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how long a more minute criticism and a greater accumulation 203
of facts than is now possessed, can alone determine.

There are, however, one or two points peculiarly noticeable about this
barrow—first, the enormous quantity of burnt earth, suggesting that
the funeral pyre was actually lit on the spot, which certainly was not
the case in most of the other barrows, where the charcoal is only
sprinkled here and there, or appears in the form of a small circular
patch on the floor. Secondly, the two bands of charcoal, so full of
osseous matter, would certainly go far to prove, what has been
surmised by Bateman and others, that the slaves or prisoners were
immolated at the decease of their master or conqueror.

Again, too, the different sizes and positions of the urns may, perhaps,
indicate either degrees of relationship or rank of the persons buried.
And this theory is somewhat corroborated by the contents. The
central urn was examined on the spot, and, like all the others, with
the exception of a round stone slightly indented, contained burnt
earth, limy matter, and at the bottom the larger bones, which were
less calcined, but which, owing to the want of proper means, we
could not preserve. The other two were opened at the British
Museum. At the bottom of the north-easternmost were also placed
bones in a similar condition, amongst which Professor Owen
recognized the femur and radius of an adult. The smallest urn also
showed bones placed in the same manner at the bottom, but in this
case smaller, and amongst them Professor Owen determined
processus dentatus, and the body of the third cervical vertebra, and
was of opinion that they were those of a person of small stature, or,
perhaps, of a female. This is what might have been expected. And
the fact of their being put in the smallest vessel, which, as we 204
have noticed, was placed below the level of the others,
certainly indicates a distinction made in the mode of burial of persons
of either different ages or sexes.

The fact, too, that all the larger bones were placed by themselves at
the bottom is worth noticing, and shows that they must have been
carefully collected and separated from the burnt earth and charcoal
of the pyre.

About another quarter of a mile off rise two more barrows,

measuring exactly the same in circumference as the last, though not
nearly so high, being raised only sixteen inches above the ground.
Upon opening the southernmost, we soon came, on the east side,
upon traces of charcoal, which increased to a bed of an inch and a
half in thickness as we reached the centre. Here we found an urn of
coarse pottery exactly similar in texture to those in the previous
barrow. It was, however, in such a bad state of preservation, and so
soft, from the wetness of the ground, that the furze-roots had grown
through the sides, and it crumbled to bits on being touched. Some
few pieces, though, near the bottom, we were able to preserve. Its
shape, however, was well shown by the form which its contents had
taken. It seems to have been, though much smaller, exactly of the
same rude, straight-sided, and wide-mouthed pattern as the other
urns, measuring seven inches in height, and in circumference, near
the top, two feet two inches, and at the bottom, one foot four inches.
The cast was composed entirely of burnt stones, and black earth, and
osseous matter, reduced to lime, in which the furze-roots had
imbedded themselves.

The fellow barrow, which was only about fifty yards distant, and
whose measurements were exactly the same, contained also
charcoal, though not in such large quantities, and fragments 205
of an urn placed not in the centre, but near the extreme
western edge. The remains here were in a still worse state of
decomposition, and we could obtain no measurements, but only one
or two pieces of ware, which, in their general coarseness and
grittiness of texture, corresponded with the others, and not only
[244]
showed their Keltic manufacture, but their extreme early date.

This last mound, I may add, was composed of gravel, whilst the
other was made simply of mould: and two depressions on the heath
showed where the material had been obtained.
About two miles to the north-east, close to Ocknell Pond, lies a single
barrow of much the same size as these two, though a great deal
higher, being raised in the centre to three feet and a half. We began
the excavation on the east side, proceeding to the centre, but found
nothing except some charcoal, and peculiarly-shaped rolled flints,
placed on the level of the ground.

We then made another trench from the north side, and close to some
charcoal, about a foot and a half below the raised surface, came
upon the neck of a Roman wine vessel (ampulla). Although we
opened the whole of the east side, we could not find the remaining
portion. The barrow bore no traces of having been previously
explored, nor did the soil appear to have been moved. The fracture
was certainly not recent, and it is very possible that some
disappointed treasure-seekers in the Middle Ages had 206
forestalled us, and time had obliterated all their marks in
opening the mound.
 Neck of Roman Wine Vessel, Keltic Urn, and Flint Knives.

