THIRLWALL CASTLE, BUILT OF WALL-STONES,
HERE THE SCOTTS THIRLED (i.e. PIERCED) THE WALL

HADRIAN'S WALL

BY JESSIE MOTHERSOLE

WITH FOURTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE AUTHOR MAPS & PLANS

JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED
LONDON VIGO STREET W.1

First Published ... October 1922
Second Edition ... December 1922
Third Edition ... December 1924

MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY MORRISON AND GIBB LTD., EDINBURGH

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

THE ISLES OF SCILLY : Their Story,
Their Folk, and their Flowers
With 26 Plates in Colour

THE SAXON SHORE
Illustrated in Colour and Black & White

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

Since the first appearance of this book, a very important event has occurred in the history of Hadrian's Wall. It has been definitely recognized as a monument of national importance, to be scheduled and protected under the authority of the Office of Works. This means that owners and occupiers of the lands over which it extends will be powerless to interfere with it, unless by the authority of the Department, and that they will be liable for the repair of any damage that may be done to it.

It is not too much to say that this marks the greatest epoch in the history of the Wall since, at the end of the fourth century, it ceased to be garrisoned, and was allowed to fall into disrepair. Neglect or wanton destruction fell to its share for fourteen hundred years. Now the Office of Works has set the seal on the tireless efforts of Mr. John Clayton and Dr. Collingwood Bruce, who would indeed have rejoiced to see this day.

* * * * * * *

Important discoveries have been made at several points along the line of the Wall during the last three years.

The site of the fort at Burgh-by-sands was definitely located by Mr. W. G. Collingwood, F.S.A., and Mr. R. G. Collingwood, F.S.A., in 1922. Since 1903, when the main road was "up" for drainage purposes and no Roman remains were found, the very existence of the fort had been questioned.

But excavation has resulted in the discovery of the east gate, lying just north of Hadrian's Wall, on the edge of the main road, which represents roughly the via principalis. Stone barrack-buildings were also traced, running north and south, and the fort was proved to have lain across the line of Hadrian's Wall, as did Cilurnum. The main road is a cutting, below the level of any Roman remains. The stones of some of the fort walls had rotted so completely that the spade cut quite through them, and thus my scepticism about "perishing stones" in the neighbourhood was rebuked (p. 207). The Church at Burgh probably occupies the site of one of the central buildings, perhaps of a granary, the massive stones from which would be very handy for the Church-builders.

Hadrian's Wall was found to join the main road a little to the east of the Vicarage, from which point the road is laid partly on the Wall's foundations, and partly on its berm, up to the junction of Wall and fort.

A site known as Old Castle, about 200 yards eastward from the fort, marks the position of the mediæval castle of Sir Hugh de Morville, built, no doubt, of stones from the Wall and fort. The remains of a small Roman bridge, which carried the Military Way over the Powburgh Beck, are to be seen some 300 yards east of the Old Castle.

At Rudchester, Mr. Parker Brewis, F.S.A., has directed excavations of the fort of Vindobala. It was found to be similar in plan to Cilurnum, lying across the Wall, and with six gates. Three out of the five chambers of the headquarters buildings were uncovered, including the Chapel of the Standards with the treasury beneath; and there was also found the largest granary yet known in the north of England.

Both portals of the double west gate, and also the west portal of the south gate, were found to have been built up as early as the middle of the second century.

The Excavation Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne, appointed in February 1924, has been enlarged into "The North of England Excavation Committee," which hopes to open up other sites on the Wall during 1925, with Mr. Parker Brewis still as Director. A detailed report of the work at Rudchester will shortly be published.

Below Birdoswald, Dr. R. C. Shaw, of Manchester University, is, as I write, completing the excavation of the bridge over the Irthing, referred to on [page 163]. No trace has been discovered of any western abutment, and it has therefore presumably been washed away by the strong current of the river; but on the eastern side a whole series of abutments has been uncovered. The course of the river is now much farther west than it was in Roman times, and it was evidently necessary in their day to rebuild the abutments farther and farther west as the river receded in that direction.

The remains of these abutments are most impressive, and Hadrian's Wall has been found standing up to nine courses of stones.

The stages of the work appear to be as follows:

I. A very interesting feature, and one likely to give rise to much discussion, is the discovery of a 10-foot thick wall, of earlier date than the Great Wall, and ending in an abutment which is also 10 feet thick. The bridge starting from this abutment could only have been wide enough to carry the rampart-walk. Farther inland this wall has been found to a height of one or two courses of stone above the foundations.

II. Here a wall of superior masonry, of the character usually associated with Hadrian's Wall, has been built, 7½ feet wide, on the lower courses of the earlier wall, the original wall having been allowed to remain near the water. The new wall was found to be accompanied by a road about 14 feet wide, which was carried up to an abutment of large masonry blocks—re-used material, apparently taken from the breastwork of the earlier abutment. The road has a gravel surface and a foundation of cobbles.

III. A tower, larger than the one at Chesters, was built on the top of the aforesaid road-abutment. Of its two floor-levels, the earlier, of clay, was Hadrianic or Antonine, later than the Wall, and earlier than the late Antonine rising. The second floor, of sand, was also probably second century, the two floors agreeing approximately with what are known as the 1aand 1b levels.

A new length of wall, westwards towards the river, was added when the tower was built, the abutment was reconstructed, and buttressed on the south side by a massive tapering breastwork.

IV. Possibly a rectangular abutment was added to the face of the tapering breastwork, but this phase is not yet clear.

V. A very massive curved abutment and a Water-pier, with stone pavement between them, were constructed still farther west, forming an open sluice. The character of this work suggests the time of Severus or later in the third century.

VI. The open sluice was filled with gravel and stones, sealed down with a layer of lime; probably in the fourth century.

Since the work is still in progress, these notes can only indicate the stage reached up to 17th November 1924.

