J

of human Greatnefs, fo averfe are the Laws of Providence to a Perpetuity of earthly Grandeur!

The [f] Danes were not long landed in this Iland, before they fent a Detachment to fecure this important Village; and they entered it on the South Side, at a Gate called, to this Day, for that Reason, Enter Lond-Gate; as a Memorial of their Entrance upon the Land of Wheat and Plenty at that very Place: But they were not fo eafily admitted, as the former Depredators had been; the Britons, the Scots, and Pitts, and the Saxons joining Forces, and with great Unanimity oppofing them. There are feveral round Hillocks, which was the ufual Form of a Danish Intrenchment, caft up in different Parts of the Village; now, indeed, called Mill Hills, through Miftake, or perhaps with modern Propriety; because fome Wind-mills may, fince thofe Times, have been erected upon them. How long they lay in this hoftile Manner, and whether they forced their Way, or entered upon Capitulation, neither William of Malmbury, nor Matthew of Westminster inform us ; but certain it is, they ftaid long enough to fix fome of their Language; fuch as GRAVE from pare tegere, to cover, and GAFFER from Larene which fignifies Mafter; a Word in fuch general Ufe here, that within the Space of thirty Years, there was but one Man, except the Parfon, that was ever accofted by any other Term of Salutation. The fame may be faid of GAMMER for Mistress.

[f] Sim, Dunelm, Florent.

There

There are no Buildings we can ftyle Danish, nor Remains of their mechanick Abilities, except a any few [g] Grave Rails, laid over fome Perfons of Danish Extraction; and thefe are ill proportioned, and needlessly inform us of their Ufe, by confused Representations of Hour-Glaffes, Scythes, Skulls and Skeletons. The Danes gave the Bells to the Church, as appears from the only legible Word on them, viz. Gud, which signifies God.

In a Parlour belonging to a Farm-houfe called the Rookery, there was a remarkably large Dormer of Chefnut, and about the Middle of it, the following Infcription cut with a Knife or a Chizzel; which, for the Sake of the latter Date's being a Danish Period, I fhall examine in this Place. The Infcription was, WARTER. IOHN, C. I. T. S. 449. D. B. M. W. T. 994. It has been seen by many Antiquaries, and their Sentence has been always, that one JOHN WATER, a Block-head, that did not know his Heels from his Head, and could not fpell his own Name, was the Author of it; and the initial Letters, or Abbreviations and Dates have been confidered as the Reveries of an idle Head, or a fortuitous Hand; to which Opinion I have always subscribed; but reading lately, upon a Tomb-stone in a neighbouring Church, a Monumental Infcription [b] of very modern Date, [g] Ingulph.

[b] Here Lyeth Buried the Body of Mrs. Francis Foorthe, who departed this Life the 20th of September, 1725.

with Abbreviations like fome of thofe before defcribed, I was encouraged to attempt a Solution, a fecond Time. D. B. M. W. T. by the Help of this Clue, I foon found to fignify Done. By. Me. William. Tfuppofe Turner, for perhaps it is the Humour of this Family to abbreviate in this Manner. By the fame 10 Light I discovered that WARTER. IOHN did not cut the Infcription, but was recorded by it. I next confidered what remarkable Era 449 was; and found it was the very Year VORTIGERN ftruck a League with Hengift the Saxon, C. I. T. S, I then fancied fignified Called. In. The. Saxons, but what to do with WARTER IOHN I knew not, write and fpell him how you will; becaufe no Man of that Name is mentioned in the Hiftory of thofe Times. At laft, by frequently repeating WARTER IOHN, I difcovered the Sound of VORTIGERN; and that Name fuiting, both the first Abbreviations, and the Date, I concluded the Author, through Ignorance, or Punning, or Ænigmatic Ingenuity, which are much alike in their Operations, has inveloped and perplexed the Thing, but muft mean Prince VORTIGERN.

But be the Fate of this Decyphering what it will, it is certain the Dates, which are very plain, and no ways conjectural, may be of Ufe, towards clearing up the Era when Numeral Figures, or Arabian Characters, came firft into Ufe in England; or, at least towards proving, that they were ufed before the Year 1250 or 1300, contrary to the Affertions of Father Mabillon and Gerard J. Voffius; for this numeral Date 994, added to the famous Date at Colchester

1090,

1090, taken Notice of by [i] Mr. Thomas Lufkin of that Town, and to that other of Ą3. Do1. M. 133, at Helmdon in Northamptonshire by [k] Dr. John Wallis, are not to be condemned as Forgeries, because [/] a learned Man has faid, "Mabillon and Vaffius were "too good Judges to be impofed upon in the Æra of Numerals."

There are numerous Branches of one Danish Family, viz. the Garrolds, ftill remaining in the Village, remarkable only for the Wideness of their Mouths, and the undeviating Poverty of their condition; for 'tis faid, that from their first Settling here in the Year 1017, to the prefent Year 1758, there never was one of them worth a Shilling.

Some awkward Cuftoms, or Habits remain in the Village, which feem to be of Saxon Extraction, but not being certain whether they may not be Danish, I fufpended my Account of them till I had taken notice of fome fmall Traces and Remains of the Danes: I fhall now leave it to the Judgment of the Reader to afcribe them to either, or to both, as his greater Skill in the Hiftory and Customs of thofe Times and Nations fhall incline him. I call them Customs or Habits, because they were no other at first, but I mean thofe Superinductions in the Progeny, which they derive, not by Imitation, but from the very Loins of their Progenitors; for as Custom is proverbially called fecond Nature, fo when uniformly prac

[i] Phil. Tranfa&t. Aug. 1699. N° 255. [k] Phil. Tranfact. Dec. 1683. No. 154. [] Jeb's Biblioth. Literaria.

tifed through two or three Generations, it becomes a part of the firft in later Pofterity.

The Custom of holding the Wig on with the left Hand, while the Hat is taken off with the right, is an inbred Caution derived from their Ancestors, who wore [m] Wool-wigs, which adhered to the Cap, and could not be feparated without the utmoft Care; but now Hats and Hair-wigs are in Fashion, which are generally well lubricated with Oil, or Hogs-lard, there feems to be no Occafion for it.-The Custom of carrying their own [n] Knives to an Entertainment, and refufing to make Ufe of the Knives laid upon the Table, is an inbred Caution derived from their Anceftors, who, in thofe unsettled Times, probably fuspecting the Knives of their Hoft might be infidiously blunted, carried their own, in cafe of a Surprise.The Custom of fetting the Knife bolt upright upon the Table, as foon as it has cut a Mouthful, is an inbred Pofture of Defence derived from their Ancestors, who made Knives Weapons to guard themfelves, and to be Surety for their Friends, that they fhould receive no Harm while they were drinking [o] The Custom of eating without a Fork, is an inbred Habit derived from their Ancestors, who would not incumber both Hands at a time; but is now an useless Piece of Slovenness; and yet as Horace fays,

[m] Blafii. Epifc. Reliq, vulgo voc. Flocculi.

[n] Howii. op.

[o] This Cuftom in pledging one in drinking, (i. e.) to be Surety for his Safety at that Time, was occafioned by the Practice of the Danes, who frequently used to ftab, or cut the Throats of one another, while they were drinking.

Naturam