From the position of the vessel at the top of the barrow, there had
evidently been a second interment. The remains, however, are in
accordance with what we might have expected. The barrow is
situated not far from the Romano-British potteries of Sloden, and
close to it run great banks, known as the Row-ditch, marking, in all
[245]
probability, the settlements of a Romano-British population.

On Fritham Plain, not far from Gorely Bushes, lies another 207
vast graveyard. The grave-circles are very similar in size to
those round the large barrow on Bratley Plain, though a good deal
higher, with, here and there, some oval mounds ranged side by side,
as in a modern churchyard. In the autumn of 1862, I opened five of
these, with the same result of finding charcoal in all, though placed in
different parts, but in all instances resting on the natural ground, and
giving evidence of only one interment. As in other cases, the grave-
heaps were often alternately composed of mould and gravel. No
traces of urns or celts were found, but in one or two a quantity of
small circular stones, with indistinct marks of borings, which could
hardly have accidentally collected.
[246]
About a quarter of a mile off, on the road to Whiteshoot, lies,
however, a square mound, measuring nine yards each way, and
averaging a foot and a half in height. On opening it on the north side,
we came upon the fragments of an urn, but so much decayed that
we could only tell that they were, probably, Keltic. On the west side,
another trench, which had been made, showed the presence of
charcoal, which kept increasing till we reached the centre, where we
found what appeared to be the remains of three separate urns,
placed in a triangle at about a yard apart. These also were in the
same decayed state, and crumbled to pieces as we 208
endeavoured to separate them from the soil. With some
difficulty we managed to preserve a few fragments which were
identical with those which had been previously discovered in the
other barrows at Bratley. They contained, like most of the other
vessels, burnt stones and white osseous matter reduced to lime.
There seems, however, to have been some difference in their texture
with that of the fragments found on the north side, which were less
[247]
gritty and coarse, and which bore no traces of charcoal or lime.

We will now leave Fritham, and cross Sloden and Amberwood

Plantation. Not far from Amberwood Corner, and above Pitt’s
Enclosure, stand two barrows. The largest was opened thirty years
ago by a labouring man, who, to use his own language, “constantly
dreamt that he should there find a crock of gold.” His opening was
rewarded by discovering only some charcoal. In 1851, the Rev. J.
Pemberton Bartlett also explored it with still less success. It is,
however, a remarkable barrow, and differs in character from any of
the preceding, being composed in the interior of large sub-angular
flints, and cased on the outside with a rampart of earth. Beyond it
lies another, very different in style, being made only of earth. This
was also opened by Mr. Bartlett, who found some pieces of charcoal,
and small fragments of a very coarsely-made urn.

About a mile away on Butt’s Plain rise five more barrows, and 209
beyond them again two more. Of the first five, two were
explored by Mr. Bartlett, who was unsuccessful, and two by myself.

The two which I opened lie on the right of the track leading from
Amberwood to the Fordingbridge road. The northernmost was
considerably the largest, having a circumference of fifty yards, and
was composed simply of gravel and earth. In it we found only a circle
of charcoal placed nearly in the centre on the level of the ground.

The other was more remarkable. It measured only thirty yards in

circumference, but was composed in the centre of raised earth,
above which were piled large rolled flints, making a stratum of from
two to three feet in depth on the sides, but gradually becoming
thinner as it reached the centre, which was barely covered. It thus
totally differed from that near Amberwood, where the earth flanked
the stones instead of being the nucleus round which they were
placed. In it we found a circle of charcoal ingrained with limy matter,
a few remains of much calcined bones, and a fine stone hammer
bored with two holes slantwise, to give a greater purchase to the
handle.