Dr. Shaw has also excavated two Wall-turrets, one behind the byre of Willowford farm-house, which has been left uncovered, and another nearer Gilsland. The Wall was found to have been thickened to 10 feet in width in the neighbourhood of the turrets.

* * * * * * *

The question has often been raised as to whether it is better to walk the Wall from east to west (as I did) or from west to east. I am an "East-to-Wester" all the time. It is far pleasanter to end the walk on the seashore of a picturesque fishing-village than in the smoky suburbs of a great industrial city.

And has not the trend of humanity always been westward? ... "A kind of heavenly destiny," says Wordsworth in his "Stepping Westward."

It is almost certain that the Romans worked westward in building the Wall. As their first fine enthusiasm began perhaps to wane, they found it necessary to call in the help of tribes from Devon and Cornwall, and from near London, and also of men of the fleet. Inscribed stones have been found at Netherby near Carlisle, and at Triermain near Birdoswald, giving evidence that men of the Classis Britannica worked on the Wall at the western end; and other stones, at Holmhead and at Howgill, give the names of two southern tribes, the Dumnonii and the Catuvellauni, suggesting that they also helped at this end.

* * * * * * *

Following Dr. Collingwood Bruce, I have called the road from Newcastle to Carlisle "Wade's Road." This is a mistake, for General Wade died in 1748, as his monument in Westminster Abbey shows, and the road was not made until 1753. The Act of Parliament authorizing it was passed in 1750.

* * * * * * *

In conclusion, I must add a few words about the purpose of the Wall. On [page 23], I have said: "No one ever doubts what it was meant to be or to do." This is true, in the sense that the Wall, in its perfect condition, would cry aloud to all comers, "Thus far and no farther." It was essentially a barrier. But the old idea that it was intended to be used as a fighting-ground is exploded. It had been built two centuries before the Romans could have practised bow-and-arrow warfare, such as Kipling describes in "Puck of Pook's Hill." The auxiliaries were then armed only with the usual short sword and heavy throwing-spear, quite unsuitable weapons for warfare from a wall; and the width of the Wall was insufficient for the use of catapults and ballistæ.

No; the Wall was an elevated sentry-walk, a continuous look-out tower; it was a guarantee that no one could enter Roman territory without Roman permission. When the sentries on the Wall gave warning of an attack from the north, the cohorts from the forts would not line up on the Wall; they would fling wide the northern gates, and march out to meet the enemy in the open. The whole question is very interestingly discussed in an article on "The Purpose of the Roman Wall," by Mr. R. G. Collingwood, in No. VIII. of The Vasculum.

INTRODUCTION

"You never can bring in a Wall.
Some man or other must present Wall."
Midsummer Night's Dream.

The idea of a colour-book on Hadrian's Wall was suggested to me by friends in 1914. Then came the Great War, blotting out all thought of work of this kind.

But in 1920 I was taken by these friends along the line of the Wall, and I soon fell a victim to its many attractions. My friends went home; but I found hospitality at the farms and other houses in the neighbourhood, and began to paint at once.

Before long I decided to "walk the Wall" every foot of the way, 73½ miles, from sea to sea, being inspired thereto by the example and the record of William Hutton. Many of my readers will need an introduction to this delightful character, whose book—to which I shall often have occasion to refer—is now out of print.

William Hutton was an archæologist of Birmingham, who in 1801, at the age of seventy-eight, travelled alone and on foot "six hundred miles to see a shattered Wall."

He then published an account of the Wall and the walk, written in a very original and interesting style, although, as he tells us, "the Battledore, at an age not exceeding six, was the last book I used at school."

"The respectable and amiable Author" (to use the words of contemporary critics) started from Birmingham with his daughter; but since she rode on a pillion behind a servant, and he went on foot, they can hardly be said to have "accompanied" each other. They used to meet at the inns, for dinner, bed and breakfast; and at Penrith they parted, she making her way to Keswick and the Lakes, he to Carlisle and his beloved Wall.

He sent his daughter two notes during his Wall journey: the first from Carlisle, in which he said he was sound in body, shoe and stocking, and had just risen from a lodging among fleas; the second, from Newcastle, when he wrote (to quote her words) "that he had been at the Wall's End; that the weather was so hot he was obliged to repose under hedges; and that the country was infested with thieves: but, lest I should be under any apprehensions for his personal safety, he added they were only such as demolished his idol, the Wall, by stealing the stones of which it was composed."

Of his aim in writing his book, he thus speaks:

"I would enliven truth with the smile, with the anecdote; and while I travel the long and dreary Wall, would have you travel with me, though by your own fireside; would have you see and feel as I do; and make the journey influence your passions as mine are influenced."

There is no doubt that his enthusiasm is infectious, and that whoever follows the Wall in the same spirit as he did, will not find it a "long and dreary" journey.

For myself, I was fascinated by it; I enjoyed every step of the way; and the pictures of the Wall which are here reproduced are the fruit of many happy days spent in its company.

Owing to present conditions, the original idea of a colour-book was dropped, for something more portable and less costly, so the number of illustrations in colour is limited to six, instead of the twenty-five I had prepared; and of the remaining nineteen, only eight appear in monochrome.

In one sense I did not walk the Wall alone. I had two companions, William Hutton and Dr. Collingwood Bruce. The latter was represented by his Handbook on the Wall, which was first published in 1863, and which has proved its value by having appeared, in seven successive editions, as the standard work on the subject. Dr. Bruce and Mr. John Clayton will always be remembered as the great pioneers of practical research on the Wall.

I owe much to the kindness of Mr. F. Gerald Simpson, who hopes to return to active work on the Wall next year (at Birdoswald), and who is my authority on many points in the archæology of the Wall which his recent excavations have brought to light. Much is waiting to be done, but the adequate prosecution of the work in the future will depend entirely on how much financial help is forthcoming from those interested in historical research.

