walrus,    a    large 
whale,   &c.       The   vegetation  taken   alone   does  not 
imply  a   temperature  higher  than  that   now  prevail- 
ing  in  the   British   Isles.      Half    the   mammals   are 
extinct,  the  rest  still  survive  in  Europe.     The  discovery 
of  a  glacial  epoch,  and  subsequently  that  of  a  mild  and 
temperate  climate,  shews  us  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  temperate  region  was  buried  under  ice  at  one  period 
and   that  at  another,  Greenland  and  the  Arctic  circle, 
probably  to  the  north  pole,  was  not  only  free  from  ice, 
but  covered  with  a  rich  and  luxuriant  vegetation,  when 
Europe  and  the  contour  of  its  surface  must  have  been 
much  the  same  as  it  is  now.      The  geographical  range 
of    the   fluviatile  and  land-shells   of  the   pleistocene 
period,  many  of  them  being  now  confined  to  Scandinavia, 
leans  to  the  conclusion  that  the  climate  was  still  very 
cold,  especially  in  the  winter.     Of  the  mammalia  the 
reindeer  and  the  musk  sheep  now  confined  within  the 


16 

limits  of  the  polar  circle  occur  in  the  pleistocene  beds 
of  the  valley  of  the  Thames  and  of  the  Avon.  In  France 
and  Germany  they  are  associated  with  the  mammoth  and 
the  woolly  rhinoceros.  On  the  other  hand  an  elephant 
and  rhinoceros  have  been  found  at  Grays  in  Essex, 
together  with  a  shell,  Cyrena  fluminiaUs,  Moll, 
now  extinct  in  Europe,  but  to  be  met  with  in  the  Nile 
and  some  Asiatic  rivers.  The  fossil  plants  of  Atane- 
kerdluk,  in  the  Waigate,  near  Disco,  give  a  most 
valuable  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  vegetation  which 
formed  a  forest  of  this  age.  Captain  Ingelfield  observed 
a  trunk  standing  upright  surrounded  by  a  closely 
packed  mass  of  leaves,  fruits,  and  seeds,  all  in  good 
condition,  shewing  that  they  had  not  been  drifted  from 
any  great  distance.  Many  of  the  species  have  their 
living  representatives  ten  or  twelve  degrees  below  Atane- 
kerdluk.  Mc'Clure  found  a  large  accumulation  of 
trees  ranging  from  the  sea-level  to  an  elevation  of 
upwards  of  three  hundred  feet.  A  cone  of  one  of  these 
trees  was  brought  and  found  to  be  an  Abies  resembling 
A.  alba.  A  very  different  climate  to  the  present  must 
have  then  existed  to  sanction  the  growth  of  conifers. 
Captain  Belcher  brought  an  Abies  alba,  Moll,  from 
near  the  narrow  strait  opening  into  Wellington  Sound, 
70°  32 '  N.  lat.,  92°  W.  long.  The  late  Sir  William 
Hooker  observed  a  difference  of  structure  from  any 
conifer  with  which,  in  his  large  experience,  he  was 
acquainted,  and  considered  the  peculiar  condition  of 
an  exceedingly  cold  seasonal  climate,  where  a  few  short 
hours  of  sun  succeeded  by  many  of  its  absence  would 


17 

intermittently  affect  the  functions  of  the  plant ;  hence  he 
accounted  for  the  occurrence  of  two  zones  of  tissue, 
on  each  ray  of  annual  growth,  one  consisting  of  the 
ordinary  tubes  of  wood-fibre  with  discs  common  to 
all  conifers,  the  other  consisting  of  tubes  with  no 
discs  but  covered  with  spiral  striae  giving  the  appear- 
ance of  each  tube  being  formed  by  a  twisted  band. 
The  deflexion  of  the  currents  of  the  sea,  from  what- 
ever cause,  materially  affects  the  climate  of  a 
country  coming  under  their  influence ;  had  not  the 
gulf-stream  for  instance  returned  to  our  shores  at  the 
close  of  the  glacial  epoch  the  temperature  of  Great 
Britain  would  now  be  that  of  Labrador ;  we  should  be 
scarcely  receiving  any  appreciable  increase  of  heat 
from  the  equatorial  region  by  means  of  aerial  currents, 
for  heated  air  rising  from  the  equator  as  soon  as  it  has 
reached  the  intense  cold  of  the  upper  regions  soon 
parts  with  its  caloric.  The  warmth,  therefore,  which 
the  south-west  winds  bring  us,  is  not  derived  from 
equatorial  zephyrs,  but  from  the  great  oceanic  current 
which  takes  its  rise  in  the  southern  ocean,  and  passing 
on  north  of  the  equator,  imparts  its  genial  influence 
beyond  the  boundary  of  the  polar-circle.  This  current 
is  fifty  miles  broad  and  a  thousand  feet  deep,  flowing 
at  the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour.  The  enormous 
extent  to  which  the  heat  of  the  earth  is  affected  by 
means  of  oceanic  currents  throws  some  light  upon  the 
mystery  of  geological  climates.  There  is  no  better 
instance  of  climatal  effect  upon  plant-life  than  the  palm ; 
which  dwindles  down  to  a  dwarf  shrub  at  its  extreme 


18 

northern  limit,  yielding  in  vigour  and  stature  in  pro- 
portion to  its  distance  from  the  equator  where  it  attains 
a  height  of  two  hundred  feet,  towering  over  every 
other  tree  of  the  forest.  At  lat.  43°  N.  in  Europe  it 
can  only  be  recognised  by  its  characteristic  foliage. 
In  America  its  limit  is  35°  N.  lat.,  being  represented 
by  Sabal  Adamsonii,  Guern.,  a  shrub  with  small  leaves, 
in  striking  contrast  to  the  lofty  Sabal  umbraculifera, 
Mart.,  of  the  Antilles.  A  similar  degeneration  is  met 
with  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  and  in  proportion  as 
the  distance  from  the  equator  increases  so  does  the 
palm  diminish  in  height,  and  the  trunk  become  stunted 
and  thickened.  In  Chili  at  36°  South  lat.,  the  last 
palm,  Jubcea  spectaUlis,  Humb.,  and  in  Africa  at  35° 
55 'S.  lat.,  Phoenix  reclinata,  Jacq.,  grows,  whose  short 
axis  gives  no  idea  of  the  magnificent  date,  which  is  the 
type  of  that  family.  It  is  curious,  the  palm  which 
grows  on  the  highest  latitudes  of  the  northern  hemis- 
phere has  fan-shape  leaves,  and  that  of  the  southern 
hemisphere  has  pinnate  leaves  such  is  Kentia  sapida^ 
Mart.,  which  grows  in  New  Zealand  at  3S°  22'  S.  lat. 

Let  me,  in  conclusion,  say  I  have  laid  before  you 
abundant  proofs  of  the  great  variations  animals,  and 
especially  plants,  have  undergone  in  past  ages.  There 
are  many  missing  links  no  doubt  still  to  be  filled  up. 
Every  new  discovery  is  a  fresh  link  to  bring  the 
organic  elements  of  geological  formations,  widely  apart 
as  to  time,  in  connection  with,  or  part  of  one  great 
harmonious  organic  system.  The  various  changes 
which  the  earth  has  experienced  through  depressions, 


19 


elevations,  formations  of  continents,  and  breaking  up 
of  others  form  one  factor,  of  many  perhaps,  in  bring- 
ing about  the  present  aspect  of  animal  and  plant-life. 


By  T.  R  GROVES,  Esq.,  F.C.S.,  &c.,  &c. 


|HIS  prematurely  ruined  structure,  described  by  Leland 
in  his  well-known  itinerary  "as  a  right  goodlie 
and  warlyke  castle,  having  one  open  barbicane,"  dates 
from  no  further  back  than  1539,  the  year  when  Henry  the  Ylll. 
compelled  the  surrender  of  the  larger  monasteries,  and  when 
consequent  on  the  vigour  of  his  assaults  on  Popery,  he  began 
to  fear  a  coalition  of  Catholic  sovereigns  against  his  kingdom. 

Portland  Castle,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay,  had  been 
built  a  few  years  previously,  the  two  being  mainly  intended  to 
provide  protection  from  foreign  cruisers  for  English  ships  fre- 
quenting the  "Roads,"  and  prevent  the  assembling  of  hostile 
navies  therein  with  a  view  to  invasion. 

A  ground  plan  of  Sandsfoot  Castle  was  published  in  1789  by 
Delamotte,  of  Weymouth.  It  appears  to  be  authentic,  but  from 
what  source  he  obtained  it  I  am  not  aware.  No  good  elevation 
of  the  castle  in  perfect  state  is  known  to  exist,  nor  is  there  any 
adequate  description  of  it  in  that  condition. 

As  a  ruin  it  has  been  often  engraved,  but  the  artists  have 
usually  shown  themselves  more  desirous  of  attaining  picturesque- 
ness  of  effect  than  accuracy  of  detail. 

Grose,  who  wrote  during  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century, 
gives,  in  his  "Antiquities  of  England,"  the  best  verbal  descrip. 


21 

tion  we  have  of  it.  He  says,  "  The  body  of  the  castle  is  a  right 
angled  paralellogram,  its  greatest  length  running  from  north  to 
south.  At  its  north  end  was  a  tower  on  which  were  the  arms  of 
England,  supported  by  a  wivern  and  an  unicorn.  (These  arms, 
carved  in  stone,  were  many  years  ago  removed  from  the  gateway 
of  the  castle  and  affixed  to  the  north  wall  of  the  chancel  of 
Wyke  Eegis  church).  The  north  part  seems  to  have  been  the 
governor's  apartment,  and  is  all  vaulted.  Near  its  south  end  is 
a  lower  building,  said  to  have  been  the  gun  room ;  this  being 
broader  than  the  other  part  of  the  edifice,  forms  flanks,  which 
defend  its  east  and  west  sides,  and  on  the  south  the  front  is 
semi-circular ;  before  there  was  formerly  a  platform  for  cannon. 
On  the  east  and  west  sides  there  are  embrazures  for  guns,  and 
below  them  two  tiers  of  loopholes  for  small  arms,  the  lowest 
almost  level  with  the  ground.  The  north  front  is  nearly  des- 
troyed, but  the  remains  of  an  arch  or  gateway  show  that  the 
entrance  was  on  that  side.  The  whole  edifice  seems  to  have 
been  cased  with  squared  stones,  the  walls  were  thick  and  lofty, 
and  the  buildings,  though  small,  were  not  inelegant.  Since  the 
«'  restoration  "  it  has  been  neglected  and  suffered  to  fall  to  ruin. 
The  north,  east,  and  south  sides  were,  at  a  small  distance,  sur- 
rounded by  a  deep  ditch  and  earthen  rampart,  through  which, 
on  the  east  front,  was  a  gate  faced  with  stone,  part  of  which  is 
still  remaining." 

In  this  description  there  are  several  inaccuracies.  The  lower 
building  on  the  south  side  is  not  semi-circular,  but  octangular, 
its  eighth  side  forming  the  southern  end  of  the  main  body  of 
the  castle.  The  ground  plan  I  have  referred  to  shows  that  five 
of  the  sides  were  pierced  for  embrazures,  three  of  which  pointed 
seawards,  the  other  two  covering  respectively  the  shore  to  the 
right  and  left.  The  sixth  and  seventh  sides  are  not  fully 
developed,  and  were  not  pierced  for  cannon ;  the  flanking  effect 
must,  therefore,  have  been  produced  by  loopholes  for  small 
arms  in  the  upper  story,  of  which  indeed  indications  are  given 
in  Buck's  engraving  (date  1733). 

There  is  reason  also  for  objecting  to  his  description  of  the 


22 

east  and  west  sides  of  the  main  building.  The  lowest  tier  of 
apertures  on  the  west  sides  are  evidently  those  of  windows  for 
lighting  the  cellar  of  the  castle  ;  the  tier  next  above  these  are, 
or  rather  were,  loopholes,  but  the  facing  stones  having  been 
removed  the  contraction  of  the  openings  that  originally  existed 
is  no  longer  apparent.  The  uppermost  tier  is  simply  a  range  of 
windows — the  places  where  the  iron  bars  were  inserted  being 
plainly  visible. 

Prom  the  east  side  the  cellar  received  no  light,  consequently 
there  is  one  tier  of  perforations  less.  On  this  side  was  a  door- 
way and  four  loopholes  on  the  ground  floor,  and  four  windows 
above.  I  doubt  very  much  whether  there  were  on  either  the 
east  or  west  side  embrazures  for  cannon.  The  ground  plan  cer- 
rainly  gives  a  figure  of  what  appears  to  be  a  cannon  lying  in 
one  of  the  eastern  openings,  but  it  must  I  think  be  an  error,  as 
at  the  point  in  question,  immediately  behind  the  supposed 
embrazure  is  the  head  of  a  staircase  leading  to  the  cellar.  The 
castle  on  the  land  side  was  in  fact  very  weakly  fortified.  It 
relied  perhaps  for  defence  in  this  direction  on  its  ditch  and  ram- 
part, the  latter  doubtless  furnished  with  cannon,  especially  at 
the  bastions  at  its  east  and  west  angles. 

The  "open  barbicane"  mentioned  by  Leland  is  not  visible. 
He  must,  I  think,  have  inaccurately  applied  the  word  to  the 
gun  room  at  the  southern  end.  The  term  is  rightly  employed  to 
indicate  a  port  in  advance  of  the  main  building  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  the  entrance  gate  and  drawbridge,  if  any. 

Grose  omits  to  mention  the  grooves  in  which  slid  the  portcullis, 
and  which  are  still  visible  at  the  north  and  principal  entrance. 

The  arrangements  of  the  interior  will  best  be  understood  after 
actual  inspection,  I  will,  therefore,  refrain  from  describing  them^ 
It  is  evident  that  a  very  large  portion  of  the  octagonal  gun. 
room  has  fallen  owing  to  the  sea  having  undermined  its  founda- 
tion. A  large  block  is  now  lying  on  the  rocks  below,  under- 
going the  gradual  disintegration  by  the  action  of  the  waves 
that  has  in  my  time  dispersed  many  still  larger  fragments.  In 
my  father's  time,  sixty  years  ago,  a  carriage  could  be  driven 


23 

between  the  castle  and  the  cliff,  and  in  1859,  if  an  ancient  map 
may  be  credited,  the  castle,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  a  moat, 
stood  in  the  centre  of  the  field. 

The  dilapidated  (a  word  here  most  correctly  applicable)  con- 
dition of  the  outer  walls  is  said  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the 
stones  having  been  torn  from  their  places  and  carried  to  Wey- 
mouth  for  building  purposes.  Two  houses  in  St.  Thomas' - 
street  have  been  pointed  out  to  me  as  having  been  mainly  con- 
structed out  of  the  spoils  of  Sandsfoot  Castle.  One  is  half 
inclined  to  wonder  how  such  a  thing  could  have  happened  seeing 
that  the  building  has  never  passed  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Crown. 
But  there  were  giants  in  those  prse-reform  days — at  peculation 
and  robbery ! 

It  seems  that  round  shot  of  stone  were  used,  at  least  occasion- 
ally, for  the  service  of  the  guns.  Some  schoolboys,  playing 
about  the  castle,  crawled  into  one  of  the  large  drains  that  opened 
on  the  cliff,  and  found  there  a  stone  shot  of  some  six 
inches  in  diameter.  A  similar  shot  was  found  at  Portland,  and 
brought  to  Sir  John  Coode,  who  had  the  curiosity  to  know 
whether  it  was  really  a  shot  or  only  a  natural  concretion.  He 
therefore  placed  it  under  a  steam-hammer,  and  gave  it  a  blow  so 
judicious  that  it  cracked  into  two  exactly  equal  pieces,  when  lo  ! 
in  the  centre  was  found  a  perfect  specimen  of  a  petrified  Cardium 
of  some  sort.  The  split  shot  is  to  be  seen  at  the  Engineer  Office, 
Portland.  There  can  be  no  doubt  I  think  of  the  stone  being 
really  a  shot — its  perfect  sphericity  would  seem  to  prove  that — 
but  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  in  order  to  save  labour  the 
ancient  artificer  had  selected  a  stone  already  partially  rounded, 
a  concretion  in  fact  founded  on  the  shell  of  the  Cardium. 

Sandsfoot  Castle  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  a  history.  It 
must  have  changed  hands  again  and  again  during  the  Civil 
Wars,  but  existing  records  make  no  mention  of  any  siege  what- 
ever— a  fact  which  strengthens  my  argument  that  the  castle  was 
indefensible  on  tho  north  or  land  side.  Probably  it  followed  as 
a  matter  of  course  the  fortunes  of  the  neighbouring  fortified 
town  of  Weymouth  and  Melconibe  Regis.  The  names  of  some 


24 

half  dozen  of  its  Governors  are  known,  but  no  interest  would 
attach  to  their  enumeration.  The  same  must  be  said  of  the 
references,  few  and  far  between,  to  the  existence  of  the  castle 
and  its  garrison,  in  the  borough  archives — archives  which  are 
alas  in  private  hands,  and  probably  about  to  suffer  dispersion  to 
the  four  winds  of  heaven  under  the  very  noses  of  a  body  of 
men  whom  I  fear  I  must  characterise  as  indifferent  to  the  history 
of  their  borough,  and  more  antiquarian  in  their  notions  than  in 
their  tastes. 


BOUND     OAK 


By  The  Eev.   0.  P.   CAMBRIDGE,  M.A. 


IOTTND  OAK,  or,  in  Dorset  dialect,  "  Bound  Woak  " 
and  "  Girt  Woak  "  (Great  Oak),  stands  on  the  boundary 
line  between  the  parishes  of  Bloxworth  and  Bere  Eegis, 
close  beside  the  public  bridle  path  leading  from  Bloxworth  to 
Bere,  through  Bere  Wood  (formerly  Bere  Forest),  over  Wood- 
bury  Hill. 

Although  considerably  dilapidated,  "  Bound  Oak"  is  still  in  a 
state  of  vigorous  growth,  which  is,  however,  chiefly  confined  to 
the  tolerably  complete  remaining  half  of  this  fine  old  sylvan 
relic.  In  the  autumn  of  1878  the  whole  of  this  portion  of 
the  tree  was  covered  with  an  abundant  crop  of  acorns.  The 
girth  of  the  trunk,  at  about  eight  feet  from  the  ground,  where 
the  body  becomes  bipartite,  is  twenty-two  feet  six  inches, 
but  the  whole  of  the  centre  is  hollowed  out  by  decay,  a  portion 
of  the  wall  having  also  disappeared,  leaving  a  dome-like  cavity 
capable  of  holding  several  persons.  The  total  height  of  the  tree 
is  somewhere  about  fifty  or  sixty  feet.  From  the  side  opposite 
to  that  shown  in  the  accompanying  figure,  a  very  large  limb  fell 
about  twenty-five  years  ago.  This  limb,  falling  on  the  Blox- 
worth side,  was  taken  possession  of  by  my  late  father,  the  then 
Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Bloxworth ;  the  timber  of  the  fallen  limb 
was  for  the  most  part  in  a  remarkably  sound  condition,  of  an 


26 

exceedingly  dark  colour,  and  the  greater  portion  of  it  prettily 
mottled. 

It  is  difficult,  in  the  absence  of  documentary  evidence,  to 
estimate  the  age  of  "  Bound  Oak,"  but  it  can  hardly  be  leas  than 
five  or  six  centuries.  In  all  probability  it  owes  its  immunity 
from  the  destructive  axe,  to  the  fact  of  its  standing  so  exactly  on 
the  boundary  between  the  two  parishes  as  to  preclude  the 
possibility  of  its  being  meddled  with  by  the  landowner  on  either 
side  without  the  tolerably  certain  result  of  a  law-suit. 

A  lively  imagination  might  easily  conjure  up  many  interesting 
associations  and  romantic  scenes  in  connection  with  "  Bound 
Oak,"  but  I  am  bound  to  say  that  no  record  or  tradition  of  these 
exists,  so  far,  at  least,  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain.  Still, 
as  such  undeniably  ancestral  trees  are  now  few  and  far  between, 
I  have  thought  that  the  one  under  consideration,  though  devoid 
of  any  stirring  associations,  might  be  worth  a  note  in  the  Tran- 
sactions of  the  Dorset  Natural  History  and  Antiquarian  Field 
Club. 


<w 


of 


By    The    Rev.    W.    BARNES. 


Britisli  legend  of  Caer  Paladr  or  Shaftesbury  is  given 
in  a  Welsh  Brut  (chronicle),  the  "Brut  ab  Arthur/? 
thus — "  Ac  wedi  Lleon  daeth  Ehun  Baladr  Bras,  ci 
vab,  ac  eve  adeilad  Gastell  Mynydd  Paladr;  a  elwir  yn  awr 
Caer  Sefton.  Ac  yna,  tra  adeilyt  y  gaer  honno,  y  bu  eryr  yn 
prophwydaw;  ac  yn  dywedyd  daroganau  yr  ynys  hon."  In 
English — "And  after  (King)  Lleon  came  Ehun,  of  the  Stout 
Spear,  his  son,  and  he  built  the  castle  of  Mount  Paladr,  which 
is  now  called  Caer  Sefton  (put  for  Shafton)  ;  and  there,  while 
he  was  building  this  stronghold,  there  was  an  Eryr  (eagle  ?)  that 
prophesied  (or  foreboded),  and  gave  some  prophecies  about  this 
island."  Eagle's  prophecy  is  given  in  the  Myvrian  Archseology 
vol.  ii.,  pp.  124—126.  In  PoweU's  "  History  of  Cambria  "  it  is 
said — "Concerning  the  words  of  Eryr  at  the  building  of  Caer 
Septon,  in  Mount  Paladour,  in  the  yeare  after  the  creation  of 
the  world,  3,048,  some  think  that  an  eagle  did  then  speake  and 
prophesie  ;  others  are  of  opinion  that  it  was  a  Brytaine  named 
Aquila  (Eryr  in  British)  that  prophesied  of  these  things,  and  of 
the  recoverie  of  the  whole  ile  againe  by  the  Britaines,"  and  Eryr 
(eagle)  is  very  likely  to  have  been  the  name  of  a  man,  as  it  often 
was  with  the  bards  an  epithet  of  a  warrior.  Ehun  is  reckoned 


28 

as  the  ninth  king  of  (all)  Britain,  his  father  Lleon  Q-awr  (Lleon, 
the  Mighty  or  Gigantic,)  being  the  eighth,  and  his  grandfather 
Brut  Darianlas  (Brutus  Blueshield)  the  seventh.  He,  with 
Khun,  is  named  by  Lewis  Glyn  Cothi,  a  bard  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  in  an  ode  to  Hywel  ab  Henri,  thus — 

"  Da  ydyw  dy  ryw,  a  da  y w  dy  dras  ; 
Dy  ran  olau  oedd  Vrutus  Darianlas  : 
Rhan  o  Doneuan,  hyd  yn  Euas  dud  ; 
Rhan  Beli,  drwy'r  brud,  a  Rhun  Baladr  Bras." 
In  English — 

"  Good  is  thy  lineage,  and  good  thy  kindred ; 
Thy  utmost  line  was  that  of  Brutus  Darianlas, 
The  line  of  Doneuan,  to  the  region  of  Euas  ; 
The  line  of  Beli,  by  the  annals,  and  Hhun  Baladr  Eras." 

Khun,  which  means  lavish  (of  gifts ;  magnificent),  was  the  name 
of  at  least  two  later  Princes,  one  of  them  of  the  time  of  Lly warch 
Hen,  the  Prince  bard  of  the  6th  century  (A.D.  530),  who,  i* 
seems,  had  helped  him  in  war.  He  says  in  his  elegy  on  Urien 
Eeged — 

"  Have  I  not  given  to  Rhun,  the  praised  leader, 
A  cantrev,  and  a  hundred  kine  ?" 

A  cantrev  being  a  political  Hundred  (of  homesteads),  a  proof, 
among  others,  that  Britain  was  marked  out  into  Hundreds  ere 
the  Saxons  came  hither.  This  bit  of  history  was  written  in  the 
Brut  Arthur  (pronounced  Breet  Artheer)  from  earlier  history, 
after  Saxons  had  settled  at  Caer  Paladr,  as  it  says' 'which  is 
now  called  Septon " — a  form  of  the  name  Shafton ;  but  it 
implies  that  it  was  not  called  so  in  the  earlier  time  when  Khun 
built  it.  The  guesses  at  the  names  of  the  "Caer  Paladr"  and 
of  the  king,  by  some  old  writers,  and  the  shapes  in  which  they 
have  given  them,  are  very  queer,  and  I  know  not  whence  they 
were  first  taken.  Some  call  the  king  Rhudubrasius  or  Cicultr, 
and  Holingshed  gives  his  name  as  Lud,  or  Lud  Hudilras,  son  of 
Leil,  the  eighth  king.  These  names  cannot  be  in  their  true 
Welsh  shapes,  whetever  they  may  be.  Some  write  the  British 
name  of  Shaftesbury  as  Palladur  or  Pall-a-dour  for  "Pal-a-dwr," 
which  they  read  "  the  Waters  of  Pallas,"  on  the  understanding 


29 

that  the  British  Shastonians  worshipped  Pallas  and  had  a 
temple  of  Pallas.  If  Pal  meant  Pallas,  then  "Pall-a-dwr," 
which  should  be  "Pal-a-ddwr,"  would  mean  Pallas  and  Water 
(nonsense)  not  the  waters  of  Pallas  :  or  if  you  took  it  as  Pal-y- 
dwr  it  would  mean  Pallas  of  Water  (nonsense)  and  of  what 
"  water  ?"  That  of  the  Motcombe  spring  ?  There  is  not,  how- 
ever, in  Welsh  lore  any  token  of  a  worship  of  Pallas.  Now, 
I  do  not  believe  that  a  bird,  Eagle  (Eryr)  foretold  with  a 
voice  of  words,  but  Eryr  (eagle)  might  be  the  name  of  a  sooth- 
sayer, or  some  one  might  have  taken  an  augury  from  an  eagle, 
but  the  stronghold  must  have  been  built  by  some  one,  and  his 
name  might  have  been  "  Ehun  Stoutspear,"  and  such  a  name 
sounds  of  an  olden  time.  Anno  Mundi  3048  sounds  too  early 
for  a  ready  belief  in  its  truth ;  but  then  to  see  how  many  years 
it  was  ere  the  year  of  our  Lord  we  should  learn  how  far  back 
the  Bardic  lore  put  the  creation  of  the  world.  But  the  name 
Caer  Paladr  is  marked  as  the  true  name  by  the  Saxon  name, 
Sceaftesbyrig,  which  is  simply  the  British  name  turned  into  Saxon, 
for  Byrig  is  Caer,  and  Sceaft  is  Palacbr,  and  as  the  Saxons  must 
have  heard  the  name  from  British  lips  it  is  pretty  clear  that 
they  found  here  a  British  population,  and  that  their  abode  is 
most  likely  to  have  been  called  "Caer  Paladr,"  from  the  name 
of  the  king.  A.D.  871  King  Alfred  came  to  the  throne,  and  he 
founded  at  Shaft esbury  an  abbey  or  a  nunnery,  and  set  over  it 
as  the  first  abbess  his  "  medernesta-dehter,"  as  he  calls  her — his 
midmost  daughter,  Ethelgede.  By  his  will  he  leaves  to  his  mid- 
most daughter  the  Home  (Manor)  at  Clear  (King's  Clear,  Hants), 
and  at  Cendefer  (Chilton  Candofer).  He  gives  "  thare 
medemesta  dehtere  thare  ham  aet  Clearan  and  aet  Cendefer." 
He  also  leaves  to  each  of  his  three  daughters  a  hundred  pounds, 
"  and  minre  y'ldstan  dehter  and  there  medemestan  "  (Ethelgede) 
"and  thaere  gingstan  aelcum  an  hund  pund."  (To  my  oldest 
daughter,  and  to  the  midmost,  and  to  the  youngest  to  each  a 
hundred  pound),  and  in  those  days  when  a  pound  was  a  pound 
weight  of  silver,  and  silver  was  of  a  far  higher  worth  than  it 
now  is,  this  was  a  fine  legacy.  Asser,  Alfred's  learned  friend, 


30 

writes  of  the  Shaftesbury  Abbey : — "  Another  monastery  also 
was  built  by  the  same  king  (Alfred)  near  the  eastern  gate  of 
Shaftesbury,  and  his  own  daughter,  Ethelgifa,  was  placed  in  it 
as  abbess.  With  her,  many  other  noble  ladies  dwell  in  that 
monastery."  Here  we  see  that  Shaftesbury  was  a  walled  and 
gated  town  ere  Alfred  built  the  monastery.  Asser  calls  Ethel- 
gede  Efhelgifa  (Saxon  Ethelgifu  or  Ethelgeafa,  Noble  gift),  but  I 
will  stand  by  the  will  of  King  Alfred.  As  Abbess  of  Shaftes- 
bury there  Ethelgede  lived  and  died,  and  was  buried,  and,  as  we 
may  believe,  in  the  ground  of  the  Abbey  Church.  King  Alfred 
had  land  at  Sturminster  Newton,  and  left  it  with  other  lands  to 
his  youngest  son.  His  will  says  : — "  And  pam  gingran  minam 
eunathaetland  aet  Sturemynster."  The  abbey  last  - 1  under  many 
noble  abbesses  till  the  Reformation,  when  it  was  sold  and  soon 
demolished.  Henry  VIII.  sent  many  of  the  finest  buildings  of  Eng- 
land to  the  wrecker  of  works  of  art.  From  a  princess  who  was 
buried  at  Shaftesbury  let  us  glance  at  a  prince  whose  body  was 
received  by  its  abbey — Edward,  the  so-called  martyr,  though  in 
the  true  Christian  meaning  of  the  word,  martyr  he  was  not' 
Edward  was  the  son  of  Edgar,  and  was  stabbed  at  Corfe  Castle 
from  the  bad  will  of  his  stepmother,  Elfrida,  whom  his  father 
had  wedded  A.D.  965.  The  Saxon  Chronicle  says,  under  the 
year  A.D.  978,  "Her  wearth  Eadweard  cyning  ofslegen  on 
aefentide,  aet  Corfes  geate ;  and  hine  man  tha  bebyrigde  aet 
"Wareham,  butan  alcum  cynelicum  worthscipe  ':  —  '"'Here  was 
King  Edward  slain  at  eventide  at  Corfes  gate,  and  they  then 
buried  him  at  Wareham  without  any  kingly  honour."  A.D.  980 
Aelfere,  Edward's  ealdorman,  took  his  body  at  Wareham  and 
bore  it  with  great  honour  to  Shaftesbury,  where  it  was  laid  in  the 
Abbey.  "  A.D.  980  Aelfere,  Eadweardes  ealdorman,  gesette  his 
lichoman  aet  Waerham,  and  geferode  hine  mid  mycelum 
weorthscipe  to  Sceaftesbyrig."  By  Corf's  Gate,  where  Edward 
was  slain,  we  are  not  to  understand  the  Grate  of  a  Castle,  but  the 
Gap  in  the  hill,  through  which  runs  the  Corfe  stream.  Edward 
the  Martyr  was  of  the  kin  of  King  Alfred,  and  thence  we  can 
understand  why  his  body  was  brought  from  Wareham  to  the 


31 

Abbey  of  his  good  forefather  and  of  the  Abbess,  his  honoured 
daughter  Ethelgede.  In  the  monastery  was  a  chapel  called  St. 
Edward's  Chapel,  in  which  most  likely  was  his  tomb,  and  a 
church  was  afterwards  built  to  his  name  (St.  Edward's)  in  the 
town,  In  the  year  1035  the  Danish  King  Cnut  (or  Canute  as  our 
books  mostly  call  him)  died  at  Shaf  tesbury  and  was  buried  a  t 
Winchester,  then  the  capital  of  Wessex  and  England.  William 
of  Normandy  made  Lanfranc  Archbishop  and  so  many  Norman 
clergymen  were  thrust  upon  the  church  ;  and  on  looking  over  the 
names  of  Abbesses,  which  are  given  in  the  "  History  of  Dorset,'? 
I  see  that,  whereas,  down  to  the  Norman  Conquest,  1066,  the 
names  of  the  Abbesses  are  Saxon,  we  find  that  soon  afterwards 
Norman  names  came  forth — 1107,  Cicilia,  daughter  of  Bobert 
"Fitz  Hamon,  Amicia  Russell  (Roussel),  Agnes  de  Feriers, 
Margaret  Auchier,  That  a  British  population  were  found  a^, 
Shaftesbury  at  the  settling  of  the  Saxons,  and  dwelt  on  beside 
them,  we  may  well  believe.  The  laws  of  King  Ina  of  Wessex, 
688,  show  clearly  that,  in  his  time,  Britons  of  sundry  ranks,  free 
as  well  as  unfree,  were  living  in  Wessex  under  his  law.  Now 
Shaf  tesbury  has  had  12  or  13  churches — 1,  St.  Mary  (the  Abbey) ; 
2,  S.  Peter;  3,  Holy  Trinity  ;  4,  S.  Lawrence;  5,  S.  Martin;  6, 
S.  Andrew ;  7,  S.  Eombald,  now  in  St.  Peter's  Parish ;  8,  S. 
James;  9,  All  Saints';  10,  S.  Edward;  11,  S.  John;  12,  St 
Mary,  now  in  S.  James'  Parish.  Why  should  Shaftesbury  have 
had  so  many  churches  ?  and  Sherborne,  an  old  Saxon  town,  till 
of  late  only  one  ?  It  is  markworthy  that  our  cities  which  w  ere 
British  or  Roman  and  that  had  a  British  population  at  the 
incoming  of  the  Saxons  have  seemingly  had  more  than  enough 
of  churches.  Mr.  Kerslake,  some  time  ago,  caught  a  glimpse  at 
Exeter  of  an  historical  truth  that  there  were  for  a  time  two 
quarters,  a  British  and  an  English  quarter.  When  the  Saxons 
became  Christians,  as  the  Britons  were  long  ere  the  coming  of 
Hengest,  they  did  not  go  into  communion  with  the  Britons,  and 
built  themselves  churches,  and  so  there  were  British  and  Saxon 
churches,  two  sets.  But  what  clue  is  there  to  the  British 
churches,  as  such,  and  not  Saxon  ones.  The  dedication,  as  that  of 


32 

S.  Petroc's  Church  at  Exeter,  Petroc  being  a  purely  Welch 
saint.  Of  the  dedications  of  olden  fanes  at  Shaftesbury  I  think 
that  St.  Martin,  St.  Laurence,  and  St.  Mary  (the  small  one)  may 
be  of  British  foundation.  St.  Martin  was  a  Gaulish,  and  so  a 
Celtic  saint.  There  was  once,  by  the  History  of  Dorset,  a  small 
free  chapel  of  S.  Michael,  a  common  Celtic  dedication,  as  that  of 
S.  Michael's  Mount,  Cornwall,  and  in  Britanny.  There  are  in 
Wales  more  than  twelve  parishes,  or  hamlets,  of  the  name 
Llanfihangel  "Michael's  Church,"  and  several  other  dedications 
to  St.  Michael  in  Cornwall.  St.  Michael's  Chapel,  on  the  Tor, 
at  Glastonbury,  holds,  I  can  believe,  the  place  of  a  British 
dedication,  for  Glastonbury  (Ynys  avallon)  was  a  holy  spot 
with  the  Britons.  S.  Laurence  may  be  a  Eoman  dedication 
brought  to  the  Britains  by  the  early  missionaries,  or  it  may  be 
Norman.  It  is  not  a  Saxon  one.  The  foreboding  of  Eryr  was 
that  the  Britons,  after  a  loss  of  much  of  Britain,  should  again 
have  sway  over  the  whole  of  it,  and  I  want  to  ask  whether,  if  the 
Prince  of  Wales  should  become  King  of  Britain,  "  Unben  yr  ynys 
Prydain,"  this  prophecy  will  not  be  fulfilled  ?  As  we  walk  down 
on  the  site  of  the  abbey  and  about  the  olden  streets  and  nooks  of 
Shaftesbury  we  may  well  say  to  ourselves,  "  Lightly  tread,  tis 
hallowed  ground." 


DUENSETI. 

I  am  thankful  for  the  kindly  attention  which  the  Dorset  Field 
Club  gave  to  my  paper  at  the  Shaftesbury  meeting,  and  am 
glad  that  Mr.  Kerslake  confirms  my  opinion  as  to  the  British 
population  in  Dorset,  and  I  fully  believe  that  he  is  right  as  to 
the  "  Durnseti  "  for  "  Dunseti."  Dorset,  as  is  shown  by  Saxon 
charters,  as  well  as  by  earlier  writings,  was  on  Saxon  lips 
Durnsaet  or  Dornsaet.  King  Alfred's  Will  also  affords  a  clear 
token  of  a  two-kinned  population  in  our  south-west  of  Britain  in 
his  time.  He  gives  to  his  youngest  son  the  land  at  "  Dene  " 
(now  Dean)  and  at  "Meone"  (Meon,  Hants),  and  at  "Ambres- 
bury ' 7  ( Amesbury ,  Wilts),  and  at ' '  Deone, ' '  and  at ' '  Sturemynster ' ' 


33 

(Newton),  and  at  "Grille,"  and  at  "Oruaern"  (Crewkerne),  and 
at  "  Hwitan-cyrcan "  (Whitchurch,  Dorset  or  Hants),  and  at 
"  Axanmuthan  "  (Axmouth),  and  at  "  Branecscumbe  "  (Brans- 
combe)  and  at  "  Oolumtune  "  (Oolumpton),  and  at  "  Twyfyrde  '' 
(Twyford),  and  at  "  Mylenburnan  "  (Milborne,  Dorset,  or 
Somerset),  and  at  four  other  places,  all  which  lands  lay  between 
the  east  side  of  Hants  and  Cornwall.  Then  he  says  "  That  is 
all  that  I  have  in  'Wealcynne,'  "  but  " Triconscire  "  (Cornwall)  ? 
"Wealcynne"  meaning  "  British  Mn  "  or  British  race,  for  the 
Saxons  called  all  the  Britons  Wealas  (foreigners),  though  -we 
now  confine  the  name  "Wealas,"  or  "Wealisc"  to  the  Cymry 
(the  Welsh).  From  this  word  we  have  the  word  "walnut,"  in 
Dorset  "welshnut,"  or  foreign  nut,  as  brought  from  abroad. 
Here,  then,  we  learn  from  King  Alfred's  own  words  in  his  will 
that  Wessex  was  yet  called  "British  kin,"  although  he  had 
land  in  it.  The  mention  of  the  battle  of  "Ethanduna" 
by  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Reynolds  has  brought  to  my  mind  a  question 
at  one  time  not  clearly  answered — Where  was  Ethandun  ? 
Ethandun  would  mean  Furzedown  or  Furzydown,  which  might 
help  to  mark  the  spot  by  a  down  that  would  have  been  furzy  in 
the  time  of  King  Alfred. 


IN  BLOXWORTH  CHURCH,  DORSET. 


By  the  Rev.  0.  P.  C.-LMBRIDGE,  M.A. 