Besides these, I opened a solitary barrow situated between

Handycross Pond and Pinnock Wood, close to Akercombe Bottom. It
measured twenty-seven yards in circumference, and three feet in
height. After digging into it near the centre, we found in the white
sand, of which the mound was chiefly composed, a good deal of
charcoal on and below the level of the ground, but failed to discover
any traces of an urn, although we went down to a considerable
depth.
Further, a solitary oval mound stood on the south side of South
Bentley, half way between it and Anses Wood. It measured 210
two feet and a half in height, twelve yards in length, and
seven in breadth. This also I opened, but failed to find even any
remains of charcoal, and, from the easy-moving nature of the soil,
am inclined to suspect that it was modern, and raised for some other
purpose than that of burial. On the east side was a depression filled
with water, from whence the soil was taken.

The most remarkable barrow, if it can be so called, in this part of the

Forest, is at Black Bar, at the extreme west end of Linwood,
measuring nearly four hundred yards in circumference, and rising to
the height of forty feet or more. It is evidently in part factitious, for
upon sinking a pit ten feet deep we reached charcoal mixed with
Roman pottery, but not of a sepulchral character.

In its general appearance the mound is not unlike the famous Barney
Barn’s Hill, in Dibden Bottom, and close to it rises another, known as
the Fir Pound, not much inferior in size. I made other openings on
the top and sides, but discovered nothing further. To excavate it
thoroughly would require an enormous time, and would in all
probability not repay the labour. It looks, however, by the depressions
on the summit, as if it had once been the site of Keltic dwellings. And
this is in some measure corroborated by a small mound close to it,
where, as if apparently left or thrown away, we found placed in a
hole a small quantity of extremely coarse pottery—the coarsest and
thickest which I have ever seen. Again, too, in a field close by, known
as Blackheath Meadow, we everywhere met traces of Romano-British
ware, very similar in shape and texture to that in Sloden, described in
the next chapter.

The whole district just round here is most interesting. About a 211
mile to the north is Latchmoor Stream and Latchmoor Green,
marking, doubtless, some burial-ground; and not far off stands one
of those elevated places, common in the Forest, with the misleading
title of Castle.
I must not, too, forget to mention some barrows on Langley Heath,
just outside the present eastern boundary of the Forest, and
especially interesting from being situated so near to Calshot, where,
as we have seen, Cerdic probably landed. Seven of them were
opened by the Rev. J. Pemberton Bartlett. The mounds, averaging
about twenty yards in circumference, were, in some cases, slightly
raised, as much as a foot and a half, though in others nearly on a
level with the natural surface of the soil. In them all was found a
single grave, though, in one instance, two, running about three feet
in depth, and containing only burnt earth and charcoal. They thus
exactly corresponded, with the exception of the slight mound, with
those on Bratley Plain.
[248]
With this we must conclude. It would not be difficult to 212
frame some theory from these results. I, however, here prefer
to allow the simple facts to remain. As we have seen, the barrows in
this part of the Forest, like all others of the same period, contained
nothing, with the exception of the single stone-hammer, and the
slinging pebbles, and the flake of flint, but nearly plain urns, full of
only burnt earth, charcoal, and human bones. No iron, bronze, nor
bone-work of any sort, was found, which would still further go to
prove their extreme early age. Curiously enough, too, no teeth,
bones, nor horn-cores of animals were discovered, as so often are in
[249]
Keltic barrows. Like all others, too, of an early date, there seem
to have been several burials in the same grave, though this, as on
Fritham Plain, is very far from being always the case. Some little
regularity evidently prevailed with the different septs. Some, as at
Bratley, placed the charred remains in a grave from two to three feet
in depth; others, as at Butt’s Plain, on the mere ground. On the other
hand, a good deal of caprice seems to have been exercised as to the
materials with which each barrow was formed, and the way and the
shape in which it was built, as also the arrangement of the charcoal.

Further, perhaps, the different grades of life and relationship were

marked by the presence and position of the urns. Whether this be so
or no, it is certain that the mounds here which contained 213
mortuary vessels were, as a rule, more elevated, and in nearly
all instances placed by themselves. The fact, too, of the cube-shaped
mound with its remains of four urns should be kept in mind.