I was very fortunate in falling in with the Three Days' Pilgrimage of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the Cumberland and Westmorland Archæological Society, and in being allowed to join it, in September 1920; and I have to thank the members for their kind welcome to a stranger, and for their readiness to help me. In this connection I must specially mention Mrs. T. H. Hodgson, Mr. Robert Blair, F.S.A., and Mr. W. G. Collingwood, F.S.A.

Archæologia Æliana, issued yearly by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and the annual Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society have been of the greatest service as works of reference. To the former I am also indebted for the plans of the Roman Bridge and of Cilurnum and Borcovicium (Figs. 6, 8, and 12).

From the work entitled Romano-British Buildings and Earthworks, by the late Mr. John Ward, F.S.A., the author and the publishers (Messrs. Methuen & Co.) have kindly allowed me to take Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14.

Readers who wish to study the latest discoveries with regard to the Vallum will find them in the recently published The Purpose and Date of the Vallum and its Crossings, by Mr. F. Gerald Simpson and Dr. R. C. Shaw (Titus Wilson, Kendal). It forms part of vol. xxii. of the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society, but it can also be obtained separately.

For those who do not care to walk all the way, and who wish to see a great deal of the Wall in a short time, the George Inn at Chollerford makes a delightful centre. It stands on the bank of the North Tyne, with well-kept gardens sloping down to the water's edge, just where a five-arched stone bridge crosses the river. The bridge dates from 1771, the year when every bridge over the Tyne except the one at Corbridge was swept away by heavy floods.

Chollerford is only 21 miles by road from Newcastle, and the road runs on the Wall foundations nearly all the way. The little station of Humshaugh, on the branch-line from Hexham, is quite close to the George.

For motorists an excellent plan is to make the George their headquarters and thence to visit the Fort of Cilurnum at Walwick Chesters. Then to travel by car along Wade's Road, noting the points of interest en route, until the entrance to Housesteads (Borcovicium) is reached. Here the car must be left and the fort examined. The walk thence along the mural ridge can be made long or short according to inclination. Tracks run down to Wade's Road at frequent intervals—at Milking Gap, Peel, Caw Gap and Pilgrims' Gap (by the Haltwhistle Burn). From Borcovicium to Pilgrims' Gap would be a walk of nearly 6 miles along the Wall ridge; so for those who do not care to walk so far on rough ground, a better plan would be to send the car on to Bradley farm-house and to descend to the road by Milking Gap; travel by car to Peel and examine the fine remains of Wall there; return to the car for another 2½ miles along Wade's Road, and then walk up by the Haltwhistle Burn to examine the Cawfields mile-castle and the Wall in its neighbourhood.

Gilsland is the best centre for visiting, not only the Fort of Amboglanna, at Birdoswald, but also the Nine Nicks of Thirlwall and Thirlwall Castle, and the site of the Fort of Magna at Carvoran. There is very good accommodation at Gilsland. From Birdoswald, cars can travel actually on the line of the Wall as far as the village of Banks, near which, at Hare Hill, the highest piece of Wall yet standing is to be seen. The road journey can be continued past Lanercost Priory through Brampton to Carlisle, whence road and Wall run close together, for the most part, all the way to Bowness, where the Wall ends; but only the pedestrian can examine it thoroughly.

Those who prefer to travel by train can easily visit the Wall in sections, making Hexham, Gilsland and Carlisle their headquarters. On the line between Newcastle and Carlisle, Fourstones is the station for visiting Cilurnum; Haydon Bridge for Sewingshields; Bardon Mill for Vindolanda and Borcovicium; Haltwhistle for Æsica and Winshields; Greenhead for Thirlwall Castle and the Nine Nicks; Gilsland for Amboglanna; and Naworth for Lanercost and Banks.

CONTENTS

CHAP.

[Preface to Third Edition]

[Introduction]

I. [The Message of the Wall]

II. [Historical]

III. [Descriptive]

IV. [The Vallum]

V. [The Walk: Wallsend to Walbottle]

VI. [Walbottle to East Wallhouses]

VII. [Hunnum and St. Oswald's]

VIII. [Brunton and The Roman Bridge]

IX. [Cilurnum]

X. [Walwick to Sewingshields]

XI. [Sewingshields to Housesteads]

XII. [Housesteads to Peel Crag]

XIII. [Peel Crag to Walltown]

XIV. [Walltown to Gilsland]

XV. [Gilsland To Lanercost]

XVI. [Lanercost To Bleatarn]

XVII. [Bleatarn To Grinsdale]

XVIII. [Grinsdale To Drumburgh]

XIX. [Drumburgh To Bowness]

XX. [Vindolanda, Corstopitum, Bewcastle]

[Conclusion]

[Index]

LIST OF PLATES

IN COLOUR

1. [Thirlwall Castle] ... Frontispiece

2. [North Gate of Housesteads Mile-castle]

3. [The Wall on Peel Crag]

4. [Thorny Doors Gap]

5. [The Wall Overhanging the Irthing]

6. [View looking South from Amboglanna]

IN MONOCHROME

7. [The Wall from Cuddy's Crag]

8. [The Bath-house at Cilurnum]

9. [The Basalt Cliffs above Crag Lough]

10. [North Gate, Borcovicium]

11. [Crag Lough from Milking Gap]

12. [Castle Nick Mile-Castle]

13. [Peel Crag, from the Gap]

14. [The Roman Milestone on the Stanegate]

MAPS

[Contour of Wall-ridge]

[Map of Hadrian's Wall]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

FIG.

1. [Section of the Wall and Vallum]

2. [Comparative Plans of Mile-castle and Wall-turret]

3. [Sections of Vallum in Three Stages]

4. [Roman Head from Benwell Hill]

5. [Roman Altar from Rudchester]

6. [Plan of Roman Bridge near Cilurnum]

7. [Lewis for Lifting Stones]

8. [Plan of Fort of Cilurnum]

9. [Fortification Turrets from Trajan's Column]

10. [Fortification Gates from Trajan's Column]

11. [Gate of Fort on Mosaic, Avignon Museum]

12. [Plan of Fort of Borcovicium]

13. [Cross-Section of Fort Wall]

14. [Comparative Plans of Fort Gates]

LIST OF FORTS ON THE WALL WHOSE ANCIENT NAME IS KNOWN.