]HEN,  after  the  Eeformation,  preaching  became 
obligatory  upon  the  clergy,  it  is  said  that  Hour-glasses 
were  very  generally  placed  in  the  parish  churches  to 
regulate  the  length  of  the  sermon.  If  this  be  so  it  is  remark- 
able how,  almost  completely,  all  traces  of  this  Eegulator  have 
disappeared !  The  length  of  the  sermon  was  intended  to  be 
limited  to  one  hour !  but  we  are  all,  probably,  familiar  with  the 
old  story  of  the  Divine  who  used  to  treat  his  congregation  to 
"  one  turn  more  "  of  the  glass.  In  fact  two,  three,  and  even 
four  hours  are  said  to  have  been  not  an  unusual  length,  entail- 
ing "turn"  upon  "turn,"  on  the  principle  we  may  suppose 
that  "  one  good  turn  deserves  another."  Under  such  an  inflic- 
tion it  would  not  be  unintelligible  that  congregations  (like  the 
old  lady's  servants  roused  from  sleep  at  an  unseasonable  hour 
by  the  crowing  of  the  cock)  should,  in  some  way,  have  connected 
the  infliction  with  the  so  easily  turned  Hour-glass,  and  thus 
have  almost  universally  compassed  its  destruction. 

I  have  heard  of  no  more  than  four  or  five  churches  in  which 
the  Stand  alone  remains — Cuiiand  Church,  near  Buckland  St. 
Mary,  (in  which  I  have  myself  seen  it),  and  Holwell  Church, 
near  Sherborne,  are  two — but  no  information  has  reached  me  of 
any  church,  excepting  my  own  at  Bloxworth,  in  which  both 
Stand  and  Hour-glass  are  still  in  existence.  It  is  a  rough  draw- 
ing of  these  that  I  now  place  before  you.  The  Stand  is  of 


ANCIENT    HOUR     GLASS    AND     STAND     IN 
BLOXWORTH    CHURCH. 


35 

wrought  iron,  ornamented  with  fleur-de-lys,  and  fixed  upon  a 
single  iron  upright,  or  stem ;  the  workmanship  is  rather  rude, 
but  bold  and  effective.  The  frame  of  the  Glass  is  of  wood 
rather  roughly  cut,  and  the  Glass  is  of  a  greenish  hue.  The 
whole  height  of  Stem,  Stand,  and  Glass  is  near  about  two  feet, 
that  of  the  Glass  and  its  frame  about  10  inches.  Traces  of 
colour,  still  remaining,  show  that  it  was  originally  decorated  ; 
but  this  has  mostly  worn  off. 

About  eight  or  nine  years  ago,  while  the  chancel  of  the  church 
was  under  restoration,  the  old  Parish  Clerk,  concerned  for  the 
safety  of  the  Hour-Glass,  placed  it  in  a  chest  in  which  the 
Church  Bible  and  Prayer  Book  were  kept.  Afterwards,  for- 
getting that  the  Glass  was  there,  he  one  evening  replaced  the 
Bible  (weighing  about  22lbs.)  rather  heavily  upon  it,  and  with 
an  unfortunate  result ;  the  Glass  being  broken  in  two  at  the 
narrow  part.  A  glass-blower  was  called  in  and  re-united  the 
parts,  but  in  so  doing  obliterated  the  passage  for  the  sand, 
which  has  now  consequently  ceased  to  run. 

A  duplicate  of  the  Glass,  handed  down  from  Parish  Clerk  to 
Parish  Clerk  from  time  immemorial  is  now  in  my  possession. 
In  Hook's  Church  Dictionary,  7th  ed.,  p.  375,  it  is  mentioned 

that  "in  some  churches  the  Stand  for  the  Hour-glass,  if  not  the 

instrument  itself,  still  remains." 
Believing,  therefore,  that  the  Stand  and  Glass  now  under  con. 

sideration  are  unique,  I  have  thought  it  might  be  not  wholly 

without  interest  to  some  of  the  members  of  our  Society,  to  bring 

it  to  their  notice. 

Since  the  report  of  the  above  was  published  in  the  local  journals,  I  have 
received  communications  from  several  persoas  informing  me  of  the  existence 
either  of  the  Hour-Glass,  or  the  Stand  in  the  following  Churches,  viz., 
Inkpen,  Co.  Berks  ;  the  Stand  alone.  Cockerham,  near  Lancaster;  "the 
G-lass  without  the  Stand,  now  used  to  time  the  Ringers  in  the  Belfry." 
[Revd.  T.  Archer  Turner].  St.  John  Baptist's  Church,  Bristol ;  St.  Allan's, 
Wood-street,  London;  and  Brooke  Church,  Norfolk,  "contain  Hour -Glasses." 
[R.  B.  Prosser,  31,  St.  Paul's  Road,  London,  on  authority  of  "  A  Handbook 
of  English  Ecclesiology " — Cambridge  Camden  Society  (Masters,  1847), 
where  many  places  are  mentioned  as  still  preserving  the  Stand  alonej.  At 
Stoke  d'Abernon,  Surrey,  "a  very  curious  Stand."  [R.  B.  Prosser].  Hurst 
Church,  Co.  Berks,  "  the  Stand  alone,  circular,  and  elaborately  painted." 
[T.  Archer  Turner].  Ellingham  Church,  near  Ring  wood  t  also  retains  the 
Stand.  [Frederic  Fane.] 


By  Professor  BUCKMAN,  F.L.S.,  F.G.S.,  &c. 


[IS  fungus  is  described  as  follows  by  Mr.  Berkeley : — 
"MOBEL,  the  common  name  of  Morchella  esculenta^L>, 
which,  under  a  variety  of  forms  occurs  in  various 
parts  of  the  world.  It  is  occasionally  plentiful  in  this  country, 
but  the  greater  part  of  what  is  sold  by  the  oilmen  comes  from 
Germany.  A  large  quantity  is  collected  in  Kashmir.  As  it  dries 
very  readily  and  may  be  kept  for  some  time  it  is  much  used  by 
cooks  to  flavour  gravies.  It  is  also  dressed  in  various  ways  when 
fresh,  and  makes  an  excellent  dish  if  stuffed  with  finely  minced 
white  meat. 

When  plentiful  it  may  be  advantageously  employed  instead  of 
mushroom  to  make  ketchup. 

Morels  are  particularly  fond  of  burnt  soil,  and  the  collection  of 
them  is  so  profitable  to  the  peasants  in  Germany  that  they 
were  formerly  in  the  habit  of  setting  fire  to  the  woods  to 
encourage  their  growth,  till  the  practice  was  made  punishable  by 
special  law*. 

In  a  recent  short  tour  in  Germany  we  frequently  met  with 
the  morel  at  Table  d'Hote,  one  dish  at  Mayence  was  very  satis- 

*The  Treasury  of  Botany,  p.  755, 


37 

factory,  it  was  called  "Kalbs  Roulade  Morscliel  Sauce."  For 
myself  I  may  say  that  I  am  very  fond  of  the  morel,  and  have 
eaten  them  cooked  in  various  ways,  and  especially  according  to 
the  recipes  of  Mr.  Cooke.f 

Some  of  the  best  I  have  met  with  were  found  in  Oakley  Park, 
Cirencester,  where,  year  after  year,  I  got  a  supply  from  beneath 
a  cluster  of  fir  trees.  "Whether  they  grew  after  the  burning  of 
wood,  in  the  German  fashion,  I  am  unable  to  say. 

I  meet  with  every  year  on  a  sandy  hedge-bank  at  Bradford 
Abbas,  and  for  some  years  the  specimens  were  as  near  as  may 
be  of  the  size  I  have  figured  it,  but  last  year,  on  the  same  hedge 
bank — and  this  year  the  same — some  enormous  specimens  have 
been  found,  and,  upon  sending  a  sketch  to  Mr.  Worthington 
Smith,  he  concluded  that  it  was  an  example  of  Morcliella 
crassipes,  Persoon,  and  he  sent  me  a  tracing  of  one  he  had 
figured  under  this  name  in  the  "  Journal  of  Botany,"  vol.  vi., 
1868. 

I  have  since  had  large  and  smaller  specimens,  i.e.,  the 
M.  esculenta  and  M.  crassipes  forms  sent  to  me  by  the  Rev.  B. 
Messiter  from  Caundle  Marsh,  and  last  year  and  to-day  by  C. 
W.  Dale,  Esq.,  from  Grlanvilles  Wootton,  and  have  partaken  of 
their  them  both  in  the  large  and  small  state,  and  canpronounce 
qualities  as  being  much  on  a  par,  the  quality  depending  more 
upon  the  condition  in  which  the  fungus  is  obtained  than  upon 
its  size ;  it,  anyhow,  in  as  far"  as  a  satisfactory  result  of  fungus 
as  food  is  concerned,  will  depend  more  or  less  upon  the  cook. 

From  these  remarks,  then,  we  cannot  admit  the  two  species, 
M.  esculenta  and  E.  crassipes,  but  incline  to  the  opinion  that  the 
latter  is  but  a  large  specimen  of  the  former. 

Anyhow,  I  recommend  these  fungi  as  a  luxury — they  are 
agreeable  and  wholesome — highly  digestible,  and  nutritious. 
Where  known,  as  on  the  Continent  and  in  good  houses 
in  England,  they  are  understood  and  appreciated, 
though  we  can  well  understand  that  under  the  name  of  "  Toad- 
stools and  Cankeroons"  they  are  destroyed  by  rustics  as  though, 

fSee  a  plain  and  easy  Account  of  British  Fungi,  p.  187. 


38 

by  so  doing,  they  were  conferring  a  "boon  upon  society.  Let  us, 
however,  hope  that  increased  knowledge  upon  their  nature  and 
qualities  will  end  in  these  being  appreciated  as  delicacies  with 
us  as  they  most  certainly  are  both  in  France  and  Germany. 


AT  BRADFORD  ABBAS. 


By  A.  U.  KENT,  Esq. 


\R.  DAVIDSON,  in  his  paper  on  the  Brachiopoda  of  the 
Inferior  Oolite  of  Dorset,  described  about  40  species, 
of  which  most  of  them  occur  at  Bradford  Abbas. 

It  was,  however,  subsequently  reserved  for  Mr.  Walker  to 
add  a  new -species  in  Terelratula  Mortirei,  upon  which  he  founded 
a  very  valuable  paper  to  the  Geological  Magazine  of  December, 
1878,  and  from  which  we  copy  the  following  notes  : — 

"I  picked  up  this  specimen  from  the  horizon  of  the  RJiyn- 
conella  parvula" 

"  It  belongs  to  a  small  group  of  which  it  is  the  earliest 
representative,  followed  in  the  fullers  earth  by  the  Ter.  reticulata, 
and  the  closely-allied  or  identical  Terelratula  hylrida,  and  in  the 
Great  Oolite  by  Terelratula  coarctata*" 

This  specimen  has  been  figured  from  France,  but  not  from 
England.  Mr.  Stephens,  however,  was  so  fortunate  as  to  find  a 
single  specimen  at  Bradford,  and  Mr.  "Walker  another  afterwards, 
and  it  fell  to  my  lot  the  other  day  to  meet  with  two  specimens, 
and  these  four  are  at  present  the  only  ones  known  to  English 

*  Walker,  in  the  Geological  Mayazine,  December,  1878. 


40 

Geologists  f  and  one  of  these  specimens  I  have  been  so  fortunate 
to  find  is  the  largest  of  the  series.  It  is  ten  lines  long  and  seven 
broad,  in  which  it  differs  from  Terelratula  coarctata,  which  is 
usually  as  broad  as  it  is  long. 

The  Terelratula  coarctata  is  remarkable  for  presenting  both 
longitudinal  and  transverse  lines  ;  whilst  Terelratula  Morierei  has 
transverse  lines  with  only  a  slight  indication  of  longitudinal 
striae. 

These  fossils  occur  in  a  thin  band  of  marl,  which  separates  the 
ammonite  bed  from  the  upper  freestone  ;  and  in  getting  the 
stone  this  is  thrown  aside  in  spoil  heaps,  and  the  Terelratula  in 
question,  with  several  other  delicate  fossils,  are  exposed  ;  and, 
therefore,  it  is  not  improbable  that  a  careful  search  will  enable 
us  to  find  fresh  specimens.  At  the  same  time  it  can  only  at 
present  be  considered  as  very  raref 

The  following  figures  will  well  illustrate  the  forms  of  the 
Terelratula  Mortirei  and  Terelratula  coarctata.*  The  former  being 
now  figured  as  British  for  the  first  time. 


a. 


-     I.  c.  d. 

Terelratula  Moritrei  natural  size  ;  a,  Dorsal  view  ;  I,  side  ; 
c,  ventral  ditto  ;  d,  an  enlarged  portion  showing  the  lines  and 
dotted  markings. 


a.  o*  v.  u. 

fSince  the  above  paper  was  read  three  or  four  other  specimens  have  been 
found  in  the  Bradford  Abbas  quarry. — EDITOX 

*  Our  drawings  are  from  a  specimen  in  the  cabinet  of  Professor  Buckman, 
presented  by  its  finder,  A.  Kent,  Esq. — EDITOB. 


4i 

Terebratula  coarctata  natural  size ;  a,  Dorsal  view ;  I,  side 
view  ;  c,  ventral  ditto  ;  d,  an  enlarged  portion  with  the  different 
markings. 

We  copy  the  following  description  of  this  interesting  shell 
from  the  annals  of  Natural  History  for  1852,  Vol.  IX.  (second 
series,  p.  256,  pi.  xiv.,  f.   3),   by  Thos.   Davidson,  Esq.,  F.K.S., 
&c. 
TEREBATULA  MOEIEREI,  Deslongchamps. 

Shell  inequivalve  subpentagonal,  longer  than  wide;  valves 
convex,  with  a  deep,  longtitudinal,  angular  sinus  or  depressions, 
so  that  the  junction  of  the  two  sinuses  in  front,  a  deep,  angular 
notch  is  produced ;  beak  rather  short,  recurved  and  truncated 
by  a  largish  circular  entire  foramen ;  ridges  well  marked, 
leaving  between  them  and  the  hinge  a  well-defined  space  ;  area 
valves  ornamented  by  numerous  squamose  concentric,  projecting 
imbricated  ridges,  regularly  and  closely  covering  all  the  surface 
of  the  shell.  Loop  unknown  most  probably  short.  Structure 
perforated.  Length  9,  width  8,  depth  6  lines.  , 

This  curious  form  of  Terebratula  was  discovered  by  M.  Moriere, 
at  St.  Honorine  des  Perthes,  near  Port-en-Bessin  in  Normandy, 
in  beds  named  by  M.  de  Camont  Calcaire  marneur  de  Port  en 
Bessin,  which  according  to  M.  Deslongchamps,  correspond  to  the 
inferior  Oolite  of  Caen.  This  shell  having  been  presented  for 
M.  Deslongchamps'  examination  he  at  once  perceived  all  its 
remarkable  distinctive  characters  and  forwarded  his  notes  and 
illustrations  (fig.  3  of  our  plate)  requesting  me  to  publish  the 
species,  which  is  dedicated  to  M.  Moriere,  the  discoverer. 

Terebratula  Horierei  cannot  be  confounded  with  any  other 
Jurassic  form  ;  at  first  sight  it  bears  some  resemblance  to  Tere- 
bratula coarctata,  but  the  deep  sinus  in  both  valves  and  the  con- 
centric squamose  ridges  at  once  distinguish  it. 


By  JOHN  FRANCIS  WALKER,  M.A.,  F.G.S.,  &c. 


NOTE. — The  following  paper  is  so  important  in  connection  with 
the  geology  of  this  district  that  we  have  great  pleasure  in 
presenting  it  to  our  readers  in  its  entirety.  It  is  from  the  pen 
of  our  friend  and  former  pupil,  J.  F.  Walker,  Esq.,  M.A., 
F.Q-.S.,  &c.,  and  is  extracted  from  the  Geological  Magazine  for 
December,  1878. 

THE  EDITOE. 
Bradford  Abbas,  September  29,  1879. 


VALUABLE  paper  by  T.  Davidson,  Esq.,  F.E.S., 
appeared  in  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Dorset  Natural 
History  and  Antiquarian  Field  Club  "  for  1877,  "  On 
the  species  of  Brachiopoda  that  occur  in  the  Inferior  Oolite 
of  Bradford  Abbas  and  its  vicinity."  Since  then,  during  a  recent 
visit  to  this  locality,  I  have  added  a  few  species  to  this  list, 
including  two  which  have  not  been  discovered  in  England  before. 
I  propose  to  give  a  short  account  of  the  species,  and  also  a  table 
showing  the  relative  distribution  of  the  Brachiopoda  in  the 
Inferior  Oolite  and  Fuller's  Earth  deposits  at  Cheltenham  and 
France,  compared  with  this  district. 


43 

The  most  important  discovery  is  that  of  the  well-marked 
species  Terabratula  Mbrierei,  which  has  hitherto  only  been  found 
in  France.  It  was  first  described  and  figured  by  Mr.  Davidson  in 
the  Annals  of  Natural  History  for  1852,  vol.  ix.  (second  series), 
p.  256,  pi.  xiv.,  fig.  3  and  a,  b, — the  M.S.  name  of  Terebratula 
Morierei  having  been  given  to  it  by  Deslongchamps  after  its 
discoverer  M.  Moriere.  It  was  afterwards  described  and  figured 
by  E.  Deslongchamps  in  1857,  "  Catalogue  descriptif  des 
Brachiopodes  du  systeme  Oolitique  Inferieur  du  Calvados,"  p. 
37,  pi.  iv.,  fig.  6,  a,  J;  and  in  1837,  in  the  Paleontologie  Fran- 
<;aise  Terrain  Jurrassique,  Brachiopodes,  p.  244,  pi.  Ixv.,  figs. 
1-8.  It  is  a  very  rare  species,  having  been  found  in  France 
in  only  one  locality,  Ste.  Honorine  desPerthes  (Calvados),  in  the 
white  Oolite  of  Port-en-Bessin,  which  contain  Terebratula 
Phillipsii,  Morris,  and  Rhynchonella  plicatella.  Sow. ;  these  species 
occur  with  it  in  England. 

There  appears  to  have  been  some  doubt  whether  in  France  this 
species  had  been  found  in  position,  or  in  a  loose  block  which 
might  have  fallen  from  the  Great  Oolite  above.  M.  Deslong- 
champs regarded  it  as  an  Inferior  Oolite  fossil,  but  the  finding 
of  this  species  settles  the  questions  with  regard  to  its  age,  as  no 
Great  Oolite  occurs  in  the  quarry  from  which  I  obtained  this 
specimen. 

Whilst  examining  the  well-known  quarry  at  Bradford  Abbas, 
on  the  farm  of  Prof.  Buckman,  I  picked  up  this  specimen  from 
the  horizon  of  Rhynchonella  parvula,  E.  Desl.,  but  did  not  recog- 
nise it  until  I  commenced  to  clean  it;  it  corresponds  in  all 
respects  with  the  figured  specimens,  showing  the  deep  sinus  in 
both  valves  and  peculiar  concentric  projecting  imbricated  ridges 
which  well  distinguish  this  species.  It  belongs  to  a  small  group, 
of  which  it  is  the  earliest  representative,  followed,  in  the  Fuller's 
Earth  rock,  by  Terebratula  reticulata  and  the  closely-allied  or 
identical  species  Terebratula  hybrida,  and  in  the  Great  Oolite  by 
Terebratula  coarctata.  The  specimen  is  about  the  size  of  figure  7 
in  pi.  65,  Pal.  FranQ.  Brachiopodes  Jurassique.  It  is  well  pre- 
served, both  valves  being  perfect.  I  also  obtained  from  the 


44 

LIST  OF  BRACHIOPODA  FOUND  IN  THE  INFERIOR  OOLITE  AND  FULLER'S  EARTH. 


Explanations. — r=rare,   s=scarce,   c=common, 
*  other  localities  only. 


*Lirtgula  Beanii,  Phillips  (Yorkshire)  

*Discina  reflexa,  Sow.  (Yorkshire) 

Dundriensis,  Dav.  (Dundry)  

Etheridgii,  Dav.  (Nails worth)  

Crania  Saundersi,  Moore  (Dundry) 

canalis,  Moore  (Dundry) 

Spiriferinal  Oolitica,  Moore  (Dundry)  

minuta,  Moore  (Dundry) 

Thecidium  Bouchardi,  Dav.  (Dundry)... 

Dickensoni,  Moore  (Dinnington)    

triangulare,  D'Orb 

duplicatum,  Moore  (Dundry) 

serratum,  Moore  (Dundry) 

JForbesii,  Moore  (Dundry)    

septatum,  Moore  (Dundry)  

granulosum,  Moore  (Dundry) 

Argiopel  Oolitica,  Dav.  (Dundry)  

JZellania  Davidsoni,  Moore  (Dundry) 

Laboucheri,  Moore  (Dundry) 

globata,  Moore    

Oolitica,  Moore  (Dundry)  

Terebratulina  Dundriensis,  Dav.  (Dundry)  

Terebratula  submaxillata,  Morris  

perovalis,  Sow 

var.  ampla,  Buckman  

var.  Kleinii,  Lamark   

Phillipsii,  Morris  

var.  Phillipsiana,  Walker  

vtntricosa,  Zeiten  

Buckmani,  Dav 

var.  Buckmaniana,  Walker  

*  trilineata,  Y.  and  B.  (Yorkshire) 

Haresfieldensis,  Dav 

sphteroidalis,  Sow 

globata,  Sow 

var.  Birdlipensis,  Walker   

Fleischeri,  Oppel    

Eudesii,  Oppel   

conglobata,  E.  Desl 

Ferryi,  E.  Desl 

Etheridgii,  Dav 

Wrightii,  Dav 

simplex,  Buckman 

plicata,  Buckman 

Jimbria,  Sow 

galeiformis,  M'Coy,  MS.  (near  Minchin- 
hampton)... 

jreticulata,  Sow.  (Whatley,  Frome)  

t  hybrida,  E.  Desl 

infra-Oolitica,  E.  Desl 

StepJiani,  Dav 

decipiens,  E.  Desl 

Cranice,  Dav 

Whitakeri,  Walker   


SOMERS'l 
AND 

DORSET. 


I.O.  F.E 


;HELTEN 
HAM. 


1.0.  F.E 


FRANCE. 


I.O.JF.E 


LIST  oir  BBAOHIOPODA—  continued. 

SOMERS'T 

AND 

DORSET. 

CHELTEN- 
HAM. 

FRANCE. 

1.0. 

F.E. 

1.0. 

F.E. 

1.0. 

F.E, 

Tcrcbrcttuld  provinciulis  E  D  esl  

r 
r 

8 

r 

c 

a 
c 

r 
c 

c 
c 

r 

r 
c 
r 

c 

s 

8 

r 
c 

r 

c 

8 
0 

C 

r 

c 

f 

r 

r 

c 

c 

r 
r 

r 
c 

8 
0 
0 

o 

c 

c 
c 
c 

8 
C 

r 

c 
r 

8 

C 
C 
C 

0 
0 
0 

r 
c 

0 
0 

j 

0 

r 
c 

0 

0 
0 

c 

r 
c 

c 

c 
c 

0 
0 

? 

r 

0 
0 

? 

curvifrons,  Oppel  •  

MoTi&Tci  Dav.    .  .              .    ,  

*  WiirttcnbcToicdf  Oppel  (Germany)   

^omdloodstyr  Hehl  Ziet  (Germany)    .... 

Wcdtoni,  Dav.         

subbucculcntd  Chap  et  Dew 

Huffhesii,  Walker  

var.    Manddalohi,   Oppel  =  W.   carinata 
dlvcdtd  Quensted 

*var.  Blakei,  Walker  (Yorkshire)  

Leckenbyi   Walker 

cardium,  var.   Leckhomptonensis,  Walker 
Anglicd,  Oppel          

Terebratelld  bivallatd  E.  Deal  

sulcifrons   Bsnecke 

Hhynchonelld  frontalis,  E.  Deal,    

Wrightii  Dav.                            

subtetrahedra,  Dav  

Quadruplicatd  Zieten 

Lycetti,  Dav  

Tingcns  Herault  ••            

subri  nge  ns,  D  av  .*.  

subobsoleta   Dav 

subanguLata  Dav.       

Smithii   Walker                     .            

Tatei  Dav 

parvula,  E.  Deal  

Stepfiani,  Dav  .  .       

spinosd  Sow 

*Crossiit  Walker  (Lincolnshr  &  Yorkshire] 
scnticosd,  v.  Buch.  ...       

*acuticosta,  Hehl  Zieten  (Germany)    

*Stiufensis,  Oppel  (Germany)  

quarries  at  Half  Way  House  a  specimen  of  Rhynchonella  sub- 
decorata,  and  one  or  two  specimens  of  Rhyn  :  ringem  unusually 
large  for  English  specimens.  Also  three  specimens  of  a 
WaUheimia  which  appears  to  be  Waldheimia  sMuccuknta,  Chap . 


46 

et  Dew.,  and  probably  the  same  as  the  species  figured,  but  not 
named,  by  Mr.  Davidson  in  his  paper  on  the  Dorset  Brachiopoda, 
pi.  iii.,  figs.  14-15.  Waldheima  subbucculenta  is  stated  to  occur  in 
France  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Fuller's  Earth,  but  probably 
what  in  England  would  be  called  the  upper  part  of  the  Inferior 
Oolite.  It  is  a  species  which  is  closely  allied  to  W.  Waltoni, 
Dav.,  and  somewhat  resembles  W.  indentata  and  W.  perforata  of 
the  Lias ;  W.  "humeralis  of  the  Kimmeridge ;  and  pseudojuremis  of 
the  Neocomian.  It  is  a  long  narrow,  flat,  shell  tapering  towards 
the  beak  and  front  margin,  foramen  small,  beak  ridges  well 
defined,  and  a  dark  line  on  the  smaller  valve  indicates  the  pre- 
sence of  a  septum,  showing  that  the  loop  was  long.  It  will  be 
figured  with,  the  other  species  in  the  appendix  to  Mr.  Davidson's 
supplement  to  his  great  work  on  Jurassic  Brachiopoda. 

In  a  quarry  near  the  church  at  Misterton,  near  Crewkerne,  I 
found  a  band  of  clay  lying  on  the  top  of  the  Inferior  Oolite 
stone,  containing  numerous  specimens  of  a  variety  of  Waldheimia 
Meriana,  associated  with  T.  decipiens.  It  is  probable  that  some  of 
the  specimens  found  in  this  district,  referred  to  T.  Eudesii,  Oppel, 
may  belong  to  Terebratula  conglolata,  Desl. 

I  have  thought  it  necessary,  in  drawing  up  the  preceding  table, 
to  give  the  species  found  in  the  Fuller's  Earth  as  well  as  those 
found  in  the  Inferior  Oolite,  as  these  beds  are  closely  connected, 
and  the  division  may  have  been  drawn  differently  in  France  and 
in  England. 

Remarks. — The  specimens  which  occur  at  Dundry  are  identical 
with  those  in  the  Sherborne  district;  but  the  small  shells 
Thecidea,  Zellania,  etc.,  have  not  yet  been  found  in  the  latter 
locality,  but  will  be  sought  for  the  next  time  Prof.  Buckman's 
quarry  is  worked  for  road-metal.  Several  Theddea,  etc.,  and 
more  Khynchonell®  may  occur  in  France,  but  as  these  have  not 
yet  been  described  in  the  Paleontologie  Fran9aise,  the  list  may 
be  incomplete.  Terebratula  maxillata  and  Rhynchonella  concinna 
have  been  stated  to  occur  in  the  Fuller's  Earth  of  Sapperton 
Tunnel,  near  Cirencester,  but  a  blue  band  of  the  Great  Oolite 
was  cut  through  in  making  the  tunnel,  and  the  fossils  from  it 


47 

were  mixed  with  those  from  the  Fuller's  Earth,  being  nearly 
the  same  colour.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  species  peculiar 
to  the  Oolitic  Marl  of  Cheltenham  district,  as  Rhyn.  Lycetti, 
Dav.,  Rhyn.  subobsoleta,  Dav.,  Waldheimia  Leckeribyi,  Walker, 
Terebratula fimlria,  Sow.,  Terebratula  submaxillata,  Dav.,  etc.,  are 
wanting  both  in  the  Dorset  district  and  in  France ;  and  that 
several  species,  as  En.  ringem.  Herault,  Eh.  parvula,  E.  Desl., 
Rh.  plicatella,  Sow.,  Rh.  senticosa,  v.  Buch.,  Waldhemia  subbuccu- 
lenta,  Chap,  et  Dew,  W.  Waltoni,  Dav.,  W.  emarginata,  Sow., 
Terelratula  decipiem,  E.  Desl.,  T.  Ferryi,  E.  Desl.,  T.  Morierei, 
Desl.  and  Dav.,  T.  Stephani,  Dav.,  T.  sphceroidalis,  Sow.,  occur  in 
France  and  Dorset  and  Somerset,  and  not  at  Cheltenham.  Prob- 
ably some  Palaeozoic  barrier  separated  these  two  areas  during 
the  deposits  of  these  zones,  and  the  exact  equivalents  may  not 
be  able  to  be  found  on  comparing  the  different  horizons  of  the 
Inferior  Oolite  of  these  districts.  The  Oolite  marl  being  absent 
in  France  and  Dorset ;  the  bed  containing  Rh.  ringem  has  not 
been  found  at  Cheltenham.  It  is  also  worthy  of  remark  that 
the  Brachiopoda  of  the  other  Oolitic  strata,  and  the  Lias  of 
Somerset  and  Dorset  contain  several  species  which  do  not  occur 
in  other  parts  of  England,  but  are  common  in  France. 


By  the  Sev.  W.  BARNES. 


|OUT  HILL,  Somerset  '  Toot.'  The  meaning  of  Tout  or 
Toot  has  often,  I  believe,  been  asked  or  sought,  and 
some  writer  has  found  a  religious  mystery  in  it  in  the 
belief  that  the  Touts  were  chosen  hills  for  the  worship  of  a  Celtic 
God,  Teutates  or  Mercury.  I  cannot  make  out  of  that  word,  in 
Celtic,  anything  but  Tew-tat,  in  Welsh  of  our  time  Dew-dad — 
"God  the  Father;"  the  one  God,  not  Mercury.  The  Touts 
were  pretty  clearly  spy-hills  or  outlook-hills.  The  old  English 
word  Toten,  or  Tote  is  to  spy,  to  look,  out.  "To  toten  all  about" 
"To  spy  all  about,"  Peres,  the  ploughman's  Crede,  about 
A.D.  1394. 

"  How  often  dyd  I  tote 
Upon  her  prety  fote  (foot)." 
(John  Skelton,  A.D.,  1522,  edited  by  Skeat). 
And  we  have  the  word  still  in  use  in  the  verb  "To  tout,"  and 
Touters  are  sent    out  from    inns,    or    to    steamboats,    and,-  I 
believe,  from  shops,  to  tout,  look  out  or  spy  for  customers.    There 
are  two,  if  not  three,  Touts  in  Portland,  and  we  have  Nettlecomle 
Tout,  and  there  is  one  called  Cleve  Tout,  in  Somerset,  and  most 
likely  Tothill  or  Totton  may  be  by  a  tout. 

In  some  old  depositions  which  I  have  on  trials  for  witchcraft 
it  is  said  by  a  witch  that  she  and  others  of  her  craft  sometimes 
met  by  night  near  Marnhull  and  on  Leigh  Common,  and,  ere  the 
doing  of  some  stroke  of  witchery,  they  had  the  warning  "  Tout, 
tout,  tout,  out  and  about ; "  "  Look  out,  look  out,  look  out,  out 
and  about."  We  can  well  believe  that  in  times  of  trouble  there 
were  touters  on  the  touts, 


PREFACE. 


The  manuscript  from  which  the  following  is  transcribed, 
was  written  in  the  early  part  of  James  the  First's  reign ;  for 
Sir  George  Morton,  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  died  A.D.  1611- 
The  writer,  John  Budden,  was  son  of  John  Budden,  of  Oanford, 
in  this  county.  He  entered  into  Merton  College,  Oxford,  in  1582, 
and  was  admitted  a  Scholar  of  Trinity  College  in  the  same  year ; 
after  taking  his  M.A.  degree  he  was  made  Header  of  Philosophy 
at  Magdalen  College,  and  was  elected  Principal  of  New  Inn  in  160  9. 
His  next  step  was  the  King's  Professorship  of  Civil  Law,  and 
soon  after  he  was  made  Principal  of  Broadgate  (Pembroke) 
College,  where  he  died  June  11,  1620,  aged  54.  He  published, 
among  other  works,  "  Eeverandiss.  Patris  ac  Domini  Johannis 
Mortoni,  Cantuariensis  olim  Archiep.  Magni  Anglise  Cancellarii, 
trium  Eegum  Consiliarii,  Yita  obitusque,"  London,  1607.  The 
name  of  Thomas  Budden  appears  on  the  county  records  as  holding- 
a  farm,  value  £60  per  annum,  in  the  parish  of  Hinton  Martel,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth.  Like  many  of  Cardinal  Morton's 
biographers,  Budden  appears  to  have  drawn  largely  upon  More's 
Utopia.  Historical  records,  both  public  and  private,  were  not 
so  accessible  to  the  Historian  as  they  are  now ;  our  national 
archives  were  then  kept  under  strict  and  jealous  guardianship. 
Such  biographies  as  Lord  Campbell's  "  Lives  of  the  Lord 
Chancellors,"  Dr.  Hook's  "  Lives  of  the  Archbishops  of  Canter- 
bury," and  Mr.  Mozley's  more  recent  one,  "  The  lives  of  King 
Henry  VII.,  Prince  Arthur,  and  Cardinal  Morton,"  had  not  then 

T  •,  , 

been  written. 


11. 

John  Morton,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born  at  Milborne 
about  the  year  1420,  he  was  the  son  of  Richard  Morton,  of  Mil. 
borne  St.  Andrew's,  and  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard 
Turburville  and  Cecilia  Beauchamp.  He  was  educated  at  the 
Abbey  of  Cerne,  and  subsequently  at  Baliol  College,  Oxford. 
In  1446  he  was  nominated  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
University,  and  soon  after  was  appointed  Moderator  of  the  Civil 
Law  School.  In  1453  he  was  made  principal  of  Peckwater  Inn. 
About  this  time  he  held  several  preferments — the  sub -deanery  of 
Lincoln,  and  the  incumbency  of  Bloxworth  in  this  county,  among 
the  number.  He  appears  to  have  devoted  his  time  at  this  period 
of  his  life  not  so  much  to  ecclesiastical  matters  as  to  law  and 
politics. 

Although  the  cause  of  Henry  the  Sixth  was  a  failing  one, 
Morton  took  office  under  that  Prince.  He  was  present  with  the 
king  at  the  battle  of  Towton,  where  he  had  to  fight  for  his  life  ; 
and  after  an  exile  of  nine  years,  he  landed  with  Warwick  from 
Angers,  and  in  the  following  year,  1471,  after  the  battle  of 
Barnet,  he  met  the  Queen-mother  at  Weymouth,  where  she  dis- 
embarked from  Prance,  and  conveyed  her  to  Cerne  Abbey.  The 
death  of  the  young  prince  at  the  battle  of  Tewkesbury,  and  that 
of  Henry,  in  the  Tower,  shortly  after,  placed  Edward  IY.  firmly 
on  the  throne,  and  Morton  took  a  favourable  opportunity  to  sue 
for  pardon.  Edward  was  much  struck  with  his  submission,  and 
without  requiring  from  him  any  unbecoming  concessions,  he 
continued  him  a  Privy  Councillor,  appointed  him  Master  of  the 
Rolls,  conferred  on  him  great  ecclesiastical  preferment,  crowned 
with  the  Bishopric  of  Ely,  and  by  his  last  will  made  him  one  of 
Ms  executors.  Dr.  Hook,  speaking  of  him  at  this  part  of 
Ms  career,  says  "  by  Ms  business  habits,  and  engaging  manners, 
he  soon  obtained  the  confidence  of  Ms  sovereign,  and  as  Master 
of  the  Rolls  he  diligently  laboured  to  bring  the  documents  into 
form  and  regularity,  after  having  been  thrown  into  confusion 
during  the  civil  wars ;  the  Privy  Council  during  this  period 
having  left  no  records  of  any  value  to  the  historian."  At  the 
death  of  Edward,  Morton  was  still  a  Privy  Councillor,  and 


111. 

attended  tlie  Council  Meeting  at  the  Tower  which.  Shakespeare 
has  immortalized,  and  which  Dr.  Hook  says,  "wehaveupoa 
the  highest  authority,  from  Morton  himself,  who  narrated  it  to 
Sir  Thomas  More,  if  he  did  not  himself  pen  the  narrative." 
Hastings  on  this  occasion  having  been  taken  off  for  execution, 
Morton  was  made  prisoner  and  confined  in  the  Tower,  from  whence 
he  was  removed  by  Eichard's  orders  to  Brecknock  Castle,  being 
fearful  lest  the  confinement  of  so  popular  a  prelate  might  stir  up 
a  tumult  among  the  Londoners.  Having  escaped  from  Brecknock 
he  passed  across  England  to  the  Isle  of  Ely,  and  joined  the  Earl 
of  Richmond  in  Bretagne.  He  assisted  in  planning  Richmond's 
invasion,  and  was  probably  the  first  projector  for  putting  an 
end  to  the  civil  wars  by  marrying  Elizabeth,  Edward  the 
Fourth's  daughter,  to  Richmond ;  by  whom  he  was  made  Lord 
Chancellor,  which  office  he  held  to  the  time  of  his  death — 
thirteen  years  after — during  which  time,  Lord  Campbell  says,  "he 
greatly  contributed  to  the  steadiness  of  the  government  and  the 
growing  prosperity  of  the  country.  Although  he  appeared  merely 
to  execute  the  measures  of  the  king,  he  was  in  reality  chief 
author  of  the  system  for  controlling  the  power  of  the  great 
feudal  barons,  and  he  may  be  considered  the  model,  as  he  was 
the  precursor,  of  Cardinal  Richelieu,  who  in  a  later  age  accom- 
plished the  same  object  still  more  effectually  in  France." 
Among  other  laws  and  important  statutes  which  were  passed  on 
the  recommendation  of  Morton  was  one,  to  extend  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Star  Chamber,  which  Lord  Bacon  and  Lord  Coke 
call  a  "  Court  of  Criminal  Equity,"  and  which,  not  being 
governed  by  any  certain  rules,  they  considered  superior  to  any 
other  Court  to  be  found  in  this  or  any  other  nation.  But  the 
most  important  piece  of  legislation  with  which  he  was  connected 
was  the  statute  protecting  from  the  pains  of  treason  all  who  act 
under  a  de  facto  king.  About  this  time  parliament  imposed  a 
t  ax  for  defraying  the  expence  of  a  war,  to  repair  the  dishonour 
they  considered  the  king  had  sustained  by  the  loss  of  Bretagne, 
and,  finding  by  the  Lord  Chancellor's  speech  that  the  king's 
inclination  was  that  way,  appointed  Commissioners  to  gather  and 


iv. 

levy  a  Benevolence.  This  tax,  originated  by  Edward  the  Fourth,, 
was  abolished  by  Richard  the  Third  by  Act  of  Parliament, 
to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  people ;  it  was  revived  by  Henry, 
who  raised  thereby  large  sums.  Morton  was  said  to  raise  up 
the  Benevolence  to  higher  rates,  by  a  means  which  some  called  his 
Fork,  for  he  inserted  an  article  in  the  instructions  to  the  Commis- 
sioners who  were  to  levy  the  Benevolence,  that  if  they  met  any  who  were 
sparing,  that  they  should  tell  them,  that  they  must  needs  have,  because 
they  laid  up  ;  and  if  they  were  spenders,  they  must  also  needs  have, 
because  it  ivas  seen  in  their  port  and  manner  of  bearing — so  neither 
escaped.  Cardinal  Morton,  being  much  broken  by  age  and 
infirmities,  after  a  lingering  illness,  died  at  Knoll,  in  Kent,  on 
the  13th  of  September,  1500. 