Little more can with certainty be said. The flint knives which have
been picked up in the Forest, the stone hammer in the grave, the
clumsy form and make of the urns, the places, too, of burial—in the
wide furzy Ytene, in after-times the Bratleys, and Burleys, and
Oakleys, of the West-Saxons—all show a people whose living was
gained rather by hunting than agriculture or commerce.

Barrows on Beaulieu Plain.

214
 CHAPTER XVIII.
THE ROMAN AND ROMANO-BRITISH POTTERIES.

Wine-Flask, Drinking-Cups, and Bowls.

From time to time the labourer, in draining or planting in the Forest,

digs down upon pieces of earthenware, whilst in the turfy spots the
mole throws up the black fragments in her mound of earth. The
names, too, of Crockle—Crock Kiln—and Panshard Hill, have from
time immemorial marked the site of at least two potteries. Yet even
these had escaped all notice until Mr. Bartlett, in 1853, gave an
account of his excavations, and showed the large scale on which the
Romans carried on their works, and the beauty of their 215
[250]
commonest forms and shapes.
Since then both Mr. Bartlett and myself have at different times
opened various other sites, and some short notice of their contents
may, perhaps, not be without interest.

Fifty years ago, when digging the holes for the gate-posts at the
south-west corner of Anderwood Enclosure, the workmen discovered
some perfect urns and vases. These have, of course, long since been
lost. But as the place was so far distant from the potteries at Crockle,
I determined to re-open it. The site, however, had been much
disturbed. Enough though could be seen to show that there had once
been a small kiln, round which were scattered for three or four yards,
in a black mould of about a foot and a half in depth, the rims, and
handles, and bottoms of vessels of Romano-British ware. The
specimens were entirely confined to the commonest forms, all
ornamentation being absent, and the ware itself of a very coarse
kind, the paste being grey and gritty.

About a mile and a half off, in Oakley Enclosure, close to the Bound
Beech, I was, however, more fortunate. Here the kiln was perfect. It
was circular, and measured six yards in circumference, its shape
being well-defined by small hand-formed masses of red brick-earth.
The floor, about two feet below the natural surface of the ground,
was paved with a layer of sand-stones, some of them cut into a
circular shape, so as to fit the kiln, the upper surfaces being tooled,
whilst the under remained in their original state. As at Anderwood,
the ware was broken into small fragments, and was scattered round
the kiln for five or six yards. The specimens were here, too, of 216
the coarsest kind, principally pieces of bowls and shallow
dishes, and, perhaps, though of a different age, not so unlike as
might at first sight be supposed to the

“Sympuvium Numæ, nigrumque catinum,

Et Vaticano fragiles de monte patellæ.”

These appear to be the only kilns which, perhaps from the unfitness
of the clay, were worked in this part of the Forest, and were used
only in manufacturing the most necessary utensils in daily life.
Of far greater extent are the works at Sloden, covering several acres.
All that remains of these, too, are, I am sorry to say, mere fragments
of a coarse black earthenware. And although I opened the ground at
various points, I never could meet with anything perfect. Yet the spot
is not without great interest. The character and nature of the south-
western slope exactly coincide with Colt Hoare’s description of Knook
[251]
Down and the Stockton Works. Here are the same irregularities in
the ground, the same black mould, the same coarse pottery, the
same banks, and mounds, and entrenchments, all indicating the
settlement of a Romano-British population. Half-way down the hill,
not far from two large mounds marking the sites of kilns, stretch
trenches and banks showing the spaces within which, perhaps, the
potters’ huts stood, or where the cultivated fields lay, whilst at 217
one place five banks meet in a point, and between two of
[252]
them appear some slight traces of what may have been a road.

At the bottom of the hill, but more to the south-westward, stands the
Lower Hat, where the same coarse ware covers the earth, and where
the presence of nettles and chickweed shows that the place has once
been inhabited.