46½ miles from Wallsend.

HADRIAN'S WALL

HADRIAN'S WALL

CHAPTER I
THE MESSAGE OF THE WALL

"Forma mentis æterna."—TACITUS.

There is no doubt that this great Roman Wall, from Tyne to Solway, this mighty relic of a mighty people, gains a wonderful hold on the affections of those who follow its course, stirring the imagination and quickening the pulses in a way that could hardly be expected from a mere crumbling ruin. All who have learnt to know and to love it will admit this; it unites them all in one common bond; though built to place a barrier between the dwellers of the north and the south, certainly nowadays it draws many of them closer together! What is the secret of this attraction? The fact that the Wall is the mightiest antiquity of Britain is not of itself sufficient to account for the glamour it sheds. We must seek a more subtle reason; and the true source of its attraction is that it stands for a great ideal.

As we follow it in its unfaltering course from sea to sea, and mark how bravely it has withstood the ravages of time and the hand of the destroyer, it dawns upon us that it stands for something permanent, something eternal, something in the very nature of man which can never die. We see that these stones, of Wall, and Fort, and Castle, are signs of the strength and endurance, the discipline, obedience and devotion to duty of the men who conceived the whole idea, and of the men who carried out the conception.

Although it is now definitely ascertained that Hadrian built the Wall, yet we must go back to Agricola for the source of the inspiration. It was he who laid the foundations of a righteous Roman rule in Britain. It was he who saw that the petty chieftains of the southern parts must be educated to sink their differences, and to unite in allegiance to the Roman Empire. It was he who, by his own disinterested and unselfish conduct, gave to the British chiefs an example of public-spirited loyalty to principle which was a thousand times more valuable than precept.

And it was he who built the first line of Forts from Tyne to Solway.

As I followed the Wall, this was the refrain which repeated itself over and over again in my ears, and echoed in the streets of the deserted forts: these words of Tacitus which form part of the tribute paid by a distinguished son to his distinguished father:

"Only the fashion of the soul remains."

Yes, the Wall is a ruin; the "defenced cities" have become "heaps"; and the might and glory of Rome have long been laid in the dust; but the great and good qualities of men like Agricola and Hadrian shine down the ages, and remain a source of inspiration and of strength for ever.

Agricola was the finer character, and he had the advantage of escaping the temptations which imperial dignities bring; but in Hadrian, also, we see that devotion to a sense of duty, that clear perception of justice, that wisdom in administration, which are of the qualities that endure, and leave their mark on future ages.

"Only the fashion of the soul remains."

The aim of both Agricola and Hadrian was to convert Britain into a peaceful and self-governed Roman province. Their incentive was the love of an ideal. Each had a vision of stability and unity; but whereas Agricola's direct endeavour was to absorb and Romanize the whole island, Hadrian chose to consolidate rather than to extend. In helping the Britons south of the Wall line to keep out the raiding Caledonians, and encouraging them to settle down, undisturbed, to peaceful agricultural and industrial pursuits, he hoped that in time the leaven of this higher ideal would spread north to the farthest limits of the island.

And with this aim the Wall was built.

In all ages the building of walls has marked a stage of advance in the evolution of human character, in so far as it has meant a progress from the offensive to the defensive position.

In ancient Persia, the great reformer Zarathusthra condemned the raiding lives of the nomads, and held up the purer ideal of a peaceable and industrious community, dwelling within walls, and living on the fruit of their labour. Tradition says that he was slain by a resentful nomad on the steps of a temple, and thus he gave his life for his ideal.

History repeats itself. Persia, China, Greece and Rome all built walls of brick or stone to keep out the enemy, and maintain the stability of their respective empires. Each had an ideal of unity to achieve, and sought in this way to promote it.

In our own day, unity is still the ideal. Have we made a great advance over the methods of our predecessors?

Rome had great qualities, great and good men; yet she fell. What did she lack? She has left us shining examples of strength, endurance, courage, justice and devotion to duty. Where did she fail?

She lacked just what we lack ourselves: the true idea of unity, the true ideal of universal love, without which all other greatness "profiteth nothing."

Are we just beginning to learn that the true "walls" which can alone preserve any nation or empire from destruction or decay, and which do indeed ensure its stability, are not walls of brick or stone, not armies, Dreadnoughts, aeroplanes nor submarines, but great moral and spiritual qualities, high aspirations, an ideal of unity which views the whole world as one, faced by one common enemy, and sees that, with the nation as with the individual, true greatness consists in humility and willingness to serve?

"Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise."

"Only the fashion of the soul remains."

CHAPTER II
HISTORICAL

In studying the Wall it is well to refresh our memory of Roman history wherever it relates to Britain, to sit in our mental "picture-house" as it were, and let scene after scene flit by us on the screen.

First, in 55 B.C., we see Julius Cæsar, as governor of Gaul, arriving to punish the interfering islanders of Britain for the help they had given to the Gallic tribes in their resistance to him; meeting with little success, and so withdrawing, only to return again the following year, with five legions instead of two. Then we see the British king, Cassivelaunus, whose capital was where St. Albans now stands, uniting with hostile neighbours to meet the common foe. We see him fixing sharp stakes in the bed of the Thames at the only fordable point, in a vain attempt to check the Roman legions; which stakes were still to be seen in the river-bed seventy years ago, and are probably there still.

The next picture shows Cæsar's return to Gaul in the same year, taking with him British hostages, to ensure the payment of tribute, and exhibiting as a trophy a corslet of British pearls.