J.   C.  M.   P. 


From  a  MANUSCRIPT  (circ  1610)  in  the  Possession  of  the  PRESIDENT. 


To  the  Worthy  and  well-esteemed  Knight  ,  8  IE 
GEORGE  MORTON,  Ms  espeatiall  frinde,  all 
health  and  happinejfe 


WORTHY  S'B, 

The  life  and  death  of  John  Morton,  a  man  famous 
in  the  com'onwealth  of  England  (and  that  I  may  include  all  in 
one  word)  —  of  great  merit  and  high  deseruing  in  those  dayee 
—  is  here,  under  your  patronage,  exposed  to  publicke  ouerlook- 
ing,  and,  like  some  delicate  protracture,  set  forth  to  the  view  of 
all  passengers. 

Hee  was  of  yr  name  and  blood  —  yea,  very  neere  in  affinitie— 
and,  because  some  foure  yeare  since  I  reme'ber  I  promised  the 
same,  to  avoide  the  imputation  of  obliuion  and  Ingratitude-  — 
yea  to  be  deliuered  of  the  very  feare  of  such  faults  —  I  will  pro- 
ceed, as  I  am  bound,  in  a  kinde  of  satisfaction,  to  yr  good 
opinion  conceaued  of  mee,  as  far  as,  by  my  Industry,  the  memory 
of  the  long  since  departed  may  be  reuiued. 

It  falls  now  to  yr  share,  euen  out  of  equity  and  generous  dis- 
position, to  entertaine  this  Genius  (as  it  weare)  of  yr  house  and 
family,  y*  soe  the  name  of  Morton  may  be  the  better  illustrated 
and  renowned.  And  to  accept  of  me  (which  I  still  hope  for) 
as  an  absolute  frinde,  whose  very  soule,  in  all  befitting  endea- 


56 

uotirs,  would  be  glad  to  merit  well,  in  the  world  and  in  this 
particular  relation,  to  deserue  soe  much  at  yr  hands. 

Yrs  truly,  and  inwardly  devoted 

JOHN    BUDDEN* 

The  life  and  death  of  John 
Morton,    Cardinall     ArchBp : 
of  Canterbury,  High  Chancellour 
of  England,  Councellour  of 
State  to   Three   Kings, 
famous  for  religion, 
pollecy  and  Inte- 
grity of  life. 

In  that  part  of  England,  bordering  on  the  South,  wh  the 
Durotriges  in  times  paste  possessed,  and  now  (though  the 
character  is  chainged,  yet  the  reason  of  that  significant  title 
remaining,)  the  people  ar  caled  the  Inhabitants  of  Dorcetsheir, 
as  neighbouring  the  sea  coast.  Not  ffar  from  a  certaine  towne 
called  Beere  was  John  Morton  borne.  In  a  countrie  p'fitable 
for  pasture  and  husbandry,  ffamous  for  people  and  commercers, 
renowned  for  ciuility  and  riches,  and  much  com'ended  for  enter- 
taynement  and  hospitality. 

Sd  Arme£  See  was,  according  to  our  computation,  in  the  same  rancke, 
and  forme  wch  wee  call  gentlemen,  and,  that  I  may  exemplifie  his 
state  and  condition,  I  will  play  the  herauld  a  litle  to  blason  his 
coate  of  Armes,  wch  was  quarterly  Gules  and  Ermines,  in  the 
first  and  last  two  Goats'  heads,  argent  erased,  homes  or. 

*  "  Early  in  the  17th  century,  when  the  Tudor  dynasty  had  passed  away, 
and  a  considerable  change  had  come  over  public  opinion  and  sentiment, 
there  arose  a  disposition  to  review  the  personages  and  events  of  the  period 
which  brought  in  Henry  VII.,  and  his  marvellous  progeny.  Next  to  his 
royal  master,  Morton  is  the  chief  object  of  this  very  natural  interest.  Lord 
Bacon  gave  his  life  in  that  of  Henry  VII.  and  evidently  felt  a  great  admira- 
tion for  him.  Budden,  a  relative  (?)  of  the  Morton  family,  collected  tradi- 
tions about  him,  and  said  so  much,  and  that  so  well,  that  the  regret  is  he  did 
not  say  more." 

Henry  VII.,  Prince  Arthur,  and  Caidinal  Morton,  by  T.  Mozley,  M.A., 
Rector  of  Plymtree,  page  20. 


51 

bring-  His  childehoode,  euen  as  far  as  his  first  youth,  was  spent  at 
' up*  home  under  the  tutelage  of  worthy  parents  and  discreet  schoole 
masters,  ffro'  thence  as  to  a  more  uberant  soyle  he  was  remoued 
to  the  University  of  Oxford,  wher  he  prospered  soe  well  that  in 
short  space  he  became  a  man  fully  furnished  wth  all  the  excel- 
lencies both  of  learning  and  vertue. 

lescrip-    His  speech  (as  that  personating  Eaphaell  in  More's  Utopia* 

.on* 

doth  demonstrate)  well-pollished  and  effectuall,  his  will  incom- 
parable, his  memory  rather  wonderfull  than  inimitable,  his  study 
in  both  the  lawes  soe  absolute,  that  it  was  disputable  in  which  he 
excelled  ;  his  body  of  a  mediocrity  in  stature,  and  comelinesse,  in 
grassitude  his  strength  aboue  the  measure  and  firmenesse  of  his 
outward  p'portion,  as  if  it  had  binne  inbred  to  labour  and  made 
absolute  by  exercise,  his  countenance  com'anding  a  reuerence, 
and  to  wch  thou  couldst  not  but  vouchsafe  an  obeysance,  in  hig 
gate,  a  comelynesse  tempered  with  gracefullnes,  and  his  person 
not  difficult  of  accesse,  yet  soe  disposed  that  neither  his  seuerity 
affrighted,  nor  affability  embouldened  any  one.  To  this  (besides 
.  many  guifts  of  nature)  he  had  a  kinde  of  artificiall  cunning  to 
insinuate  with  the  f auour  of  greatt  men,  and  reconsile  the  opinion 
of  the  best  judicious  towards  him.  To  conclude,  whatsoever  he 
undertooke  he  gaue  his  mind  to  facelite  and  bring  to  perfection. 

* ; '  Sir  Thomas  More  gives  the  following  description  of  Morton  in  his 
Utopia: — "John  Morton,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  was  also  a 
Cardinal,  and  the  Chancellor  of  England,  was  a  man  not  more  to  be 
venerated  for  his  high  rank  than  for  his  wisdom  and  virtue.  He  was  a  man 
of  middle  size,  and  in  the  full  vigour  of  a  green  old  age.  Though  serious 
and  grave  in  his  deportment,  he  was  nevertheless  easy  of  access ;  and  though 
his  manner  was  somewhat  brusque  when  suitors  came  before  him  to  solicit 
his  favour,  he  acted  with  an  object — that  object  being  to  ascertain  their 
abilities  and  presence  of  mind.  Upon  those  who  exhibited  readiness  of 
•wit  without  pertness,  he  found  pleasure  in  bestowing  his  preferments  ;  for 
in  this  respect  they  resembled  himself,  and  he  regarded  persons  so  endowed 
as  likely  to  be  useful  in  public  affairs.  He  was  a  man  full  of  energy,  but 
of  polished  manners.  He  was  eminent  as  a  lawyer,  being  a  man  of  great 
grasp  of  mind,  and  blessed  with  a  prodigious  memory.  By  study  and 
discipline  he  had  improved  the  talents  with  which  nature  had  thus  endowed 
him.  The  king  depended  much  upon  the  Archbishop's  judgment,  and  the 
Government  seemed  chiefly  to  be  supported  by  him ;  for  he  was  a  man  who 
had  passed  for  the  schools  of  learning  into  the  courts  of  princes,  and  through- 
out a  long  life  he  had  been  versed  in  public  affairs.  Under  various  muta- 
tions of  fortune  he  had  dearly  purchased  for  himself  an  amount  of  practical 
wisdom  which,  once  acquired,  is  not  easily  lost." — Mozley,  p.  17. 


52 

Caledtothe  When  he  had  thus  spent  his  youth  and  pride  of  years,  he  was 
caled,  or  if  you  will,  cast  by  the  hande  of  fortune  fro*  the 
schoole  to  the  court,  where  imployed  in  many  waighty  affaires  as 
the  variety  of  times,  and  busines  tumbled  and  tossed  him,  he 
spent  his  manhood  in  many  difficulties,  and  seasoned  his  wisdom 
(wch  by  that  means  was  ever  after  made  solide  and  imassaultable) 
wth  great  experience. 

His  Prefer  gut  the  first  stepp  wdl  he  made  into  the  house  of  preferment 
was  the  profession  of  the  ciuell  lawe,  prouing  an  advocate  or 
proctour  in  the  Arches,  the  principall  Court  of  eclesiasticall 
gouernment,  wherein  he  was  soe  industrious,  and  elaborate,  that 
he  obtained  the  name  of  the  well  sownding  bell  of  St.  Marie's, 
and  glad  was  that  client  whose  cause  he  tooke  in  hand. 
Canon—  Not  long  after  he  p'ceeded  in  Oxford  to  such  degrees  of  both 
lawes,  as  carried  the  marks  of  reputation  and  worshipp.  There 
such  as  stoode  in  need  of  his  helpe  and  advise  receaued  the 
fruite  of  his  learning  and  skill,  in  greate  abundance.  Ther  (and 
what  can  be  more  pleasing  to  a  free  and  generous  minde)  he 
obtayned  the  frindship  of  the  mighty,  the  loue  of  the  best,  the 
wealth  of  the  rich,  the  imparting  of  f auours  from  the  officers — the 
good  opinion  of  all,  and  enlarged  his  renowne  to  the  uttermost. 
There  he  was  a  supportation  to  his  frindes,  a  helpe  to  straingers, 
a  refuge  to  the  oppressed,  a  terrour  to  his  insulting  enemies,  and 
a  sweete  moderatour  of  doubtfull  controversies.  There  he  was 
a  fortunate  determiner  of  causes,  a  punisher  of  guilty  and  obstinate 
delinquents,  an  equall  servant  of  iustice,  to  administer  every 
man  his  right. 

Beloved  of    "While  he  was  thus  imployed,  and  of  every  one,  well  allowed 

Boucer  or  and  reputed,  Thomas  Boucer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  tooke 

r*  notice  of  his  good  parts  and  generall  acceptation  in  the  University 

for  religion,  piety,  integrity,  and  iustice,  and  aduanced  him  to 

some  places  of  honour,  besides  the  reward  of  many  and  great 

benefitts.     At  last  recommended  to  the  regard  of  Henry  6,  he  was 

made  one  of  his  Priuy  Councell,  and  soe  demeaned  himselfe  that, 

to  the  admiration  of  his  ccmpetitour,  both  in  the  ebbings  and 

flcwings  of  fortune,  he  suffered  noe  manner  of  blastes  to  ehoue 


53 

him  a  aside  from  his  uprightnesse ;  but  stoode  firm  (wch  I  must 
speak  wth  admiration)  to  the  dislocated  King,  and  when  he 
seemed  stripped  of  prosperity  by  the  ouerdaring  hand  of  a  pre- 
uailing  adversary,  he  took  in  good  part  the  communication  of 
affliction,  and  went  arm  in  arm  wth  his  distressed  prince  into  the 
house  of  deiection. 

Presently>  after  °r  encounters  of  Towton,  wch  may  welbe  called 
the  English  Pharsalian  bataile,  he  accompanied  Queene  Margett 
(a  woman  extraordinary  for  witt  and  courage  aboue  her  sex ;  yea, 
an  heroine  virago  of  her  time),  wth  her  sonne,  Prince  Edwarde, 
into  ffrance,  desiring  if  it  were  possible,  to  meete  wth  some  better 
fortune  in  a  forren  nation.  From  that  time  he  neuer  returned 
into  England  all  the  while  King  Henry  was  keept  prisoner  in 
the  tower,  until!  that  day  of  terrour  called  Barnet  feild,  wherein 
such  was  the  rage  and  fury  of  their  impetuous  assaulting  one 
another,  y*1  it  was  not  disputable  amoungst  them  whoe  should 
Eaigne  but  whoe  should  live. 

After  the  fight,  and  y*  now  the  Lancastrian  forces  weare  dissi- 
pated and  ouercome,  yea  all  Kinge  Henries  frindes  as  it  weare 
thrust  into  the  house  of  slaughter. 

korton  re-    Edward  the  4  was  glorified  wth  the  victory  and  sweetenesse  of 

|'o1Ed.e4dfaJa  new  establishment,  but  yet  (if  I  may  say  soe)  the  conquest  of 

j  made  Bis- ^s  Passion  and  affection  exceeded  the  glory  of  that  triumph,  for 

nlopof  Ely' upon  the  consideration  of  Morton's  vertues  and  fydelity,  being 

induced  by  many  worthy  examples  of  his  well  deseruing,  he  not 

only  pardoned  the  fault  for  being  his  opposite,  but  tooke  him 

to  fauour  and  mercy,  and  not  long  after,  as  it  weare,  rauished 

wth  his  plausible  demeanour,  aduaunced  him  to  the  Bishopricke 

of  Ely,  a  place  in  those  days  (besides  the  great  reuenewes  and 

wealth  belonging  to  the  same)  of  Kingly  prerogatiue,  as  hauing 

annexed  unto  it  the  dignity  of  a  Count  Palatine,  wch  Hen  8,  his 

nephew  from  Elizabeth  his  daughter,  repining  at,  and  desirous 

to  drawe  all  authority  into  his  owne  hands,  by  act  of  parlament 

dissolved,  and  as  it  wear,  cut  of  by  the  head. 

After  this  King  Ed.  soe  sat  in  the  chaire  of  quietnesse  and 
peace,  that  not  only  the  seeds  of  his  ciuill  dissentions  weare 


54 

trode  under  the  clods  of  his  victories  ;  but  he  was  able  to 
make  war  abroad  (as  he  indeed  attempted  against  his  insulting 
adversary  of  ffrance  and  dissembling  frinde  of  Burgundy). 
As  for  the  home  suspition  of  any  further  innovation  (as  I 
eayd  be  four),  he  continued  all  his  lifetime  in  a  glorious 
maiestic,  formidable  to  his  most  daring  enemies,  and  accept- 
able to  his  welbeloued  subjects  ;  but  at  last,  in  his  fluent 
current  of  p'sperity,  he  repayred  to  Westminster,  where  he  was 
suddenly  over-taken  by  that  great  disturber  of  mortality — a 
greivous  sickness. 

Whereupon,  when  he  perceiued  all  men  to  deplore  his  estate 
and  misdoubt  his  irrecouerable  recouery,  he  thought  it  best  to 
make  his  will  and  establish  his  affaires  by  an  orderly  course  of  a 
laste  testament,  in  which  (amongst  other  worthy  councillors  he 
appointed  John  Morton  a  piincipall  Execator;  thus  truly  sollicitous 
for  the  safety  of  his  princely  children  and  the  agreement  of  his 
dissentious  lords,  between  whorne,  even  in  his  sorest  fits,  the 
sparks  of  disseention  burst  out  into  flames  of  revenge,  he  made 
a  kinde  of  attonement,  and,  wth  his  Hue's  expiration,  coniured 
the  one  to  the  sweet  imbraces  of  loue  and  friendship,  and  com- 
mitted the  other  to  thiere  ouerlooking  and  gouerment. 

Thus  was  Prince  Ed.,  of  his  own  name  appointed  his  suc- 
cessour,  and  proclaimed  heire  to  the  kingdome,  had  not  that 
montter  in  nature,  the  Duke  of  Grloscestre  (whose  prefidious 
memory  is  execrable  through  the  world)  dissappointed  the  same, 
and  through  exorbitant  treasons  and  hateful  immanity  brocke  all 
inclosures  of  duty  and  religion,  wch  weare  wonte  to  tie  men  to 
strickt  performances  and  true  allegiance. 

This  is  that  Richard  wch  was  branded  wth  the  name  of  a 
tyrant  for  p'iecting  to  himselfe  the  supreame  authority,  not 
caring  wth  what  a  murtherous  hart  and  sacraligeous  hand  he 
reached  at  the  crowne,  for  wch-  purpose  Anthony  Woodvill 
Earl  Biuers,  uncle  to  the  young  prince,  was  first  of  all  dis- 
patched at  Pomfrett.  A  man  to  speake  the  truth  of  great 
uprightnesse  and  high  courage,  wch  made  him  soe  formidable 
to  The  Tyrant  in  all  his  designes ;  yea,  as  he  supposed  a  maine 


55 

obstacle  to  his  unreasonable  pretences ;  wfch  him  he  overthrew 
William,  lor  Hastings,  putting  him  to  death  in  the  tower,  and  divers 
others  ;  amongst  whom  John  Morton,  Bishopp  of  Ely,  was  com- 
mitted to  the  custody  of  Henry  duke  of  Bucchingham,  and  had 
not  the  insatiate  tyrant  been  glutted  wth  the  bload  of  others  or 
the  reuerende  sanctity  of  the  man,  togither  wth  his  grauity, 
diuerted  the  execution  of  his  wrath  as  it  fearef ully  houered  ouer 
him.  But  soe  it  pleased  God  that  this  usurper's  fury  was 
somewhat  mitti gated,  and  the  Bishop's  life  was  preserued  to  the 
eternall  good  and  prosperity  of  England's  com'onwealth. 

Here  I  cannot  overpasse  the  wonderfull  care  of  the  Univ'sity 
of  Ox.,  which,  like  an  Indulgent  mother  from  the  loue  she  bore 
unto  her  distressed  childe  studied  his  recouery,  for,  as  she  in  one 
way  rejoiced  at  the  well-deseruing  honours  of  the  Bishopp  soe 
now  shee  deplored  his  independing  misery  and  prsent  captiuitie, 
to  which  he  was  subiect,  whereupon  to  prvent  his  finall  destruc- 
tion and  untimely  murther,  and  by  one  meanes  or  other  to  obtaine 
his  liberty,  if  not  reconcile  him,  to  fauour  wth  a  generall  consent 
they  thus  wrought  unto  the  king, 
ixford'spe-  To  the  most  Christian 

ition  for 

P.  Morton  Prince   Eichard  by  the 

Grace    of    God    King    of 
England,  France,  and 
Lord  of  Ire- 
land. 

Ther  ar  many  reasons  (most  mighty  Christian  Prince)  wch 
ought  in  a  manner  to  comple  us  to  implore  yr  noble  clemency 
toward  that  Eeverende  father  in  Christ,  or  lor  Bish.  of  Ely.  ffirst 
in  that  he  was  one  of  or  best  beloued  and  principall  children, 
and  so  dismissed  from  us ;  secondly,  that  he  euer  shewed  himself e 
most  ready  and  incumbent  in  all  or  affairs,  and  a  worthy  patron 
or  protectour  of  or  causes  whensoeuer  or  businesses  soe  fell  out 
Thirdly,  in  that  he  ever  proued  a  very  pillar  and  supportation  to 
the  church  and  sanctuary  of  God.  But  although  thes  may  be 
reputed  sufficient,  yet  should  they  neuer  have  perswaded 
us  to  importune  y*  royall  clemency  for  his  pardon  if  we  did 


56 

not  perswade  orselves  to  support  the  honor  and  security  of  yr 
sacred  person,  because  wee  ar  as  much,  bound  (if  not  rather 
more)  to  the  exceeding  greatnesse  of  yr  bounty  as  to  any  of 
the  princes,  yr  prdecessors ;  wherefore  when  we  stood  in  doubt 
of  his  demeanour  toward  you,  or  wth  what  minde  he  was 
transported  either  to  further  or  contradict  your  proceedings,  wee 
determined  that  it  was  unlawful].  wih  yr  hassard  to  take  care  for 
his  recouery.  But  now  fully  resolued  that  like  a  man  he  fell 
through  humaine  fraility,  and  noe  setled  malice  or  inueterate 
dispight,  or  very  bowels  ar  moued  to  impetrate  yr  mercy  for  him. 
As  Eachell  mourned  for  her  children  and  lamented  the 
miserable  calamity  of  her  distressed  infants,  wee  may  be 
the  rather  most  gratiously  pardoned,  for  if  a  piety  and  gentill 
yealding  to  remission  amoungst  enemies  is  worthy  of  com'enda- 
tion,  much  more  ought  or  Uniuersity  (however  obseruant  to  yr 
majesty)  p'fessing  the  study  and  practise  of  religion,  vertue  and 
humanity,  extend  her  charity  and  be  prazed  for  her  piety  towards 
her  owne. 

Seeing  then  it  is  soe,  and  resolvett  to  p'crastinate  it  no  longer, 
all  supplicante  and  obedient  we  prostrate  ors.  before  the  throne 
of  yr  clemency,  beseeching  y*  maiesty,  that  seeing  he  hath 
suffered  punishment  for  soe  slender  blasts  of  offence,  or  seeming 
faults  perpetrated  against  you  (if  wee  make  not  the  greater 
fault  in  saying  soe)  it  would  please  you  to  impart  some  fauour 
towards  him  for  his  liberty  and  remission,  if  not  graceful! 
acceptation,  in  wch  the  benefit  shall  not  only  accrewe  to  him,  to 
us,  and  the  whole  church,  but  to  yrself e  obtaine  eternal!  renowns 
and  prsent  emolument  (as  wee  hope)  by  the  same ;  ffor  who 
shall  heare  of  the  pardon  and  remission,  or,  if  you  please 
reconciliation  of  soe  greate  a  father,  of  the  goodnesse  and  effect 
of  soe  high  a  clemency,  and  not  extoll  it  to  heaven,  for  according 
to  that  of  the  Poet,  Parcere  subiectis  vt  debellare  superlos.  The 
Romans  weare  wonte  to  glory,  when  they  heerd  theire 
Encomions  sung  for  sparing  the  submissive  and  propulsing  the 
contumacious  and  proud,  wherein  and  whereby  also  according  to 
Salust  they  ratified  the  obedience  of  more  people,  then  they 


57 

obtained  co'quest  by  tlieire  armies,  as  being  always  rather  ready 
to  pardon  then  punish. 

If  then  it  please  yr  Maiesty  to  affect  the  same  glory  and 
co'mendation  (wch  you  may  easily  doe  in  this  man's  reconcilia- 
tion), you  shall  euen  overcome  the  Romans  themselves,  and  ia 
this  pointe  of  clemency  excell  them.  Although  we  well  appre- 
hend it  in  the  commemoration  of  his  vertues  and  high  exalted 
worth ;  yet  had  we  rather  leaue  it  to  the  consideration  of  yr 
owne  wisdome  than  p'secute  it  by  any  tedious  and  distasting 
oratory,  least  we  might  hassard  yr  good  opinion  for  wrestting 
yr  favour,  as  it  wear  rather  by  force,  when  we  goe  about  to 
praise  the  man,  then  by  simplicity  of  deprecation  ;  that  we  rather 
prsume  on  the  greatnesse  of  his  vertues,  than  the  sweetenesse  of 
yr  compassion ;  to  conclude  we  rather  appeal  to  yr  kingly  iustice 
than  princely  mercy  for  the  same. 

Wherefore  (most  excellent  Pr),  think  this  of  us,  we  pray  you, 
that  whatsoever  is  spoken  of  in  the  behalf  e  of  or  Bishop  is  rather 
by  reason  of  or  duty,  then  by  diffidence  of  yr  mercy,  soe  that 
dissisting  from  all  allegations  wch  may  either  extenuate  his 
faulte  or  augment  his  renowne,  we  altogither  submit  our  hopes, 
o'selves,  and  prayers  to  yr  acceptation,  p'mising  and  p' testing 
before  the  throme  of  the  Divine  Maiesty  that,  though  other 
things  faile  us,  the  eternall  memory  of  such  a  collated  benefit 
shall  never  be  blotted  out  nor  diminished,  and  soe  the  God  of 
all  preseruation,  keepe  and  secure  yr  royall  person  as  the  apple 
of  his  eye,  most  mighty  Christian  King,  or  only  p'tection  and 
refuge. 

ffro'  Sfc  Marie's  in 
Oxforde,   August   4. 


But  he  whome  the  Diuell  had  wholy  possessed  worse  then 
Saul's  evil  spirit,  was  soe  far  from  any  impression  or  relaxation 
by  the  enforcement  of  an  oration,  that,  insteed  of  leniating  his 
immanity,  he  sent  him  prisoner  to  the  Castle  of  Brecknock, 
whereby  this  worthy  prelat's  patience  was  anew  put  to  the 
touchstone,  wherein  he  remained  awhile,  untill  by  an  ouer- 


58 

reaching  wisdome  he  deceaved  the  Duke  of  Bucchingham,  and 
found  means  to  escape. 

This  Bucchingham  was  a  man  of  high  honor  and  auncient  con- 
sanguinity, ready  witt,  but  open  brested,  full  of  trustfulness,  but 
prsumptuous   of    his   owne    hope,    not    wanting    the   fault   of 
ambitious  desires,  nor  co'mendation  of  gracefull  eloquence ;  an 
arteficiall  workeman  for  popular  loue,  and  yet  unable  to  beare  or 
dissemble  iniuries,  impatient  of  wronng,  and  one  whose  fortune 
may  sometimes  be  deplored,  sometimes  accused.     Betweene  him 
and  the  tyrant  weare  new  differences  kindled,  about  the  deniall 
of  the  Earledome  of  Hereforde,  which  the  duke  chalenged  as 
the  proper  inheritance  of  his  house,  but  the  King  interceded  as 
findeing  some  interlacings  wfch  the  Crowne.    The  King's  ingrati- 
tude augmented  his  greife,  and  the  rather,  because  he  was  fully 
settled  in  the  throne  by  his  assistance,  ffor  Bucchingham,  upon 
hope  of  some  promises  of  the  Duke  of  Grlocester.  made  him  King 
of  England.     Wherein  established,  he   began  to  examine  the 
matter  better,  and  at  last  went  backe,  as  wee  say,  from  his  word 
in  the  restitution  of  such  lands  as  he  had.  foremerly  made  the 
Duke  of  Bucchingham  beleeve  he  should  haue,  wth  wch  indignity 
Bucchingham  was  both  moued  and  ennained,  soe  y*  fro'  thence 
forward  he  caste  about  for  all  devises  and  counsells  wch  might 
tend  to  the  King's  overthrowe,  and  to  use  his  owne  wordes,  to 
take  away  from  amoungst  men  that  diuell  incarnate  and  fend  of 
hell,  odious  to  God,  hateful  to  good  men,  terrible  to  the  Kingdom, 
and  to  me  (as  by  woefull  experience  I  have  approued),  most 
ingratefull,  which  I  cannot  but  stomache  and  remember  wth 
great  indignity,  soe  that  if  he  compell  me  to  be  his  adversary  in 
the  co'mon  cause,  he  shall  see  me  armed  in  the  feild  amongst  a 
well  marshalled  co'pany  of    souldiours ;    wher  shall  he   finde 
securitie  of  men  or  place  ?    But  must  be  sure  of  destruction,  and, 
besides  the  mangling  of  his   honour,  to  resigne   the   crowne 
(except  I  presage  amisse)  to  some  other  better  deseruing  as  the 
reward  of  his  vertue. 

"  To   this   or  the  like  purpose,    spending    his  meditations, 
and  resolued  to  ouerthrow  the  tyrant,  if  he  could,  he  comes 


59 

to  the  Bishop  of  Ely  under  shew  of  exceeding  loue ;  but  of 
purpose  to  drawe  him  to  his  party,  beginning  with  seuerall 
familiar  discourses,  and  extending  to  the  full  all  the  parts  of 
humanity  and  good-will.  But  it  fell  out  that  the  Bishop  carried 
himselfe  after  such  a  manner  (which  is  tfot  much  to  be  mareviled 
at)  as  tended  to  the  liber  tie  of  the  one,  and  utter  ruine  of  the 
other,  this  wrought  by  the  ambition  of  the  duke,  that  effected 
by  the  wisdome  of  the  prlate  ;  for  by  seuerall  discourses  finding 
the  Duke  willing  to  confer  with  him  about  thes  secrets,  he 
brought  him  along  wth  faire  words  and  many  bewitching 
phraises,  whereby  he  perceiued  by  certain  abrupt  speeches,  yfc 
the  Duke's  pride  burst  out  now  and  then  wtb  some  flashes  of 
enuie  against  the  glorie  of  the  King,  wch  if  the  matter  weare 
well-handled,  would  both  easily  and  very  quickly  induce  him  to 
fall  off  fro'  his  alleagiance  ;  wheareupon  he  very  cunningly 
wrought  upon  him  to  goe  forward  in  his  prtences,  and  yet  soe 
keeping  himselfe  wthin  bounds,  that  he  rather  seemed  to  follow 
then  to  lead  him,  ffor  when  the  Duke  in  a  certaine  conference 
began  first  to  commend  and  extoll  the  King,  inferring  how 
blessed  the  realme  should  be  in  his  raigne,  it  is  thus  reported 
that  the  Bishop  answered: — 

"  Surely  (most  worthy  prince)  it  were  folly  for  me  to  dissemble, 
and  if  I  should  sweere  the  contrary  my  speeches  would  carrie 
noe  credit  wth  you,  therefore  I  wilbe  plaine  and  open  my  minde 
unto  you,  if  the  times  had  seconded  my  wishes  and  aavanced 
King  Henrie's  son  to  the  crowne,  and  not  King  Edward,  I  had 
proued  his  true  and  faithfull  subiect.  But  after  the  eternall 
p'vidence  had  decided  the  controuersie  otherwise,  and  ordained 
King  Edward  to  raigne,  I  thought  it  neither  wisdome  nor 
charitie  to  striue  with  the  King  for  a  dead  man's  cause,  and 
applied  myself  to  a  dutifull  subiect,  and  true  chapleine  to  the 
prsent  King,  and  would  have  bin  glad  if  his  children  had  suc- 
ceeded him,  but,  seeing  the  diuine  disposer  of  secrets  hath 
otherwise  determined  it,  there  is  no  kicking,  as  we  say,  against 
the  pricks,  nor  prsuming  to  turne  the  frame  of  heaven  about ; 
but  as  for  the  late  p'tectour,  now  King,"  and  with  that 


60 

desisted  fro'  further  speech,  sailing  that  he  added  that  he  had 
allready  meadled  to  much  wth  the  world,  and  would  hence 
forward  be  more  chary  of  his  time,  to  spend  it  in  study  and 
contemplation. 

The  Duke,  longing  to  hear  what  he  would  haue  said,  con- 
sidering he  made  a  periode  of  naming  the  King,  embouldened 
him  to  goe  forward,  and  very  familiarly  assured  him  that  what 
breath  was  spent  betweene  the  two  should  never  receaue  further 
life  or  redound  to  his  preiudice,  but  peradventure  to  more  future 
good  then  he  could  imagine,  ffor  the  truth  was,  he  prtended  to 
make  use  of  his  great  experience  and  faithfull  advice,  wch  as  ha 
saide,  was  the  only  occasion  of  p' curing  his  custody,  from  the 
King,  that  he  might  finde  his  imprisonment  like  a  sweete  dwell- 
ing of  his  owne,  otherwise  he  might  haue  lighted  into  their  e 
hands,  wth  whome  he  should  not  have  found  soe  great  fauour. 

The  Bishop  right  humbly  thanked  him,  and  so  proceeded. 
Truly,  my  lor  I  desire  not  much  to  taulke  of  princes,  as  a  thing 
very  dangerous,  ffor  although  the  com'unication  may  be  without 
fault,  yet  it  is  in  the  pleasure  of  the  King  to  accept  it  well  or 
ill,  wch  makes  me  reme'ber  a  tale,  in  Isope,  concerning  the  lion's 
proclamation,  that  on  paine  of  death  no  horned  beast  should 
prsume  to  come  into  that  woode,  whereupon  a  certaine  beast 
having  a  knobby  rising  of  flesh  growing  on  his  forhead,  flead 
apace,  until  the  fox  asked  him  why  he  made  such  haste,  and 
wheither  he  went.  Surely,  said  he,  it  is  no  matter  wheither,  so 
as  I  weare  once  out  of  these  prcicnts  and  danger  of  the  p'clama- 
tion  against  horned  beasts.  Why  fool  (qth  the  fox)  the  lion's  mean- 
ing extend  not  to  thee  for  that  wch  growes  on  thy  forhead  is  noe 
home  :  that  is  most  true,  replied  the  other ;  but  if  he  says  it  is  a 
home,  where  am  I  then  ?  The  Duke  by  this  time  laughed 
out  right,  and  said,  (my  lor)  I  warrant  neither  the  lion  nor  the 
bore  shall  lay  any  imputation  on  these  speeches,  ffor  they  shall 
neuer  come  soe  much  as  to  be  whispered  unto  them.  Surely, 
replied  the  Bishop,  if  they  did,  and  yfc  wch  I  was  about  to  say 
might  happen  into  the  mouth  of  a  true  reporter  explaining  my 
meaning,  as  it  is  before  God,  it  would  deserue  thanks,  and  yet 


61 

inverted  or  misconstrued  p'cure  me  little  good,  and  you  lesse. 
Wth  this  abruptnesse  the  Duke  was  the  more  exagitated  to  know 
what  he  ment,  whereupon  o?  Morton  thus  expressed  himself e. 
My  lor,  concerning  the  late  p'tectour,  now  King,  I  determine 
not  to  dispute  his  title,  but  touching  the  p'speritie  of  the  realme 
whereof  he  hath  now  the  supreame  authoritie,  and  I  am  a  poore 
me'ber,  I  was  about  to  wish  that  those  eminent  vertues  (whereof 
he  hath  some  store,  little  needing  my  Emonion  or  examplifica- 
tion)  yet  might  haue  pleased  God  to  haue  united  such,  as  he 
hath  planted,  and  I  have  f ounde  in  yr  princely  grace,  worthy  the 
gouernment  of  a  kingdome  indeed ;  and  here  againe  he  staied 
himself  e. 

The  Duke,  somewhat  startled  at  these  sudden  pauses  (as  if 
they  weare  parentheses),  with  a  kinde  of  Elation  and  high 
countenance,  spake  againe. 

My  lor  Bishop,  I  haue  obserued ;  and  do  evidently  perceiue, 
that  by  these  sudden  breakings  of,  in  or  conference,  you  haue 
some  furthur  meaning  then  you  seeme  willing  to  utter;  ffor 
your  speeches  make  noe  direct  or  perfect  sentences,  where- 
by I  may  truly  understand  what  yr  inward  intente  is  toward  the 
King,  or  affection  toward  me  ;  yr  comparison  of  good  qualities 
ascribed  to  us  both  (whereof,  for  my  parte,  I  disclaime  the 
fruition  and  lesse  look  for  another  com'endation)  makes  me  to 
conceiue  that  you  haue  some  furthur  drift,  either  from  loue  or  mis- 
like,  engraffed  in  yr  harte,  wch  yet  for  fear  you  dare  not,  or  for 
shamefastnes  you  be  abashed,  to  disclose ;  but  what  neede  this 
nicety  to  me,  yr  contracted  frinde,  whoe,  on  my  honour,  doe 
warrante  you  such  assurance  of  taciturnity  as  the  tred  to  the 
hunter,  or  deaf  e  and  dumb  to  the  singer. 

The  Bish.  thus  the  better  emboldened  through  the  Duke's 
promises,  but  more  animated  from  his  own  apprehension  of  his 
disposition  to  be  magnified  and  extolled,  and  wthall  collecting 
wth  what  inward  hate  and  rancorous  malice,  he  was  seducted 
against  the  king  fully  opened  his  mind  and  shewed  him  the  bottom 
of  his  thoughts,  prtending  thereby  either  the  destruction  and 
utter  confusion  of  King  Richard,  by  depriuing  him  of  his  crowne 


62 

and  dignity,  and  soe  to  incense  the  Duke  to  some  ambitious 
prosecutions  that  he  himselfe  might  haue  opportunitie  to  escape, 
w°h  he  shortly  brought  to  passe,  by  the  high  permission  of  God 
to  the  King's  destruction,  the  Duke's  confusion,  and  his  owne 
liberty,  wth-  addition  of  high  promotion,  and  soe  as  is  before 
recited  upon  confidence  of  the  Duke's  fidelity  the  Bishop 
proceeded. 

My  worthy  lor,  since  the  time  of  my  imprisonment,  being 
in  yr  grace's  custody,  I  haue  found  soe  many  fauours  that  I 
may  rather  call  it  a  pleasant  freedome  than  unsavery  Dures,  and 
amoungst  other  the  passing  my  time  in  study,  ffor  thereby  I 
have  made  use  of  seueral  cautions  and  positions,  and  amoungst 
the  rest  one  spetiall  caution,  that  noe  man  is  borne  to  his  own 
liberty,  or  absolute  disposing  of  himselfe,  because  he  oweth  to 
his  natiue  co'ntry  where  first  the  breath  of  his  nostrils  sucked 
in  the  sweet  of  the  aire,  nay  challengeth  as  great  a  share 
of  his  duty  as  any  other,  which  causeth  me  to  consider  the 
deplorable  estate  of  the  kingdome  wherein  I  Hue,  comparing 
the  times  past  wth  the  times  present,  and  recounting  what  a 
gouvernour  wee  now  haue,  and  what  a  king  we  might  haue,  soe 
that  as  the  case  now  stands,  all  must  come  to  utter  confusion  a'd 
desolation,  yet  ar  not  my  hopes  quite  abortiue  nor  the  fier  of  my 
expectation  cleane  extinguished  when  I  behould  yr  worthy  selfe, 
and  understand  that  yr  hart  is  as  it  we  are  a  magazine  and  store- 
house of  wisdom,  iustice,  and  impartiality  to  which,  when  I  ad 
the  heate  and  ardent  loue  of  yrs  towards  yr  country,  and  of  hers 
towards  you,  I  am  not  a  little  reviued,  but  come  forwarde  wth  a 
more  cheerful  allacrity  to  Catalouge  yr  great  learning,  pregnant 
witt,  graceful!  eloquence,  and  personall  comelines,  thinkeing  this 
realme  most  fortunate,  yea  twise  more  then  fortunate  that  hath 
such  a  prince  in  store  worthy  of  a  crowne,  and  most  meete  to 
gouerne  the  same,  as  one  in  whome  I  say  is  resident  the  true 
p'tracture  of  honour  and  vertue.  On  the  other  side  when  I 
reme'ber  the  good  qualities  of  the  late  protectour,  now  called 
king  ;  soe  violated  and  dilacerated  by  tyranny,  soe  chainged  and 
obumbrated  by  usurpation,  soe  ouercloweded  and  shadowed  by 


63 

insatiable  ambition,  soe  abused  and  stained  wth  fowle  and 
enormous  impiety,  and  so  suddenly  trashaped  (as  I  may  say ) 
from  civill  and  pollitique  vallour  to  outragious  and  detestable 
tyranny,  I  must  needs  conclud  (however  there  is  danger  in  the 
very  thoughts)  that  he  is  neither  meete  to  be  a  king  of  soe  noble 
a  Realme,  nor  soe  famous  a  co'monwealth  befitting  to  be 
gouerned  by  soe  infamous  a  Prince. 