The Crockle and Island Thorn potteries lie about a mile to the north-
east. At Crockle there were, before Mr. Bartlett opened them, three
mounds, varying in circumference from one hundred and eighty to
seventy yards, each, as I have ascertained, containing at least three
or four, but probably more, kilns. As the lowest part of the smallest
and easternmost mound had not been entirely explored, I
determined to open this piece. Beginning at the extremity, we 218
soon came upon a kiln, which, like the others discovered by
Mr. Bartlett, only showed its presence by the crumbling red brick
earth. An enormous old oak-stump had grown close beside it, and
around the bole were heaped the drinking-vessels and oil-flasks,
which its now rotten roots had once pierced.
 Necks of Oil-Flasks.

Necks of Wine-Vessels and Oil-Flask.

Nothing could better show, as the excavation proceeded, the former

state of the works. Here were imbedded in the stiff yellow putty-like
clay, of which they were made, masses of earthenware, the charcoal,
with which they were fired, still sticking to their sides—pieces of
vitreous-looking slag, and a grey line of cinders mixed with the red
brick earth of the kiln. The ware remained just as it was cast aside by
the potter. You might tell by the bulging of the sides, and the bright
metallic glaze of the vessels, how the workman had overheated the
kiln;—see, too, by the crookedness of the lines, where his 219
hand had missed its stroke. All was here. The potter’s finger-
marks were still stamped upon the bricks. Here lay the brass coin
which he had dropped, and the tool he had forgotten, and the plank
[253]
upon which he had tempered the clay.
The Island Thorn potteries had been so thoroughly opened by 220
Mr. Bartlett, that I there made but little further explorations,
[254]
and must refer my readers to his account, only here adding that
the ware scarcely differed, except in shape and patterns, from that at
Crockle.

About a mile westward stands Pitt’s Enclosure, where in three

different places rise low mounds, two of which, since the publication
of his account, have been opened by Mr. Bartlett, but from which he
only obtained fragments.

The third, which I explored in 1862, was remarkable for the number
of kilns placed close together, separated from each other only by
mounds of the natural soil. In all, there were five, ranged in a
semicircle, and paved with irregular masses of sandstone. They
appear to have been used at the time at which they were left for
firing different sorts of ware. Close to the westernmost kiln, we found
only the necks of various unguent bottles, whilst the easternmost
oven seems to have been employed in baking only a coarse red
panchion, on which a cover (operculum), with a slight knob for a
handle, fitted. Of these last we discovered an enormous quantity,
apparently flung away into a deep hole.

Near the central kilns we found one or two new shapes and patterns,
but they were, I am sorry to say, very much broken, the ware not
being equal in strength or fineness to that at Crockle. The most
interesting discovery, however, were two distinct heaps of white and
fawn-coloured clay and red earth, placed ready for mixing, and a
third of the two worked together, fit for the immediate use of the
potter.

Near to these works stretch, on a smaller scale, the same 221

embankments which mark the Sloden potteries. One is
particularly noticeable, measuring twenty-two feet in width, and
running in the shape of the letter Z. In the central portion I cut two
trenches, but could discover nothing but a circle of charcoal, looking
as if it was the remains of a workman’s fire, placed on the level of the
natural soil. Another trench I opened at the extreme end, as also
various pits near the embankment, but failed to find anything further.

At Ashley Rails, also, close by, stand two more mounds, which cover
the remains of more ware. These I only very partially opened, for the
black mould was very shallow, and the specimens the same as I had
found in Pitt’s Wood.

Besides these, there are, as mentioned in the last chapter, extensive

works at Black Heath Meadow at the west-end of Linwood, but they
are entirely, like those in Sloden, Oakley, and Anderwood, confined to
the manufacture of coarse Romano-British pottery. This last ware
seems to differ very little in character or form. The same shapes of
jars (copied from the Roman lagenæ) were found by Mr. Kell near
[255]
Barnes Chine in the Isle of Wight, though at Black Heath, as in
the other places in the Forest, handles, through which cords were
probably intended to pass, with flat dishes, and saucer-like vessels
[256]
(shaped similar to pateræ), all, however, in fragments, occurred.

Such is a brief account of the potteries in the Forest. Their 222

extent was, with two exceptions, restricted to one district,
where the Lower Bagshot Sands, with their clays, crop out, and to
the very same bed which the potters at Alderholt, on the other side
of the Avon, still at this hour work.