After this there was what Tacitus calls "a long forgetfulness of Britain," so far as conquest was concerned. He says of Cæsar that "he rather discovered the island for his descendants than bequeathed it to them." For ninety-seven years there was peaceful communication with Rome, and the whole island, according to Strabo, became "intimate and familiar to the Romans." The British king, Cunobelin, the Cymbeline of Shakespeare, was brought up at the Court of Augustus, and no doubt did something to introduce Roman laws and customs. But still the people were as free as if Cæsar had never landed.

Then, in 40 A.D., we see the demented Caligula (or "Little Boots," the nickname his soldiers gave him) deciding in a moment of caprice to invade Britain, but returning after no more than a glance at the white cliffs of the island, and with sea-shells from the beach at Boulogne as his only trophy.

The Emperor Claudius comes next, in 43 A.D. Stirred up by discontented British fugitives at Rome, he sent troops to Britain, under Aulus Plautius and Vespasian. When the expedition succeeded, he came in person, stopping only sixteen days in the island, but celebrating a stupendous triumph on his return to Rome. On the strength of his victorious campaign, he called his infant son Britannicus, and had the name of Britain stamped on his coins.

Aulus Plautius was the first consular governor of Britain. His wife, Pomponia Græcina, was a Christian. Was she, perhaps, the first Christian to land on our shores?

Ostorius Scapula succeeded Plautius, and it was into his hands that the British king, Caradoc (or Caratacus), the son of Cunobelin, fell, after offering a brave resistance for at least seven years.

Our next picture shows the entry of Caradoc and his family into Rome, in 50 A.D., as prisoners of war. The noble bearing of the king alone saved him from death in the arena.

After this the Romans began definitely to colonize Britain. Tacitus writes in 97 A.D.: "The nearest portion of Britain was reduced little by little to the condition of a province; a colony of veterans was also planted; certain states were handed over to King Cogidumnus (who has remained continuously loyal down to our own times), according to the old and long-received principle of Roman policy, which employs kings among the instruments of servitude."

Successive governors maintained or extended Roman authority, until the eastern and southern portions were so far subdued that the governor, Suetonius Paulinus, felt able to cross over to Mona (the island of Anglesey) to bring into subjection this stronghold of the Druids.

Here was the opportunity of the British tribes, more restive than they had seemed beneath the Roman yoke. Our next picture is a terrible one. In 61 A.D., seventy thousand persons, "all Romans or confederates of Rome," were destroyed by the Iceni, under Queen Boudicca, in the Romanized towns of Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulam (Colchester, London and St. Albans).

Paulinus returned hastily to the rescue, and "the fortunes of a single battle restored the country to its ancient submissiveness." So says Tacitus; but it was only a surface submission; the fire was smouldering, not quenched.

A milder governor succeeded Paulinus, and under him and his successors Roman civilization and Roman vices began to spread among the Britons.

Then came two rulers of sterner type, who subdued the Brigantes (of Lancashire and the north-west counties) and the Silures (of South Wales).

Following them came Agricola, in 78 A.D., surely the greatest figure in the history of Roman Britain! He was appointed governor by the Emperor Vespasian, the foundations of whose own career had been laid in Britain. Agricola, also, had served his apprenticeship to war in the island, under Suetonius Paulinus, having passed through the critical period when the Roman towns were burned and the populations butchered.

His character has been very ably drawn for us by his son-in-law, Tacitus, who shows that the ideal of true greatness, in those days of imperial luxury and vice, was as high as our own, and that there were some who came near to attaining to it.

Unassuming, tactful, patient, incorruptible; kind and affectionate; brave and energetic, and yet modest; strictly just, and yet merciful; so great that it would be an insult to dwell upon his probity and self-control—these are some of the qualities with which Tacitus credits his father-in-law; and the ability with which he governed Britain goes a long way towards proving the picture true.

Shortly before his arrival in Britain to take up the reins of government, the tribes of the Ordovices, of North-west Wales, had crushed almost to a man the regiment of cavalry encamped amongst them. Such an incident could not be overlooked by the new Governor. Now was the moment to show what spirit he was of! Supplementing Roman troops with native auxiliaries, he marched to the hills where the Ordovices were hid, and almost exterminated the whole tribe.

"Horrible!" does some one say? Yes; it was horrible. A soldier's devotion to duty always gives him terrible work to do; and we in this so-called Christian country can take no superior attitude, though 1800 years have passed.

Agricola then subdued Mona; and having thus established a reputation for courage and firmness he set himself to the task of making peace more attractive to the Britons than war. His intention was to habituate them to peace and quiet by turning their thoughts to something better than war, and therefore he encouraged them to build temples, houses and market-places.

"The rivalry for his compliments took the place of coercion." "He began to train the sons of the chieftains in a liberal education, and to give a preference to the native talents of the Briton as against the plodding Gaul." But he did not neglect military tactics. "Time was found also for the planting of forts. Experts noted that no other general selected more shrewdly the advantages of site; no fort planted by Agricola was carried by storm by the enemy, or abandoned by arrangement and flight; as for a protracted siege, against this they were secured by supplies for twelve months. Accordingly, winter was shorn of its fears, and sallies were frequent; each commander could protect himself, whilst the enemy were helpless, and therefore despaired. They had been accustomed in most places to weigh the 'incidents' of winter against the summer's losses; now they were repelled summer and winter alike."

So far, Tacitus.

But of all Agricola's notable achievements that which specially concerns us now is his work in the north. Here, in 79 A.D., he constructed for military purposes the famous cross-road, which in Saxon times began to be called the "Stanegate," or "Stone Way." His chief centres, or advanced bases, were Corbridge (Corstopitum) and Carlisle (Luguvallium) between which this road ran. His other forts were on the same road line, but not generally on the line of the Wall, as archæologists formerly thought. It may yet be proved that two or three of the Wall forts were first built by him as outliers of his chain of forts.

Later, in 81 A.D., he built a chain of forts from the Forth to the Clyde, "the enemy being pushed back into a separate island, so to speak," says Tacitus; and thus he initiated the barrier of Antoninus Pius.