Was  not  his  first  stepp  to  the  diademe  in  blood,  and  through 
the  house  of  slaughter  of  diuers  noble  peers  and  valiant  persons  ? 
did  he  not  traduce  his  owne  mother  for  incontinency  and  dis- 
solute liuing  ?  did  he  not  p'claime  his  brethren  and  all  their e 
children  Bastards  as  borne  in  adultery  ?  did  he  not  afterwards 
p'ceed  wth  the  murther  of  2  poore  innocent  princes,  his  owne 
nephews,  whose  blood  so  cruelly  spilt,  cries  to  heauen  for 
vengance,  and  will  no  donbt  be  powerfull  to  open  the  dores  of 
destruction  against  him  ?  Who  shall  Hue  secure  under  his 
tyranny  ?  Whoe  is  not  affrighted  at  his  i  mmanity  ?  What 
place  may  be  trusted  to  escape  his  savadgnes  ?  for  he,  that  did 
so  little  respect  the  slaughter  of  his  owne  kindred  will  lesse 
regarde  the  confusion  of  others.  Let  me  conclude  in  a  word; 
and  to  the  purpose;  if  either  you  apprehend  the  dutie  w°h 
Religion,  faith,  charitie,  kindrid,  yr  distressed  country,  and  God 
himself  challengeth  at  yr  hands,  you  must  take  upon  you  the 
gouernment  of  the  kingdome,  both  for  yr  preseruation,  of  the 
glory  of  the  same,  and  the  faceliting  that  burthensome  yoke  of 
slauery  wcl1  hath  so  long  laine  on  or  shoulders,  that  the  best  of  the 
kingdome  even  groane  againe  under  the  pressure  of  all  wretch- 
ednesse  and  misery ;  this  if  you  refuse,  then  I  co'iure  you  by 
all  the  title  of  reason  and  sanctity,  by  yr  vow  to  Grod  in  yr 
Christianity,  and  by  the  hope  of  eternall  saluation,  to  inuent  some 
meanes  and  indeauour  in  the  same,  that  this  kingdom  now  soe 
torne  and  abused,  may  be  repaired  againe  under  a  more  moderate 
gouernement  of  some  better  Prince.  To  this  purpose  spake  the 
Bishop,  and  soe  brake  off  wth  some  diffusednesse,  the  Duke  not 
answering  a  word  at  that  time. 

The  next  day  they  mett  again,  and  allthough  they  continued 


64 

A  marriage  aot  only  in  commemoration  of  the  former  discourse,   but  in  a 
c<by  the?    larger  walke  of  most  searious  affaires,  yet  the  period  came  to 


tllis»  that  if  Hen.  Earle  of  Eichmond,  nephew  to  John  Duke  of 
Sommerset,  of  the  immediate  line  of  that  famous  John  of  Gaunt, 
xt  Duke  of  Lancaster,  would  marry  Elizabeth,  the  eldest  daughter 
hH?useof-ean(i  next  heire  t(>  E(*w-  4  °*  the  House  of  Yorcke,  he  then,  by 
ye  ^bole  consent  of  the  kingdome  should  be  saluted  and 
appointed  king,  the  secresy  of  wch  businesse  and  decree  was 
imparted  to  Eeighnold  Bray,  a  man  of  spetiall  trust  wth  Lady 
of  Yorck.  j£argaret  Countesse  of  Eichmond,  and  mother  to  the  Earle, 
whoe  according  to  the  confidence  reposed  in  him,  effectually 
dispatched  the  same. 

But  as  this  busines  had  a  comfortable  passage,  the  Bishope 
of  Ely  found  an  opportunity  to  escape,  according  to  his  former 
proiected  desire  of  liberty,  and  so  chainging  his  rayment,  very 
priuately  conveighed  himselfe  into  his  He  of  Ely,  from  whence 
sufficiently  assisted  wth  frinds  and  money,  he  sayled  into  the  low 
countries  where  how  he  demeaned  himselfe  wth  all  wisdome, 
faith,  diligence  and  uprightnesse,  the  larger  stories  are  plentifull 
and  impartiall. 

In  the  meane  while  King  Eichard  had  solicited  ffrancis  Duke 
of  Britaine  (in  whose  custody  Hen.  Earle  of  Eichmound  had 
long  remayned)  to  deliuer  up  his  prisoner  into  his  owne  hands  • 
but  all  in  vaine,  for  the  worthy  Duke  would  by  noe  means  con- 
sent to  soe  f  acinerous  a  treason,  nor  be  corrupted  wth  any  reward 
whatsoever. 

At  last  the  well-instructed  orators  so  prvailed  (shewing  that 
the  King  deeired  nothing  but  his  imprisonment  for  feare  of 
setting  in  co'bustion  the  whole  state)  that  the  Duke  of  Britaine 
was  contented  to  receaue  the  Earles  reuenewes  and  of  all  such 
as  belonged  unto  him,  as  confiscated  and  made  over  by  the  king 
of  England,  but  the  Duke,  faling  into  his  accustomed  malady  or 
frency,  was  unapt  either  to  attend  or  heare  Ambassadours, 
where  upon  Peter  Landoies,  his  principall  treasurer  (a  man  more 
corrupt,  and  couetousnes  itselfe),  and  moulded  by  the  working 
hand  of  K.  Eichard  to  the  same  purpose,  undertooke  the 


65 

matter,  and  had  surely  betrayed  the  Earle,  if  the  Bishop  of  Ely, 

acquainted  with  the  same,  had  not  thus  preuented  the  mischief. 

he  BishopUpon  sure  intelligence  of  these  p'ceedings  both  in  England  and 

luainteth  Britaine,  he  sent  Christopher  Urswick  to  the  Earle  of  Bichmound 

Loundwithwtfc  full  notice  of  the  danger  he  stoode  in,  advising  him  wth  all 

.1  matters,  e  . 

aduiseth  secrecy  and   speedinesse  to  convey  himselfe  into  ffraunce  under 
1    into     couler  of  some  hunting  match,   to  wh  he  was  orderly  intentiue. 

ffraunce.  . 

and  fortunately  obeidient,  and  soe  prsented  himselfe  to  K.  Charles 
of  whome  he  was  not  only  louingly  accepted,  but  princely  sup- 
plied with  men,  money,  and  munition ;  whereof  if  Ely  had  not 
bin  the  Author,  and  as  it  weare  the  threed  to  conduct  him  out  of 
the  laberinth  of  his  troubles.  0  Eichmond,  it  had  bin  ill  with 
thee,  and  all  thy  co'plices,  neither  had  thy  fortunes  increased, 
nor  frinds  reioyced,  neither  had  former  dissention  bin  allaied, 
neither  had  the  roses  bin  ioyned,  nor  of  thy  daughter  Margett, 
a  kinseman  raised  by  eternall  happinesse  to  unite  two  kingdoms 
togither,  and  make  or  Hand  one  monarchy !  Whereupon,  when 
King  Henry  had  most  prudently  made  a  collection  of  these 
inestimable  benefits,  collated,  and  transferred  unto  him  by  the 
only  wisdome  and  endeauours  of  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  as  well  to 
avoide  ingratitude  as  to  shew  his  owne  princelynes,  he  recalled 
I  El  re  him  home  againe,  and,  in  the  place  of  John  Alcock,  Bishop  of 
J_Worchester,  made  him  lor  High  Chancellor  of  England,  and 

len  John  Boucer  died,  sollicited  by  ye  mouncks  and  prlates  of 
•  y*  see,  advaunced  him,  metropolitan  and  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. 

When  he  was  thus  confirmed  an  Archbis.,  as  it  becometh  a 
good  pastor,  he  most  iudiciously  gouerned  the  church  and  ouer- 
looked  the  clergy,  appointing  a  Synode  in  the  yeare  1486,  in 
Paule's  Church  of  London,  whereunto  he  summoned  the  rest  of 
the  bishops,  and  many  other  prlats,  and  wherein  many  excellent 
matters,  as  is  well  knowne  upon  record,  weare  discussed,  and 
diuers  lawes  established,  espetially  against  the  clergie  of  London 
ff  or  theire  riotous  behaviour ;  if  or  their  frequenting  of  taverns 
and  cook  houses  more  often  and  unseemly  than  befitted  men  of 
their  rancke  j  ifor  their  weake  sermons  at  Paul's  crosse,  desisting 


66 

fro'  religion  and  true  diuinity,  and  filling  them  wth  unsauery 
stuffe  of  church  discipline,  and  veneration  of  preists ;  ffor  a 
contumacious  finding  fault  wth  the  absence  of  Bishops,  and  that 
before  the  laity  whoe  weare  naturally  proud,  and  ready  to  appre- 
hend, and  accuse  the  clergy,  and  take  exceptions  to  theire  mis- 
demeanors, all  wcl1  considered  the  Archbishop  inioyned  them, 
that  if  anything  fault-worthy  happened  amoungst  them  they 
should  first  complain  to  the  bishop  of  the  Dioces,  and  if  neither 
reformation  followed,  nor  punishment  were  orderly  inflicted, 
then  to  repaire  unto  him,  whoe  warranted  to  correct  them  most 
severely,  that  prsumed  on  theire  owne  greatnesse,  or  the  suppor- 
tation  of  others,  soe  that  he  would  receaue  the  blame  of  all, 
espetially  if  either  the  sermons  weare  not  framed  to  the  edifiing 
of  the  people,  or  the  Preacher  reformed  to  the  good  example  of 
others. 

While  these  things  weare  debated  in  theire  consistories,  there 
repayred  unto  them  certaine  lords  from  the  king,  namely  John 
Dinham,  lor  Treasurer  of  England,  John,  Eaiie  of  Oxford,  Tho. 
Earle  of  Darby,  whoe  weare  prsently  admitted  into  theire  con- 
claue,  and  declared  to  the  Archbishop  that  ffrancis  Duke  of 
Britan,  to  whom  King  Hen.  was  so  much  obliged,  and  fro* 
whome  he  receaued  such  hospitality,  was  in  some  distresse, 
as  misdoubting  the  ambition,  and  intrusion  of  ye  flrench  king, 
whoe  lay  a  long  time  in  waite  to  take  him  unprouided; 
wherefor  King  Hen.,  in  requitall  of  former  gratuities,  could 
doe  no  lesse  then  succour  and  assist  him,  wherein  he  was  to  craue 
the  beneuolences  of  his  subiects,  espetially  the  clergy,  to  whome 
he  now  sent  to  knowe  what  he  might  lawfully  demaund,  and  they 
willingly  affoerd.  Wch  the  Archbishop  fully  co'prehending,  he 
conferred  wth  his  brethren,  and  wthout  further  procrastination 
concluded  to  give  him  £25,000  sterling,  and  a  whole  demy. 
He  collected  a  great  sum  of  money  through  the  p'vince 
of  Canterbury,  but  wheither  as  a  subsidy  or  gratuity  I  disput 
not  upon,  wch  was  performed  wth  some  solemnity  of  words; 
"  ffor  the  glory  of  God  and  defence  of  the  Church  of  England  "  ; 
whereupon  out  of  the  Dioces  of  Canterbury  alone  (and  soe  for 


67 

the  rest  wee  may  easyly  gesse)  ther  weare  354  principals  numbred. 

Thus  living,  as  it  weare,  in  the  lap  of  fortune,  and  prosperity 
the  second  from  the  king,  and  wanting  nothing  wch  the  hart  of 
man  could  desire,  unless  (as  if  he  had  bin  borne  to  the  greatest 
honour)  the  times  afforded  to  affect  a  Cardinal's  hatt,  wch  wthin 
the  8  years  of  his  translation  he  p'cured.  He  was  sollenly 
invested  wth  y6  title  of  cardinall  of  St.  Anastasia,  and  by  Alex.  6, 
least  he  might  be  deferred  from  his  supreame  greatnes,  orderly 
enrowled  in  the  conclave  of  those  purple  robed  fathers. 

At  this  time  peradventure,  others  weare  inflamed  wth  this  new 
title  and  dignity,  espetially  Bichar,  Bish.  of  London,  wth  whome 
the  Archbishop  had  some  charable  controuuersies  about  the 
p'vingof  wills,  and  signing  of  testaments,  suggesting  that  he  was 
afraid  to  admit  of  this  cardinall  dignity,  as  mistrusting  that  he 
would  usurpe  the  full  authority  or  complement  of  Justice  (for  such 
weare  his  words),  and  yet  he  was  ready  upon  some  religious 
interposition  to  obtaine  the  same.  He  much  stomached  the 
com' on  people,  excommunicating  them,  I  know  not  upon  what 
contumacy,  and  rebellious  occasions,  ratining  to  posterity  that  if 
the  victory  weare  the  lesse  in  such  contentions,  he  might  be 
esteemed  the  better  for  the  goodnesse  of  the  cause ;  but  it  is 
now  convenient  to  pass  ouer,  then  com'emorate  these  things,  and 
therefore  I  will  come  to  other  matter. 

It  is  said  he  affected  Anselmus,  a  man  so  famous  in  the 
world  at  that  time,  as  it  was  disputable  wheither  his  piety  or 
learning  excelled,  in  soe  much  that  of  all  other  things  he 
endeauoured  whatsoeuer  it  cost,  to  canonise  him  a  sainte,  wch 
Hen.  7  likewise  went  about,  for  his  uncle  Hen.  6,  second  to  none 
of  his  p'decessor  kings  for  princelenesse  of  manner  and  sanctitie 
of  life,  to  wch  purpose  or  Morton  had  full  authority  to  examine 
his  actions  and  miracles,  and  render  a  true  relation  of  the  same  ; 
but  when  the  king  undertooke  that  it  must  cost  894,000  duccats 
he  very  indiciously  desisted  from  his  purpose. 

Not  long  after  Queene  Elizabeth  most  happily  brought  forth 
the  lady  Margarett,  her  eldest  daughter,  having  had  two  male 


68 

Princes  before.  She  was  christened  at  the  font  by  or  Morton, 
who  celebrated  the  memory  of  such  an  eternall  blessing,  as  if  he 
prsaged  she  should  proue  an  immortal  seminary  of  kings, 
(which  wee  hope  and  pray  for),  and  had  full  assurance  of  that 
future  good,  w611  we  now  participate,  ffor  fro'  her  hath  already 
sprung  a  race  of  illustrious  princes,  whose  daughter  p'ved  gran- 
mother  to  or  James  (wch  exceeds  all  the  rest)  the  monarch  of 
Great  Britaine. 

At  this  time  that  tumultuous  innouation,  and  seditious  rebellion 

of  the  Cornishmen  against  the  commo'wealth  began,  as  deniing 

the  payment  of  certaine  impositions  laied  upon  them  for  the 

Scottish    prparation,    inferring    their    pouerty,  and   that  they 

inhabited  the  barennest  place  in  the  kingdom,    getting  their 

lining  wth  extraordinary  trauell  and  toyle,  night  and  day  in  the 

mines.     Soe  y*  they  weare  able  to  disburse  no  more,  traducing 

for  the  same,  Cardinall  Morton  and  Eeginold  Bray,  because  they 

wear  the  king's  principal!  seruants  and  councellors  of  honorable 

trust  and  favour,  of  high  Authority  and  co'mand  in  the  gouern- 

ment,  and  of  such  espetiall  eminence  that  theire  very  names 

drowned  all  the  rest.     Against  these  was  all  the  outcry  of  the 

co'mons,  they  weare  only  threatened  and  rayled  upon,  as  the 

suckers  and  caterpillers  of  the  co'monwealth,  rather  then  wise 

councellers  and  faithful!  officers.      These  were  co'demned  to 

loose  theire  heads  after  the  manner  of  the  Romans  by  the  tearme 

of  more  maiorum,  and  thus  they  raged  against  them  as  parricides 

and  uultures  praying  upon  the  poore  and  oppressed ;    when  as 

in  truth  if  we  may  giue  creditt  to  all  histories  and  times,  these 

weare  such  as  restrained  the  insolency  and  corruption  of  others, 

presuming  to  much  on  the  king's  noble  demeanour  ;    yea  if  the 

king  himselfe  admitted  or  consented  to  anything  repugnant  to 

Justice ;    or  omitted  what  was  befitting  to  his  honour,  such  was 

the  sincerity  of  Morton  and  Bray  that  he  relied  upon  them  as 

reforming  censors,  and  well-appointed  councellours. 

But  this  is  the  error  of  ignorant  people,  and  the  madnesse  of 
a  rebellious  multitude,  demaunding  they  cannot  tell  what,  and 
accusing  they  know  not  whome ;  such  is  the  fortune  of  great 


men  in  corrupt  times,  that  let  them  behaue  therns,  neuer  sod 
well  they  shall  be  sure  of  enuiours. 

Whereupon  after  the  miserable  slaughter  of  these  Cornish- 
men,  and  that  the  fier  of  rebellion  seemed  quite  extinguished, 
the  Cardinal!  Morton,  well  stricken  in  years,  retired  himself  e  to 
his  priuate  house,  both  to  rebate  the  calumny,  and  reproach  of 
malitious  p'sons,  as  also  to  keep  open  hospitalitie  for  wellco'ming 
of  straingers  and  releeuing  the  poore ;  they  resorted  unto  his 
pallace  as  to  a  publicke  and  famous  Inn,  these  weare  wellco'med 
in  thousands,  and  still  depended  upon  him  for  Almes  and  susten- 
tation,  yea  all  weare  entertayned  wth  cheeref ullnesse  according  to 
the  Apostles  warrant,  whoe  co'mandeth  Bishops  to  be  har- 
borous  and  full  of  commiseration. 

By  chaunce  there  met  at  his  table  one  day,  amoungst  the  rest 
certaine  lawers,  and  a  traueller  wch  had  bin  out  of  England ;  the 
disputation  was  about  inflicting  theeves  wth  death,  he  co'mend- 
ing  the  iustice  and  seuerity  of  other  countries,  which  sometimes 
hung  20  togither  on  one  paire  of  gallowes,  prouing  it  was  a 
part  of  iustice  and  not  custome  to  doe  soe.  They  againe 
as  it  should  seeme  affirming  that  there  was  no  fundamental! 
position  of  scripture  or  Auncient  gouernment  to  confirm  it. 
At  last  the  Cardinall,  apprehending  what  was  alleeged  on  both 
sides,  played  the  moderator  betweene  them,  and,  with  a  binding 
voice,  concluded  the  matter,  by  saying  it  weare  most  necessary  to 
correct  such,  whome  neither  admonitions,  threatnings,  nor  lawes 
could  restraine  fro'  foule  perpetrations ;  euen  after  the  same 
manner  that  the  traueller  had  discouered  to  be  the  judgment  of 
other  cuntries,  to  the  wcil  he  added  that  Eoagues  and  vagabonds 
should  be  looked  unto  by  the  same  lawe,  wch  censure  was  well 
approued  of  by  the  companey ;  yet  one  amoungst  the  rest  seemed 
to  distinguish  concerning  these  sorts  of  Beggers,  affirming  that 
the  com'onwealth  might  well  p'vide  for  such,  whose  infirmities 
of  body  or  impotency  by  years  made  unfit  for  labour;  but  a 
stander  by,  some  table-follower,  jester,  or  parasite  replied,  that 
without  further  troubling  the  state  he  knew  a  way  how  this 
might  be  effected,  by  sending  all  the  beggers  who  were  sick  or 


70 

aged,  into  the  monisteries  of  the  benedicts,  that  soe  lay  men  might 
become  mouncks,  and  women  nunns  ;  whereat  the  Cardinal! 
laughed  prsently  as  approuing  the  iest.  This  shall  not 
serue  yr  turne,  said  a  certaine  holy  frier,  unlesse  you 
will  advise  how  wee  shall  be  likewise  p'vided  for.  Why, 
answered  the  iester,  this  is  sufficiently  p'f ormed  allready,  ffor  my 
lor  Cardinall  hath  well  ordered  the  matter  when  he  set  downe  how 
roagues  and  vagabonds  should  be  serued,  ffor  you  are  the 
greatest  vagabonds  and  wanderers  in  the  world.  Who,  we,  said 
the  ffrier.  Dost  thou  call  us  roagues  and  vagabonds  ?  Thou 
art  a  knaue,  a  rascall,  a  slanderer,  and  sonne  of  p'dition.  Wch, 
when  the  iester  p'ceaued  was  taken  in  such  ill  parte,  he  thought 
it  needlesse  to  exasperate  the  matter,  and  therefore,  more 
moderately  answered  "Good  father,  be  co'tented,  f  or  it  is  wrighten 
"you  must  possesse  yr  soules  in  patience."  I  am  not  angrie 
thou  naughty  pack,  answered  the  {frier,  or,  at  least,  I  sin  not, 
for  the  Psalmist  saith,  "Be  angry  and  ein  not."  Here  the 
Cardinall  advised  the  ffrier  to  be  more  moderate,  and  suppress  his 
fury.  No,  Lord,  said  he,  I  speak  but  out  of  a  good  zeale,  as  I 
ought,  for  holy  men  have  bin  this  way  transported  according  to 
the  saying  "  The  zeale  of  thy  house  hath  eaten  mee  up ;  "  and  y* 
is  sung  in  or  church.  The  Scoffers  of  Elisheus — while 
he  went  up  to  the  house  of  the  lor, — the  scoffers  of  his 
baldnesse,  were  punished,  as  this  "Eibauld,  scould,  and 
mocker  may  be.  Well!  answered  the  Cardinall,  you  may 
do  this  with  a  good  intent ;  but  surely  I  suppose  it  was  more 
religious,  yea  and  mannerly  wisdome,  not  to  contend  with  a 
foolish  man,  if  you  think  there  is  that  difference  betweene  you. 
No,  my  good  lor,  said  the  frier,  I  should  noe  manner  of  way  be 
the  wiser,  ffor  Sollomon  saith  "Answer  a  foole  according  to 
his  folly,"  as  I  doe  now,  shewing  him  the  ditch  in  wch  he 
must  needs  fall  if  he  take  not  heede,  for  if  the  many  scoffers 
of  Elisheus  who  was  only  one  balde  man  felt  the  curse  of  the  balde, 
how  much  more  shall  this  one  scoffer  of  all  friers,  amoungst 
whome  are  multitudes  of  balde,  be  punished  euerlastingly ; 
besides  wee  have  warrant  from  the  Pope  that  all  wch  deride  us 


71 

siialbe  excommunicated.  When  the  Cardinall  perceaued  that 
nothing  would  satisfie  or  apease  this  prating  frier,  he  beckoned 
to  the  other  to  holde  his  peace,  and  soe  administering  occasion  of 
better  taulke,  he  suddenly  rose  from  the  table,  dismissing  his 
guest,  and  applied  himself  to  the  hearing  of  poor  petitioners. 

I  haue  insisted  the  longer  on  this  relation,  either  because  I 
would  approue  Sr  Th.  More,  in  his  owne  words,  who  was  brought 
up  in  the  Cardinall's  house,  and  by  his  goodnesse  settled  in  the 
Universitie  of  Oxforde,  as  in  his  Utopia,  may  appeare,  out  of 
whose  larger  discourse  I  have  thus  abbreuiated  the  matter. 

Or  in  regard  of  the  euerlasting  memory  of  so  famous  a  Prelate 
by  whome  you  must  needs  be  the  more  graced,  and  as  it  weare 
tickled  wth  the  renowne  of  one  of  yr  affinitie,  name,  and  family, 
ffor  euen  Oxford  itselfe,  that  famous  TJnivrsity,  besides  the 
acknowledgement  of  many  receaued  benefits,  he  hath  adorned  her 
monuments  wth  his  armes  and  diuises  both  in  the  Pulpitt  of  St. 
Marie's,  the  Divinity  Schoole,  the  College  gates,  and  other  places 
of  eminency,  all  wch  make  full  demonstration  of  his  learning, 
vertue,  high  descent,  and  munificence  in  importing  great  matters 
unto  them. 

The  office  of  Chancellourshipp  wch  I  neuer  knew  conferred  on 
any  one  but  of  the  hiest  honour  and  worthynesse,  and  for  wch 
many  haue  laboured,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  as  a  matter  of 
great  consequence  and  glory,  the  Univrsity  itselfe  by  a  ginerall 
consent  prsented  unto  him,  wherein  he  demeaned  to  their  per* 
petuall  good,  and  his  owne  eternall  commendation  ;  bequeathing 
by  his  laste  will  and  testament  a  certain  some  of  £613  3s.  4d  p' 
an'um  for  the  maintenance  of  20  poor  schollers  at  Oxforde,  and 
10  at  Cambridg,  20  yeare  togither.  The  rest  of  his  substance 
he  bestowed  in  mainetaining  the  poore,  releiving  of  orphans,  pro- 
moting his  frionds  and  acquaintance,  honoring  his  kindred> 
enriching  his  family,  and  in  repairing  or  building  his  houses, 
and  public  edifices,  for  he  set  upright  his  palace  at  Lambeth, 
redy  to  fall.  He  built  the  Castle  by  Wisbich  euen  in  or  grand- 
father's dayes,  he  made  a  cawsway  in  the  fenne  for  the  better 
accom'odating  of  passengers,  and  enriching  the  towns,  by  wch 


72 

occasion  greate  concourse  of  people  weare  the  rather  induced  to 
fill  the  markets. 

By  this  time  age  steales  upo'  him ;  euen  to  the  usurpation  of  the 
last  period  of  his  life,  wch  brought  into  his  minde,  that  when  this 
mortality  was  to  be  put  off,  another  garment  of  happinesse,  and 
eternity  came  in  place  to  be  put  on,  wch  he  perceuing  not  far 
o^  made  his  last  will  and  testament  to  this  purpose  : — 

"  I,  John  Morton,  of  sound  memory  and  in  health,  thanks  be 
to  God,  both  of  body  and  minde,  meaditating  wth  myselfe  that 
there  is  a  necessitie  of  diing  imposed  upon  all  men,  and  that 
ther  is  nothing  soe  certaine  ;  nor  uncertaine  as  the  manner  and 
the  time.  Besides  acknowledging  that  ther  is  nothing  soe 
execrable  amoungst  men  as  to  neglect  religion,  or  their  owne 
duties,  wch  errour  many  sinners  fall  into,  and  by  reason  of  for- 
getting God  while  they  liued,  forget  the'selues  diing,  wch  to 
p'vent  as  far  as  grace  is  imparted,  I  thus  ordaine  my  last  will 
and  testament." 

In  this  many  legacies  and  reuenews  weare  disposed  of,  to  pub- 
licke  and  pious  uses  out  of  his  own  inheritance,  he  forgat  not 
Hen.  7,  his  last  lor  king,  and  illustrious  benefactour,  Queene 
Elizabeth  his  deare  lady  and  mistres,  the  Princes  Margett,  Count- 
eese  of  Richmond  the  king's  mother,  a  woman  of  exceeding  good 
parts ;  for  as  a  token  of  his  gratuity,  and  instigation  to  theire 
remembrance,  he  gave  to  the  king  aportuse*of  gould;  the  Queene, 
a  psalter  of  gould  ;  the  Princesse  theire  daughter  a  cupp,  wth  cer- 
taine tunnes,  and  £40  in  gold ;  to  Lady  Margett  Countesse  of 
Richmond  the  image  and  portrature  of  or  lady  in  pure  gold  ;  to 
the  See  of  Canterbury  his  miter  and  arche-episcopall  crosier ;  to 
his  seruants  and  dayly  wayters,  his  houshould  stuffe  ;  and  to  the 
diuine  mercy  he  co'mended  his  soule. 

Amoungst  other  things  he  gave  a  charge  for  the  celebration  of 
his  funerall,  wch  cost  10CO  marks  sterling,  and  that  they  should 

*  Breviary — Portuses  are  mentioned  among  other  prohibited  booke  in  the 
Stat  3  and  4  Ed.  VI.  c.  10,  and  in  the  Parliament  roll  of  7  Ed.  IV.  p.  40, 
there  is  a  petition,  that  the  robbing  of  Portcous—  Gray  ell,  Manuall,  &c., 
Bhould  be  made  felonie  without  clergy  ;  to  -which  the  King  answered  Le 
JRoy  s'avisera, 

"By  God  and  by  this  Portos  I  you  swere."—  Chaucer. 


73       , 

only  lay  a  plaine  marble  stone  on  his  grave,  wthout  further 
ostentation  of  a  magnificent  tombe.  His  heires  weare  Tho. 
and  John  Mortonf ,  his  brother's  sons,  and  his  executor  was  John 
ffinucks,  Cheif  Justice  of  the  King's  bench,  wth  other  of 
speatiall  note  among  the  clergy. 

Thus  died  in  the  lord  this  worthy  father  of  great  years  and 
famous  memory,  after  he  had  serued  three  kings,  wth  all  regard 
and  acceptation, 

was  renowned  for  piety, 
witt,   learning,    and  expe- 
rience,    honoured     for    his 
grauity,    and     places    of 
authority,  and  florished 
through  extraordinary 
loue    of    all    sorts 
beyond  any  of 
his   time, 

ffinis. 

Viuit  post  funera  virtus. 
f  Great  grandfather  of  Sir  George  Morton. 


THOMAS  KERSLAKE. 


|  HE  prospect  from  where  we  stand  is  one  of  those  that 
usually  take  rank  under  the  description  of  being  one 
of  the  finest  in  England ;  and  it  certainly  is  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  of  its  kind.  Other  considerable  towns  boast  of 
such  a  view  from  some  neighbouring  hill,  which  must  be  climbed 
to  see  it ;  few  towns  are,  like  this  of  Shaftesbury,  so  highly 
favoured  as  that  its  townsmen  should  be  able  to  step  over  their 
own  thresholds,  as  we  have  now  done,  into  such  a  glorious 
scene. 

But  to  such  a  party  as  the  present — the  Antiquarian  Field 
Club  of  the  county  of  which  we  now  actually  see  the  largest 
part — the  picture  has  an  interest  which,  though  not  so  obvious 
to  the  sight,  probably  rivals  that  which  is  more  directly 
presented  by  the  picture  itself.  Mr.  Barnes,  in  his  paper  just 
read,  has  done  me  the  honour  to  refer  to  an  example,  which  I 
was  once  so  fortunate  as  to  realize,  of  a  phenomenon  in  the  past 
social  condition  of  the  people  of  this  country,  of  which  I  think  I 
can  point  out  another  example  in  the  district  now  in  our  sight. 


75 

The  case  referred  to  was  that  of  Exeter  :*  within  which  city, 
we  had  been  told  by  William  of  Malmesbury,  that  King 
Athelstan  had  found  the  Cornish  Britons  and  the  English 
settlers,  living  side  by  side,  under  "  equal  law."  This  had  been 
interpreted,  by  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  Mr.  Kemble,  and  other 
historians,  as  shewing  that  the  river  Exe,  at  the  west  of  the 
city,  had  till  then  divided  the  two  nations.  But  an  examination  of 
the  still  surviving  dedications  of  the  churches  within  that  city  made 
it  evident  that  the  Britons,  having  been  pressed  by  their 
maritime  invaders  from  the  estuary,  had  maintained  their  hold 
upon  the  northern  half  of  the  city,  which  ^  as  divided  by  the 
Roman  Eoss-Way  from  the  southern  half  held  by  the  invading 
Saxons.  In  this  case  the  distinctive  Cornish  dedications  were 
St.  Petrock,  St.  Kerian,  St.  Pancras,  St.  Paul  (St.  Pol  de  Leon, 
a  Cornishman),  and  one  of  each  of  two  duplicate  Catholic  dedica- 
tions, St.  Mary  and  Allhallows. 


A  hard  and  fast  theory  has  almost  reached  the  warmth  of  a 
furor,  with  the  most  learned  of  our  historical  writers  of  later  years, 
that  the  present  English  nation  is  of  purely  Teutonic  ancestry-; 
that  "our  ancestors,"  as  they  delight  to  distinguish  the  intrud- 
ing German  nations,  "  entered  upon  a  land  whose  defenders  had 
forsaken  it "  f  :  that,  as  some  go  so  far  as  to  say.  the  Celtic 
populations  were  "  exterminated,"  leaving  to  their  subjugators 
little  or  nothing  more  than  ' '  the  means  of  reproducing  at  liberty 
on  new  ground  the  institutions  under  which  they  had  lived  at 
home."  The  same  unqualified  assertion  is  also  frequently  quoted, 

*Celt  and  Teuton  in  Exeter.  Archaoloqical  Journal  (Institute^  vol.  xxx., 
1874. 

t  Prof.  Stubbs,  Engl.  Const.  History.  If  the  question  upon  which  we 
are  engaged  had  belonged  only  to  the  learned,  such  a  declaration  from  so 
great  an  authority  would  have  silenced  our  enquiry  at  starting.  But,  as  we 
are  all  concerned  with  it,  the  appeal  is  open  to  us  from  things  that  are  writ- 
ten to  things  that  are. 


76 

as  being  that  of  another  very  learned  and  brilliant  writer ;  and 
he  seems  at  one  time  to  have  been  inclined  to  maintain  it  entire. 
It  is  not  fairly  a  matter  of  wonder  that  a  writer  whose  habit 
must  be  a  constant  review  of  the  raw  material  of  history,  over 
so  many  of  its  fields,  from  fresh  points  of  sight,  should  some- 
times start  a  newly-detected  principle  with  an  overstatement  of 
it ;  or  a  broad  announcement,  unqualified  by  its  exceptions.  As 
the  greyhound  and  the  hare,  so  the  eager  pursuer  of  an 
unobserved  principle  in  history  must  sometimes  double  back  upon 
the  truth  which  he  has  overrun.  At  any  rate,  upon  this  doctrine 
of  the  extermination  of  the  Britons,  the  eminent  writer  is  found  to 
have  either  reserved,  or  later  to  have  adopted,  a  very  material  quali- 
fication of  it ;  at  least  in  favour  of  Devon  and  a  part  of  Somerset,  f 
But  the  misfortune  of  having  disciples  is  that  they  are  unable 
to  afford  a  retreat ;  and  their  zeal  is  apt  to  make  a  firm  stand 
upon  the  first -made  assertion,  and  stoutly  maintain  its  literal  uni- 
versality, and  insist  upon  every  detail.  So  with  this  about  the 
extermination  of  the  Britons.  One  writer  says  that  "in  Britain 
the  priesthood  and  the  people  had  been  exterminated  together."  * 
The  same  writer  also  calls  it  "  a  world  which  our  fathers'  sword 
swept  utterly  away."  J  And  the  same  assertion  has  been  made 
the  starting  point  of  their  new  school  of  school  histories.  But 
compared  with  this  startling  assertion,  the  fabled  catastrophe 
which  a  conflict,  in  the  famous  city  of  St.  Canice,  entailed  upon  its 
partisans  would  itself  become  almost  credible ;  but  that,  unfortu- 
nately for  the  legend,  both  parties  survive.  Indeed,  the  city  of 
Kilkenny  presents  at  this  day  the  very  state  of  things  which  King 
Athelstan  brought  to  an  end  at  Exeter ;  for  there,  may  be  seen  two 
nationalities,  not  only  sharply  divided,  and  commonly  called  "Irish- 
town  "  and  "  English-town,"  but  so  marked  by  lettering  at  the 
street  corners  ;  and  a  walk  through  the  town  can  hardly  fail  to 
strike  a  stranger  with  other  indications  of  the  distinction.  A 

f  Freeman's  Hist,  of  Norman  Conquest,  2nd  Edn.,  i.  34,  and  in  various 
places  farther  on  in  his  -vrork.  Also  in  his  paper  read  at  Sherborne,  1874, 
en  "  King  Ine,"  Somerset  A.  &  N.  H.,  Soc.,  vol.  xx. 

*  Rev.  J.  R.  Green,  Short  Hist.,  p.  29 
J  Hist.  Engl.  People,  i.,  p.  32. 


77 

similar  state  of  tilings  nuy  also  be  sean  at  Gralway,  and  other 
great  town  s  in  Ireland. 

It  is  believed,  indeed,  that  this  theory ;  of  the  extermination  o 
the  Celtic  peoples  by  the  Teutonic  invaders,  or  their  almost  entire 
replacement  by  expulsion,  is,  even  in  its  more  qualified  form, 
very  much  beyond  the  truth :  especially  in  the  western  half  of 
the  English  speaking  portion  of  the  island :  that  at  least  the 
broad  substratum  of  the  rural  population,  and  that  of  the  non- 
commercial cities   and  towns,  retain  in  blood,  though  not  in 
speech,   a  very  large   Celtic   constituent.      Besides  this,    it  is 
thought    that    it    may  be    shown  that    there    are    scattered 
among  them  small,  and  perhaps  frequent,  insulations  of  undi  s 
turbed,  and  almost  unmixed  outliers  of  the  older  peoples.     Spite 
of  all  the,  attempts  to  suppress  it,  the  fact  is  obvious  that  much 
of  our  present  advanced  condition  in  the  world  and  our  persona 
character,  of  which  even  our  physiognomy  is  one  of  the  witnesses, 
have  been  derived  from  this  people.     Nearly  all  our  cities, 
especially  all  the  greatest  of  them,  have  come  down  from  them 
to  us  in  their  uninterrupted  vitality,   and  have  even  brought 
down  to  us  the  British  names  by   which  many  times  daily  we 
still  call  them.     These  are,  at  least,  rather  more  tangible  than 
the  townships  or  villages,  said  to  be  the  channel  through  which 
the  much  lauded  Forest  Institutions  have  been  transmitted  to  us 
from  North  Germany.      A  "  hatred  of  cities "  is   among  the 
almost  boasted  attributes  of  the  invaders.    But  are  the  founders — 
and  godfathers,  if  you  will — of  London,  York,  and  Exeter,  and 
the  others,  to  be  pushed  out  of  the  history  of  which  these  are  the 
most  illustrious  subjects  ;  by  the  parasite  or  episodical  history  of 
those  whom  for  politeness-sake  we  will  call,  unwelcome  guests  ? 
But  the  surviving  cities   are  few,  compared  with  the  much 
greater  number  of  equally  great  cities,  only  known   to  us  by 
their  stupendous  earthwork  ramparts ;  which,  even  to  us,  in  this 
engineering  age,  are  no    more  than    objects    of    wonder   and 
conjecture.     Of  most  of  these  the  very  names  have  been  totally 
lost  ;  and  the  fact  that  their  vast   areas  must  have  ever  been 
occupied    by    great  communities   of  men,   has  passed  out  of 


78 

memory,  and  almost  out  of  belief.*  But  this  oblivion  has  not 
been  the  fate  of  the  nation  itself.  Even  a  lost  child,  that  can 
speak  its  own  name,  may  be  restored  to  its  household  and 
kindred:  and  the  name  of  " Britain"  is  still  known  to  all  the 
world,  and  may  claim  its  place  in  the  history  of  the  only  land 
which  answers  to  it.  This  earlier  part  of  its  family  history  is, 
however,  obscure  and  difficult — its  nomenclature  crepitous  and 
unclassical — and  the  grapes  may  be  somewhat  sour  even  to  the 
fabricators  of  critical  crotchets ;  for  whom  it  may  be  a  conve- 
nience to  change  the  scene  of  the  first  act,  from  these  hazy  and 
mysterious  traces  of  devasted  greatness,  by  taking  a  stroll 
along  with  Tacitus  through  the  transmarine  "  Forests  of  the 
North."  But  any  such  attempt  to  exclude  so  much  as  may  be 
recovered  of  their  history  from  its  due  place  in  that  of  our  island, 
is  not  only  an  injustice  to  these,  our  joint  "  ancestors,"  but  a 
great  injury  to  ourselves,  who  have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of 
our  intimate  relation  to  them. 