The two exceptions at Oakley and Anderwood are situated just at the
junction of the Upper Bagshot Sands and the Barton Clays, which did
not suit so well, and where the potteries are very much smaller, and
the ware coarser and grittier.

The date of the Crockle potteries may be roughly guessed by the

[257]
coins, found there by Mr. Bartlett, of Victorinus. These were much
worn, and, as Mr. Akerman suggests, might be lost about the end of
the third century; but the potteries were probably worked till or even
after the Romans abandoned the island.

There is nothing to indicate any sudden removal, but, on the

contrary, everything shows that the works were by degrees stopped,
and the population gradually withdrew. None of the vessels are quite
perfect, but are what are technically known as “wasters.” The most
complete have some slight flaw, and are evidently the refuse, which
the potter did not think fit for the market.

The size of the works need excite no surprise, when we 223

remember how much earthenware was used in daily life by
the Romans—for their floors, and drinking-cups, and oil and wine
flasks, and unguent vessels, and cinerary urns, and boxes for money.
The beauty, however, of the forms, even if it does not approach that
of the Upchurch and Castor pottery, should be noticed. The flowing
lines, the scroll-work patterns, the narrow necks of the wine-flasks
and unguent vessels, all show how well the true artist understands
that it is the real perfection of Art to make beauty ever the handmaid
of use.

Patterns from Fragments.

 Patterns from Fragments.

Another thing, too, is worthy of notice, that the artist was evidently
unfettered by any given pattern or rule. Whatever device or form was
at the moment uppermost in his mind, that he carried out, his hand
following the bent of his fancy. Hence the endless variety of patterns
and forms. No two vessels are exactly alike. In modern manufactures,
however, the smooth uniformity of ugliness most admirably 224
keeps down any symptoms of the prodigal luxuriance of
[258]
beauty.

We must, however, carefully beware of founding any theory, from the

existence of these potteries, that the Forest must therefore have
been cultivated in the days of the Conqueror. The reason why the
Romans chose the Forest is obvious,—not from its fertility, but
because it supplied the wood to fire the kilns; the same cause which,
centuries after, made Yarranton select Ringwood for his smelting-
furnaces. We must, too, bear in mind that after the Romans
abandoned the island the natives soon went back to their primitive
state of semi-barbarism; and further, that the interval between the
Roman occupation and the Norman Conquest was nearly as great as
that between ourselves and the Conqueror—a period long enough for
the Kelts, and West-Saxons, and Danes to have swept away in their
feuds all traces of civilization.

But what we should see in them is that beauty of form, which in

simple outline has seldom been excelled, proclaiming a people who
should in their descendants be the future masters of Art, as then they
were of warfare.

The history of a nation may be more plainly read by its manufactures

than by its laws or constitution. Its true æsthetic life, too, should be
determined not so much by its list of poets or painters, as by 225
the beauty of the articles in daily use.

And so still at Alderholt, not many miles off, the same beds of clay
are worked, and jars, and flasks, and dishes made, but with a
difference which may, perhaps, enable us to understand our
inferiority in Art to the former rulers of our island.

What further we should see in the whole district, is the way in which
the Romans stamped their iron rule upon every land which they
conquered. Everywhere in the Forest remain their traces. Urns, made
at these potteries, full of their coins, have been dug up at Anderwood
and Canterton. Nails at Cadenham, millstones at Studley Head, bricks
at Bentley, iron slag at Sloden, with the long range of embankments
stretching from wood to wood, and the camps at Buckland Rings and
Eyeworth, show that they well knew both how to conquer in war and
to rule in peace.
Oil-Flask, Drinking-Cups, Bowl, and Jar.

226
 CHAPTER XIX.
PARISH REGISTERS AND CHURCHWARDENS’ BOOKS.

Boldre Church.

As the monasteries of former days preserved the general records of

the times, so, in a minor degree, do our churches preserve the
special history of our villages. In the social life of the past our Church
Books are the counterpart of our Corporation Books, performing quite
as much for their own parishes as the latter for their boroughs; not
only giving, in the register, a yearly census of the population, but by
the Churchwardens’ Accounts the social and religious life of each
period.

