Part 7 (1/2)
CHAPTER VIII. THE ARCHaeOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.
In entering on this portion of our Records we are pa.s.sing from the Natural to the Artificial, from the operations of the Creator to the works of the creature. A systematic process of enquiry would shew that, as in geology, so here, the subject-matter lies in layers. We have the prehistoric period concerning palaeolithic and neolithic man; then follow the British, the Roman, the Saxon, the Danish, and the Norman strata, or eras; so many have been the elements which have contributed to the moulding of our country and our people, as we find them at the present day. But again, as in geology, so here, we find few traces in our own immediate neighbourhood of the earlier links in this series-the people who preceded the historic Britons. On Twig Moor, near Brigg, in the north of the county, a tract of ground very similar to our own Moor, many flint implements have been found. On an excursion of our ”Naturalists'
Union” to that tract, one of the party found ”a handful” of stone ”knives and finely-chipped arrow heads.” {105a} The members of the same Society, visiting Woodhall in 1893, found on the Moor ”patches of pale-coloured sand, slightly ferruginous, and having a considerable number of flints,”
but none were found which could be said to shew traces of human use.
This, however, is no reason why the visitor to Woodhall should not search for them. That they exist in our neighbourhood has been proved, since a good specimen of flint axe was found a few years ago by Mr. A. W. Daft, on Highrigge farm, near Stobourne Wood, in Woodhall. It is about five inches in length and 1 inches broad, and, from its high degree of polish, probably was the work of neolithic man. {105b} Another, smaller, flint celt was found in 1895 by Mr. Crooks, of Woodhall Spa, in the parish of Horsington, near Lady-hole bridge, between Stixwould and Tupholme. Its length was 3 inches, by 2 inches in breadth, thickness about inch. More recently one was found in a field on the Stixwould road by his son, about three inches in length and 1 inches broad, thickness inch. In 1904 several finely chipt flint arrow heads, about one inch in length and breadth, were found in the parish of Salmonby, near Horncastle, in a field called ”Warlow Camp,” doubtless the site of a prehistoric settlement. The present writer has picked up at odd times some half dozen specimens, bearing more or less trace of human manipulation, but none of them so well finished as those referred to. A farmer residing near the Moor, to whom I recently explained what a flint implement was, said he had noticed several stones of that kind, but did not know that they were worth picking up. Two molar teeth of the Elephas primigenius, or extinct mammoth, have been found in a pit at Kirkby-on-Bain, situated between the road and the ca.n.a.l, about a quarter of a mile north-west of the church; {106a} and bones of Bos primigenius and Cervus elaphus were found among gravel and ice-sc.r.a.ped pebbles in a pit, near Langworth bridge (not far from Bardney). The former of these, the gigantic Ox, or Urus, belonged to the palaeolithic age, {106b} when the first race of human beings peopled this land, but was extinct in the neolithic period in this country (though in a later age re-introduced).
The latter, which is our red-deer, survived in a wild state, in our county and neighbourhood, until comparatively modern times. Large vertebrae, apparently of some huge Saurian, have been found, which the writer has seen, in West Ashby; and a large mammoth tooth is preserved among the treasures of the late Mechanics' Inst.i.tute at Horncastle, having been found in the neighbourhood. These are all the pre-historic relics which I can find recorded in our neighbourhood.
Later antiquities, of the British, Roman, and succeeding periods, are, or have been, fairly plentiful; the misfortune being that, as we, as yet, have no County Museum wherein they could be preserved, they have doubtless many of them been lost, or, if kept in private hands, are unrecorded.
When the bed of the Witham, by order of the Royal Commissioners, was cleansed in 1788, a number of swords, spears, arrow heads, etc., were found on the hard clay bottom, which had been covered over, and so preserved, by the acc.u.mulated mud. And in the ”Gentleman's Magazine” for that year a list of them was given. The late Sir Joseph Banks, of Revesby Abbey, secured a considerable number of such relics, catalogues of which are given in ”Lincolns.h.i.+re Notes & Queries,” Vols. III. and IV.