But  were  even  the  villages  and  townships,  after  all,  imported 
from  Germany  ?  It  is  admitted  that  the  institution  of  royalty  was 
not  brought  over  with  the  invaders,  but  that  "  war  begat  the  king" 
after  they  arrived  without  him  and  credit  seems  to  be  claimed, 
for  "  our  ancestors"  of  the  sinister  half  of  our  pedigree,  for  the 

*  Of  the  fact,  that  the  greater  examples  of  what  are  now  only  known  as 
"  camps,"  were  identical  in  purpose  and  origin  with  those  that  have  sur- 
vived as  cities,  we  have  an  actual  comparative  exemplification  within  easy 
reach  of  us.  The  name  of  "  Maiden  Castle,"  Dorset,  is  common  to  it  and 
other  similar  places,  and,  however  ancient,  cannot  be  its  original  proper 
name,  but  a  later  descriptive  one.  Old  Sarum,  with  a  Christian  cathedral 
and  seven  or  eight  parish  churches,  is  historically  known  to  have  come  to 
the  same  complection.  But  the  identity  of  purpose — that  they  are  in  r'act 
skeletons  of  two  individuals  of  one  species — is  self  evident  to  any  one  who 
walks  around  the  stupendous  ramparts  of  both.  Exeter,  more  happy,  still 
lives  as  one  of  our  brightest  cities.  Its  British  earth  ramparts,  surmounted 
by  Saxon  and  Norman  stone  walls,  had  similar  precipitous  outer  ditches ; 
filled  up  for  modern  convenience  within  recorded  time.  Its  name  also  is  its 
British  proper  name,  compounded  with  its  Roman  suffix,  and  both  fused 
into  the'Saxon  form,  as  we  now  speak  it.  The  site  shews  the  same  principle 
of  selection  as  the  others ;  and  remains  of  the  same  method  of  defence  are 
still  visible.  What  has  kept  it  alive  to  our  time  is  the  accidental  possession, 
in  addition  to  the  requirements  of  ics  founders,  of  those  of  mediaeval  and 
modern  life :  a  navigable  tidal  estuary,  a  metropolitical  position,  and  a 
salubrious  climate. 

Here,  at  anyrate,  are  three  great  cities,  of  co-ordinate  and  probably  con- 
temporaneous origin :  But  see  their  various  subsequent  fortunes, 


79 

invention,  in  their  new  home,  of  this  keystone  of  a  system,  which 
it  is  contended  that  they  brought  complete  and  unshaken  without 
it,  across  the  seas,  in  their  ships.  It  is  no  disparagement  of  our 
German  ancestors  to  ask  the  question,  whether  they  did  not  adopt 
a  framework  which  they  found,  or  reconstructed  upon  ruins 
which  themselves  had  made  ?  Among  the  most  specious  explana- 
tions of  the  possession  of  the  property  of  others,  and  sometimes 
a  valid  one ;  is,  the  taking  care  of  it,  or  the  repairing  of  it — 
even  the  repair  of  the  injuries  received  by  its  conveyance  :  and 
one  of  the  strongest  tokens  of  political  sagacity  is  to  adapt,  to 
the  wants  of  the  present  and  future,  the  upshot  of  the  past  that 
has  grown  up  to  its  work.  This  seems  to  have  been  an  instinct  of 
both  of  the  two  largest  of  our  progenitor  nationalities  ;  and  it  is 
among  the  happy  results  of  it  that  we  still  live.  Referring, 
however,  to  the  numerous  material  evidences  already  mentioned, 
of  great  municipalities  scattered  over  the  land ;  the  absence  of  a 
corresponding  apparatus  for  the  occupation  and  rule  of  the  wide 
rural  territory,  would  have  been  a  vacuum  intolerable  in  social 
•nature,  and  to  any  conception  of  it.  These  claims,  on  the  part 
of  our  indigenous  ancestors,  are  not  meant  to  detract  from  the 
merits  of  those  of  the  foreign  accession.  We  owe  much  of  what 
we  are  to  both :  many  of  what,  without  ostentation,  we  may  call 
our  virtues  :  and  among  these  we  have  derived  from  both  that 
sense  of  justice  which  forbids  us  to  withhold  our  acknowledgments 
from  either ;  and  which,  it  is  hoped,  dictates  the  words  upon 
this  page.  What  is  here  being  written  is  not  in  detraction  of 
our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors.  These  have  had  more  able  defenders : 
whose  zeal,  however,  has  sometimes  tempted  them  beyond  the 
just  limits  of  that  office,  into  that  of  excessive  laudators. 

However  this  may  be,  the  crude  and  undiscounted  doctrine  has 
gone  out  as  the  only  one  to  be  taught  for  the  future  ;  and  this 
evolved  theory  is  promoted  with  all  the  zeal  of  a  religious  propa. 
ganda.  The  earlier  history  of  our  island — not  only  the  Celtic 
but  even  the  Roman  scenes  upon  it — an  essential  section  of  the 
history  of  the  English  People,  is  ignored,  or  even  prohibited, 
in  school  books ;  as  being  that  of  nations  that  are  positively 


80 

foreign  to  us.  The  history  of  our  own  nation  is  on  the  contrary 
made  to  begin  upon  the  European  continent,  and  only  tolerated 
as  beginning  here  with  the  Teutonic  invasion  ;  and  the  books,  in 
which  this  mutilation  has  been  submitted  to,  are  lauded  in 
journals  that  seem  to  have  that  special  purpose :  whilst  every 
phenomenon  that  demonstrates  our  present  relation  to  the 
subjugated  races,  is  not  only  eagerly  controverted  but  actively 
stifled. 


It  is  now  intended  to  give  some  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
group  of  mountainous  hills,  which  bounds  this  prospect  to  the 
south,  and  which  covers  a  large  portion  of  the  southern  district 
of  Dorset,  is,  or  has  been  until  comparatively  recent  times,  one 
of  the  unabsorbed  insulations,  above  referred  to,  of  this  more 
ancient  people  ;  by  the  help  of  indications  that  are  in  like 
manner  also  found,  in  other  such  hilly  fastnesses  naturally 
favouring  this  condition. 

At  one  of  the  earlier  stages  of  the  invasion  of  Britain  by  the 
West  Saxons,  these  occupied  the  broad  valley  which  lies  before 
us,  now  known  as  the  Yale  of  Blackmore  ;  and  during  more 
than  one  hundred  years  it  must  have  continued  to  be  their  most 
western  possession.  The  record  of  this  is  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle.  Their  first  landing  had  been  more  than  fifty  years 
still  earlier  (A.D.  495),  at  a  place,  called  after  Cerdic,  the  leader 
"  Cerdices  ora,"  which  has  been  variously  explained  as  Charford, 
Yarmouth,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Hamble  in  Southampton 
Water  ;  but  more  probably  was  Hengistbury  Head  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Salisbury  Avon :  along  the  valley  of  which  river  they 
continued  their  fiercely  contested  advance,  until  in  A.D.  552 


81 

they  had  taken  Sarum.  So  that  until  A.D.  658,  when  they  first* 
entered  Somersetshire,  by  piercing  the  other  chain  of  hills  to 
our  right,  this  vale  must  have  been  at  their  command. 

Among  the  short  and  compressed  notes,  of  which  the  earlier 
pages  are  made  up,  of  that  unique  national  record  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  Chronicle,  these  two  occur  under  the  years  552  and  658, 
as  almost  all  the  history  of  England  for  those  two  years. 

"An.  DLII.  Now  Kynric  fought  with  the  Britons  at  the  place 
that  is  called  Searobyrig  [Salisbury]  and  made  them  fly." 

"An.  DCLVIII.  Now  Kenwalch  fought  set  Peonnum  [at 
Pointington,  north  of  Sherborne,]  with  the  Welsh  and  made 
them  fly  as  far  as  the  Parret." 

Although  above  a  hundred  years  apart,  the  relation  of  these 
two  annals  to  each  other  is  almost  self-evident :  and  that  during 
the  century  which  intervened,  from  the  year  when  the  Britons 
fled  to  the  Parret,  a  stage  farther  westward,  from  the  chain  of 
hills  to  our  left,  that  constitutes  the  natural  division  of  Dorset  and 
Somerset,  the  extensive  plain  which  lies  before  us  was  occupied 
by  their  "West-Saxon  invaders.  This  would  be  the  case  at  what- 
ever point  of  the  western  hill  frontier  they  may  have  penetrated 
Somerset.  Some  have  said  this  was  by  way  of  Penselwood.  It 
has  however  been  shown  f  that  they  must  have  entered  the  hill- 
frontier  from  Gillingham,  about  where  the  South-Western  Kail- 
way  now  enters  ;  and,  having  fought  the  Britons  on  Pointington 
Down,  drove  them  along  the  valley  of  the  Camel  and  the  Yeo, 
until  this  river  joins  the  Parret  at  Langport.  During  the  same 
interval,  as  shown  by  intermediate  annals  of  the  Chronicle,  they 
made  other  great  advances  north  of  Sarum ;  but  our  present  con- 
cern is  with  this  on  the  west.  It  is  now  intended  to  shew  that, 
when  they  passed  on  to  the  conquest  of  Somerset,  they  left  that 
southern  hill  district  unsubdued :  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 

*  That  this  was  the  first  occupation  of  any  part  of  Somerset  by  the 
invaders,  has  already  been  shown  in  "  A  Primaeval  British  Metropolis," 
(Bristol,  1877,  pp.  45-57).  But  as  the  assertion,  that  the  conquest  of  the 
Gloucestershire  Cotswolds,  A.D.  577,  included  the  north  part  of  Somerset, 
is  still  persisted  in ;  a  particular  examination  of  Dr.  G-uest's  topographical 
suggestions,  by  which  it  has  been  said  to  be  demonstrated,  is  intended  on  a 
future  occasion. 

t  Ibid.,  pp.,45,  etseq. 


that  all  southern  Dorset  and  east  Devon  was  not  conquered  until 
long  after ;  was  perhaps  never  conquered  in  a  military  sense, 
although  afterwards,  no  doubt,  more  quietly,  politically  assimi- 
lated or  absorbed.  But  the  exempted  district,  here  intended  to 
be  denned,  is  a  still  smaller  and  more  permanent  one.  It  not 
only  turned  aside  the  tide  of  the  earlier  conquest,  but  obtained  a 
long  continued  recognition  of  its  own  separate  existence ; 
remained,  until  comparatively  recent  time,  like  some  others  of 
the  kind,  a  sort  of  Little  Wales;  analogous  to  the  greater 
Wales,  which  has  conspicuously  retained  that  name  and  its 
own  distinct  language  to  this  day. 


Among  the  dedications  of  churches  in  Dorset,  only  three  are 
found  that  are  Celtic,  and  common  to  those  of  that  nationality 
that  are  now  in-  Devon  and  Cornwall ;  and  these  three  are  all  in 
the  southern  part  of  Dorset.  They  are  at  Milton  Abbey,  Alton 
Pancras,  and  Winterborn  Farringdon  or  St.  German.  If  the 
latter  is  included,  we  must  however  comprehend  the  southern 
range  of  high  downs  between  Dorchester  and  the  sea ;  which 
did  probably  share  the  exemption  from  the  early  military  con- 
quest, but  not  the  continued  smaller  and  specially  recognised 
exemption  here  to  be  proposed.  Milton  and  Alton,  however, 
have  Damnonian  dedications  which  are  most  certainly  distinc- 
tive, and  within  the  smaller  hilly  district  itself. 

The  dedication  of  Milton  is  almost  a  history  of  itself.  It  is 
one  of  the  compound  or  stratified  class  that  have  accumulated 
with  enlargements  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  addition  of  new 
altars  :  St.  Mary,  St.  Michael,  St.  Samson,  and  St.  Branwallader. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  before  it  became  an  Abbey,  there 
was  already  a  sanctuary  here  in  the  name  of  St.  Samson,  upon 
which  the  other  names  have  afterwards  been  accumulated.  Such 
is  always  found  to  have  been  the  case,  when  one  of  the  names  of 


a  joint  dedication  is  that  of  a  primooval,  national,  or  local  saint. 
In  most  cases  the  local  name  has  yielded  entirely  to  the  pressure 
and  disappeared  altogether ;  drowned  out  by  the  more  Catholic 
or  Hierarchal  system.  The  time  came  when  a  Catholic  or  cen- 
tralizing policy  became  more  active  in  the  church,  to  which 
these  local  associations  were  felt  to  be  repugnant;  and  these 
provincial  and  national  names,  upon  which  sanctity  had  been 
rather  conferred  by  popular  estimation  than  by  official  church 
authority,  were  discouraged  or  actually  forbidden,  under  the 
pretext  that  they  were  barbarous ;  as  indeed  they  may  have 
seemed  when  the  intercourse  with  foreign  churches,  and  the  pre- 
ferments of  foreign  clergy  to  English  churches  became  more 
prevalent.  In  some  cases,  however,  the  older  name  was 
tolerated,  but  in  a  subordinate  place ;  either  as  a  politic  con- 
cession to  the  veneration  of  the  neighbours,  whose  offerings 
were  still  worth  having,  or  some  of  whose  contracts  stipulated 
a  fulfillment  or  payment  before  the  proper  altar  or  shrine  of  the 
local  patron.  Tavistock  had  the  shrine  of  St.  Rumon  or  Ruan : 
but  on  becoming  a  large  monastic  foundation,  the  dedication 
became  St.  Mary  and  St.  Eumon.  In  like  manner  Bodmin 
became  St.  Mary  and  St.  Petrock.  The  same  happened  to  the 
Teutonic  dedications  as  well  as  the  Celtic.  Thus  Ely  became  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Etheldreda :  Croyland,  St.  Mary,  St.  Bartholomew, 
and  St.  Ghithlac :  and  many  others. 

St.  Samson  was  a  Cornishman  by  birth  or  family,  and  was  a 
kinsman  of  the  St.  Pol.,  Bishop  of  Leon  in  Armorican  Britain, 
already  mentioned  as  being  among  the  dedications  in  the 
British  part  of  Exeter.  St.  Samson  was  also  Bishop  of  Dol 
in  Armorica,  where  the  church  of  Dol  itself,  and  others  in  that 
province,  and  in  Breton  Normandy,  are  under  the  tutelage  of  his 
name.  He  has  also  a  church  in  Guernsey,  one  in  Scilly,  and  two 
in  Cornwall.  Two  near  the  borders  of  Wilts  and  Gloucestershire, 
at  Cricklade  and  at  Colesbourne.  Before  he  fled  to  Armorica  he 
is  reputed  to  have  been  the  last  British  Bishop  of  York,  who  was 
driven  thence  by  the  pagan  Angles ;  and  in  the  city  of  York 
there  is  still  a  church  of  St.  Samson,  which  is  the  only  one  in 


84 

either  England  or  Wales,  besides  those  already  mentioned  that 
are  all  confined  to  this  south-western  .-promontory.* 

This  dedication  of  Milton  Abbey  is  therefore  a  curious  example 
of  these  accumulated  ones.  The  other  name,  St.  Branwallader, 
is  quite  unique.  It  is  evidently  a  British  name,  but,  although  it 
is  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  records  of  British  saints,  he  is 
entered  as  a  "  confessor  "  under  January  18  in  two  Anglo-Saxon 
Calendars ;  one  of  them,  said  to  be  one  of  the  earliest  English 
Calendars  extant,  appears  to  have  been  compiled  at  Winchester 
in  the  first  half  of  the  eleventh  century.  Again,  in  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  catalogue  of  the  shrines  in  England,  written  about  the 
same  time,  Milton  Abbey  is  said  to  have  had  the  head  of  St. 
Brangwalator,  Bishop;  and  the  arm  and  staff  ("erice")  of  St. 
Samson,  Bishop.  William  Worcester  (A.D.  1480)  was  told,  by 
John  Burges  a  Dominican  friar  at  Exeter,  that  St.  Brandwell- 
anus,  a  king's  son  and  confessor,  was  buried  at  Branston,  eight 
miles  from  Axminster ;  probably  Branscombe  near  Sidmouth. 
But  Branscombe  has  now  the  dedication  of  St.  Winfred,  the  birth 
name  of  St.  Boniface,  a  Saxon  native  of  Damnonia.  Serenus 
»Cressy  describes .  Branwallader  as  a  "holy  bishop,  "but  "un- 
known;" and  he  is  mentioned  as  "S.  Brampalator  episcopus" 
in  Leland's  abstract  of  another  catalogue  of  shrines  in  England. 

As  to  the  added  dedication  of  St.  Michael,  all  that  can  be  said 
is,  that  it  is  not  uufrequent  in  Cornwall,  is  numerous  in  Devon, 
Somerset,  Dorset,  and  throughout  Wales ;  but  then,  as  it  is  also 
abundant  throughout  England,  choosing  the  greatest  elevations, 
and  in  level  counties,  such  as  Lincolnshire,  being  satisfied  with 
even  such  moderately  high  points  as  they  offer,  this  one  at 
Milton  cannot  be  quoted  as  distinctive  of  race.  But  St.  Michael 
is  certainly  a  favourite  Celtic  dedication.  In  Wales  it  is  the 
rival  of  St.  Mary  in  frequency  ;  and  its  great  frequency  in  some 
parts  of  English  England  may  be  partly  due  to  the  continuations  of 

*  It  is,  however,  just  possible  that  the  two  St.  Samson  dedications  at 
Colesbourne  and  Cricklade  may  in  some  way  be  reflections  of  his  connection 
•with  York,  through  Archbishop  Aldred's  (A.D.  1061-1069)  dealings  with 
Gloucestershire  benefices.  Both  seem  to  be  second  or  subordinate  benefices, 
as  if  they  had  been  chapelries  or  detachments  from  original  benefices. 


85 

it  being  much  tolerated  by  the  Teutonic  and  Catholic  super-strata 
as  exempt  from  the  imputation  of  barbarism  or  nationality.* 
Besides  this,  the  heights  which  it  affected  are  likely  to  have  con- 
tinued "Welsh  until  later  and  Christian  times.  St.  Michael  is 
usually  a  short  expression  of  "St.  Michael  and  All  Angels," 
and  Welsh  places  so  dedicated  are  often  called  "  Llanvihangel. " 
St.  Gabriel  is  very  uncommon,  and  St.  Raphael  almost  absent, 
in  the  old  dedications  of  England  and  Wales. 

St.  Mary,  with  her  precedence  of  the  others  in  the  dedication 
of  Milton,  is  of  course  the  crowning  expression  of  the  later 
Catholic  and  monastic  supremacy  over  those  of  tribal  or  local 
origin. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  tha,t  Athelstan  found  the  Celtic 
dedications  already  associated  with  the  spot  which  he  chose. 
But  it  is  not  the  mere  survival  of  the  two  Celtic  dedications  of 
Milton  that  is  its  most  notable  circumstance.  This  it  shares 
with  many  other  outlying  Celtic  remains  of  the  like  nature,  in 
those  various  parts  of  English  England,  that  may  also  therefore 
be  suspected  to  have  been  insulated  nationalities.  To  this  is  to 
be  added  the  well  authenticated  fact,  that  the  same  Athelstan,  to 
whom  is  credited  the  policy  of  finally  driving  his  British  sub- 
jects from  among  his  own  Anglian  and  Saxon  people,  to  beyond 
certain  assigned  frontiers  ;  at  this  place  he  is  observed  to  have 
actively  encouraged  the  British  nationality.  It  is  recorded  by 
various  ancient  authorities,  and  with  variations  that  bespeak  a 
certain  amount  of  independence  among  them,  that  when  he 
founded  the  Abbey  upon  what  we  have  assumed  to  have  been  a 
pre-existent  sanctuary  of  some  kind,  he  bought  and  placed  there 
many  reliques  of  the  Damnonian  saints  from  transmarine  Britain 
or  Armorica;  among  which  the  most  distinguished  were  the  bones 

*  A  place  on  the  Wiltshire  Avon,  about  three  miles  north-east  of  Stone- 
henge,  has  the  dedication  St.  Michael,  and  is  called  Fighelden.  It  would 
be  a  brilliant  triumph  of  Professor  Rbys's  consonant  mutation  test  of  chro- 
nology, if  the  change  of  "  Michael  "  into  "  Fighel  "  would  shew  us,  how 
late  must  have  been  the  time  when  the  people  at  this  place  in  the  midst  of 
Salisbury  Plain  changed  themselves  from  Welshmen  "to  Englishmen.  It 
sounds  in  neighbouring  mouths  something  like  "  Foyle,"  and  "  Foyle  " 
is  a  surname  there. 


86 

of  the  "  Most  Blessed  Samson"  himself,  who  was  was  formerly 
Archbishop  of  Dol.* 

This  at  Milton  is  not  the  only  example  of  Athelstan's  muni- 
ficence to  monasteries  among  his  Damnonian  subjects.  In  like 
manner  he  endowed  and  enlarged  those  at  St.  Burien  and 
Bodmin.  He  appointed  the  native  Conan  as  Bishop  of  Corn- 
wall; and  was  a  benefactor  to  the  monasteries  at  Exeter,  at 
Axminster,  and  others  in  this  Celtic  district ;  for  so,  no  doubt,  to 
a  great  extent  it  still  was.  Thus,  in  accordance  with  his 
imperial  maxim,  "  Grloriosius  regem  facere  quarn  regem  esse," 
he  abandoned  the  long-continued  fruitless  endeavour  to  exter- 
minate, and,  contenting  himself  with  reserving  the  submission  of 
their  rulers  and  the  exaction  of  tribute,  tolerated  within  certain 
frontiers  their  self-government,  and  promoted  their  institutions.  It 
was  qualified  by  this  policy  of  conciliation  that,  as  actually  recorded, 
he  appointed  the  Wye  as  the  boundary  of  the  Cambrian  Welsh,  and 
the  Tamar  as  that  of  the  Welsh  of  Damnonia :  that  is,  of  those 
of  them  who  chose  to  continue  under  their  own  national  institu- 
tions. But,  although  these  two  are  historically  mentioned,  as 
being  among  the  most  prominent  examples ;  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  many  smaller  outlying  Celtic  communities,  that  he 
found  in  a  state  of  concentration,  mostly  perhaps  in  hilly  dis- 
tricts, were  treated  by  him  in  like  manner. 

The  recorded,  and  similarly  confirmed,  case  of  Exeter  :  that 
Athelstan  actually  found  a  separate  Welsh  community,  living  on 
equal  terms  side  by  side  with  a  Saxon  one,  within  the  walls ; 
is  a  testimony,  that,  in  spite  of  all  endeavours  of  his  prede- 
cessors to  suppress  it,  such  a  social  state  existed  down  to  his 
time.  But  his  having  expelled  and  driven  them  beyond  the 
Tamar,  although  an  exception  to  his  magnanimous  policy,  is  not 
a  contradiction  of  it.  We  are  not  without  examples  in  our  own 
times  of  disorders  arising  from  the  existence,  within  the  walls 
of  towns  or  cities,  of  two  nationalities  or  even  of  two  religions ; 
but  this  expulsion  would  not  have  been  so  easy  with  a  more  open 
concentration ;  nor  so  necessary  where  the  two  peoples  were  not 
*  Will.  Malmeeb.  de  Gestis  Pontt.,  Lib.  n.  85. 


87 

forced  together  by  such  narrow  and  inflexible  limits.  This 
severe  policy,  being  unnecessary  for  the  indefinite  and  elastic 
limits  of  a  country  community,  we  here  find  the  more  liberal 
policy  of  the  Saxon  king  not  only  predominant,  but  taking  the 
form  of  active  conciliatory  encouragement. 

In  fact,  besides  being  able  to  define  Athelstan's  toleration 
or  protection  of  this  as  a  Welsh  district ;  we  seem  to  be  able, 
out  of  this  very  case,  to  reconstruct  an  example  of  his  manipu- 
lation in  carrying  it  into  effect.  We  have  already  seen  William 
Worcester's  record  of  a  tradition,  which  he  had  at  Exeter  from 
the  Friar  John  Surges,  that  Brandwellan  =  Branwallader  was 
buried  at  Branston=Branscombe,  eight  miles  from  Axminster. 
This  Branscombe  was  bequeathed  by  King  Alfred  to  his  second 
son  Edward  the  Elder,  the  father  of  Athelstan.  We  next  find 
Branscombe,  among  the  formerly  alienated  manors,  recovered  for 
Exeter  Cathedral  by  Bishop  Leofric ;  and  at  this  day  it  still 
belongs  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter.  Here  we  almost  see  Athel- 
stan's hand  at  work  in  Saxonizing  that  broader  district  of  East 
Devon  and  South  Dorset,  which  as  already  suggested,  had 
escaped  the  earlier  conquest ;  and  reducing  his  Welsh  exception 
to  the  smaller  and  stricter  limit  above  defined.  In  the  course  of 
this  process,  he  includes  this  patrimonial  manor  in  his  muni- 
ficent endowment  of  his  monastery  at  Exeter ;  and,  although 
leaving  the  name  of  the  local  British  saint  in  the  name  of  the 
place,  removes  his  shrine  to  that  of  St.  Samson  at  Milton,  in  his 
tolerated  Welsh  district ;  and  the  Church  at  Branscombe  receives 
a  new  altar  in  the  name  which  it  still  retains  ;  that  of  the  great 
West  Saxon  St.  Winfred,  the  first  Bishop  of  Mainz,  who  was 
still  commemorated  in  the  church  at  Exeter  to  which  he  had 
belonged. 

About  six  miles  west  of  Milton,  among  the  same  crest  of  hills, 
this  continued  British  nationality  is  further  confirmed  by  a 
second  dedication,  at  Alton  Pancras.  Not  that  this  is  of  tribal 
or  non-Catholic  origin,  but  it  has  manifestly  become  Damnonian 
or  Cornu-British  by  adoption.  In  truth  this  island  has  received 
two  distinct  inoculations  of  the  name,  St.  Pancras.  A  later  one 


88 

than  what  concerns  us  was  brought  into  post-British  England 
by  St.  Augustine,  who  so  dedicated  the  chapel,  now  a  ruin, 
between  the  monastery  of  St.  Augustine  and  the  primseval  church 
of  St.  Martin,  at  Canterbury;  a  church,  the  Roman-British 
origin  of  which  is  an  undoubted  historical  fact.  There  is  a 
repetition  of  St.  Pancras  in  Kent,  between  Dover  and  Canter- 
bury, at  Coldred  by  Sibertswold.*'  Two  St.  Pancrases  in  London 
may  be  attributed  to  Augustine's  companion,  Mellitus,  the  first 
Bishop  of  London.  There  are  also  three  in  Sussex ;  and  one  at 
Wroot  in  North  Lincolnshire.  This  last  is  probably  due  to 
Oswiu  of  Northumbria,  to  whom  Pope  Vitalian  sent  reliques  of 
the  Roman  Pancras.  It  is  most  likely,  however,  that  these  two 
distinct  importations  of  this  name — the  Roman-English  of  St. 
Augustine,  and  the  British  of  Damnonia — are  commemorations 
of  two  different  Catholic  saints,  of  the  same  name,  of  two 
different  ages.  That  of  the  east  of  England  was  of  course  the 
Roman  one  of  the  fourth  century ;  whose  day,  in  the  Roman 
calendar,  is  May  12.  This  patron  of  so  many  churches  in  West 
Britain,  was  more  likely  to  have  been  the  earlier  one  ;  said  to 
have  been  made  a  Bishop  and  sent  into  Sicily  by  the  Apostle 
St.  Peter,  and  martyred  at  Taormine  in  the  first  century. f  He 
does  not  appear  in  western  calendars,  but  is  found  in  the  Greek 
Menologium  under  February  9.  Another  curious  example  of  a 
prse-Saxon  Catholic  dedication  seems  to  have  puzzled  Augustine 
and  Gregory,  at  finding  it  already  in  Britain  before  their 
mission.  Instead  of  their  own  Roman  Martyr,  Pope  Sixtus 
(Aug.  6),  to  whom  they  took  substantial  care  to  appropriate  it, 
he  may  have  been  St.  Sextus,  a  Sicilian  Martyr  (Dec.  31),  or  St. 
Sixtus,  an  Apostle  of  the  Gauls  (Sept.  1).  The  preference  of 
the  British  Christians  for  the  eastern  calendars  is  confirmed 
by  another  example  ;  the  frequent  occurrence  in  the  dedications 
of  Cornwall,  Devon,  and  Wales,  of  the  martyrs  SS.  Julitta  and 
Cyricius  :  =  Syriac  in  Cornwall,  =  Cyres  in  Devon,  =  Curig  in 
Wales. 

*  Ferrostraticb  "  Shepherdswell." 

t  Baronii  Ann.  A.D.  44,  quoting  Metaphrastes. 


89 

At  any  rate  there  is  a  distinctly  separate  geographical  area  of 
a  St.  Pancras  over  the  south-west  of  England,  all  in  the  Dam- 
nonian  province ;  which  must  therefore  be  attributed  to  this 
earlier  Celtic  transmission.  The  intimate  intercourse  of  the  Dam- 
nonian  and  Armorican  peoples,  and  their  apostles  or  missionaries 
needs  only  to  be  referred  to.  The  same  dedications  and  place 
names  that  are  found  in  one  are  constantly  repeated  in  the  other ; 
including  this  of  S.  Pancratius.  The  western  insular  ones  of  St. 
Pancras  are : — Five  in  Devon,  and,  although  none  have  been 
found  within  Cornwall,  two  of  these  are  on  the  Tamar,  north  and 
south ;  and  one  of  them  is  in  the  group  of  dedications  within 
Exeter  that  marks  the  prse-Athelstan  Celtic  quarter  of  that  city. 
One  is  in  the  Dartmoor  highlands,  where  Celtic  blood  still  pre- 
dominates. Although  another  Devon  one  is  on  the  border  of 
Dorset,  east  of  Axmouth,  the  only  one  within  Dorset  is  this  at 
Alton,  about  which  we  are  now  engaged.  In  Gloucestershire  was 
an  anciently  extinct  chapel  of  St.  Pancras  attached  to  Winchcombe 
Abbey,  and  another,  an  extinct  parish  now  absorbed  into  Marsh- 
field  ;  but  none  throughout  Cambrian  Wales  ;  nor  elsewhere  in 
England  besides  the  Roman  ones  above  recited,  except  "  Pencrich 
Hall,"  formerly  at  Oxford;  which,  if  a  " Pancras,"  would  of 
course  be  only  a  reflected  provincial  association,  like  Exeter 
College  and  Lincoln  College  are  now. 

The  community  of  these  Damnonian  saints  with  those  of 
Armorica,  or  the  continental  Britain  of  the  opposite  coast  of  the 
English  Channel,  comes  very  distinctly  into  view  in  a  Litany, 
printed  from  a  MS.  of  the  tenth  century  in  the  Vetera  Analecta 
of  Mabillon,  and  reprinted  by  Messrs  Haddan  and  Stubbs.* 
Among  the  saints  suff raged  in  this  Litany  are  "S.  Pancrate," 
"S.  Samson,"  "  S.  Branwalatre,"  and  "  St.  Jullita;"  and, 
although  not  so  narrowly  national,  "S.  Germane,"  the  name 
with  which  we  are  next  concerned. 


*Councils,  n.,  p.  8L 


90 

There  is,  about  ten  miles  southward  from  the  two  already 
noticed,  another  dedication  connected  with  prse-Saxon  Britain, 
and  which  is  found  not  only  in  Cornwall,  but  in  other  parts  of 
the  island  where  Celtic  associations  survive.  This  is  at  Farring- 
don,  or  Winterborne  St.  German.  Of  this,  although  the  church 
is  a  ruin,  it  has  still  so  much  vitality  as  to  confer  upon  the  Rev. 
W.  Barnes  the  venerable  dignity  of  a  Pluralist.  We  must,  how- 
ever hesitate  to  include  this  within  that  compact  ideal  limit  of 
the  district  recognised  by  Athelstan.  True,  it  was  fortified  from 
the  perils  of  the  coast  by  the  great  natural  rampart  of  the 
southern  downs  of  Dorset,  but  is  separated  from  the  hilly  group 
above  described  by  the  valley  of  the  Frome  and  Piddle.  It 
would  also  include  the  town  or  city  of  Dorchester,  too  important  to 
have  been  comprehended  in  such  a  toleration  or  concession.  No 
doubt  it  shared,  with  the  south  of  Dorset  and  the  south-east  of 
Devon,  of  which  the  St.  Pancras  already  mentioned  near 
Axmouth  is  another  witness,  an  exemption  from  the  earliest 
western  progress  of  the  West  Saxons  ;  but  cannot  be  included  in 
that  smaller  territory  of  a  more  concentrated  Welsh  population 
that  is  here  being  defined,  and  which  could  have  exacted  the 
recognition  of  its  national  independence.  At  any  rate,  the 
ethnical  status  of  this  prse-Saxon  dedication  may  be  most  safely 
left  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Barnes,  who  has  the  spiritual  charge  of  it. 


So  'much  for  the  testimony  of  the  dedications.  But  there  are 
two  other  circumstantial  and  independent  ancient  witnesses,  by 
which  it  is  thought  to  be  strongly  confirmed.  The  first  of  these 
is,  that  among  the  interval  annals  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle, 
between  the  conquest  of  Sarum  in  552  and  the  victory  at  Point- 
ington  in  658 ;  is  one  which  has  involved,  for  the  last  two 
centuries,  one  of  those  controversies  that  infest  the  topography 


9i 

of  the  age  in  question,  as  to  the  part  of  England  in  which  is 
situated  the  actual  place  named  in  the  record. 

"  An.  DCXIV.  Now  Cynegils  and  Cwichelm  fought  on  Bean- 
dune  and  slew  two  thousand  and  65  Welsh." 

This  was  read  for  "  Byndon,"  Dorset,  by  Camden  (1587);  as 
it  had  ten  years  earlier  been  read  by  Lambarde.f  But  Gibson, 
when  editing  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  says  that  all  the  copies  he 
had  used  have  the  name  with  an  m  "  Beawdune."  He  therefore 
prefers  Bampton,  Devon ;  and  is  approved  in  his  view  by  E. 
Gough  in  the  Additions  to  Camden.  Out  of  this  removal  has 
been  lately  started  another,  to  a  third  place.  It  is  now  said  the 
battle  could  not  have  been  at  Bampton  Devon,  because  the 
Saxons  had  not  yet  advanced  so  far  to  the  west ;  therefore  it 
must  be  the  Bampton  in  Oxfordshire. 

Since  Gibson,  several  MSS.,  including  what  is  said  to  be  the 
'oldest,*  have  been  brought  forward,  with  the  reading  "Beaw- 
dune."  So  also  read  Florence  of  Worcester,  Henry  of  Hunting- 
don, and  Leland's  extract  from  Marianus  Scotus.  Moreover, 
although  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  "-don  "  and  "-ton"  are  some- 
times converted ;  it  is  believed  that  this  does  not  happen  so 
generally  as  the  convenience  of  such  changes  has  tempted 
interpreters  to  assume.  The  original  appropriation  by  Camden 
of  this  name  to  Bindon,  in  Dorset,  may  therefore  safely  replace 
that  of  Gibson's  even  on  its  philological  ground:  and  his 
historical  argument  that  all  the  Britons  had  already  fled  for 
safety  into  more  western  parts  of  England,  it  is  thought  has 
here  been  confuted.  We  find  them  here  in  the  very  place 
where  they  were  in  immediate  contact  with  Wareham,  a  favourite 
landing-place  of  their  disturbers.  These  doubts,  indeed,  could 
never  have  been  raised,  if  it  had  been  yet  observed  that  the 
Saxons  were  at  this  very  time  making  their  way  towards 
Somerset  by  this  route  through  Dorset ;  and  that,  as  we  now  see, 
they  were  still  flanked  by  an  unconquered  district  of  the 

fDict.  Top.  (1577),  first  printed  1730. 

*See  Mon.  H.  Br.,  p.  306,  and  Pref.  p.  75.,  and  Anglo-Sax.  Cnron., 
Bolls  ed.,  yol.  i.,  pp.  38-39. 


92 

invaded  Britons.  The  later  historians  seem  too  readily  to  inter- 
pret these  records  of  battles  as  complete  and  permanent  subjuga- 
tions of  the  districts  where  they  have  occurred ;  including  all  the 
country  that  would  be  bounded  by  a  right  line  extending  on 
both  sides  of  the  place  of  conquest  named.  The  slaughter  of 
over  two  thousand  shews  a  hard  fight,  but  if  it  had  been  even  a 
victory,  it  was  not  an  extermination  or  subjugation  of  the  nation. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  conflict  of  A.D.  614  was  an 
incident  of  an  attempt  to  penetrate  this  yet  unconquered  southern 
part  of  Dorset,  by  a  landing  at  Wareham,  and  an  advance  along 
the  valley  of  the  Piddle  and  the  Frome.  The  place  was  no  doubt 
Bindon  Hill,  now  popularly  known  by  the  descriptive  name  of 
"  Swines-Back."  It  is  a  westward  continuation  or  resumption  of 
the  chalk  ridge  of  Purbeck,  but  completely  insulated  and  pre- 
cipitous on  all  sides.  The  table  area  is  very  large,  nearly  two 
miles  in  length,  fortified  around,  and  with  transverse  embank- 
ments. It  lies  due  south  of  the  Milton  Abbey  district,  and  is 
separated  from  it  by  the  valley  which  leads  from  Wareham  up 
to  Dorchester.  As  Cwichelm  now  first  appears  in  the  Chronicle, 
and  in  conjunction  with  Cynigils,  it  was  probably  an  assault  by 
one  of  them,  in  support  of  an  attack  by  the  other  from  the 
north.  However,  laying  all  speculation  aside,  here  it  is  quite 
certain,  that  we  have  it  on  record,  that,  in  the  interval  century, 
between  the  conquests  of  Sarum  and  of  Somerset,  the  two 
nations  are  found  together,  in  actual  conflict  in  the  intermediate 
country. 


The  other  probable  external  confirmation,  of  the  two  above 
promised,  is  another  ancient  document  which  may  or  not  relate  to 
this  very  district.  But  whether  it  does  or  not,  it  certainly  con- 
tains a  contemporaneous  picture  of  such  a  community,  and 
positively  demonstrates  the  existence  of  the  social  condition  tha^ 
we  have  endeavoured  to  exemplify. 