Added to this also the clergyman, having nowhere else to 227

chronicle them, has often entered in his register the passing
events of the day; so that this further possesses, at times, a wider
historical interest than could have been expected, giving us often
glimpses of the views of men, who, however unsympathetic with the
changes and fortunes of the hour, still carry, from their office and
position, some not inconsiderable weight.

All these books are far too seldom consulted. The few notes we shall
make are by no means given as examples of what may be elsewhere
found, but must be looked upon only as extracts from the books of a
district, where we naturally could expect little of any general interest.

The New Forest has never been, since registers became the law of
the land, the scene of any of the great events of English history—
never the theatre of the Civil Wars, as the Midland Counties, where
entries of victories and defeats, and battles and sieges, are mixed
with the burials and births.

Various causes, too, especially the scanty and scattered population,

have contributed to the late date at which nearly all the Forest
[259]
registers commence. Still, at Eling, there occurs the 228
second earliest parish register in Hampshire, beginning one
year before Cromwell’s Act has been passed; showing, as was before
noticed, that this part of the Forest was always the richest, and,
[260]
consequently, the most civilized. In this register we find the
following most interesting entry:—

“1654. Thomas Burges, the sonne of William Burges and Elizabeth

Russel, the daughter of Elizabeth, the now wife of Stephen
Newland, were asked three Sabbath dayes, in the Parish Church of
r r
Eling: sc: Apriel 16th, Ap 23rd, Ap 30th, and were marr: by
d d
Richard L Crumwell, May xxii .”

I need scarcely add that it was under the Protector that an Act of
Parliament was passed in 1653, enabling any persons, after the due
proclamation of the banns in the church or chapel, or in the market-
place, on three market days, to be married by a simple affirmation
before a magistrate; thus in a remarkable way nearly anticipating
[261]
modern legislature. The Protector’s son, at the date of this entry,
was probably living at Hursley, about ten miles away to the north.

Going across to the other side of the Forest, we shall, at Ellingham,

find, in the Churchwardens’ Books, an entry in a different way quite
as interesting. The leaf is, I am sorry to say, very much torn, and,
towards the lower part, half of it is wanting. I give, however, the
extract as it stands, indicating the missing passages by the breaks:—

“Martii 13. Anno dõm. 1634. A special license, granted by the 229
moste reverende ffather in God, William Lord Archbishop of
Canterbury his Grace, under his Grace’s hand and seale, used in the
like grants, dated the nyneteenth day of ffebruarie, Anno dõm. 1634,
and second yeare of his Grace’s translation. And confirmed by the
tie
Letters patents of our Sov̄ raigne Lord Charles the King’s ma. that
r
now is ... Under the Greate Seale of England ffor S White Beconsaw
of this parish and county of South̄ ton ... (and) Dame Edith hys wife
ffor the tyme of their naturell (lives) ... to eate flesh on the daies
p̄ hibited by the Lawe ... (upon condition of their giving to the) poore
of the pīsh ... Thirteene shillings....”

Whether or no the knyght and his lady were to give the sum yearly,
as seems most probable, it is impossible, from the torn condition of
the leaf, to say. Their daughter was the noble Alice Lisle. The licence,
of course, refers to the prohibition against eating meat on Fridays
and Saturdays, and other specified times, first made by Elizabeth for
the encouragement of the English fisheries, which had even in her
[262]
reign begun to decay. And now that we are on the subject of
Churchwardens’ Books, let me give some brief extracts from 230
those of Ellingham:—

“1556. Itm̄ for waxe ixd.

 Itm̄ for a gyrdle iijd.
e xvd.
Itm̄ for waxe and for makynge of y paschall and
fontetapers
First payed for a rod (rood) xijs.
Itm̄ payed for the paschall and fontetapers ijs.
viijd.”
“1558. First payed for the pascall and fontetapers xxijd.
Itm̄ payed for frankeincense id.”