They consist of arms and utensils of our British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish ancestors. Among the more interesting of these was a whittle, or ”anelace,” exactly resembling one described by Greene as part of Chaucer's dress. {107} In connection with Woodhall were the following:-A sword, probably Saxon, brought up from the Witham bed near ”Kirkstead Wath,” entangled in the p.r.o.ngs of an eel-stang. The pommel and guard are tinned, as we now tin the inside of kitchen utensils; an art which we should not have known that our forefathers at that period possessed but for such discoveries as this. The polish still remained on parts of the blade ”admirably brilliant.” It bore the inscription + Benvenutus + on one side, and on the other + me fecit +, in Saxon characters; the name shewing that the maker was an Italian, the crosses probably implying that he (or the owner, if made to order) was a Christian; while from the Saxon lettering we should infer that the Italian sword-cutler exercised his craft in the north of Europe. Another sword, with bra.s.s scabbard, of elegant workmans.h.i.+p and richly gilt, was found near Bardney. Several more swords, with Saxon and Roman inscriptions, were also found near Bardney.
A dagger was brought up by an eel-stang near ”Kirkstead Wath,” the handle, of elm, being in fairly good preservation, the only instance of wood thus surviving. {108a} Several others, one of superior work with an ivory handle, were found in the Witham near Bardney.
A spear head of bone, of British structure, was found in Stixwould in an ancient sewer, which was being cleansed. Sir J. Banks says that ”it does credit to the skill of the person who made it.” {108b} Several more of these were found at Bardney and other parts of the Witham; and again at ”Kirksted Wath” the eel-stang brought up an iron specimen, which from its appearance would seem to have been broken in action.
A large barbed arrow head was found near Bardney, with an orifice large enough to receive a broom handle. {108c}
A Roman lituus, or clarion, was found near Tattershall Ferry. Though imperfect, both ends being broken off, it is interesting as being probably the only one in existence. This instrument is represented among trophies on the base of Trojan's column in Rome, and appears on some Roman coins. {108d} A description is given in the ”Archaeologia” of the Society of Antiquaries (Vol. XIV.) of an iron candlestick, of curious construction, being one of six which were found in the Witham by Kirkstead. We may well imagine that they, at one time, served to light the refectory of the Abbey, where the monks of old dispensed hospitality to the poor and needy, or to the wayfaring stranger. Perhaps the most interesting relic of all is a British s.h.i.+eld, of finely-wrought metal, originally gilt, with a boss of carnelian, and ornamented with elaborate devices, shewing that those primitive people, though living a rude life, had attained to a very considerable degree of skill in working metals.
It is described in the ”Archaeologica” (Vol. XXIII.); and an engraving is given of it in ”Fenland” by Skertchly and Miller (p. 463). It was formerly in the Meyrick collection.
The above are a selection of the most interesting objects yielded up to us chiefly by the Witham; there have been many more, but of less importance. Several Roman urns in different places have been exhumed.
The parish of Thornton runs down to Kirkstead station, pa.s.sing almost within a stone's throw of the Victoria Hotel; and in Thornton a small Roman vase was discovered when the railroad was made, in 1854. The present writer has seen it, but it has, unfortunately, disappeared. An engraving and description of it are given in the ”Linc. Architectural Society's Journal,” Vol. IV., Part II., p. 200. It was nine inches in height, of rather rough construction, and with a rude ornamentation. Two Roman urns, or, according to another account, six (”Lincolns.h.i.+re N. & Q.”
Vol. III., p. 154), were also found at the north-east corner of a field, on the road leading from Stixwould to Bucknall, about 3 miles from Woodhall. They were of the kind technically termed ”smoke burnt.” The soil at the spot was a clay of so tenacious a character that several horse-shoes, some of them of a very old and curious make, have been found in the former quagmire. Several large Roman urns have been found in, or near, Horncastle, and are preserved among the treasures of the late Mechanics' Inst.i.tute, having been presented to the town by the sole surviving trustee, Mr. Joseph Willson, to form, with other objects, the nucleus of a local museum at some future time. Engravings of these also are given, with a Paper by Rev. E. Trollope, the late Bishop Suffragan of Nottingham, in the abovementioned Journal, at p. 210.