93 

A  very  learned  writer,*  who  has  been  a  pioneer  of  the  sources 
of  English  history  for  later  writers,  has  by  some  of  these  been 
recommended  "to  be  used  with  care,"  and  to  be  "read  with 
caution."!  This,  as  we  shall  see,  is  very  good  advice ;  but  may 
be  extended  to  most  of  the  later  writers  about  these  early  times, 
and  not  only  to  Sir  F.  Palgrave,  who  was  a  most  learned, 
original,  ingenious,  and  interesting  writer.  He  has  been  fol- 
lowed with  more  than  equal  steps ;  although  others  of  his 
followers  are  far  behind  him.  At  the  risk  of  being  reminded 
of  the  latest  [Amen.]  demise  of  a  Sovereign  Queen,  it  may  here 
be  said  that  the  more  recent  work,  known  as  "The  History  of 
the  Norman  Conquest  of  England,"  by  E.  A.  Freeman,  D.C.L., 
&c.,  if  not  the  greatest  book  of  the  present  generation,  is  one  of 
not  more  than  the  two  or  three  greatest.  Perhaps,  however,  in 
such  comparisons  some  "  law  "  is  due  to  the  first  who  treads  the 
clods  of  a  field  never  crossed  before.  Among  the  many  authori- 
ties with  which  Sir  F.  Palgrave's  marginal  references  bring  a 
reader,  most  likely  for  the  first  time,  acquainted ;  one  turns  up 
from  time  to  time  as  the  "  Devonian  Compact."  To  any  one  in 
this  quarter  of  England,  a  strong  desire  is  raised  to  know  more 
of  a  document  with  this  unheard  of  title.  But  it  is  only  in  the 
supplementary  volume  J  that  it  comes  to  light,  what  the  docu- 
ment is,  and  why  the  author  has  given  it  this  new  title. § 

In  the  collections  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Laws||  is  printed  a  short 
international  Code  ("geraednes")  or  agreement  of  a  Witan  of 

*  Sir  F.  Palgrave,  English  Commonwealth,  1832.  Also  his  History  of 
Normandy  and  England,  4  vols. 

f  Rev.  J.  R.  Green,  both  his  Histories  of  English  People. 

J  Engl.  Comm.,  Proofs,  ccxxxiii.,  and  cclxiii.     Also  Vol.  I.  p.  464. 

§  This  method  of  usurping  the  place  of  long  received  titles  of  ancient 
texts  by  new  ones  by  means  of  persistent  unexplained  iterations,  leaving 
the  reader  to  gradually  find  out  for  himself  what  is  the  monument  really 
quoted,  is  not  unfrequent  among  the  learned  of  the  present  age.  In  his 
Short  History,  Mr.  Green  continually  cites  what  he  calls,  and  declares  to  bo 
"  now  known  "  as  "  The  English  Chronicle,"  for  what  has  always  been  known 
to  all  the  rest  of  the  world  as  the  "  Saxon  "  or  "Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle," 
and  it  is  only  far  then  on  in  his  book  that  he  condescends  so  far  as  to  admit 
the  words  ("or  Anglo-Saxon")  in  a  bracket  for  tho  tardy  help  to  those  who 
are  unlearned  in  the  innovation. 

||  Lambarde  1568,  in  Anglo-Saxon,  with  Latin  translation  ;  republished 
by  Whelock,  1648 ;  by  Wilkins,  1721.  Public  Records,  with  English  by 
Thorpe,  1840,  folio,  pp.  150-152. 


94 

the  English  and  a  Council  of  the  Welsh,  settled  among  the 
"Dunssete."  Lambarde,  the  first  editor,  appears  to  have  used  a 
manuscript  no  longer  known ;  perhaps  lost  in  the  Cottonian  fire. 
His  printed  edition  is  consequently  the  only  authority  for  the 
Anglo-Saxon  rubrics,  including  the  general  title  of  the  Code 
and  the  titles  of  the  nine  sections  or  clauses.  In  the  chief  title 
he  prints  the  word  or  name  of  the  people  concerned,  with  an 
interpolated  letter  e\  "  D0un-ssetas,"  for  which  reading  this  rubric 
is  the  only  authority  ;  and  although  the  name  re-occurs  three  times 
in  the  body  of  the  Code,  in  all  three  he  prints  it  without  the 
added  letter.  Besides  this,  in  his  translation  of  this  rubric 
itself  he  renders  it,  as  if  it  had  been  a  word  and  not  a  name  ; 
"  Dunseete  "  =  "  Monticolae  "  or  Mountain  Dwellers,  disregard- 
ing the  surplus  letter,  which  therefore,  if  in  his  MS.  at  all,  was 
only  in  the  rubric. 

Yet  it  was  upon  this  one  various  reading  that  Sir  F.  Palgrave 
raised  his  theory  that  it  was  what  he  was  justified  in  quoting  as 
the  "  Devonian  Compact ;"  that  it  was  in  fact  a  treaty  between 
the  West-Saxons  and  the  Dumnonian  Britons,  locally  neighbours 
in  Devon.     Perhaps,   as  he  considered,  an  actual   example   of 
the  social  condition  which  William  of  Malmesbury  describes  as 
being  what  Athelstan  found,  and  brought  to  an  end,  at  Exeter. 
As,  until  quite  recent  times  u  and  v  have  been  identical  letters, 
or  used  indifferently  by  ancient  scribes  one  for  the  other,  Sir  F. 
Palgrave  adopts  it  as  an  authority  for  an  ancient  form  "De^nsaete, " 
and  for  saying.*     "The  Anglo-Saxon  or  English  settlers"  in 
Devon  "  acquired  the  name  of  Defensaettas."  And  by  this  name  he 
continually  calls  them ;  and  this  arbitrary  and  erroneous  innova- 
tion, founded  solely  upon  this  doubtful  authority  has  already 
taken  root  and  been  adopted  into  the  most  current  modern 
histories  of  those  times.     Mr.  Freeman  often  writes  of    "the 
Defnsaetas  and  Sumorsaetas,"  and  continually  uses  the  former, 
as  the   matter  of  course   ancient  name   of    Devonshire   men. 
Although,   with  that  constant   regard  for  facts  that    are   even 
exceptional  to  his  own  foregone  judgment,  which  a  seeker  of  the 

*Proofs  cclxiii. 


95 

truth  can  well  afford  to  satisfy;  he  brackets  into  a  second 
edition  as  " something  singular"  that  various  passages  that  he 
quotes  should  still  contain  the  form.  "  Defenasare  along  with 
those  of  "  Sumerssete  "  and  "Dorsete."f 

It  is  not  however  without  reason  that  Mr.  Thorpe,  in  his  note 
on  the  rubric J,  gives  his  opinion  that  the  interpolated  e  in 
Lambarde's  edition  was  "  either  a  clerical  or  a  typographical 
error."  But  next  comes  the  question  whether  "Dunssete  "  is 
merely  a  descriptive  word,  to  be  translated  ;  or  the  proper  name 
of  a  particular  people.  The  Anglo-Saxon  text  is  printed  in  the 
Public  Eecords  Collection  of  1840  from  a  MS.  of  the  tenth 
century,  *  but  there  is  also  printed  ||  an  ancient  Latin  version 
from  three  MSS.  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  in  this  it  is 
given  as  a  name,  without  translation.  It  was  Lambarde 
who  first  translated  it  to  "  Monticolse ; "  and  he  is  followed 
by  Wilkins.  Mr.  Thorpe  in  the  Eecord  Collection,  trans- 
fers the  name,  without  translation,  into  his  English  translation ; 
but  in  his  note  he  explains  it  to  mean  "  Mountain  dwellers." 

The  truth  in  fact  is  that  there  never  was  a  people  called 
"  Devnssete."  The  "Sumorssete,"  the  "  Durnssete,"  and  the 
"  Wilssete,"  were  no  doubt  so  called  from  some  circumstance  in 
the  conquest  of  them,  as  having  been  more  simultaneously  or 
broadly  colonised  or  settled  by  the  conquerors.  There  is,  how- 
ever, no  original  precedent  for  the  suffix  "-saete"  for  the 
Devonshire  settlers.  It  is  believed,  indeed,  that  the  area  of  the 
earlier  occupation  of  that  province  by  the  Saxons  has  been 
much  over-estimated.  The  received  theory  is  that  the  early 
dynastic  or  political  advance  of  the  Saxons  westward,  continued 
into  Devon  as  far  as  the  Exe ;  either  by  way  of  Dorset,  or  more 
northward  from  Somerset.  Mr.  Kemble  says:  "  As  the  Saxon 
arms  advanced  westward,  Exeter  became  for  a  time  the  frontier 
town  and  market  between  the  British  and  the  men  of  Wessex :  " 
evidently  meaning,  as  the  other  later  authorities  also  appear  to 
mean,  between  the  West-British  kingdom  and  the  West-Saxon 

f  Norm.  C.  2ndedn.,  vol.  11.,  also  564,  158  and  315.     Palgrave,  cclxiii. 
J  A.  S.  Laws,  Pub.  Rec.,  1840,  fol.  edn.,  p.  150, 
*  P.  150  ||  p.  530 


96 

kingdom :  that  the  great  political  body  of  tlie  West-Saxons  had 
progressed  westward  so  far,  and  occupied  in  their  march  all  the 
country,  to  their  right  and  left,  from  sea  to  sea,  or  nearly  so. 
But  from  what  is  here  being  laid  before  the  reader,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  frontier  of  Dorset,  that  was  contingent  to  Devon 
still  maintained  its  British  nationality  ;  whilst,  failing  the  Devon- 
Bampton  Annal  above  disposed  of,  there  is  no  record  whatever 
of  any  approach  from  Somerset.  The  Annal  of  682,  of  Cent- 
wine's  having  driven  the  Britons  to  the  sea,  cannot  apply  to  this  > 
as  there  is  no  sea  in  the  path ;  and  William  of  Malmsbury  calls 
them  the  "  North  Welsh."  The  earliest  recorded  dynastic 
movement,  farther  west  than  our  Somerset,  is  that  of  Egbert,  A.D. 
813,  when  he  harried  "  West  Wales  from  eastward  to  westward." 
"  West  Wales"  here  includes  all  Devon,  and  not  Cornwall  only  as 
generally  supposed :  thus  there  is  some  importance  in  the  words 
"from  eastward  to  westward,"  which  they  would  otherwise  seem 
to  want.  "  Harrying  "  does  not  seem  to  be  an  operation  suit- 
able to  his  own  subjects,  even  if  they  had  been  in  rebellion. 

Much  intercourse  of  the  two  nations  had  already  existed, 
independently  of  .the  compulsion  of  the  two  races  into  one 
political  body  under  advancing  kings.  The  frequent  examples 
of  fugitive  Anglian  and  Saxon  exiles,  from  wrongs  of  their 
compatriots,  to  the  protection  of  the  Britons,  prove  that  the 
wars  were  rather  political  or  dynastic  than  tribal.  The  Annals 
are  indeed  mostly  of  the  acts  of  the  kings  or  leaders,  and  the 
events  they  record  are  not  always  conflicts  with  one  nation,  but 
subjugations  of  both  to  one  sovereignity.  Two  independent  and 
indisputable  facts — the  birth  of  St.  Winfred=Boniface,  and  the 
family  of  St.  Sidwell — shew  that,  as  early  as  A.D.  680-700, 
settled  Saxon  families  were  already  living  around  Exeter;  so 
that  no  doubt  a  considerable  colony  of  them,  or  a  sort  of  Littus 
Saxonicum,  had  existed  about  the  estuary  of  the  Exe,  and  per- 
haps at  other  points  along  the  country  between  the  sea  and  the 
highlands,  more  than  a  century  earlier  than  any  inland  dynastic 
subjugation.  And  in  this  view  we  are  not  entirely  forsaken  by 
our  old  allies,  the  church  dedications,  along  the  mountainous 


97 

frontier  that  divides  Devon  from  both  Dorset  and  Somerset.  A 
St.  Pancras,  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Axe,  has  been  already 
named.  There  is  also  a.  St.  Paul  (St.  Pol)  at  Church  Staunton, 
and  a  St.  David  at  Culme  David,  both  in  the  valley  of  the  Culm 
behind  the  Black-Down  Hills ;  and  north  of  Honiton  is  a  hill 
called  "St.  Gyres,"  but  with  no  remaining  chapel.  North  Devon 
and  West  Somerset,  or  the  Exmoor  district,  led  up  to  by  this  chain, 
needs  no  consideration  here.  The  multitude  of  St.  Michael's  in 
Wales  has  been  already  noticed.  It  is  equally  frequent  in  the 
English  western  counties,  but  those  that  are  in  Dorset  are  most 
crowded  in  the  southern  district,  and  the  same  increased 
frequency  extends  into  the  adjoining  district  of  Devon,  between 
the  Axe  and  Exe.* 

Reverting  to  the  Code  ;  the  existence  of  such  small  outlying 
Welsh  populations,  as  we  have  been  considering  above,  had 
never  yet  been  vividly  contemplated ;  and  interpreters  of  such 
questions  as  that  presented  by  the  Code  of  the  Dunssete  have 
been  therefore  narrowed,  in  their  field  of  enquiry,  to  the  two 
greater  race  divisions  that  are  historically  recorded,  and  that 
are  more  obviously  still  living  beside  us :  Welshmen  and  Cornish- 
men  ;  whose  existence  even  the  most  zealous  exterminationists 
have  not  yet  been  so  bold  as  to  deny.  To  those,  therefore,  who 
have  hitherto  considered  this  monument,  and  who  had  rejected  it 
for  the  Defnanian  or  Damnonian  tribes,  there  was  no  choice  but 
the  Cambrian  or  Silurian  ones.  A  neighbouring  people,  called  the 
"  Wentssete,"  is  mentioned  in  the  Code,  as  if  only  lately  annexed 
by  the  West  Saxons;  of  whom  it  is  said  :  " Somewhile  the 

*Mr.  J.  .B.  Davidson  (Trans.  Devonsh.  Assoc.,  1877)  has  pointed  out  the 
remarkable  prevalence  of  "-minster,"  as  a  constituent  of  place-names,  such 
as  "  Axminster,"  over  a  certain  continuous  area  of  South  Somerset,  West 
Dorset,  and  East  Devon.  This  he  attributes  to  King  Ina;  but  that  is  most 
likely  about  150  years  too  soon.  But  it  strongly  indicates  a  simultaneous 
Saxonization.  It  fringes  the  district  under  our  consideration,  and  is 
included  in  what  King  Alfred  still  called  the  "  Welsh-kin."  Two  of  them, 
"  Stureminster  "  and  "  Exanmyuster,"  were  bequeathed  by  Alfred  to  his 
younger  son,  Edward  the  Elder.  Sturminster  is  believed  to  be  the  same 

Ce  which  Asser  had  formerly  called  "  Leonaford,"  i.e.,  Alaunaford,   the 
on  the  Stour  or  Alauna  ;    where  was  the  royal  house  in  which  Asser 
spent  eight  months  in  reading  with  Alfred.     No  doubt  these  "  -minsters  " 
commemorate  foundations  by  Alfred,  and  that  it  was  after  his  memorable 
hospitality  to  Asser  that  he  founded  Stour-Minster  at  Leonaford. 


98 

Wentssefce,  belonged  to  the  Dunssete,  but  [now]  more  rightly 
they  belong  to  the  Westsexan."  Here,  two  local  tribes  or  septs 
are  evidently  spoken  of.  Lainbarde  and  Wilkins,  place  their 
Wentsaete  in  Dimetia,  roughly  now  comprising  the  diocese  of  St. 
David's.  Mr.  Thorpe  suggests  Athelstan's  decreed  frontier  of 
the  Wye  as  the  point  of  contact  of  the  two  nationalities  con- 
cerned in  the  Code.  Although  he  does  not  mention  G-went, 
Monmouthshire,  he  seems  to  have  been  attracted  by  that  name 
as  the  probable  equivalent  of  Wentsaete  ;  but  "  G-went "  is  com- 
mon to  this  and  many  other  British  districts.  He  may  also  have 
been  slightly  influenced  by  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
"Magesaete,"  about  Herefordshire  ;  *  the  only  example  of  the 
suffix  "-saete,"  besides  Dorset,  Somerset,  and  Wilset, 

The  date  of  the  Code  is  uncertain.  Wilkins  conjectures  it  in 
"tempestate  Ethelradi  Regis;"  but  whatever  may  be  its  date, 
it  must  have  been  far  too  late  for  the  Cambrian  Gwent  to  have 
adjoined  any  people  that  could  possibly  have  been  called  "  West 
Saxons."  A  "  stream  "  is  also  mentioned  in  the  Code,  as  if  it 
was  the  boundary  of  the  rights  of  the  two  peoples.  Sir  F. 
Palgrave  had  adopted  the  river  Exe,  in  conformity  with  the  theory 
which  he  had  raised  out  of  the  recorded  joint  occcupation  of 
Exeter,  that  the  course  of  that  river  had  divided  the  two  races 
of  Saxons  and  Cornish- Welsh,  east  and  west,  in  Devon ;  but  it 
has  been  elsewhere  shewn  that  in  Exeter  they  were  divided, 
north  and  south ;  and  both,  as  far  as  that  city  is  concerned,  were 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  Mr.  Thorpe  adopts  the  Wye  as 
the  stream  suitable  to  his  conjecture.  But  the  nine  sections  of 
the  Code  are  evidently  not  only  calculated  for  a  particular  and 
limited  locality,  but  the  most  important  of  them  relate  to  strayed 
or  stolen  cattle,  "  over  a  stream,"  from  either  people.  It  may 
be  a  question  whether  both  rivers,  the  Wye  and  the  Exe,  at  the 
parts  required,  are  not  too  large  for  a  " stream"  requiring  a 
special  legislation  for  stolen  cattle. 

*  This  trace  of  a  West-Saxon  peculiarity  seems  to  favour  a  belief,  that 
Herefordshire  =  "Ffery  llwg"  was  the  "  Feathan  leag"  of  the  second 
advance  of  Ceawlin  A.D.  684,  instead  of  the  Severn  Valley  and  Cheshire,  as 
proposed  by  Dr.  Edwin  Guest, 


99 

So  much  for  the  two  proposed  locations,  in  Damnonia  and 
Cambria,  evidently  confined  to  the  choice  between  these,  because 
no  other  was  thought  of  as  possible,  by  those  who  only  looked 
to  written  history  for  an  example  of  a  neighbourship  of  the  two 
nationalities  sufficient  for  the  conditions  of  the  Code.  It  is 
thought  that  the  survival  of  a  smaller  Wales  within  Dorset, 
now  brought  forward,  better  satisfies  these  conditions,  whilst  it 
requires  scarcely  more  indulgence  for  the  philogical  difficulty  as 
to  the  name  "Dunssete."  If  what  Sir  F.  Palgrave  ventured  to 
say  upon  most  doubtful  textual  authority,  we  may  be  allowed  to 
do  by  pure  conjecture,  fortified  by  external  probabilities  ;  if  we 
may  introduce  a  single  letter  and  write  "Durnssete,"  we  shall 
have  before  us  a  document  which  is  not  only  a  confirmation  of 
what  has  been  said,  of  the  insulated  people,  from  an  independent 
consideration ;  but  which  itself  is  unable  to  be  otherwise  satis- 
factorily accounted  for.  It  must  however  be  at  once  confessed 
that  this  sort  of  interpolation  of  a  letter  into  a  proper  name  is, 
in  any  case  whatever,  one  of  extreme  danger ;  and  the  conve- 
nient flexibility  of  interpretation  imported  by  this  practice,  has 
already  been  much  abused,  and  may  be  again,  if  too  readily 
admitted.  If  the  absence  of  the  letter  wanted  was  caused  by 
an  error,  the  error  must  have  occurred  in  the  prototype  of  every 
existing  text,  and  must  have  occurred  three  several  times  in  the 
course  of  the  document. 

The  questions  also  remain :  Who  were  their  neighbours  the 
" Wentseete"?  And  what  was  the  " stream"  that  seems  to 
have  divided  the  English  from  the  Welsh  ?  We  have,  in  our 
own  Dorset- Welsh  district  proposal,  a  choice  upon  both  these 
questions :  but  in  such  matters  a  choice  is  an  embarrassment 
and  not  a  privilege. 

Eastward  of  our  Welsh  district,  is  another,  in  which  the 
name  ingredient  of  "Wim-"  or  "Win-"  appears.  Several 
authors,  struck  with  the  repetition  of  the  name  "Wim- 
borne,"  for  places  through  the  whole  course  of  the  river  Allen, 
have  reasonably  concluded  that  "  Wimbourn  "  had  been  the  name 
of  that  stream.  The  present  name  "  Allen  "  is  no  doubt  a  relic 


100 

of  the  Ptolemaic  name  "Alaunus"  for  the  group  of  rivers 
whose  outlet  is  Christchurch  harbour,  as  the  Salisbury  [Al-] 
Avon  is  another.  An  English  alias,  "  Wimbourn,"  must  have 
prevailed  long  enough  to  name  these  places,  but  the  ancient  name 
has  reasserted  itself,  The  Stour,  however,  retains  its  still  older 
Celtic  alias.  This  district  may  be  rather  distant,  from  our 
"Welsh  one,  for  the  neighbourship  of  the  Wentssete  implied  in 
the  Code  :  and  without  other  links  the  hold  of  relationship  of 
"Win-"  and  " Went-"  would  be  somewhat  infirm.  The  Stour 
also  which  divides  them  is  here  a  considerable  "  stream." 

Another  view  may  be  presented  by  the  fight  at  "Beandun," 
A.D.  614,  already  noticed.  This  makes  it  almost  certain  that 
the  invaders  had  landed  at  Wareham,  and  already  possessed 
themselves  of  the  lower  country  between  our  hill-district  and 
Bindon  Hill,  through  which  the  Frome  runs  to  Wareham.  Was 
this  district,  and  the  Isle  of  Purbeck  south  of  it,  the  land  of  the 
Wentssete  which  had  been  already  annexed  by  the  West-Saxons 
when  the  Code  was  enacted  ?  and  was  the  Frome  the  stream 
which  divided  them  ?  This  view  has  also  some  slightly  possible 
philological  support.  The  labial  convertibility  of  W  and  B  is 
well  known,  and  this  would  give  us  "Win-"  in  "Bindon"; 
also  repeated  farther  west  in  the  district  in  the  name  of  "  Bin- 
combe."  What  if  the  slaughter  of  the  Britons  at  Bindon  was  a 
victory ;  and  the  occasion  upon  which  the  Wentssete  which  had 
formerly  belonged  to  the  Dunsaete  began  to  "  belong  to  the 
West  Saxons"?  The  "great  ditch,"  mentioned  by  Hutchins, 
as  "near  Pokeswell  quarries,"  and  thought  by  Dr.  Guest  to  have 
been  a  "  Belgic  ditch,"  may  have  been  a  part  of  this  international 
arrangement.  It  probably  extended  from  the  well  known  ravine* 
of  Osmington  Mill,  across  the  Frome,  and  perhaps  the  Piddle  ; 
and  would  account  for  the  survival  into  Saxon  Christian  times, 
of  the  Celtic  St.  German's  dedication  to  the  west  of  it.  This 

*About  half-a-mile  west  of  the  Osmington  outlet,  is  a  fragment  of  a 
fortress,  unnoticed  in  Mr.  Warne's  Ancient  Dorset.  The  largest  part 
appears  to  have  gone  over  the  cliff  into  the  sea.  The  rampart  seems  to  have 
been  formed  of  chalk  brought  from  a  spot  adjoining,  but  the  cliff  itself  does 
pot  appear  to  be  chalk. 


loi 

dyke  would  correspond  with  the  western  boundary  of  the  present 
Hundred  of  Winfrith.  May  not  this  name  "Winfrith"  have 
been  'Wentfreotk,  or  the  Liberty  of  the  Wentssete  ?  It  had  the 
ancient  forms,  "  Winfrode  "*  "  Winfrot "  and  "  Winford."f  The 
territory  of  the  Wentssete  recorded  in  the  Code,  as  having 
formerly  belonged  to  the  Durnssete  but  now  to  the  West-Saxons, 
would  thus  be  the  entire  peninsula,  south  of  the  Welsh  hill  district ; 
containing  the  Hundred  of  Winfrith,  the  Liberty  of  Bindon,  and 
Purbeck  Island.  But  a  part  of  the  low  heathy  country  north  of 
Wareham  itself,  and  between  it  and  the  hill  districts  might  also 
be  expected  to  be  necessarily  occupied  by  the  invaders  possessed 
of  Wareham ;  and  this  seems  to  be  indicated  by  another  dyke, 
by  all  writers  hitherto  described  as  one  of  the  Belgic  Dykes, 
commonly  known  as  "  Coombs  Ditch,"  which,  extending  from  the 
south-east  escarpment  of  the  Milton  range  to  Lytcheat  bay  in 
the  Wareham  estuary,  would  be  the  north-eastern  frontier  of  the 
Wentssete.  The  ditch  is  described  as  being  on  the  east  of  the 
dyke. 

Looking  again  at  these  two  suggestions  of  the  actual  territory 
of  the  Wentseete,  the  last  seems  to  be  the  most  acceptable.  All 
that  it  requires  is ;  that  the  West- Saxon  possession  of  it  was  the 
result  of  the  fight  at  Bindon,  A.D.  614,  which  is  almost  self- 
evident  ;  and  the  small,  but  important,  concession,  that  the  name 
"  Durnssete"  has,  at  some  early  time,  dropped  one  of  its  letters, 

On  the  whole :  if  the  question  had  depended  entirely  upon  the 
correct  form  of  the  name  being  "  Durnssete,"  we  should  hardly 
have  been  justified  in  attributing  this  Code  to  the  district  we 
have  been  considering.  But  the  external  probability,  furnished 
by  the  parallel  of  the  circumstances  of  the  place  to  which  the 
Code  must  have  belonged,  with  this  district  of  Welsh  among  the 
Durnssete,  may  be  thought  to  be  sufficient  to  identify  them.  The 
question  is  much  narrowed  by  the  certainty  that  both  the  Code 
and  our  Welsh  district  are  within  the  West-Saxon  territory  ;  and 
the  Code  was  evidently  intended  for  such  a  circumscribed  locality 
as  we  have,  by  separate  independent  inferences,  found  this  to 

*Domesday,  both  Exchequer  and  Exeter.  fTesta  de  Nevill. 


102 

have  been.  At  all  events,  the  Code  adds  to  William  of  Malmes- 
bury's  traditional  record  of  the  Exeter  case,  the  still  stronger 
testimony  of  a  contemporaneous  written  monument  of  the  actual 
existence  of  some  such  a  social  condition.  It  is  not  a  national 
statute,  but  of  the  nature  of  what  we  call  a  "  By-law,"  or  a  sort 
of  mere  local  police  regulation  for  the  protection  of  the  property 
and  rights  of  individual  neighbours.  The  court  of  resort  is 
appointed,  in  case  of  need,  to  be  twelve  men,  six  of  each 
nationality. 


What  we  have  here  endeavoured  to  realise,  is  only  a  single 
example  of  what  may  be  called  ethnical  islands;  of  which 
Cornwall  and  Wales  are  as  the  continents.  But,  besides  these, 
without  doubt,  a  vast  broad  and  deep  social  substratum ;  extend- 
ing backwards  for  many  centuries  beyond  written  history,  and 
forwards  down  to  our  own  times,  was  underlying  all  the  dynastic 
conflicts  that  have  disturbed  and  striated  its  surface.  Some- 
times no  doubt  these  have  produced  great  local  upheavals  :  have 
altered  or  mixed  it  for  some  depth ;  or  in  some  cases  actually 
denudated  it.  But  invaders  would  have  a  barren  conquest  with- 
out taxpayers  and  subsidists,  and  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  even 
soldiers.  Even  now  relics  of  prse-Saxon  and  pree-Christian 
customs,  superstitions,  and  traditions,  not  to  speak  of  stray  parts 
of  speech,  nor  again  to  boast  of  nobler  heritages,  remain  to 
identify  the  latest  metamorphosed  outcrop  with  the  earliest  for- 
mation. The  Eomans  might  have*  had  some  pretext  for  calling 
this  people  barbarous ;  certainly  not  the  Saxons.  Why  these 
Saxons  were  far  greater  laggards,  even  in  the  acceptance  of  that 
great  and  obvious  movement  which  was  changing  the  face  of 
the  world  before  their  eyes,  than  were  their  predecessors.  Wit- 
ness the  multitude  of  those  dispersed  intellectual  centres,  more 


103 

lately  organised  into  what  we  know  as  the  parochial  system,  that 
had  already  so  plentifully  taken  root  among  the  Celtic  people 
long  before  the  Teutonic  intruders  came.  And  these  were  cer- 
tainly very  numerous  among  them,  as  may  still  be  seen  in  Corn- 
wall and  Wales,  where  the  primaeval  dedications  of  churches 
have  been  almost  undisturbed.  Besides  this,  there  is  nothing  to 
shew  that  this  wide-spread  social  groundwork  was  not  imbued, 
from  extremely  remote  times,  with  the  political  sort  of  civiliza- 
tion before  indicated ;  nor  that  culture  itself,  although  a  different 
thing,  has  not  to  a  great  extent  sprung  out  of  it.  Literature 
and  the  Arts  of  Ornament  or  Magnificence,  are  the  instruments 
of  an  awakened  ambition  to  be  known  to  posterity,  and  to  be 
admired  by  the  world ;  and  have  been  superimposed  or  grafted 
upon  it ;  but  the  broad  and  unfathomed  substratum — the  great 
storehouse  of  unexhibited  and  unhistoried  human  affections  and 
cares,  and  joys  and  griefs — still  lies  under.  Wells  have  been 
sunk  into  it,  by  such  as  Wordsworth,  or  Crabbe,  or  Barnes ; 
who  have  brought  it  into  rivalry  with  the  upper  culture  itself* 
Other  springs,  unmixed,  have  risen  through  it  by  their  own 
native  energy,  as  Burns  :  and  one,  most  abundant,  has  not  only 
risen  through  the  superincumbent  culture,  but  has  overtopped 
and  deluged  the  entire  surface  of  it,  and  permeated  or  infiltrated 
the  whole.  To  himself,  to  his  friends,  and  to  his  neighbours, 
though  not  to  us,  Shakespear  would  have  been  Shakespear  if 
he  had  never  handled  a  pen  nor  seen  paper.  So  also  there  are 
many  more  saurians  latent  in  unexplored  rocks,  than  what  are 
to  be  seen  upon  the  walls  of  museums. 


£y  Professor  J.  BUCKMAN,  F.G.S.,  F.L.S.,  &c.,  &c. 


|T  the  meeting  of  the  Club  at  Weymouth,  on  July  2nd  of 
the  present  year,  amongst  other  plants  was  observed 
the  Beta  maritima,  common  Wild  Beet,  which  we  then 
got  up  by  the  roots  in  order  to  demonstrate  the  fact  which  we  were 
then  proving  by  experiment  that  this  wild  beet  is  the  parent,  not 
only  of  different  sorts  of  garden  and  field  beets,  but  also  of  the 
Mangold  Wurtzel  of  the  farm. 

This  root  was  shown  to  have  a  succulent  centre,  but  was  only 
about  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  very  much  forked,  whilst  the 
ascending  axis  instead  of  presenting  a  single  upright  stem  was 
branched,  and  some  of  the  branches  trailed  upon  the  ground. 

Now  as  we  had  some  years  since  instituted  a  series  of  experi- 
ments upon  the  ennobling  of  the  Wild  beet  which  we  are  this 
year  repeating,  and  as  besides,  a  friend  of  ours  has  been  at  work 
at  the  same  subject,  we  beg  to  lay  the  details  of  this  work  before 
the  club,  which  we  are  enabled  to  do  illustrated  by  a  series  of 
drawings  which  we  were  enabled  to  make  from  real  subjects — 
both  wild  and  cultivated — and  which  have  been  faithfully 
engraven  by  Mr.  Worthington  Smith,  for  the  expense  of  which 
We  are  endebted  to  a  friend  who  does  not  wish  his  name 
published. 

More  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  passed  since  we  first 
commenced  a  series  of  experiments  in  the  garden  of  the  Royal 
Agricultural  College,  at  Cirencester,  on  what  we  then  termed  the 


105 


ennobling  of  plants.  These  experiments,  at  the  request  of  the 
British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  were  repor- 
ted to  that  Society,  the  last  report  having  been  made  at  Oxford 
in  the  year  1860. 

On  this  occasion  no  less  than  200  plots  were  referred  to,  con- 
sisting of  the  following : — 


Agricultural  Plants 
Medicinal  Plants    ., 
Esculent  Vegetables 
Grasses  (old  and  new  Plots) 
Miscellaneous  Plants 


Plots. 
50 
30 
20 
60 
40 


Total ..  ..  ..       200 

We  now  refer  to  three  sets  of  experiments  then  reported  upon 
as  aiding  us  in  the  discussion  of  the  subject  of  our  present  paper. 
They  were  — 

1 .  The  production  of  a  new  and  distinct  crop  of  parsnip  from 
the  cultivation  of  the  Pastinaca   sativa.     This  has  been  since 
known  and  appreciated  under  the  name  of  the  Student  parsnip. 

2.  The  production  of  sorts  of  broccoli,  cabbages,  and  greens 
from  the  wild  cabbage  (Brassica  oloracea),  gathered  from  the 
rocks  overhanging  the  sea  at  Llandudno,  North  Wales.     Of  this 
latter  we   published   a   subsequent   report  in  the  Agricultural 
Gazette  for   1861,   as  we  were  too  late  for  the  meeting  of  the 
British  Association  at  Manchester.     Seeds  of  a  distinct  sulphur 
broccoli  and  a  curly  green  were  subsequently  sent  to  Messrs. 
Sutton  &  Sons,  but  we  believe  that  the  broccoli  was  not  suffici- 
ently permanent,  but  the  green  is  still  in  cultivation,  and  has 
proved  the  hardiest  kale  in  the  garden  during  the  past  trying 
season. 

3.  The  mangel  reported  upon  in  1860  and  1861,  had 
reference  to  experiments  with  well-known  sorts  of  mangels,  and 
also  with  an  attempt  to  ennoble  our  wild  Beta  maritima  from 
which  we  quote  the  following : — 

"  Plots  F.  and  G.  Wild  Beet.— I  confess  the  at  present  forked  roots  look 
but  unpromising,  but  when  I  go  to  the  kitchen  garden  and  examine  the 
roots  of  the  -white  beet,  which  is  only  grown  for  its  leaves,  which  are  used 
as  a  garden  vegetable,  I  see  that  they  are  no  better.  It  is  only  in  growing 
for  roots  that  you  get  them  of  the  right  form."  f 

t  Agricultural  Gazette  for  October  26,  1861. 


106 

After  the  time  mentioned,  the  experiments  of  which  these 
formed  a  part  were  brought  to  an  abrupt  conclusion. 

But  as  regards  the  proof  in  the  case  of  mangels,  it  fortunately 
happens  that  a  friend  of  ours  has  within  the  last  five  years  occu- 
pied himself  with  the  same  set  of  experiments  that  the 
enlightened  authorities  of  the  Eoyal  Agricultural  College  so 
ruthlessly  brought  to  a  termination  some  seventeen  years  since. 

Every  one  knows  the  Beta  maritima,  the  wild  beet,  so  common 
to  our  seashores ;  it  is  usually  figured  with  a  thick  fleshy 
root;  it  is  so  drawn  in  English  Botany,  vol.  viii.,  fig. 
1184,  this  being  a  copy  of  previous  figures.  The  same  figure  is 
recently  copied  in  Bentham's  Illustrated  Hand  Book  of  the  British 
Flora.  We  mention  this  because  we  have  never  seen  truly  wild 
examples  of  beet  but  what  have  been  extremely  digitated  with 
long,  fleshy,  flexile,  forked  roots,  having  but  little  about  it  to  in- 
dicate the  fine  forms  which,  by  cultivation,  the  beets  and  man- 
gels as  crop  plants  are  made  to  assume. 

But  besides  this  tendency  in  the  wild  plant  to  excessive 
f orkiness  in  the  root,  it  also  grows  many  heads  or  crowns.  If, 
therefore,  our  readers  will  contrast  this  state  of  things  with  a 
refined  mangel  which  is  absolutely  free  from  forkiness  in  the 
root,  which  latter  is  large,  round,  and  smooth,  with  a  skin  as 
smooth  and  delicate  as  that  of  a  lady,  and  instead  of  presenting 
us  with  a  divided  head,  this  portion  of  a  well-bred  mangel  is 
reduced  to  a  single  bud,  the  leaveo  of  which  are  small  and 
delicate,  and  not  at  all  the  rough  objects  we  see  in  the  wild  plant. 

Our  woodcut  has  been  executed  by  Mr.  Worthington  Smith 
from  a  series  of  drawings  which  were  made  by  us  from  original 
specimens,  and  may  serve  to  represent  the  progress  made  in  the 
formation  of  mangel  wurtzel  from  wild  beet.  The  drawings  are 
eight  in  number,  and  all  of  them  are  about  half  the  size  of  the 
original  roots. 

The  series  of  figures  represent  roots  respectively  of  the  first 
year,  of  a  second  year's  plant,  in  which  the  upper  part  is  approach- 
ing the  thickness  of  a  bulb,  and  of  the  third  year,  all  having 


107 


Wild  Beet.    Natural  Site. 


a  tendency  to  produce  many  crowns,  or  bunches  of  leaves.    The 
next  figures  show  great  advances  in  size,  fleshiness,  and  bulboid 


First  Year  of  Cultivation  of  Wild  Beet.    Natural  Site. 


108 

contour ;  and  the  last  is  rather  an  example  of  a  desired  form  to  be 
ultimately  reached.  That  it  will  be  so  we  have  not  the  slightest 
doubt  as,  from  our  own  experiments  and  those  of  our  friend, 
we  have  now  not  the  slightest  doubt,  as  stated  by  Bentham,  that 
the  Beta  maritima,  "  Not  uncommon  on  the  British  coasts, 
flowering  summer  and  autumn.  The  white  and  red  beets  or 


Third  Tear  of  Cultivation.      Two-thirds  of  Natural  Size. 


109 


beetroot  of  our  gardeners  and  the  mangel  wurtzel  (root  of 
scarcity)  of  our  agriculturists  are  cultiY^teci  varieties  of  this 
species."  j 


t  Bentham,  vol.  ii.,  p.  701. 


110 

In  practice  we  find  yellow,  orange,  red,  white,  and  mixed  beets 
and  mangels ;  and  it  is  curious  to  mark  that  the  wild  seed  pro- 
duces all  these  forms,  so  that  it  it  just  a  simple  matter  of  selec- 
tion as  to  whether  you  will  grow  them  all  or  keep  to  a  single 
type.  This  is  no  mere  matter  of  speculation,  but  one  of  great 
practical  interest  and  importance,  as  by  due  selection  very 
different  strains  may  be  produced.  Again  once  having  develop- 
ed a  peculiar  strain,  it  can  be  kept  intact  by  judicious  selection, 
and  it  is  in  this  way  that  the  different  types  of  roots  met  with  in 
the  market  are  kept  so  true  to  the  character  to  which  they  have 
been  made  to  arrive  at. 