After Agricola's victory over the Britons at Mount Graupius, in 85 A.D., the Emperor Domitian, jealous of his successful generalship, recalled him to Rome. Tacitus says that he "handed over a peaceful and safe province to his successor." His seven years' rule had been so fruitful that one cannot help wondering how much he would have achieved if he had been allowed to continue his work of tranquil colonization, and his conquest over the affections of the people of Britain. He was only forty-five when recalled to Rome, and nine years later he died, poisoned, as is thought, by the still jealous Emperor.

Tacitus cannot pity him: "The true blessings of life which lie in character he had fulfilled"; and he closes his essay with these magnificent lines, so often quoted and so eternally true, whether spoken of the avowed Christian, or of the so-called pagan, who has practised Christian virtues in a Christian spirit, and in doing so has indeed been led by the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world:

"Vain alike and passing is the face of man and the similitude thereof; only the fashion of the soul remains, to be known and shown not through alien substances and arts, but in your very life and walk. Whatever we have loved in Agricola, whatever we have admired, abides, and will abide, in the hearts of men, in the procession of the ages, in the records of history. Many of the ancients has Forgetfulness engulfed as though fame nor name were theirs: Agricola, whose story here is told, will outlive death, to be our children's heritage."

And as, looking southwards from the line of the Wall, we trace the course of his road and note the positions of his forts, we also can be grateful for his upright life and his disinterested service.

Nerva succeeded Domitian, and was in his turn succeeded by Trajan, who reigned till 117 A.D. At about this date the forts of Agricola, which had held the country for thirty years, were entirely swamped during a great native rising. The Ninth Legion, then stationed at York, disappears from history, having been annihilated by the Britons.

And next comes Hadrian, the actual inventor of the Roman frontier system. He became Emperor in 117 A.D., and initiated his policy in Britain about two years later. It is now generally agreed that he was responsible for the works of the Vallum, as well as for the Stone Wall, with its forts, mile-castles and turrets.

Here was an Emperor who lived no life of self-indulgent ease, nor used his imperial rank merely to serve his own private ends.

He was indefatigable in his journeyings through his empire, to reorganize and reform. Every province came under his personal supervision, and traces of his activity are to be met with everywhere. He was also undoubtedly a great builder. The largest temple ever erected in Rome, the temple of Venus and Roma, owes its origin to him, as also do the Pantheon and the Castle of St. Angelo. He was therefore quite capable of conceiving and carrying out such a project as the Great Wall.

He visited Britain in person, towards the close of 121 A.D., or early in 122, but the works were only completed after he had left, under the direction of Aulus Platorius Nepos, his proprætor.

Antoninus Pius succeeded Hadrian in 138 A.D. He was himself a man of peace, and left the settlement of disturbances to his provincial governors. Under him Lollius Urbicus built the turf wall between the Firths of Forth and Clyde, along the line of the forts of Agricola. This is known as the Antonine Wall. In mediæval times it was called Grahame's Dyke.

Britain was very disturbed from 161 A.D. to 193 A.D. during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher, and his son and successor, Commodus. The Wall and its forts and turrets suffered much during this period.

Under Septimius Severus there was still trouble, and the Emperor came over in person, in 208 A.D., bringing with him his sons Antoninus and Geta. The former is usually called Caracalla, from a Gallic mantle which he had made fashionable in Rome. Severus was an African by birth, and a soldier by profession, having risen from the ranks, but he was a splendid administrator. On arriving in Britain, he collected troops, repaired the roads, and rebuilt, where necessary, the forts and the Wall.

Then we have a pathetic picture of the old Emperor, hampered by gout, and obliged to be carried in a litter or a closed chair, distracted by the quarrels and ambition of his sons, and yet advancing far into the enemy's country, under inconceivable difficulties, and with a great loss of men. Finally he died at York, in 211 A.D., "worn out with sorrow more than with disease." It is said of him that he had "a greater tenderness for his children than for the republic;" and yet it was no secret that his elder son had once endeavoured to stab him in the back, and, failing, had tried to bribe his physicians to poison him. On their father's death the sons returned to Rome, to succeed him, but in less than a year the elder had contrived the murder of the younger.

The inscribed stones which have been found bring out very clearly that Severus left behind him an impulse towards the restoration of the Wall and its forts which continued until 240 A.D.

Britain was now left to herself. Rome was too much occupied with troubles at home to pay much heed to her island province, and peaceful conditions prevailed.

Taking advantage of Rome's preoccupation, Carausius, who had charge of a Roman fleet, under Diocletian, to repress the Saxon pirates, betrayed his trust, and assumed the sovereignty of Britain in 287 A.D. For six years he ruled an independent kingdom, to be betrayed, in his turn, and murdered by his minister Allectus, who succeeded him. Three years later Rome resumed her authority, and Allectus was slain.

Constantine is accused by the historian Zosimus of having withdrawn the soldiers from the forts of Britain to the towns, where they became effeminate. Now Emperor succeeded Emperor in rapid succession. Soon Rome had all she could do to keep the Goths at bay; and, in 410 A.D., Honorius wrote to the Britons to tell them they must look to themselves for safety.

Experts differ as to when the Romans actually abandoned the island, but it is safe to say that it was early in the fifth century.

Rome's hold on Britain had thus lasted nearly four centuries; and when we remember that it is not much more than four centuries since Columbus discovered America, we can better realize how thoroughly Roman in that period the island and the people must have become.

"Under the Pax Romana, established by Agricola," writes Mr. H. Rushton Fairclough in Art and Archæology, Vol. I. No. 2, "Roman temples, forums, dwelling-houses, baths and porticoes had sprung up everywhere; and, above all, Roman schools, where the youth of the land learnt with pride to adopt the tongue and dress of the conquerors." And this was when more than three centuries of Roman rule were yet to come!

CHAPTER III
DESCRIPTIVE

What is this Wall like, of which we have heard so much?