At Ashby Puerorum, so called because certain lands in the parish go to pay for the choristers of Lincoln Cathedral, in the year 1794, a labourer, cutting a ditch, discovered, three feet below the surface, a Roman sepulture, a stone chest squared and dressed with much care, in which was deposited an urn of strong gla.s.s of greenish hue. The chest was of freestone, such as is common on Lincoln heath. The urn, of elegant shape, contained human bones nearly reduced to ashes, and among them a small lacrimatory of very thin green gla.s.s. {110a}
On the Mareham road, on the south side of Horncastle, beyond the Black Swan inn, was a Roman burial ground, and several cinerary urns and some coffins have been discovered there. One stone coffin now stands in the back premises of Mr. James Isle, near to the corner where the Spilsby and Boston roads meet. In connection with this subject, I may here mention the most recent archaeological ”find” in Horncastle. While digging gravel in a pit recently opened in a garden at the back of Queen Street, not far from the Mareham Road, in 1897, the pick of the labourer struck against a hard substance, about two feet below the surface, which, on examination, proved to be an ancient coffin. It was constructed, except the lid, of one sheet of lead, slit at the corners to allow its being doubled up to form the sides and ends. The coffin was 5ft. 2in. in length, and within were the remains of a skeleton, p.r.o.nounced by experts to be that of a female. A few days later a second lead coffin was found, similar to the former, except that it was 5ft. 7in. long, and the skeleton was p.r.o.nounced to be that of a man. Both coffins lay east and west. The present writer was asked to investigate the matter. On enquiry, it was found that, about 24 years before, three lead coffins had been found within 100 yards of the same spot; they were sold for old lead and melted down. {110b} As Horncastle was the old Roman station Banovallum, the question arose whether these coffins were Roman, or of later, date. The orientation of both implied that they were Christian. After much interesting correspondence, the writer obtained the information from an antiquary of note, that if the lead was pure it would be of post-Roman date, if it contained an admixture of tin it would most probably be Roman. a.n.a.lysis of the lead was made by a professional, which gave ”percentage of tin 1.65 to 97.08 of lead, 1.3 of oxygen, which implied that the persons buried were Romans, as well as Christians. A peculiar feature in these burials was that there were lumps of lime about the skeletons. I find, however, that some years ago a lead coffin was discovered near the Roman road, which pa.s.ses through the parish of Bow, containing a skeleton with lime. {111} From its position near the Roman road we should infer that this was a Roman burial, and the presence of lime confirms the origin of the Horncastle coffins. The lime was probably used as a preservative. One of the coffins was sold for a collection in Manchester, the other was bought by public subscription, to be preserved for a future local museum. In the same gravel pit, a few days after the finding of the coffins, the labourer's tool struck against another object, which proved to be an earthenware vessel, probably a Roman urn, but it was so shattered that he threw the fragments away, and they could not be recovered. It was described as being about 10 inches high, of a brown colour, and bearing traces of a pattern running round it.
Several old coins have been found in Horncastle, and some at Tattershall.
As to the latter place, Allen, in his ”History,” vol. ii., p. 72, and Weir (”Historical Account of Lincolns.h.i.+re,” vol. i., p. 302), say that several Roman coins have been found, but they do not specify what they were. There were two so-called ”Roman camps” in what is called Tattershall Park, this being supposed to be the Roman station Durobrivis.