The  production  of  new  varieties  can  thus  be  brought  about,  and 
when  it  is  seen  how  much  greater  crops  often  pioceed  from  a 
seed  new  to  a  soil  than  from  the  older  kinds,  it  is  a  matter  of  as 
great  importance  to  produce  new  sorts  as  it  may  be  to  keep  the 
older  ones  up  to  their  standard  of  excellence. 

Experiments  of  this  kind  are  of  interest,  as  showing  the  nature 
and  origin  of  different  forms,  and  as  indicating  the  amount  of 
care  and  attention  required  to  keep  an  induced  form  up  to  a  cer- 
tain standard. 

Our  examples  as  shown  in  the  cuts  have  been  planted  with  a 
view  of  carrying  on  the  experiments,  and  if  by  attention  and  care 
in  selection  we  are  enabled  to  induce  a  fresh  strain,  our  exertions 
will  be  well  repaid  in  the  experiences  gained  by  the  processes,  if 
not  in  the  practical  results,  which  we  hope  will  prove  of  consider- 
able value. 


By  J.  C.  MANSEL-PLEYDELL,  Esq.,  President. 


| HE  "genus  Trigonia  was  placed  by  Brongniart  among 
the  Arcada ;  also  by  Lamarck,  who  subsequently 
separated  it  under  a  new  family,  Trigonida,  together 
with  Myophoria  and  Axinm.  It  was  changed  by  Sowerby  to 
Lyrodon,  the  name  being  previously  occupied  by  a  genus  of 
plants. 

The  Trigoniae  made  their  first  appearance  in  the  Liassic  seas, 
and  became  very  numerous  during  the  deposition  of  the  Oolitic 
beds,  especially  in  the  upper  series,  when  they  began  to  show 
symptoms  of  decline,  so  much  so,  that  the  Cretaceous  formation 
does  not  contain  a  fourth  part  compared  with  those  of  the 
previous  Jurassic  period,  At  the  same  time  they  underwent  a 
material  modification  of  form,  losing  their  trigonal  shape,  becom- 
ing more  inflated  and  rotund,  so  as  to  give  them  the  appearance 
of  belonging  to  a  separate  family.  The  living  Trigoniee  (whose 
valves  are  channelled  and  bear  a  close  affinity  to  the  forms  of 
the  Scabrate  section),  have  only  two  or  three  representatives, 
and  which  are  restricted  to  the  Australian  seas. 

The  special  character  of  the  genus  consists  in  the  perfect 
symmetry  of  valves,  which  are  precisely  similar  except  in  the  parts 
occupied  by  the  hinge ;  the  posterior  portion  in  some  species  is 
prolonged,  in  others  it  is  square  or  truncate;  the  beaks  are 


112 

anteriorly  produced,  and  unlike  the  rest  of  the  Acephalse 
directed  forward ;  the  ligament  which  attaches  the  valves  to  each 
other  is  external  with  a  posterior  narrow  lunule.  The  surface  of 
the  test  which  occupies  its  anteal  portion  is  usually  ornamented 
either  with  ribs,  tuburcles,  or  tuburculated  ridges,  on  a  different 
plane  to  its  posteal,  which  is  well  marked  by  an  obliquely  directed 
ridge  towards  the  posterior  and  lower  extremity,  a  smaller  area 
called  the  escutcheon  is  bounded  by  another  ridge,  which  includes 
the  ligamental  plates,  and  ligament ;  the  hinge  is  complicated, 
the  teeth  of  both  valves  interlock  each  other,  which,  together  with 
its  solidity,  contributes  to  th«  perfect  preservation  of  the  shell  in 
its  fossil  state ;  detached  valves,  or  even  the  cast  of  an  half-opened 
shell  is  very  rare.  The  right  valve  is  furnished  with  two 
prominent  teeth,  of  which  the  posterior  is  directed  backwards, 
forming  the  figure  of  V  with  the  other,  which  fits  into  two  deep 
sinuses  of  the  left  valve.  The  interior  of  the  shell  is  smooth  and 
nacrous,  shewing  no  indication  of  the  external  ornamentation 
except  in  some  few  cases,  where  the  tuburcles  are  feebly 
represented. 

Casts  which  shew  the  interior  of  the  shell  are  frequently  met 
with,  but  are  of  little  use  to  the  palaeontologist,  for  they  cannot 
with  any  certainty  be  discriminated  from  those  of  allied  species. 
One  of  the  characteristics  of  these  casts  is  a  deep  longitudinal 
furrow,  the  wide  gap  intervening  between  the  two  distant  beaks 
correspond  with  the  thick  massive  hinges ;  the  impression  of  the 
posterior  muscular  scar  is  generally  present. 

Agassiz  divided  the  fossil  Trigonise  into  seven  sections,  to  which 
Dr.  Lycett  in  his  magnificent  monograph  on  the  British  Fossij 
Trigonise  published  in  the  Palaeontographical  Society  has  added 
an  eighth ;  the  distinctions  are  founded  upon  the  shape  of  the 
shell,  the  ornamentation  of  the  surface,  area,  and  its  escutcheon. 
Only  four  of  the  sections  are  represented  in  the  Dorsetshire 
formations,  Clavellatce,  Glalrce,  Scabr<s,  and  Costatce. 

The  surface  of  the  valves  of  the  section  Clavellata  are  orna- 
mented with  tuburculated  costse  in  concentric  or  oblique  rows 
the  area  is  bounded  by  two  tuburculated  ridges,  the  escutcheon  is 


113 

depressed  and  plain,  and  is  also  enclosed  by  an  inner 
tuberculated  ridge.  There-  are  several  species,  many  of  which 
prevail  in  the  Middle  and  Upper  Oolites  of  Great  Britain.  Eleven 
species  of  this  section  have  been  met  with  in  Dorsetshire. 

T.  Voltzii,  Agassiz.,  Kim.  Clay. 

T.  Pellati,  Mun.  Chalm.,  Kim.  Clay. 

T.  incurva,  Benett,  Kim.  Clay. 

T.  cymla,  Contjean,  Portland  Sand. 

T.  muricata,  Lye,  Portland  Oolite. 

T.  clavellata,  Sow.,  Lower  Calc.  Grit. 

T.  perlata,  Agassiz.,  Lower  Calc.  Grit. 

T.  irregular  is,  Seebach.,  Oxford  Clay. 

T.  striata,  Muller,  Inf.  Oolite. 

T.  formosa,  Lye.,  Inf.  Oolite. 

T.  signata,  Agass,  Inf.  Oolite. 

Dr.  Lycett  excludes  T.  fironnu,  which  had  hitherto  been 
accepted  as  British,  on  the  authority  of  M.  Hebert,  who  con- 
sidered a  small  fossil  from  the  lower  Calcareous  Grit-beds  of 
Weymouth,  to  be  T.  Bronnii,  but  which,  after  careful  examina- 
tion, Dr.  Lycett  decides  it  to  be  merely  a  form  of  T.  clavellata. 

The  section  Undulates  differs  from  the  Clavellata  in  the  costee  ; 
which  are  undulated  and  not  unfrequently  broken  into  two  dis- 
tinct series  of  rows,  of  which  the  anteal  are  the  smaller  and 
more  numerous.  Some,  as  T.  conjungens,  have  ridges  bearing 
tubercles  ;  the  area  has  a  mesial  furrow,  and  the  escutcheon  is 
always  plain. 

It  has  two  Dorsetshire  representatives,  T.  conjungens  and  T 
literata,  both  from  the  Inf.  Oolite  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Brad- 
ford Abbas. 

The  section  Glalra  differs  from  the  above  in  the  slight  differ- 
ence of  the  area  from  the  other  portions  of  the  valve,  which 
although  fairly  defined,  is  for  the  most  part  destitute  of  carineo 
or  only  indications  of  them  in  the  region  of  the  umboiies.  The 
anteal  portion  of  the  valve  has  the  costse  moie  or  less  prominent. 

Dorsetshire  possesses  five  of  the  seven  British  species  of  this 
section. 


1-14 

T.  excentrica,  Park.,  Chi.  Sands. 
T.  gibbosa,  Sow.,  Portland  Oolite.    • 
T.  Manseli,  Lye.,  Portland  Oolite. 
T.  Damoniana,  De  Lor.,  Portland  Oolite. 
T.  tenuitexta,  Lye.,  Portland  Oolite. 

The  section    Scabr<e,    as   has  already  been   observed,  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  rest  by  its  departure  from  the  true  trigonal 
f  orm,  and  is  more  orbicular  than  any  of  the  other  sections.    It  does 
not  extend  beyond  the  known  limits  of  the  Cretaceous  beds,  and 
has  three  representatives  in  Dorsetshire,  namely  : 
T.  Vicaryana,  Lye.,  Chi.  Sands. 
T.  Meyeri,  Lye.,  Chi.  Sands. 
T.  aliformis,  Lye.,  Chi.  Sands. 

The   section   Costata   differs  from  the  previous,    in  the    dis- 
similarity of  the  valves,  both  in  shape  and  ornamentation.     The 
sides  are   furnished  with  elevated  plain  costse,  and  the   area 
separated  by  two  dentated  caringe,    each  valve  being  divided 
longitudinally  into  two  nearly  equal  portions.      There  are  seven 
Dorsetshire  species  of  this  section. 
T.  monilifera,  Agassiz.,  Kim.  Clay. 
T.  Meriam,  Agassiz.,  Calc.  Grit. 
T.  elongata,  Sow.,  Ox.  Clay. 
T.  sculpta,  Lye.,  Inf.  Oolite. 
T.  costata,  Sow.,  Inf.  Oolite. 
T.  tenuicosta,  Lycett,  Inf.  Oolite. 
T.  letta,  Lycett.,  Inf.  Oolite. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Cretaceous  period  the  whole  family 
of  Trigonia  showed  symptoms  of  decline,  which  reached  its  termina- 
tion in  Europe  during  the  Cretaceous  age  ;  not  a  single  species  of 
Trigonia  has  been  met  with  in  any  of  the  Tertiary  beds,  but  it  is 
possible  some  may  have  been  hardy  enough  to  withstand  the  long 
strain  of  depletion,  for  there  are  five  living  species,  all  of  which 
are  found  in  the  bay  of  Sidney  and  the  seas  of  Australia.  T. 
Lamarclcii,  Gray ;  T.  margaritacca,  Lam. ;  T.  nolilis,  Adams ;  T. 
Strangei,  Adams;  T.  uniophora,  Gray.  The  last  Challenger 
expedition  also  brought  to  light  a  new  species  from  these  seas. 


115 

The  partial  or  entire  disappearance  of  whole  families  which 
have  only  had  a  limited  area  may  be  accounted  for,  by  a  change 
of  climate — a  change  in  the  masses  of  land  by  depression 
or  elevation — the  formation  of  desert  belts,  such  as  the  Sahara 
— an  alteration  in  the  direction  of  oceanic  currents — or  by  sub- 
marine volcanic  disturbance,  but  is  not  so  easily  explained  when 
we  have  to  deal  with  families  which  at  one  time  occupied  exten- 
sive areas  and  ranges,  like  the  Trilobita,  Brachiopoda,  certain 
Cephalopoda,  such  as  the  Ammonities,  and  other  mollusca — Tri- 
gonioe,  Pholadomyce — which  had  gained  at  one  period  so  firm  a 
hold  as  to  threaten  predominance.  At  this  zenith  of  their 
career  the  sentence  of  decline  or  extermination  was  irrevocably 
passed,  and  with  but  fe\v  exceptions  the  records  of  their  existence 
are  only  revealed  when  their  rocky  sepulchre  are  exposed  to 
view. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  living  members  of  this  family  are 
only  met  with  in  the  seas  of  Australia,  a  continent  where  the 
marsupial  representatives  of  the  Jurassic  age  also  find  a  home,  a 
period  synchronous  with  the  fullest  development  of  the  family 
Trigonia. 

CLAVELLAT^. 

TEIGONIA  FORMOSA,  Lycett,  plate  i.,  fig.  1. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TKIGONLE,  Lycctt,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  35,  plate  v.,  figa.  4-6. 
Geological  Journal,  Vol.  35,  p.  743,  1879. 

Shell  ovately  trigonal  depressed ;  umbones  elevated,  pointed, 
and  recurved,  anterior  side  moderately  produced,  both  it  and  the 
lower  border  elliptically  curved  ;  superior  border  lengthened  and 
concave  ;  area  rather  narrow,  flattened,  with  closely  arranged, 
acute,  transverse  striations,  a  faintly  marked  oblique,  mesial 
furrow,  and  bounded  by  two  small  densely  and  minutely  dentated 
carinse  ;  the  escutcheon  is  concave,  smooth,  and  lengthened  > 
the  costated  portion  of  the  shell  has  very  numerous  narrow, 
oblique,  knotted  ridges,  which  are  small  at  the  carina,  but 


116 

increase  in  size  anteally,  where  they  also  curve  more  or  less 
horizontally,  towards  the  anterior  border. 

Obs. — T.  formosa  is  a  very  common  form  in  the  Cephalopoda- 
bed  at  Bradford  Abbas,  and  in  the  Sands  below,  of  the  Inferior 
Oolite. 

TRIGONIA  STRIATA,  Miller,  plate  i.,  fig.  7. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.  TEIGONLE,  Lycett,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  36,  plate  5.  figs.  6—8. 

Shell  sub  quadrate,  short,  moderately  convex,  umbones  small, 
erect,  and  only  slightly  recurved ;  anterior  side  short,  somewhat 
truncated,  lower  border  curved  elliptically,  superior  border  short, 
horizontal,  forming  a  considerable  angle  with  the  wide  truncated 
extremity  of  the  area,  which  is  traversed  mesially  by  an  obscure 
furrow,  the  transverse  striations  are  very  regular  and  minute 
even  to  the  apex ;  the  escutcheon  is  narrow,  lengthened  and 
much  depressed,  its  superior  border  is  considerably  raised;  the 
other  portion  of  the  surface  has  about  twenty-two  narrow^ 
obliquely  curved,  and  elevated  costse.  The  most  remarkable 
features  of  this  species  are  the  short  sub-quadrate  figure,  and 
the  large  size  of  the  area. 

Obs. — This  Trigonia  occurs  in  the  zone  of  Ammonites  Hum- 
phriesianus,  at  Burton  Bradstock,  and  is  not  found  in  the  northern 
extension  of  the  series. 

TRIGONIA  SIGNATA,  Ag. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONI.®,  Lyc.}  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  29,  pi.  ii.,  figs.  1-3. 

Shell  ovately  elongated,  sub-trigonal  depressed;  umbones 
antero-mesial,  email,  and  not  prominent  nor  recurved,  but  rarely 
they  are  erect  and  recurved  ;  the  anterior  side  is  moderately  pro- 
duced and  rounded ;  both  this  and  the  lengthened  lower  border 
are  curved  elliptically  ;  superior  border  straight  and  lengthened, 
and  rarely  somewhat  concave;  area  wide  and  flattened,  its 
posterior  extremity  is  compressed  and  somewhat  truncated, 
bounded  by  two  delicate  minutely  tubereulated  carinee,  and 


117 

transversed  longitudinally  by  a  mesial  furrow ;  the  escutcheon  is 
depressed,  lengthened,  and  narrow,  its  superior  border  is  some- 
what raised ;  the  costated  portion  of  the  shell  has  a  numerous 
series  of  about  twenty  oblique  rows  of  tuberculated  costae,  of 
which  the  first  four  or  five  are  slightly  curved  and  sub -tuber- 
culated ;  the  tubercles  are  small,  separate,  rounded,  regular,  and 
nearly  of  equal  size. 

Obs. — T.  signata  appears  to  be  limited  to  the  Inferior  Oolite  ; 
Dr.  Lycett  says,  "It  appears  to  be  present  in  Dorsetshire,  judg- 
ing from  the  matrix  of  two  specimens  which  have  come  under 
my  notice."  He  does  not,  however,  give  the  exact  locality. 

TJRIGONIA  IBKEGULAEIS,   Seelach,  plate  ii.,  fig.  3. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TBIGONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  39,  plate  v.,  figs.  1,  a.b, 
2,  plate  vii.,  fig.  6. 

Damon  Geo.  of  Weymouth,  Sup.,  plate  ii.,  fig.  3,  1880. 

Shell  ovately  trigonal,  or  oblong  ;  urnbones  antero-mesial, 
prominent,  and  recurved,  anterior  side  -short,  moderately  convex, 
slightly  truncated,  its  lower  portion  curved,  with  the  lengthened 
lower  border;  the  escutcheon  is  very  large  and  depressed;  its  length 
exceeding  half  of  that  of  the  entire  shell,  its  superior  border  is 
only  slightly  raised ;  the  area  is  narrow,  having  three  tuber- 
culated carinae,  the  inner  and  median  carinae  have  each  a  row  of 
small  transverse,  nodose  varices,  rather  distantly  arranged;  the 
other  portion  of  the  valve  has  about  fourteen  rows  of  slightly 
elevated  costae,  with  distinct,  conical,  pointed,  and  unequal 
tubercles,  the  first-formed  six  or  seven  rows  are  regular  and  con- 
centric, those  which  succeed  are  more  or  less  irregular,  both  in 
their  direction  and  the  size  and  arrangement  of  the  tubercles, 
the  anteal  portion  of  the  rows  becoming  broken  and  irregular. 

The  figure  in  Mr.  Damon's  "Supplement"  is  an  extreme 
example  of  that  general  irregularity  of  the  tubercles  which 
Seebach  has  adopted  as  a  name  for  the  species. 

Obs.  —It  is  moderately  abundant  in  the  Oxford  clay,  in  the. 
neighbourhood  of  Weymouth. 


118 
TRIGONTA  INCURVA,  Benett,  plate  iii.,  fig.  1. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  42,  plate  ix.,  figs.  2-6. 
Damon's  Geo.  of  Weymouth,  Sup.,  pi.  vii.,  fig.  1 
(internal  mould),  1880. 

Shell  elongated,  curved  at  the  two  extremities  ;  anterior  side 
convex ;  posterior  side  lengthened,  curved  and  depressed ; 
umbones  large,  elevated,  somewhat  recurved,  and  placed  near 
to  the  anterior  border,  which  is  curved  elliptically  with  the  lower 
border ;  escutcheon  concave,  lengthened,  its  superior  border 
somewhat  raised ;  area  narrow,  distinctly,  bipartite  with  three 
delicate  tuberculated  carinse,  and  irregular  transverse  plications. 
The  ornamentation  on  the  sides  of  the  valve  varies  much  in 
accordance  with  the  development  in  the  growth  of  the  shell. 

Obs. — Trigonia  incur va,  passes  from  the  Kimmeridge  clays  to 
the  Portland  Limestones.  It  occurs  at  Kimmeridge  Bay,  and  at 
Portland ;  the  moulds  are  very  common,  but  it  rarely  happens 
that  any  considerable  portion  of  the  test  is  adherent.  Dr. 
Lycett's  fig.  2  is  from  a  specimen  in  my  collection,  from  Kim- 
meridge Bay,  and  is  now  in  the  National  Museum  of  Practical 
Geology,  Jermyn  Street. 

TRIGONTA  WOODWARDI,  Lye.,  plate  iii.,  fig.  2. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  40,  plate  xvii.,  fig.  1. 

Shell  large,  ovately  trigonal,  depressed;  umbones  elevated, 
pointed,  recurved,  placed  at  about  the  anterior  third  of  the 
valves  ;  anterior  side  produced,  its  border  curved  obliquely  with 
the  lower  border,  which  is  lengthened,  and  nearly  straight 
posteally ;  the  superior  border  is  nearly  straight,  sloping  down- 
wards obliquely,  and  forms  only  a  slight  angle  with  the  posteal 
border  of  the  area,  which  is  pointed  at  the  lower  extremity ;  the 
escutcheon  is  narrow,  lengthened  and  concave,  the  border 
raised;  area  narrow,  its  superior  or  umbonal  portion  forms  a 
considerable  angle  with  the  costated  surface  of  the  shell,  of 
which  the  rows  of  costse  are  small,  widely  separated,  and  nearly 


119 

straight  or  oblique  ;  the  tubercles  of  the  rows  are  numerous 
crowded,  closely  placed  and  unequal.  Length,  four-and-a- 
quarter  inches ;  height,  three-and-a-quarter  inches ;  diameter 
through  the  united  valve,  one  inch  and  three-quarters. 

Obs. — This  rare  shell  occurs  in  the  Kimmeridge  clay,  at 
Kimmeridge  Bay,  where  I  have  found  only  one  specimen,  which 
I  deposited  in  the  Jermyn  Street  Museum  of  Practical  Geology. 

TRIGONTA  CLAVELLATA,  Sow.,  plate  x.,  fig.  7. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  18,  plate  i.,  figs.  1-2, 
Damon's  Geol.  of  "Weymouth,  Sup.,  plate  iv.,  fig.  2, 
1880. 

Shell  ovately  trigonal,  moderated  elongated,  convex  ;  umbones 
large,  obtuse  and  incurved,  but  rarely  recurved ;  anterior  side 
rounded,  but  not  much  produced,  its  lower  Jextremity  curved 
with  the  lower  border;  superior  border  straight,  lengthened, 
sloping  obliquely  downward ;  escutcheon  flattened,  its  length 
is  nearly  equal  to  half  the  length  of  the  marginal  carina ; 
area  narrow,  flattened,  or  slightly  convex,  transversely  and 
irregularly  plicated,  having  three  carinae  of  which  the  mesial 
carina  consists  of  a  row  of  delicate  small  tubercles ;  the  two 
bounding  carinse  have  the  tubercles  much  larger,  but  depressed, 
and  closely  arranged,  those  on  the  lower  carina  form,  lengthened 
transverse  varices;  a  well-marked  furrow  borders  upon  the 
median  carina  ;  the  superior  half  of  the  area  is  more  depressed 
than  the  other  portion.  The  sides  of  the  valves  have  the  rows 
of  tuberculated  costse,  at  first  oblique,  but  the  later  formed  few, 
became  more  horizontal.  The  tubercles  in  the  rows  are  large, 
closely  arranged,  and  unequal  both  in  size  and  figure.  Dr. 
Lyeett  considers  the  forms  from  the  Lower  Calcareous  Grit  to 
be  the  types  of  this  species,  they  have  sixteen  or  seventeen  rows 
of  costse  in  adult  specimens. 

Obs. — T.  clavellata  occurs  very  abundantly  in  the  Calcareous 
Grit  at  Sandsf  oot  Castle,  and  at  Eingstead  Bay  near  Weymouth. 


120 
TRIGONIA  VOLTZII,  Agass.,  plate  iv.,  fig.  1. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TmaoNLZB,  Lyc.y  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  20,  plate  x.,  fig8.  1-2. 
Damon's  Geology  of  Weymouth,  Sup.,  pi.  xv.,  fig.  2, 
1880. 

This  Kimmeridge  Clay  fossil  lias  often  been  confounded 
with  T.  clavellata.  It  is  larger,  however,  and  considerably  more 
lengthened ;  the  umbones  are  somewhat  more  elevated,  and 
attenuated ;  the  anterior  side  is  short,  while  the  posterior  is  much 
produced ;  the  test  is  also  unusually  thick.  The  valves  have  very 
little  convexity,  consequently  the  surface  of  the  area  is  more 
nearly  on  the  same  plane  with  the  other  portion  of  the  valve ;  the 
rows  of  tuberculated  costse  upon  the  other  portion  of  the  valve 
are  invariably  less  numerous,  and  more  widely  separated  than  in 
T.  clavellata. 

Obs. — This  shell  is  frequently  met  with  in  the  Kimmeridge 
Clays,  both  at  Weymouth  and  Kimmeridge. 

TRIGONIA  CYMBA.  Contejean,  plate  iv.,  fig.  4. 
MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONLE,  Lyc.}  Pal.  Soc., p.  192,  plate  xxxviii.,  fig.  1. 

This  species  is  remarkable  for  the  considerable  elongation  of 
the  valves  posteally,  for  the  extremely  slight  curvature  of  the 
rows  of  costse,  and  which  are  nearly  horizontal ;  for  their  incon- 
spicuous tubercles,  and  lastly  for  the  small  development  of  the 
ornamentation  of  the  valves  ;  the  umbones  are  large,  elevated, 
and  nearly  erect ;  the  anteal  portion  of  the  shell  has  consider- 
able convexity ;  the  posteal  and  more  lengthened  portion  is 
depressed ;  area  narrow,  bounded  upon  each  side  by  a  row  of 
minute  tubercles  over  the  anteal  or  umbonal  half  of  its  length  ; 
the  posteal  half  of  the  area  has  only  transverse  rugae,  which  are 
not  strongly  defined,  it  is  also  much  depressed;  the  other  por- 
tion of  the  shell  has  rows  of  clavellated  costse  about  fifteen  or 
sixteen  in  number,  small,  nearly  horizortal  or  coinciding  in  their 
direction  with  the  lines  of  growth. 


121 

Obs. — This  very  rare  British,  fossil  occurs  in  the  Portland 
Bands  at  Gad-cliff,  near  Kimmeridge  Bay;  there  is  no  other 
record  of  it  in  any  other  British  locality.  It  is  not,  however, 
uncommon  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel.  Dr.  Lycett's 
figure  in  the  Palseontographical  is  taken  from  the  unique 
Dorsetshire  specimen,  which  is  now  in  the  National  Museum 
of  Practical  Geology.  Dr.  Lycett  says  of  it,  "  The  minuteness 
and  delicacy  with  which  the  character  of  the  surface  has  been 
preserved  leave  little  cause  to  regret  the  absence  of  the  test." 

TRIGONIA  PELLATI,  Ifun.  Chal.,  plate  ii.,  fig.  4. 

MONO.  BBIT.  Foss.,  TRIGONLZE,  Lyc.y  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  41.  plate  vii.,  1,  2  a.b., 
plate  ii.,  fig.  1. 

Shell  oblong,  inordinately  elongated,  the  superior  border 
wide,  the  inferior  depressed,  and  wedge-shaped;  umbones 
near  to  the  anteal  extremity  of  the  valves,  obtuse,  much  incurved, 
and  depressed ;  anterior  side  very  short,  truncated,  with  con- 
siderable convexity,  its  border  curved  elliptically  with  the  lower 
border,  which  is  very  long  and  straight ;  the  superior  border  is 
also  very  long,  its  border  slightly  concave,  its  posteal  extremity 
forming  an  obtuse  angle  with  the  posteal  border  of  the  area  and 
terminated  with  a  somewhat  pointed  and  much  produced 
extremity ;  the  area  is  long  and  slightly  convex  with  a  well- 
marked  mesial  furrow,  bordering  a  line  of  minute  tubercles,  and 
bounded  by  two  delicately  traced  and  minutely  tuberculated 
carinse  ;  escutcheon  flattened,  of  moderate  breadth,  but  unusually 
lengthened.  The  sides  of  the  valves  are  very  narrow,  and  have 
a  few  rows  of  very  distinctly  arranged  oblique  tuberculated 
cost&e.  Three  or  four  of  the  tubercles  nearest  the  carinse  are 
larger,  rounded,  and  pointed.  This  is  the  most  elongated  of  the 
ClavellatoB. 

Obs. — T.  Pellati  occurs  frequently  in  the  Lower  Beds  of  the 
Kimmeridge  Clay  series  at  Kimmeridge  Bay.  The  specimen 
figured  by  Dr.  Lycett  came  from  thence ;  and  is  deposited  in 
the  National  Museum  of  Practical  Geology,  Jermyn-street. 


122 

TRIGOXIA  MURICATA,   GoUf,  plate  iv.,  fig.  1. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIOONLS:,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  50,  plate  ix.,  fig-.  1. 

The  shell  of  this  species  has  a  lengthened  oblong  form,  with 
the  anterior  side  very  short,  and  the  posterior  attenuated  ;  the 
anterior  and  lower  borders  are  curved  elliptically ;  the  umbones 
have  but  little  elevation,  but  are  distinctly  recurved;  area  large  and 
flattened,  or  slightly  convex posteally,  having  tuberculated  carinse, 
the  marginals  bearing  regularly  rounded  and  rather  distinctly- 
arranged  tubercles ;  the  lateral  costse  have  only  a  slight 
elevation ;  they  are  numerous  (about  twenty-four),  obliquely 
curved,  and  nearly  of  equal  size,  the  tubercles  small,  numerous, 
regularly,  and  slightly  compressed  laterally  ;  the  larger  tubercles 
occupy  the  middle  and  posteal  portion  of  the  rows. 

Obs. — Several  examples  of  this  species  have  been  met  with  in 
the  Portland  beds  of  Dorsetshire  ;  but  deprived  of  their  tests' 
and  do  not  exhibit  the  character  of  the  area. 

UNDULATJE. 

TRIGONIA  CONJTJNGENS,  Phil. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONLZB,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  62,  pi.  x.,  figs.  5,  7,  8, 
pi.  xiii.,  fig.  6. 

Shell  ovately  oblong,  moderately  convex  mesially,  somewha 
depressed  near  to  the  anterior  and  posterior  borders ;  umbones 
elevated,  obtuse,  erect  or  slightly  re-curved, 
placed  within  (or  in  some  specimens  upon) 
^.he  line  of  the  anterior  third  of  the  valves 
anterior  border  produced,  curved  ellipti- 
cally with  the  lower  border ;  hinge-border 
straight,  lengthened,  sloping  obliquely 
and  terminating  posteally  in  the  wide-  Trigonia  conjungens,  Phil 
rounded  posteal  border  of  the  area  ;  escutcheon  large,  lengthened, 
depressed,  excepting  its  superior  border,  which  is  raised ;  area 
very  wide,  occupying  about  one- third  of  the  surface  of  the  valve ;  it 
is  somewhat  raised,  expanded  and  flattened  posteally ;  it  has  a 


123 

well-marked  mesial  oblique  furrow,  and  is  traversed  transversely 
by  numerous  large  plications,  which  increase  in  size  posteally 
and  become  irregular,  prominent,  and  wrinkled.  The  costated 
portion  of  the  valve  has  numerous  rows  of  tuberculated  costae 
the  first-formed  six  or  seven  rows  are  very  closely  arranged, 
slightly  curved  at  their  two  extremities ;  those  which  succeed 
form  two  series ;  the  anteal  being  somewhat  irregular  in  their 
arrangement,  and  directed  somewhat  obliquely  downwards  to  the 
middle  of  the  valve,  their  posteal  extremities  are  united  about 
the  middle  of  the  valve  to  another  less  numerous,  .and  somewhat 
larger  series  of  costse  ;  they  approach  the  carina  at  a  considerable 
angle,  and  the  last  three  or  four  rows  pass  perpendicularly  down 
to  the  lower  border. 

Until  very  recently  this  species  had  remained  one  of  the  more 
obscure  and  doubtful  forms  of  Trigonia,  and  had  it  not  been  for 
its  fortunate  discovery  by  Professor  Buckman,  at  Bradford 
Abbas,  while  this  memoir  was  passing  through  the  printer's 
hands,  "  The  Proceedings"  would  not  have  had  the  privilege  of 
being  the  first  to  record  it  as  having  been  met  with  in  the  county. 

Obs. — T.  conjungens  occurs  in  the  Cephalopoda-bed  of  the 
Inferior  Oolite  at  Bradford  Abbas. 

TRIGONIA  LITERATA,  Young  and  Bird. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.  TBIGONLE,  Lyc.^  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  64,  plate  xiv.,  figs.  1-4 

Shell  subovate  or  ovately  oblong,  convex;  umbones  large, 
moderately  elevated,  obtuse,  nearly  erect,  placed  within  the 
anterior  third  of  the  valves  ;  anterior  side  moderately  produced, 
its  border  curved  elliptically  with  the  lower  border ;  superior 
border  lengthened,  nearly  straight,  sloping  obliquely  downwards, 
and  forming  posteally  nearly  a  right  angle,  with  the  posterior 
border  of  the  area ;  escutcheon  wide  and  somewhat  concave  its 
superior  border  moderately  raised  ;  area  narrow,  slightly  convex 
with  a  well-defined  mesial  furrow.  The  other  portion  of  the 
surface  has  two  distinct  series  of  tuberculated  costse,  this  dis- 
tinctness commences  at  the  apices.  The  anteal  series  has  the 


124 

rows  very  numerous,  small  and  extremely  irregular ;  the  rows 
are  sometimes  partially  united  to  the  larger  posteal  series,  or 
altogether  separated  from  them. 

Obs. — A  single  specimen  of  this  rare  shell  was  found  by  Pro- 
fessor Buckman  in  the  same  quarry  as  T.  conjungens.  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  harder  beds  of  Limestone  in  the  Oolite  Sands  of 
the  neighbourhood  may  be  found  to  yield  this  species. 

COSTAT-E. 

TRIQONIA  COSTATA,  Sow.,  plate  i.,  fig.  3. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.  p.  147,  plate  xxix.,  figs  5-10. 

Shell  sub-trigonal,  very  convex  near  the  divisional  angle  of 
the  valve,  and  near  the  apex  is  rather  depressed  posteally  ;  umbo 
prominent,  pointed,  incurved,  and  somewhat  recurved  ;  anterior 
side  a  little  produced,  its  border  truncated;  the  escutcheon  is 
flattened  and  depressed,  its  breadth  with  the  valves  united  exceeds 
its  length ;  the  area  is  large  and  flattened,  each  portion  having 
from  three  to  five  costellse.  The  rest  of  the  shell  has  about 
twenty-four  large  plain  costae,  all  of  which  originate  at  the 
anterior  border. 

Obs. — Trigonia  costata  has  a  considerable  vertical  extensioni 
ranging  from  the  Inferior  Oolite  to  the  Cornbrash.  It  occurs 
frequently  at  Bradford  Abbas  and  Burton  Bradstock,  and  I  have 
met  with  it,  in  the  Cornbrash  of  Closworth. 

TRIGONIA  SCTJLPTA,  Lye.,  plate  i.,  fig.  4. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONLS!,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  157,  plate  xxxiv.,  figs. 
1,  2,  2a. 
Geological  Journal,  vol.  35,  p.  743-1879. 

Shell  subovate  or  ovately  oblong,  moderately  convex,  umbones 
prominent,  pointed,  subanterior,  and  slightly  recurved,  anterior 
side  short,  its  border  curved  elliptically  with  the  lower  border 
superior  "border  straight  and  lengthened  j    the  escutcheon  is  also 


125 

lengthened,  flattened  and  depressed;  the  area  has  some  con- 
vexity, more  especially  in  the  right  valve  ;  it  is  bounded  by  two 
deeply  dentated  carinse,  the  inter-carinal  costellse  are  few,  large, 
and  somewhat  irregular  ;  the  costse  in  fully  developed  specimens 
are  about  twenty-seven,  curved  obliquely  or  subconcentric. 

Obs. — T.  sculpta  occurs  in  the  Cephalopoda  beds  and  Sands 
below  of  the  Inferior  Oolite  at  Bradford  Abbas ;  where  it  is  a 
rare  fossil.  It  has  been  met  with  in  the  Cornbrash  of  this 
county. 

TRIGONTA  BELLA,  Lye.,  plate  i,,  fig.  5. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.  TEIGONLS:,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  162,  plate  xxxii.,  figs.  6-8a. 

Shell  convex  mesially,  much  produced  and  pointed  at  its 
umbonal  extremity,  which  is  only  slightly,  or  sometimes  not  at 
all  recurved ;  escutcheon  narrow,  depressed  and  excavated,  so 
that  no  portion  of  it  is  seen  when  a  valve  is  laid  horizontally 
upon  its  borders,  and  viewed  from  above;  its  length  exceeds 
twice  its  breadth  in  the  united  valves;  the  surface  of  the 
escutcheon  has  a  numerous  series  of  very  delicate,  diverging, 
slightly  indented  costellse  ;  the  area  is  divided  into  two  nearly 
equal  spaces  by  an  unusually  large,  elevated;  and  nodose  median 
carina ;  its  costellse,  eight  or  nine  in  number,  are  very  irregularly 
knotted  or  indented ;  the  right  valve  has  only  three  or  four 
larger  costellse,  and  its  surface  is  more  elevated,  the  other  por- 
tion of  the  shell  has  the  costse  twenty-eight  or  twenty-nine  in 
number,  moderately  elevated,  very  oblique,  and  with  little 
curvature. 

Obs. — This  well-characterized  species  of  the  Costatw  section 
has  been  hitherto  only  found,  in  the  Cephalopoda  bed  of  Brad- 
ford Abbas,  where  it  is  rarely  met  with. 

TRIGONIA  TENUICOSTA,  Lye.,  plate  i.,  fig.  2. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.  TEIGONLZE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc,,  p.  160,  plate  33,  figs.  7-9a. 

Shell  ovately  trigonal,  very  convex  ;  umbones  elevated,  acute, 
arched  inwards,  and  recurved ;  anterior  side  very  short,  its 


126 

border  truncated  almost  perpendicularly,  and  slightly  exca- 
vated beneath  the  umbones ;  inferior  border  short,  curved 
elliptic-ally,  hinge  border  sloping  obliquely,  and  forming  an 
obtuse  angle  with  the  syphonal  border,  which  is  nearly  perpen- 
dicular, and  equal  in  length  to  the  hinge-border ;  area  large, 
concave,  its  surface  forming  nearly  a  right  angle  with  the 
costated  portion  of  the  valve.  It  is  rendered  unequally  bipartite 
by  a  minute  but  distinct  median  carina  in  each  valve;  the 
escutcheon  is  wide,  heart-shaped,  with  the  valves  in  contact,  and 
slightly  depressed  ;  its  superior  border  convex.  The  other  por- 
tion of  the  surface  has  the  costse,  about  twenty-eight  in  number, 
narrow  and  elevated,  nearly  horizontal,  curving  upwards  anteally. 
The  hinge-processes  are  large  and  project  considerably. 

Obs. — This  species  has  been  met  with  in  the  Cephalopoda  Bed 
at  Walditch,  near  Bridport,  and  at  Bradford  Abbas,  but  in 
neither  locality  is  it  common. 

TRIGONIA  MONILIFERA,  Agass.,  plate  ii.,  fig.  1. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.  TRIQONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  165,  plate  xxxi.,  figs. 
1— 2a,  10. 

T.  MAEGINATA,  Dam.,  Damon's  Geol.  of  Weymouth,  Sup.  pi.  iv.,  fig.   1, 
1880. 

Shell  ovately  trigonal,  very  convex,  both  mesially  and  anteally, 
umbones  prominent,  much  incurved,  and  more  or  less  recurved  ; 
anterior  side  moderately  produced  and  rounded,  its  border 
curved  elliptically  with  the  lower  border,  its  superior  or  umbonal 
portion  slightly  excavated,  hinge- border  concave  ;  escutcheon 
very  wide  and  concave,  the  surface  for  the  most  part  delicately 
reticulated,  having  two  series  of  numerous  small  fine  ridges ;  the 
area  is  of  moderate  size,  bipartite,  somewhat  concave  and  nearly 
alike  in  both  the  valves,  it  has  a  prominent  median  carina,  and 
the  boundary  carinse  are  large.  The  rest  of  the  shell  has  about 
twenty-five  costae  (in  adult  forms)  which  are  large  and  somewhat 
flattened,  the  lines  of  growth  are  conspicuous  and  prominent. 