Such notices well prove how quick and strong was the reaction from
Protestantism to Catholicism when favoured by the State. Again, to
still further show the variety of entries, let me make some extracts
from the Fordingbridge Churchwardens’ Books:—

“1636. tm s
I for a fox-head 01 0
tm 010
I for one badgers head
tm 0 1 0”
I for one fox-head

Among miscellaneous notices, as giving the average wages of the

day, and the prices of various articles, let me add also the following
from the same accounts:—

“1609. tm d
I laide out for a pint of muskadine vii ”
“1616. t s
I for viij dayes’ worke for three men xxiij
t s d
I for a new beel-Rope iij iiij
t s d
I for a daye’s worke for three men iij iij
t s
I for a booke of artykeels iij
t d
I for mates (mats) about the Communyon tabelle xiij
 t s d
I payde the Person for keeping the Stocke iij iiij ”
231
These accounts, too, like all others, are full of items for the
repairs of the bells and bell-ropes, confirming what may be found in
the narratives of old French and Italian travellers concerning our
English passion for bell-ringing. The following looks very much like
cause and effect:—

“1636. e s d
Itm̄ to the Ringers one y Kinges daye ij vj
Itm̄ for one belroape s d
i iv ”

The “King’s day” was that on which the King ascended the throne.
Again, to show the mixed and varied contents of the Churchwardens’
Books, we will once more go back to those of Ellingham. Under the
date of 1556 we find:—

“Itm̄ for a baudericke of the great bell d

xij
Itm̄ for a lanterne d
viij
Itm̄ for nailes and sope d
iij ”

Under the head of “Layinges out in the secunde yere,” meaning 1557,
we meet:—

“Itm̄ for a pot of claye d

iij
Itm̄ payed for ij bokes s
x
Itm̄ payed for smoke sylver s d
ij xi ”

And, again, under the “Layinges out in the thyrdde yere,” we find:—

“Itm̄ payed for storynge of the tythynge harnesse d

xviij
 Itm̄ for white lether d
iij
Itm̄ for lyme and vj creste tyles d
xxi
Itm̄ for surplus for the clerke (clergyman) s
iij
Itm̄ for smoke silvar d
xvij ”
232
All these entries, to the church historian, and no less to the
general student, cannot be without peculiar interest. The smoke
silver, which so frequently occurs, is either the money paid for certain
privileges of cutting fuel, which, as we have seen, was formerly the
case in the Forest, or an assessment on the houses according to the
[263]
number of hearths, but more probably the former. The general
reader will scarcely care for more, but I trust elsewhere to give
further extracts from these most interesting books.

Turning back to the Registers, let me add from the Ibbesley Parish
Register Book, as so few people have seen a specimen, an entry of
an affidavit of burial in a woollen shroud, in compliance with the Act
passed in 1679, for the encouragement of the woollen manufacture
[264]
in England. It thus runs, placed opposite to the entry of the
th
person’s burial, and written in the same handwriting:—“Jan. 9 ,
d e
1678/79, I rec a certificate from Mr. Roger Clavell, Justice of y
peace at Brokenhurst, that Thomas King and Anthony King, sons of
Anthony King, deceased, did make oath before him, the sayd Roger
Clavell, that the aforesayd Antony King was buried according to the
late Act of Parliament.”

And again, opposite to the entries of their deaths, we find 233

th
—“November 11 .—Certified by John Torbuck, Vicar of
t
Ellingham, y Edward Baily and Nicholas Baily, of Ibsely, were buried
in woollen only.”
Pope’s lines on Mrs. Oldfield need hardly here be quoted. To
conclude, of the parish books in the district let me only say that at
Fordingbridge may be found an inventory of all the church furniture
for 1554; and at Ibbesley, lists of collections “towards the redemption
of the poor slaves out of Turkey,” “for the poor French Protestants,”
“for the redemption of captives,” and “for the distressed Protestants
beyond the sea,”—all testifying to the social and moral condition of
the people, without which it is impossible to give the history of any
district or any country.
The Norman Font in Brockenhurst Church.

234
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