It consists of three parts:

1. A Stone Wall with a ditch on its northern side.

2. A series of forts, mile-castles and Wall turrets, connected by roads.

3. An earthwork known as "The Vallum," consisting of a deep central ditch and two (frequently three and sometimes four) earthern mounds, running always to the south of the Wall and its fortifications.

Excavations and inscriptions have now pretty well established the order and the period in which the different parts were constructed, and it appears to have been as follows:

1. Agricola built a series of forts (including Corbridge and Carlisle) across the isthmus, about 79 A.D., with a road, afterwards known as the Stanegate, connecting them.

2. Hadrian first built a new line of forts a short distance to the north of the Stanegate line.

Fig. 1.—Section showing the relative positions of the Stone Wall, the Vallum and the Military Way.

3. Hadrian then constructed the Vallum, as a limes or boundary, slightly to the south of these forts, yet everywhere north of the older line of Agricola.

4. Hadrian finally built the Great Wall, linking up the new forts and including a mile-castle every seven furlongs, and two wall-turrets between every pair of mile-castles. He also made a road from castle to castle, and so from fort to fort—122-127 A.D. This great Stone Wall, was the last word in the defensive problem. The original scheme, of forts and Vallum, had failed to ensure the safety of the frontier; and the necessity for a continuous barrier had become evident.

So it came about that the Wall was built. In the course of its building, the Vallum with its deep ditch and high mounds would form a continuous obstacle to the free passage of workers and building materials coming from the south. To obviate this difficulty, the mounds of the Vallum were cut through and the ditch was filled up at frequent intervals, to form temporary level-crossings.

5. After the Great Wall was completed, the Vallum-ditch was cleared where necessary, and the clearings from the ditch were thrown up as an additional mound on the south margin of the ditch. This indicates that the Vallum still represented a boundary: no longer, indeed, to the enemy, for the Wall was now their boundary, but to the civil population of the province of Britain. North of the Vallum was now a military district, "out of bounds" for civilians.

6. Severus reconstructed great portions of the Wall and forts, which had been thrown down by the enemy—207-210 A.D.

It is thus clear that most of the work which we see was originally designed by Hadrian in the second century.

It would serve no purpose for me to go into all the older arguments and theories as to who was the builder of the Wall, and what was the object of the Vallum, but I have endeavoured to give the latest views, based on the most recent discoveries.

As is well known, archæologists do not now aim at finding objects, but rather at learning history and fixing dates. Especially do they aim at dating the various levels of occupation by means of the pottery fragments found there—a method unheard-of when excavations were first begun on the Wall. Much still remains to be done in this direction.

The evidence in favour of Hadrian's having been the builder of the Wall is now so strong as to be irrefutable. In four mile-castles have been found slabs bearing his name and that of his proprætor, Aulus Platorius Nepos. The name of Severus has not been found at all on the actual line of the Wall.

A bronze purse of coins was found hidden in a quarry on Barcombe during the last century. There were no coins later than the time of Hadrian; and, since the purse was probably hidden in his reign by a worker in the quarry, this evidence would point to Hadrian as a builder in stone, and not merely the constructor of the Vallum, as some have thought.

Many old writers have made reference both to the stone Wall and the Vallum.

Camden, the antiquary, writing in 1587, says:

"Through the high part of Cumberland shooteth that most famous Wall (in no case to be passed over in silence) the limit of the Roman Province, the Barbarian Rampier, the Forefence and Enclosure, for so the ancients termed it, being called * * * by Antonine, Cassiodore, and others, Vallum, that is, the Rampier; by Bede, Murus, that is, the Wall; by the Britons, Gual-Sever, Gal-Sever, Bal, Val, and Mur-Sever; by the Scottish, Scottish-waith; by the English, and those that dwell there-about, the Picts Wall, or the Pehits Wall, the Keepe Wall, and simply by way of excellencie, The Wall."

Throughout this book we will call the stone Wall "simply by way of excellencie," the Wall, referring to the other parts of the fortifications, the Vallum, forts, mile-castles and turrets, by their several names.

And, before going farther, I may as well confess the true state of my affections, for I am sure to be found out sooner or later. The Wall, "simply by way of excellencie," is my real love; the Vallum only takes a very secondary place.

I love the Wall for its aspiring nature, always keeping to the very tops of the hills, when there are any hills to be had, while the Vallum creeps sluggishly along in the low land.

I love the Wall for the way in which it overcomes obstacles, never swerving from its determination to keep to the highest at all costs, while the Vallum allows itself to be turned aside to the south by even such a little obstacle as Down Hill.

And I love the Wall for the sense of strength which it gives, even in its present battered condition, a sense of strength and solidity which no number of ditches and earth mounds could ever give. Earth mounds (of a sort) can be made by earth-worms; for stone walls it takes men!

I love the Wall because I can picture it, manned by the soldiers of the cohorts, as a living thing, all eyes and ears; a link from sea to sea; a chain of forts and turrets threaded on a single string!

And I love it because of its plain straightforward purpose. No one ever doubts what it was meant to be or to do; whereas the object of the Vallum is still to some extent a matter of conjecture, over which wordy battles may be fought.

And I love the Wall because it lends itself to being painted, while the Vallum stubbornly refuses to look anything but insignificant in a picture, however imposing it may be when examined on the spot.

Lastly and chiefly, I love the Wall because of the symbol it presents of a firm stand and a patient, faithful, conscientious, tireless watch against the enemy; no risks taken, no pains spared, no loopholes left. It is to me a symbol of vigilance and endurance.

I know that I am self-condemned in the eyes of the archæologist for having such a preference, for is not the Vallum older than the Wall, and does not that in itself constitute an unimpeachable claim to superiority?

But I am not an archæologist; I am only an artist with a taste for archæology, and that is why I fall so far short of the true standard.