. — This  species  cccurs  in  the  lower  beds  of  the  Kimmeridge 


127 

Clays  and  in  the  Calcareous  Grits  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wey- 
mouth,  as  well  as  in  the  red  pisolitic  iron-rock  at  Abbotsbury, 
where  it  is  invariably  deprived  of  its  test  and  is  ill  preserved. 

TRIGONIA  ELONGATA,  Sow.,  plate  ii.,  fig.  2. 

MONO.  BRIT.  Foss.,  TRIGONLE,  Lyc.t  Pal.  Soo.,  p.  154,  plate  xxx.,  figs.  3, 
a,  b,  6. 

Damon's  Geol.  of  Weymouth,  Sup.,  pi.  ii.,  figs.  1,  2, 
1880. 

Shell  ovately  trigonal,  short,  very  convex  at  the  position  of 
the  marginal  carina ;  umbones  elevated,  pointed,  much  arched 
inwards,  and  somewhat  recurved ;  anterior  side  short,  its  border 
truncated,  lengthened,  depressed  at  the  junction  of  the  valves, 
its  lower  portion  curved  elliptically  with  the  lower  border,  which 
is  short  and  nearly  straight ;  hinge  border  very  convex  and 
short,  forming  a  considerable  angle  with  the  siphonal  border ; 
escutcheon  raised,  convex,  and  cordate,  the  breadth  of  the  united 
valves  equal  to  three-fourths  of  its  length  ;  area  very  large,  and 
with  the  escutcheon  is  equal  in  size  to  the  other  portion  of  the 
valve,  which  has  the  costse  large,  elevated,  and  only  slightly 
oblique  in  their  general  direction ;  in  adult  forms  their  num- 
ber varies  from  eighteen  to  twenty-seven. 

Obs. — The  typical  form  of  this  species  occurs  abundantly  in 
the  Oxford  Clay  at  the  Breakwater,  Weymouth.  I  found  the 
var.  lata — the  largest  of  the  elongate  group — in  the  Cornbrash  at 
Closworth,  a  locality  just  outside  the  borders  of  the  county. 

TKIGONIA  MERIANI,  Agass.,  plate  iv.,  fig.  2. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.  TRIGONLE,  Jy0.,Pal.  Soc.,p.  167,  plate  xxxiii,  figs,  1—3. 

Shell  acutely  trigonal,  very  convex  ;  umbones  produced, 
pointed,  arched  inwards  and  recurved ;  anterior  side  produced, 
its  border  rounded  elliptically  with  the  lower  border,  which  is 
slightly  excavated  posteally  ;  escutcheon  comparatively  small, 
depressed,  flattened,  with  its  superior  border  somewhat  raised ; 


128 

its  surface  has  small  closely  arranged,  delicate,  oblique  plica- 
tions ;  area  slightly  excavated  and  flattened,  rendered  distinctly 
bipartite  by  the  superior  or  inner  half  being  more  depressed  than 
the  other  portion  ;  it  is  bounded  by  two  well  defined  small  carinse  ; 
the  marginal  carina  is  elevated,  peculiarly  narrow  in  the  left 
valve  and  somewhat  larger  in  the  other.  The  sides  of  the  valves 
have  a  very  numerous  series  of  costae  (forty  or  more  in  advanced 
growth),  they  are  small  and  somewhat  unequal  in  size,  and 
irregular  in  their  direction.  The  smallness  and  irregularity  of 
the  costse  in  so  large  a  species  is  a  feature  altogether  unique  in 
the  Jurassic  Costatce. 

Obs.  —  This  large  Trigonia  has  been  obtained  from  the  Cal- 
careous Grit  formation  at  Weymouth. 


TRIQONIA  GIBBOSA,  Sow.,  plate  v.,  fig.  1. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TBJGONLE,  Lyc.t  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  84,  plate  xviii.,  figs.  1-6 
plate  xix.,  figs.  1  a.b.,  2. 

Damon's  Geology  of  Weyroouth,  Sup.,  pi.  xvi.,  fig. 
5,  1880. 

Shell  somewhat  inflated,  subovate,  or  ovately  oblong  ;  umbones 
large,  obtuse,  elevated,  antero-mesial  and  erect  ;  anterior  and 
inferior  border  elliptically  curved,  hinge-border  concave,  its 
posteal  extremity  curved  gently  with  the  posteal  border  of  the 
area,  which  is  narrow,  slightly  curved,  having  a  mesial  oblique 
furrow  ;  there  are  no  distinct  bounding  carinse,  but  near  the 
umbo  the  area  forms  a  distinct  angle  with  the  more  depressed 
anti-carinal  space  ;  the  escutcheon  is  of  moderate  breadth, 
smooth  and  depressed  ;  the  costated  portion  occupies  more  than 
half  the  valve;  the  costse  in  their  prominence,  number,  and 
general  aspects  possess  so  much  variability  that,  without  the 
examination  of  numerous  connecting  specimens  other  species 
may  possibly  be  united  to  it. 

Obs.  —  T.  giblosa  is  limited  to  the  Portland  Oolite  and  Sands. 
It  is  not  uncommon  at  Portland. 


129 
TRIGONIA  TENUITEXTA,  Lye.,  plate  v.,  fig.  4. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIQONIJE,  Lijc.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  90,  plate  xx.,figs.  1,  la. 
Damon's  Geology  of  Weymouth,  Sup.,  plate  xvi., 
fig.  3,  1880. 

Shell  with  the  general  outline  of  T.  Damoniana  but  less  con- 
vex ;  its  most  striking  peculiarity  is  the  ante-carinal  space,  which 
is  nearly  absent,  there  being  only  a  narrow  slight  depression, 
indicating  its  position ;  the  knotted  costee  upon  the  side  of  the 
valve  are  remarkable  for  their  minuteness,  close  arrangement, 
and  irregularity  of  undulations,  so  that  they  appear  partially 
confused.  Of  the  specimens  figured  in  his  Monograph,  I>r 
Lycett  says,  "the  escutcheon  has  a  few  irregular  oblique  plica- 
tions ;  as  this  is  a  feature  altogether  foreign  to  the  Glabrce,  and 
occurs  only  in  the  Quadratce  and  the  Costatce,  its  occurrence  in  the 
present  instance  may  be  regarded  as  an  abnormal  or  individual 
peculiarity. 

Obs. — T.  tenuitexta  is  met  with  in  the  Limestones  of  the  Isle 
of  Portland. 

TRIQONTA  MAN.SELI,  Lye.,  plate  v.  fig.  2. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.  TEIGK>NLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  86,  plate  xix.,  figs.  3,  4, 
4a> 6-  -™ 

Damon's  Geology  of  Weymouth,  Supp.,  pi.  xiv.,  fig. 
4,  1880. 

Shell  subovate  or  ovately  oblong,  inflated  mesially,  compressed 
near  its  pallia!  border ;  umbones  antero-mesial,  prominent,  large, 
and  obtuse,  much  incurved  and  nearly  erect ;  anterior  and  lower 
borders  curved  elliptically ;  hinge-border  rather  convex,  curved 
gently  with  the  posteal  extremity  of  the  area,  and  terminating 
in  an  extremity  which  is  somewhat  produced  and  pointed; 
escutcheon  smooth  and  concave,  having  its  upper  border  some- 
what raised ;  area  narrow,  convex  and  raised,  divided  con- 
spicuously by  a  deep  mesial  furrow,  which  has  bordering  upon 
it  upon  either  side,  a  slightly  defined  row  of  small  or  evanescent 
tubercles.  The  other  portion  of  the  surface  has  a  very 
numerous  and  well-marked  series  of  obliquely  directed  tuber- 


130 

culated  costse,  which  are  different  upon  the  umbones,  forming  a 
densely-arranged  linear  series,  which  pass  horizontally  across  the 
whole  of  the  valve  uninterruptedly.  The  costse  (about  twenty- 
four  in  number)  are  narrow,  closely  arranged,  curved  and  some- 
what attenuated  near  the  pallial  border.  The  arrangement  of 
the  rows  is  so  close  that  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  discover  the 
real  direction  of  the  lines  of  tubercles.  The  usual  length  is 
twenty-two  lines,  height  eighteen  lines,  diameter  through  the 
united  valves,  fourteen  lines  and  a  half. 

This  fossil  passes  through  all  three  sections  of  the  Portland 
series,  not  unfrequently  occuring  in  the  Limestone,  of  Portland. 

g 

TRIGONIA  DAMONIANA,  Le  Lor.,  plate  v.,  fig  3. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.  TRiaoNia:,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  88,  plate  xviii.,  fig.  3.,  plate 
xix,  figs.  1,  a,  b,  plate  xxi.,  figs.  2-5. 

Damon's  Geology  of  Weymouth,  Supp.,  pi.   7,  figs. 
2,  3,  1880. 

Shell  subovate,  lengthened  obliquely,  convex ;  umbones  large, 
erect,  very  prominently  and  somewhat  pointed,  much  incurved, 
and  rendered  bipartite  by  the  narrow,  deep  sulcation  produced 
by  the  apical  termination  of  the  ante-carinal  space ;  border  of 
the  valves  elliptically  rounded  excepting  the  hinge-border, 
which  is  straight,  and  lengthened,  sloping  obliquely ;  the 
anterior  face  of  the  valves  has  a  large,  rounded,  depressed  space 
or  lunule  ;  the  escutcheon  is  depressed,  cordif orm  and  strongly 
marked  by  the  lines  of  growth;  the  area  is  narrow,  slightly 
elevated  or  curved,  traversed  transversely  by  irregular  folds  of 
growth ;  it  has  a  well  marked  mesial  furrow.  The  costated 
portion  is  divided  into  three  or  four  zones ;  the  direction  of  the 
row  of  cost«)  are  not  conformable  with  the  sulcations ;  upon  the 
anterior  face  of  the  valve  they  are  uninterrupted  and  much 
attenuated.  Compared  with  Trigonia  giblosa  the  general  form 
differs  considerably,  being  shorter  transversely,  the  concentric 
sulcations  smaller,  and  the  umbones  more  elevated. 

Obs. — Trigonia  Damoniana  is  abundant  in  the  Limestones  of  the 
Isle  of  Portland. 


131 
TRIGOXIA  EXCENTRICA,  Park.,  plate  v.,  fig.  7. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIQONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.   Soc.,  p.  94,  plate  xx.,  fisf.  5, 
plate  xxi.,  figs.  6,  7,  plate  xxii.,  figs.  1,  5,  5a. 

Shell  inequilateral,  subovate,  rather  depressed  and  thin  in  the 
very  young  condition,  becoming  thick,  with  a  considerable  con- 
vexity, in  an  advanced  stage.  of  growth  ;  umbones  pointed,  erect  ? 
little  produced,  situated  about  two-fifths  the  length  of  the  valve 
from  the  anterior  border.  Anterior  side  produced,  its  border 
curved  elliptically  with  the  lower  border  ;  hinge  border  nearly 
straight,  or  in  some  examples  slightly  concave,  sloping  obliquely 
downwards,  lengthened,  terminating  in  a  posteal  extremity, 
which  is  rounded,  but  attenuated;  area  narrow,  slightly  con- 
cave near  to  the  umbo,  where  the  valve  forms  an  oblique  angle, 
separating  the  area  from  the  anteal  portion,  The  other  portion 
of  the  shell  is  covered  by  a  series  of  a  very  numerous,  slightly 
elevated,  longitudinal  or  horizontal  costee,  which  are  indented 
anteally  by  oblique  intersecting  lines  of  growth,  they  cross  the 
valve  near  to  the  umbo,  but  disappear  over  the  posteal  third  of 
the  surface.  The  length  compared  with  the  height  is  as  ten  to 
seven.  The  hinge-teeth  diverge  widely,  the  adductor  scars  are 
deeply  impressed,  especially  the  anteal  adductor. 

T.  excentrica  occurs  in  the  Chloritic  Sands  of  Chardstock. 


TBIGONIA  MEYEEI,  Lye.,  plate  v.,  fig.  5. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONI^,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  125,  plate  xxiii.,  fig.  6. 

Shell  ovately  trigonal,  very  convex  anteally,  attenuated  and 
compressed  posteally  ;  umbones  large,  elevated,  pointed,  and 
much  recurved  ;  anterior  side  produced,  its  border  rounded  and 
curved  with  the  lower  border,  which  becomes  nearly  straight 
posteally  near  to  its  attenuated  extremity  ;  the  area  is  narrow, 
much  curved,  slightly  elevated,  separated  from  the  other  or 
pallial  portion  of  the  valve,  by  a  distinct,  narrow,  divisional 
angle  or  ridge;  the  anteal  portion  of  the  area  is  traversed 
transversely  by  a  numerous  series  of  small,  closely  arranged, 


132 

wrinkled  costellae,  which  pass  without  interruption  across  the 
larger  escutcheon.  The  upper  surface  of  the  valve  is  almost 
entirely  occupied  by  a  large  concave  escutcheon,  which  is  con- 
spicuously costellated  transversely  throughout  its  length;  its 
breadth  exceeds  that  of  the  area  from  which  it  is  separated  only 
by  a  faintly  elevated  ridge.  The  rest  of  the  valve  has  a  series 
of  about  twenty-six  rows  of  small,  closely  placed,  rounded,  and 
slightly  crenulated  costse,  all  of  which  originate  at  the  carinal 
angle  of  the  valve  and  pass  downwards  nearly  perpendicularly. 
.  Obs. — This  fossil,  together  with  the  other  Cretaceous  Trigonise, 
approaches  nearest  in  form  to  those  of  our  recent  species.  It  is 
met  with  in  the  Chloritic  Marls  of  Chardstock 

TRIGONIA  VICARYANA,  Lye.,  plate  v.,  fig.  6. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Foss.,  TEIGONIJS,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  141,  plate  xxv.,  figs.  8,  9. 

Shell  ovately  elongated,  convex,  produced  and  pointed  at  the 
umbones,  depressed  posteally ;  umbones  sub-anterior,  elevated, 
pointed,  and  recurved;  anterior  side  short,  its  border  curved 
elliptically,  with  the  lower  border ;  area  wide,  flattened,  its  sur- 
face, together  with  the  escutcheon,  equal  to  about  two-fifths  of 
the  entire  valve,  and  is  covered  by  a  very  delicate  and  numerous 
series  of  obliquely  curved  scabrous  costellae,  which  nearly  disappear 
in  its  posteal  portion.  The  escutcheon  is  of  moderate  breadth, 
separated  from  the  area  only  by  the  border  of  the  concave  sur- 
face, and  by  two  great  prominences  of  the  costellse.  The  rows 
of  costse,  which  are  very  numerous  and  small,  are  curved  obliquely 
downwards. 

Obs. — T.  Viewryana  is  also  met  with  in  the  Chloritic  Marls  of 
Chardstock. 

TRIGONIA  ALIFORMIS,  Park.,  plate  v.,  fig.  8. 

MONO.  BEIT.  Toss.  TBIGONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc.,  p.  116,  plate  xxv.,  figs.  3-6- 

Shell  sublunate,  inflated  anteally,  produced,  attenuated  and 
depressed  posteally,  umbones  much  elevated,  antero-mesial, 
pointed,  much  recurved  and  incurved,  anterior  side  produced ;  its 
border  rounded  ;  lower  border  rounded  but  somewhat  excavated 


133 

posteally,  hinge-border  lengthened  concave,  terminating  posteally 
in  a  rostrated  and  attenuated  extremity,  ligamental   aperture 
narrow,  inter-umbonal ;  escutcheon  lengthened,  deeply  concave, 
occupying  the  entire  upper  surface  of  the  shell,  its  superior  or 
inner  border  is  plain  and  much   raised ;    its   outer  border   is 
elevated  and  rounded ;  the  area  is  very  narrow  and  convex ;  it  is 
rendered  bipartite  throughout  its  entire  length  by  a  deep  groove, 
and  its  superior  or  umbonal  portion  has  a  few  small,  ridge-like 
transverse   costellse;   the  remainder  of   its   length   has    small, 
irregular,  transverse,  plications.    The  other  portion  of  the  surface 
has  a  numerous  series  of  costee  which  originate  at  the  border  of 
the  area  as  narrow  crenulated  ridges,  and  diverge  in  every  direc- 
tion ;  about  seven  costse  nearest  to  the  apex  are  concentric  or 
curved  obliquely,  the  next  succeeding  seven  become  inflated  at 
their  middle   portions,  and  pass   obliquely   downwards  to   the 
pallial  border.     The  change  from  the  inflated  anteal  surface  to 
the  depressed  and  flattened  posteal  portion  is  abrupt,   and  is  a 
strong  characteristic  of  the  species. 

T.  aliformis  occurs  in  the  Chloritic  Sands  of  Chardstock. 

EXCLUDED  SPECIES. 
TEIGONIA  BKONNII,  Ag. 
MONO.  BEIT.  FOBS.,  TRIOONLE,  Lye.,  Pal.  Soc..  p.  23,  209,  plate  iv.,  fig.  8. 

Professor  Hebert,  in  his  memoir  on  certain  clavellated  Trigonige 
of  the  Oxford  Clay  and  Coral  Kag,  refers  to  four  British 
specimens  of  T.  Bronnii  found  in  the  Calcareous  Grit  of  Wey- 
mouth,  which  appeared  to  coincide  with  some  French  examples 
of  T.  Bronnii,  a  species  which  has  a  considerable  variability 
even  when  obtained  from  a  single  locality,  subsequent  examina- 
tion and  comparisons  of  Weymouth  and  French  specimens  con- 
vinced him  of  the  fallible  character  of  this  single  distinctive 
feature  and  of  the  necessity  of  merging  all  such  Weymouth 
specimens  in  T.  clavellata. 

The  above  descriptions  are  all  taken  from  Dr.  Lycett's  Mono- 


134 

graph  on  the  British  Eossil  Trigonise,  in  the  Paleeontographical 
Society's  publications : — 


PLATE    I. 

ftg.  Page. 

1.  Trigonia  formosa.  Lye.,   Inferior  Oolite    115 

2.  ,,         tenuicosta  Lye.,        ,,  ,,        125 

3.  ,,         costata,  Sow.,  „          ,,        124 

4.  „         sculpta,  Lye.,  „           „        124 

5.  „         bella,  Lye.,  „           „        ...., 125 

6.  ,,         striata,  Miller,  ,,           ,,        116 

7.  ,,         clavellata,  Sow.,  Lower  Calcareous  Grit.    ..  119 


Dorsetshire 


Pl.I 


Mary  Sufi  del.etlith 


HanToart  imp 


PLATE    II. 

Fig.  Page. 

1.  Trigonia  monilifera,  Agass.,  Calcareous  Grit 126 

2.  „         elongata,   Sow.,  Oxford  Clay    127 

3.  „         irregularis,  Seelach,  Oxford  Clay   117 

4.  „         Pellati,  Nun.   Chalm.,  Kimroeridge  Clay  .  .      121 


Dorsetshire  TruMonas. 


P1.II 


Mary  Suft,  del.etliih. 


t>LATE    III. 
•  Page. 

1 .  Trigonia  incurva  Benett,  Kimmeridge  Clay 118 

2.  ,,         Woodward!,  Lye.,  Kimmeridge  Clay    ....      118 


Dorsetshire 


P1.III. 


Mary  Suft  del.  etlUfn. 


Hanhaz-t 


PLATE    IV. 

Fig.  Page. 

1.  Trigonia  muricata,  Gold/.,  Portland  Limestone    ....     122 

2.  ,,         Meriani,  Agass.,  Calcareous  Grit    127 

3.  „         Voltzii,  Agass.,  Kinimeridge  Clay 120 

4.  ,,         cymba,   Contejean,  Kimmeridge  Clay 120 


Dorsetshire  Trigionas. 


P1.IV. 


Haaihsz-t 


imp 


PLATE   V. 

Fig.  Page . 

1.  Trigonia  gibbosa,  Sow.,  Portland  Limestone  .,...,  128 

2.  „         Manseli,  Lye.,  Portland  Limestone    129 

3.  ,,         Damoniana,  De  Lor.,  Portland  Limestone  130 

4.  ,,        tenuitexta,  Lye.,  Portland  Limestone    ....  129 

5.  ;,         Meyeri,  Lye.,  Chloritic  Sands 131 

6.  ,,        Yicaryana,  Lye.,  Chloritic  Sands    132 

7.  „         excentrica,  Sow.,  Chloritic  Sands     131 

8.  ,,         aliformis,  Park,  Chloritic  Sands       132 


Dorsetshire  Trigomae 


P1V. 


Hary  Sufi  del.et  Hth. 


iyirL5_T*L    ID3P 


JAMES 


F.G.S.,  F.L.S.,  &c. 


IOSSIL  GASTEBOPODA  are  now  familiar  to  the  worker 
in  the  Inferior  Oolite  from  the  fine  specimens  of  these 
usually-called  Univalve  shells  recently  obtained  from 
Bradford  Abbas,  Half  Way  House,  Coker,  and  other  localities 
both  in  Dorset  and  Somerset. 

Like  most  of  the  recent  examples  of  Univalves,  the  fossil  shells 
are  generally  dextral  or  right  handed;  but  we  have  now  the 
pleasure  of  introducing  to  the  notice  of  our  Field  Club  a  fine 
series  of  sinistral  shells  of  this  class. 

Both  recent  and  fossil  examples  of  sinistral  shells  occur,  but 
they  are  not  common,  neither  abounding  in  species  nor  specimens. 
Five  doubtful  species  are  introduced  from  the  Inferior  Oolite 
of  Dorset  and  Somerset,  which  are  cited  as  follows : — 
1.     Cirrus  Leachi,  Sow.,  M.  C.,  t.  219,  f.  3. 

„      nodosus,  Sow.,  M.  C.,  t.  219,  f.  2-4. 
„      intermedius,  Buck.,  see  plate,  f.  4. 
,      pyramaidalis,  Tawney. 

calisto,  JfOrlig,  Ter.,  Jur.,  pi.  332,  f.  10. 
These  specimens,  presently  to  be  described,  have  been  figured 
as  well  as  their  imperfect  condition  will  allow,  and  we  may  here 


136 

mention  that  the  specimen  for  which  I  have  ventured  to  propose 
the  name  of  Cirrus  intermedius,  is  figured  by  Sowerby  under  the 
name  Cirrus  nodosus,  with  the  following  remarks  : — 

Dr.  Leach,  at  present  so  well  known  for  his  extensive  researches  into 
natural  history,  some  years  since  presented  me  with  this  specimen,  picked 
up  near  Yeovil.  It  is  a  reverse  shell,  8  nd  seems  to  have  been  gregarious  ; 
two  were  here  crowded  together ;  there  were  signs  of  ammonites  in  the 
mass;  It  has  had  apparently  a  very  acuminated  spire,  seven  turns  of  which 
remain,  and  the  space  above  for  as  many  more,  according  to  the  general 
proportions."* 

I  shall  presently  describe  the  forms  met  with,  but  it  will  perhaps 
be  well  to  first  point  out  their  position. 

The  bed  in  which  these  Univalves  occur  is  part  of  what  we 
have  named  the  Dorset  Cephalopoda  bed.  It  rests  upon  the 
sands  at  Bradford  Abbas,  Half  Way  House,  and  at  East  Coker, 
near  Yeovil.  The  reversed  Univalves  are  not  common  to  the  two 
first  places,  but  occur  abundantly  at  Coker  with  other  Univalves. 
They  are  not  well  preserved  at  Coker,  and  hence  we  are  on  the 
look  out  for  better  preserved  specimens  before  definitively  deter- 
mining the  species. 

The  section  of  Bradford  Abbas  (East  Hill)  quarry. 

1  SoU 0    4 

}Trigonia  Grit  of  Buck- 
man,  Geol.  of  Chelten- 
ham. 

3  Band  of  Marl  with  Astarte  Lima  and  Ter.  "| 

Morieri    0    31 

4  Hard  Ironshot  Rock  with  Ammonites  Belem- 

nites.  &c 1     0| 

5  Band  of  Brownish  Stone  full  of  Univalves  j  Cephalopoda  be{1  Gry. 

1 1  Sffite 

8  Bed  with  Ammonites  aalensis  "  Dew  bed  "      0    9  j 

9  Blue  centred  Oolite   1    2| 

10  Sands — lower  freestone  system  of  the  Cottes- 

wolds   J 

The  specimens  then  occur  in  that  highly  fossiliferous  stratum 
which  has  yielded  such  a  rich  fauna  to  the  well  plied  hammers 
of  our  local  geologists. 

It  is,  however,  at  Coker  that  these  reversed  shells  so  greatly 

*  Sowerby's  Mineral  Conchology,  vol.  2,  p.  94, 


PLATE. 

Fig.  Page 

1  and  2.     Cirrus  Leachi 137 

1  a                  ,»           „ 137 

3  and  3a         „       nodosus 137 

4  and  4a         „        interinedius    1 38 

5  ,,        pyramid  alls    139 

6  and  6a          „        calisto ,  139 


131 

abound,  while  they  have  only  been  met  with  sparingly  at  Half 
Way  House  and  Bradford  Abbas. 

These  sinistral  examples  from  Coker  are  accompanied  by  a 
large  series  of  dextral  univalves,  which  are  common  at  Bradford, 
such  as  species  of  Amberlya,  Pleurotomaria,  Turlo,  and  others, 
whilst  the  bivalves  can  all  be  referred  to  our  Dorsetshire 
sections. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  SINISTRAL  SHELLS. 

CIBBTJS  LEACHI,  Plate  of  Sinistral  Shells,  f.  1  and  2. 
,,       LEACHI,  Miller's  M.S.S. 

Shell  conical,  longitudinally  striated,  whorls  many,  with 
several  rows  of  tubercles  crossed  by  numerous  small  carina ;  upper 
row  of  tubercules  spinif  orm,  compressed.* 

The  lower  whorl  of  this  shell,  though  larger  than  the  spire 
whorls,  has  not  that  disproportion  which  occurs  in  the  C.  nodosus. 
The  spire  consists  of  six  whorls,  in  which  it  diifers  from  C.  inter- 
medius,  which  has  as  many  as  nine  upper  whorls,  forming  an 
acute  spire  upon  only  a  slightly  enlarged  lower  whorl. 

This  fossil  occurs  occasionally  at  Bradford  Abbas,  but  is  some- 
what common  at  Coker,  near  Yeovil.  Sometimes  it  has  long 
spiniform  tubercles  as  figured  by  Sowerby,  but  we  have  not  met 
with  a  specimen  with  the  spines  so  pronounced.  Fig.  la,  probably 
has  the  spines  a  little  worn- 

CIKETJS  NODOSTJS,  pi.  f  3  and  3a. 

Shell  conical,  acuminated,  or  discoid  with  an  acuminated 
spiral  umbo  :  spire  reversed  ;  whorls  many  ;  with  two  rows  of 
longitudinally  extended  tubercles,  crossed  by  numerous  small 
carinse.f 

This  shell  has  a  equat  spire  of  about  six  whorls  proceeding 
from  a  much  enlarged  outer  whorl  a  character  which,  when 
united  with  the  extended  tubercles  reaching  down  the  sides  from 

*  See  Sowerby's  Min.  Conch.,  vol.  3,  p.  36. 
f  Ibid,  vol.  3.  p.  35. 


138 

the  top  to  the  under  part  of  the  base,  will  readily  distinguish 
this  from  all  other  forms. 

This  is  the  most  abundant  form  even  at  Coker,  where  a  band 
of  the  cephalopoda  bed  is  for  the  most  composed  of  these  sinistral 
shells.  It  is  met  with  at  Bradford  Abbas,  Half  Way  House, 
Dundry,  always  in  the  same  horizon  in  both  Dorset  and  Somerset, 
but  we  have  never  met  with  any  of  these  sinistral  shells  in 
Gloucestershire. 

CIRRUS  INTERMEDIUS,  Buckman,  pi.,  fig.  4  and  4a. 
,,       NODOSTJS,  Sow.  M.  C.,  t.  141,  f.  2. 

Acutely  conical,  spire  reversed,  with  two  obscure  transverse 
carinae,  upon  which  are  numerous  longitudinally  extended  tuber- 
cles ;  aperture  orbicular.* 

In  this  shell  the  spire  is  more  symmetrical  than  in  the  other 
species.  The  lower  whorl  is  scarcely  out  of  proportion  to  the 
others.  Sowerby,  in  describing  this  form,  says: — "  There  are 
two  rows  of  tubercles  on  each  whorl,  formed  by  the  intersection 
of  transverse  and  longitudinal  ridges,  the  upper  row  is  largest, 
and  the  other  is  inconspicuous.  The  aperture  seems  from  the 
cast  to  have  been  somewhat  plaited." 

Dr.  Leach  some  years  since  presented  me  with  this  specimen, 
picked  up  near  Yeovil :  it  is  a  reverse  shell,  and  seems  to  have 
been  gregarious  :  two  were  here  crowded  together  :  there  were 
signs  of  ammonites  in  the  mass.  It  had  apparently  a  very 
acuminated  spire,  seven  turns  of  which  remain,  and  space  above 
for  as  many  more,  according  to  the  general  proportions.! 

The  acutely  spiral  form  of  this  shell,  so  different  from  the  C. 
nodosus,  f,  3  and  3a,  would  seem  to  be  sufficient  to  separate  this 
from  the  later  named  C.  nodosus,  M.  0.,  pi.  219,  fig.  4.  The  flat 
spire  of  our  figs.  3  and  3b,  when  compared  with  the  elevated 
figs  4  and  4a,  sufficiently  points  out  the  difference.  If  then  figs. 
4  and  4a  be  not  distinct  from  figs.  3  and  3a,  they  are  more  nearly 

*  Sow.,  M.  C.,  Vol.  2,  p.  94. 
t  Ibid,  Vol.  2,  p.  94. 


139 

allied  to  f.  1  and  la  and  2,  but  they  seem  to  be  sufficiently 
distinguished  in  their  more  elevated  symmetric  spire  and  the 
smallness  of  the  tubercules  when  compared  with  C.  Leachi, 

ClRRUS   PYRAMIDAIvIS,    pi.,  fig.  5. 

,,       TAWNEY,  Proceedings  of  the  Bristol  Naturalists  Society 
new  series,  vol.  1,  part  1,  pi.  2,  fig.  10,  p.  37. 

Shell  acutely  conical,  whorls  numerous,  convex ;  a  single 
slight  keel  or  projecting  ledge  on  the  last  whorl ;  the  whorls  are 
crossed  by  numerous  rounded  costae,  which  are  prominent  above 
the  keel,  but  become  obliterated  below.  The  whole  surface  of  the 
shell  is  adorned  with  a  granulation  formed  by  the  crossing  of 
spiral  and  transverse  dotted  lines.  The  umbilicus  is  surrounded 
by  faint  radiating  costee.  The  base  of  the  last  whorl  is  convex, 
and  has  decussating  lines,  but  the  costse  do  not  extend  immedi- 
ately below  the  narrow  keel ;  they  reappear  however  around  the 
umbilicus.* 

Mr.  Tawney  speaks  of  three  specimens  from  Dundry  as  being 
in  the  Bristol  Museum.  We  have  a  single  specimen  from  Coker^ 
Any  way  it  is  a  very  rare  shell,  but  we  fancy  it  bears  evidence 
of  there  being  still  more  species  than  we  know  of. 

CIRRUS  CALISTO,  pi.,  figs.  6  and  6a.      TURBO  CALISTO,  D"1  Qrligny, 
Ter  Jur.,  pi.  332,  figs.  9  and  10. 

This  shell  is  described  by  D'Orbigny  as  follows : — 

T.  testd  conicd,  sulumlilicatd  ;   spird  senestrd;  anfractibus  con- 

vexis,  angulosis,  longitudinaliter  costulatis  infernd  nodosis;  aperture 

rotundatd.] 

We  have  two  portions  of  this  shell,  both  from  Coker ;  it  ia 
evidently  very  rare,  but  can  readily  be  distinguished  by  its 

*  See  Tawney' s  Paper  before  cited. 

f  D'Orbigny's  Tur.  Jur.  Tome  second,  p.  345. 


140 

regular  spire  of  few  volutions,  and  the  longitudinal  lines  at  the 
base  of  the  shell. 

These  then  are  all  the  forms  that  have  yet  been  observed  in 
our  interesting  oolite  bed,  but  I  am  not  without  hope  that  others 
will  yield  themselves  captive  under  pressure  of  the  hammers  of 
the  Dorset  Club. 


By  Prof .  JAMES  SUCKMAN,  F.G.S.,  F.L.S.,  &c. 


|  HE  specimen  from  which  our  drawing  is  taken  was 
obtained  from  the  Lower  Lias  Shales  of  the  sea-coast 
between  Oharmouth  and  Lyme  Regis.  It  has  long 
been  a  classic  spot,  dear  to  the  geologist  as  Dr.  Buckland  had 
described  some  most  interesting  fossils  from  Lyme,  more 
especially  of  Saurians,  Belemnites,  and  Ammonites. 

Since  then  the  fine  coast  section  extending  from  Bridport  to 
Charmouth  and  on  to  Lyme  has  yielded  some  fine  fossils  to  a 
host  of  workers,  but  to  none  more  liberally  than  to  the  Rev. 
T.  Law  Montefiore,  of  Charmouth,  whose  house,  when  visited 
by  our  Field  Club  in  October  of  last  year  (1879),  was  literally 
crammed  with  some  of  the  choicest  geological  treasures  of  the 
Lias  formation,  which  where  descanted  upon  and  explained  by 
Mr.  Montefiore  in  a  manner  which  showed  that  he  had  made  a 
loving  acquaintance  with  them. 

Here  were  exhibited  Saurians  from  their  toothless  babyhood 
to  huge  monsters  very  many  feet  in  length,  whilst  Fishes, 
Crustaceans,  and  Ammonites  were  in  boundless  profusion,  and 
so  perfect  in  form  and  outline  that  no  one  could  doubt  but  that 
they  had  been  alive. 

Amongst  the  treasures  so  kindly  exhibited,  and  explained  at 
this  memorable  meeting  were  some  examples  of  Belemnites, 


142 

Cuttles,  &c.,  and  it  is  to  the  remains  of  a  creature  as  it  were 
compounded  of  the  elements  of  both  of  these  that  I  now  direct 
attention. 

The  plate  on  the  opposite  page  represents  one  of  these  from 
near  Charmouth,  which  I  had  some  time  previously  obtained. 
The  original  is  nearly  twelve  inches  in  length.  It  is  surmounted 
by  ten  rows  of  dark  black  spines,  four  double  rows  =  8  are 
l£in.  long,  while  two  are  2in.  (see  drawing,  f.  1).  The  hooks 
are  smooth,  and  of  a  dark  black  colour,  some  of  them  are  as 
much  as  two  lines  in  length,  and  all  of  them  being  more  or 
jess  curved. 

These  hooks  were  doubtless  attached  to  the  arms  of  the  animal 
which  were  prehensile  organs,  probably  to  enable  the  creature 
to  hold  on  to  the  saurians  and  fishes  of  the  period ;  woe  betide 
them,  however,  if  they  did  not  hold  on  tightly,  as  the  cuttles 
formed  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  food — especially  of  the 
Ichthyosaurus — as  is  evidenced  from  the  fact  that  the  Coprolites 
or  fossilized  faeces,  and  also  the  injesta  of  their  stomachs  are  full 
of  these  horny  hooks. 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  rows  of  hooks  are  inclined  to  one 
side,  no  doubt  arising  from  the  contortion  of  the  soft  parts 
forming  the  neck. 

The  next  point,  we  would  observe,  is  that  of  the  dark  elevated 
mass  below  (fig.  3),  this  is  the  ink-bag,  and  this  consists  of  a 
bag  of  fossilized  sepia — pure  Indian  ink — so  fine  in  tone  that  on 
being  ground  down  and  used  as  a  pigment  with  water  and  a 
little  gum  arabic,  it  makes  a  sepia  picture,  compared  with  which 
the  modern  Indian  ink  is  little  better  than  writing  ink. 

This  ink  bag,  with  its  tube,  is  3£  inches  long,  and  there  can 
be  no  doubt  but  that  this  once  was  the  black  fluid  which  the 
squids  had  the  power  of  ejecting  when  pursued  by  an  enemy, 
thus  making  the  water  so  cloudy  that  the  otherwise  compara- 
tively defenceless  creature  made  its  escape  from  its  formidable 
enemy  in  the  ''blackness  of  darkness." 

Below  the  ink-bag  is  seen  a  small  pointed  projection,  £-  of  an 


BET^EMNOTEUTHIS     MOTsTTEFTOB.E  1.  Biickman. 


143 

inch,  in  length;  this  represents  the  phraginacone  of  the  true 
Belemnite. 

Here  then  we  seem  to  have  the  remains  of  a  most  interesting 
creature  connecting  the  Belemnite  of  the  past,  a  fossil  sepiaceous 
animal  now  extinct  with  the  modern  Calamary. 

A  Belemnoteuthis  antiquus  was  figured  by  Dr.  S.  P.  Wood- 
ward from  a  specimen  in  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  William  Cunnington  . 
this  is  called  £.  antiquus,  and  was  obtained  from  the  Oxford 
Clay,  near  Chippenham.  Our  specimen,  however,  is  from  the 
Lias,  and  is,  therefore,  much  older.  Mr.  Montefiore  possesses 
some  fine  remains  of  this  fossil,  and  on  this  account,  and  also  in 
recognition  of  his  hearty  reception,  and  kindly  conveyed  infor- 
mation to  the  Club,  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  associating  this 
species  with  his  name. 

The  Belemnoteuthis  Mbntefiorei  may  then  be  characterised  as  a 
fine  fossil  form  derived  from  the  Lower  Lias  Shales  of  the 
county  of  Dorset. 


PEINTED  AT  THE  "JOUBNAL"  OFFICES,  SOUTH  STBEET,  SHEBBOBNF. 


ILLUSTEATIYE  SETS  OF  SPECIMENS  OF 


May  be  obtained  from  the  KEY.  H.  H.  WOOD,  Holwell 
Eectory,   at  the   rate   of 

TWENTY    SHILLINGS    A    HUNDRED. 

The  list  contains  at  present  160  species,  but  as  this  will  probably 

be  soon  increased  to  at  least  200,  it  is  not  intended  to  issue 

more  than  100  species  at  first. 

VOL.  1  &  2  of  the  PROCEEDINGS  of  the  Club 

Can  be  had  for  7/6  each,   from  the   Treasurer,  the 
REV.  H.  H.  WOOD,  Holwell,  near  Sherborne. 

The    following    Illustrated    Pamphlets    can  be  obtained  from 
PBOFESSOR  BUCKMAN,  Bradford  Abbas,  at  I/  each,  post  paid : — 

THE  AGRICULTURAL  CRISIS. 
THE  MISTLETOE  BOUGH. 
THE  DODDER. 
ON  UMBELLATE  PLANTS. 
ON  THE  ENNOBLING  OF  BEETS. 
ON  THE  CEPHALOPODA  BED  AND  THE  OOLITE 
SANDS  OF  DORSET  AND  PART  OF  DEVON. 


DA 

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