But, alas! ”Jam seges est, ubi Troja fuit”: the plough has eliminated the camps from the field of view. Roman coins would be a natural result of a Roman station. It should not, however, be forgotten that Gough, Camden, and other authorities p.r.o.nounce these camps to have been of British origin. The earlier Britons used mainly a bra.s.s coinage, or iron bars (utuntur aut aere, aut taleis ferreis, says Caesar, _Bell. Gall._, v. 12); so that there should not be much difficulty in deciding whether the coins were those of British or Roman occupants. Taught by the Romans, the later Britons probably coined considerably. The oldest specimens known to be coined at Lincoln bear the name of King Arthur. Camden and Speed give several. At Horncastle, the oldest coin found was British, having on one side, amid mystic circles, the figure of a ”horse rampant,”
indicative of the reverence in which the horse was held by the Druids.
{112a} Stukeley says, in his Diary, ”a coign I got of Carausius found at Hornecastle. It had been silvered over. The legend of the reverse is obscure. It seems to be a figure, sitting on a coat of armour, or trophy, with a garland in her left hand, and (legend) Victorii Aug.”
{112b} Silver coins of Vespasian, Lucius Septimius Severus, Alexander Severus, and Volusia.n.u.s, a large bra.s.s coin of Trajan, middle bra.s.s of Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Trajan, Hadrian, Domitian, Antoninus Pius, Faustina the elder, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Lucius Verus, and Faustina the younger, and several more. {112c} In December, 1898, a coin was found by a son of Mr. W. K. Morton, bookseller, while playing in the garden at Onslow House, which proved to be one of the Emperor Constantine.
In deepening the bed of the river Bain to form the ca.n.a.l, in 1802, an ornamental bra.s.s spur, part of a bra.s.s crucifix, and a dagger, were found together, at a short distance from the north basin of the ca.n.a.l; and the writer once found, some quarter of a mile out of Horncastle, on Langton hill, the rowell of a spur, with very long spikes, probably at one time belonging to a cavalier at the battle of Winceby. He has also in his possession a pair of bra.s.s spurs, found not far from Winceby, ma.s.sive and heavy, the spikes of the rowell being an inch in length.
Let us now return to Woodhall Spa; and on the way pause for a moment on the moor. We have already mentioned a curious character, by name Dawson, but more commonly called ”Tab-s.h.a.g,” who, within the memory of the writer and many more, lived as a kind of squatter, in his sod-built hut, close to ”The Tower.” A sort of living fossil was this individual, short in stature, dark in complexion, and with a piercing, almost uncanny, eye; roughly clad, and looking as though he were something of a stranger to soap and water. ”What's in a name?” said love-sick Juliet. Yet the name which clung to this eccentric person probably had its significance. In one of the ”Magic Songs” of the Finns (given in ”Folklore,” vol. i., No.
iii., p. 827) a sort of demon is described as ”Old s.h.a.ggy,” ”the horror of the land,” ”reared on a heather clump,” ”living on the lee side of a stone,” corresponding much to the home and haunts of our Tab-s.h.a.g.
Brogden {113} says ”s.h.a.g-foal” means ”a hobgoblin supposed to haunt certain places,” and a writer in the ”Archaeological Review” (for January, 1890) says that ”s.h.a.g” is an old term for an elf, or Brownie, or ”goblin dwarf.” He adds, ”The Hog-boy, or Howe-boy, of the Orkneys, in Lincolns.h.i.+re is p.r.o.nounced s.h.a.g-boy.” An old lady, born at the beginning of the eighteenth century, is quoted, in ”The Cornhill Magazine” (August, 1882) as saying she had often heard of fairies and s.h.a.g boys, but had never seen one herself, ”though la.s.ses were often skeart (_i.e._, scared, frightened) at them.” And the weird-looking figure of Tab-s.h.a.g, living in the peculiar way he did, in a kind of ”brock,” or ”how,” of his own construction, was not altogether unlike that of one of the ”How folk,”
the ”little people,” believed in by our superst.i.tious forefathers, and whose memory is perpetuated in the Folk's glove (digitalis) of our heath; as he squatted on his ”faerie-knowe” on the lee side of the old Tower, or roamed over the dreary moor at nightfall to startle the belated wayfarer.