The Wall stretches all the way from Wallsend-on-Tyne, 4½ miles east of Newcastle, to Bowness-on-Solway, a distance of 73½ miles; and the Vallum runs alongside of it, on the south, from Newcastle to Dykesfield, in Cumberland, a distance of about 66 miles.

The original height of the Wall was at least 12 feet to the rampart walk, so that it was probably 18 to 20 feet high, including the battlements.

Bede, writing from his monastery at Jarrow, opposite Wallsend, somewhere about 700 A.D., says:

"It is eight feet in breadth, and twelve in height, in a straight line from east to west, as is still visible to beholders." He probably did not include the battlements.

Sir Christopher Ridley, Vicar of Haltwhistle, about 1572, writes:

"The breadth iij yardis, the hyght remaneth in sum placis yet vij yardis."

Samson Erdeswick, visiting the Wall in 1574, says:

"As touching Hadrian's Wall, begyning abowt a town called Bonus standing vppon the river Sulway now called Eden, and there yet standing of the heyth of 16 fote, for almost a quarter of a myle together, and so along the river syde estwards."

Camden, who was here in 1599, saw it 15 feet high:

"Within two furlongs of Caervoran, on a pretty high hill the Wall is still standing, fifteen feet in height, and nine in breadth."

This must have been on the edge of the crags of the Nine Nicks of Thirlwall.

The breadth of the Wall is about 9 feet 6 inches at the foundation, and varies between 6 and 8 feet at the top. Dr. Bruce says: "Probably the prevailing width is 8 feet." The northern face is continuous, but the southern face has many offsets and insets, measuring from 4 to 12 inches, where variations in the width of the Wall have occurred. It is thought, therefore, that the work was done in sections, simultaneously, and that each superintending centurion was allowed to exercise his own judgment as to the width.

This brings us to what are known as "centurial stones," many of which are found along the line of the Wall. The inscription on these stones is always preceded by a reversed C, thus [reversed C], or an angle, thus, >, which indicates Centuria. It seems probable that they were set into the Wall to indicate that a particular section was built by troops under the command of such-and-such a centurion. The centurial sign is always followed by a name.

A deep V-shaped ditch defended the Wall all the way on the north side, except where it was protected by natural precipices. This ditch, at its greatest, was about 15 feet deep and 40 feet across at the top. It must have greatly added to the formidable appearance of the Wall on the side presented to the enemy.

No matter what the character of the material to be excavated, the ditch clings closely to the Wall on all the lower ground. It is hewn through basalt, sandstone and limestone with equal indifference.

The Wall is constructed in the method usual with the Romans; that is to say, it consists of a rubble core mixed with mortar, faced on each side by masonry blocks. The stone used for the facing is a species of sandstone. The size of the blocks is very regular: 8 or 9 inches by 10 or 11 inches on the face, and sometimes as much as 20 inches long. The length is tapered off to form a wedge-shape, so as to bind well into the core of the Wall. After a little practice, one can readily recognize the Wall stones where they have been made use of in later buildings and in fences.

The front surface of the stones is often tooled in a rough pattern, with diagonal lines, known as "diamond broaching," or with waved lines, known as "feather broaching." The latter has been held to be specially characteristic of Severus's work of reconstruction.

The Wall was built on a foundation of flat flagstones, laid on the rock. Upon these, one or two courses of facing-stones were set in place, and into the intervening space was poured a mass of fluid mortar. Rough stones of any shape—chiefly whinstones—were then introduced into the mortar, which, when dry, bound all together in one solid mass. So course after course was added until the required height was reached.

On gently undulating ground the courses of the Wall keep parallel to the surface of the ground; on steep slopes the courses are laid horizontally.

The colour of the stone is very varied; individual stones are brownish, yellowish, reddish, grey; and the general impression varies also because the stone has not always "weathered" in the same way.

Like the Great Wall of China, the Wall disregards obstacles, climbs hills, and crosses valleys and streams, choosing always the greatest possible heights to traverse.

Camden says of it:

"Verily, I have seene the tract of it, over the high pitches and steepe descents of hills wonderfully rising and falling."

It is set for the most part in very beautiful surroundings, sometimes in the peaceful and fertile lowlands, sometimes on the lonely barren hills, with wide vistas stretching out to north and south. The highest hill it climbs is Winshields, 1230 feet high.

Unlike the Great Wall of China, it has suffered much at the hands of the destroyer, and for miles together scarcely a trace is to be seen. In the more or less populated districts it has been used as a quarry, and farm-houses, churches, and pele-towers have been built with its stones. For 19 miles out of Newcastle the road (made by General Wade in 1753, from Newcastle to Carlisle) runs chiefly on the foundations of the Wall, and much of the Wall was pulled down then, to give place to "military necessities." This road I shall in future refer to as "Wade's Road."

THE WALL SEEN FROM CUDDY'S CRAG.
HERE FOR A LONG DISTANCE IT IS EASY TO WALK ALONG THE TOP
OF THE WALL, WHICH IS 8 FEET WIDE, AND 5 OR 6 FEET HIGH.

The Wall is best preserved on the lonely heights, as at Borcovicium, where in parts it may be seen going up hill and down dale, at its original width of 8 feet, and 5 or 6 feet high. The greatest height of any fragment still standing is 9 feet 10 inches, at Hare Hill, Banks, in Cumberland.

The forts along the Wall, or "stations," as they are sometimes called, are military cities, set at an average distance of five miles apart, with barracks, storehouses, baths, etc., and very often with suburbs outside the enclosing wall.

The clue to the names of the forts has been found in a document which has fitly been called the "Who's Who" of the later Roman Empire. This document is known as the Notitia; and the section which refers to the Wall is headed, Item per lineam Vatti. Then follows a list of all the forts along the Wall, with the name of the body of troops stationed at each. There are twenty-three on the list, and only the first twelve have been satisfactorily identified—as follows:

The means of identification has been by altars or other inscribed stones found on the spot. For instance, at Housesteads was found an altar with this inscription: