bodies, at the time of the Saxons they buried without burning, and raised bar rows over the grave to perpetuate their memory; and when they laid the body in the ground, and began to cover it with the earth, the whole company made the loudest and most bitter la mentations, as is done in Ireland and many of the northern parts of England to this day.*

War.

Though we have already described the Anglo-Saxons and Danes as a warlike people, they had some peculiarities in war which may be classed amongst their customs, and seem worthy of recording. One of their early customs was, that whenever they were resolved upon a war, they did not calculate the event of it by a comparison of their own and enemies forces, but attempted to discover the will of heaven by various arts of divination. One of these customs, described by Tacitus, of their aucestors, the ancient Germans, wasWhen they were once engaged in a war, by some means or other to procure a captain of the enemy, and him they made engage in single combat with one of their own people, each armed after the manner of their own country; and from the event of that combat they drew a presage of their future victories or disgrace. They were at no less pains to propitiate the favour of heaven by the sacrifice of human victims. After their conversion to christianity they preserved some of those customs, a little changed, and accommodated to the corruptions of their new religion; and one was, before a crew of Christian pirates set sail on a plundering expedition, with the pious design of robbing and murdering all who fell in their way, they never neglected to take the sacrament, confess their sins to a priest, and to perform the penances which he prescribed, in hopes, says my author, "that God would prosper and bless their undertakings."+"

Retinues of the Great.

The Anglo-Saxon kings and nobles lived in a kind of rude magnificence, and were always surrounded by a crowd of officers, retainers, and servants. Edwin, King of Northumberland (says Bede), lived in so much splendour, that

Wilkins's Concilia.

+ Sax, Grammat, 1. xiv.

he had not only standards carried before him in time of war, but in peace, and when he travelled with his ordinary retinue through the provinces of his kingdom; and Canute the Great, who was the richest and most magnificent prince in Europe of his time, never appeared in public or made any journey witbout a retinue of three thousand men, well mounted and completely armed. These numerous attendants were called the king's house ceorles, and formed a corps of body guards, or household troops, for the honour and safety of the prince's person.

The war chariots were known and used amongst the Britons. The use of them for travelling began only to be known towards the sixth century, and even then were very rare, and only used by queeus, Thus, we are told by Eddius, in the life of Archbishop Welfred, that when the, Queen of Northumberland travelled in her chariot from place to place, she hang up in it a bag with the precious relics which she had violently taken from that prelate.

Language of the Saxons.

The two most ancient and original languages of Europe were the Celtic and Teutonic, or Gothic, from which many other languages were derived, particularly those which were spoken by the several nations which inhabited Britain at this period. The language of the ancient Britons was a dialect of the Celtic, which the great body of the people retained through all the Roman times. They likewise spoke it on the arrival of the Saxons, and transmitted it to their posterity in Wales, where it is spoken to this day; whilst the Caledonians in the north of Britain spoke also a dialect of the same ancient language, which continues with their posterity, with some little variations, to the present time.

The Gothic, or Teutonic, tongue was one of the most ancient and original languages of Europe; different dialects of which were spoken by all the nations of Germany and Scandinavia, and by all the different tribes which issued from those countries in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, and founded so many powerful states on the ruins of the Roinan empire. The Anglo-Saxon, mixed with a little of the Danish, was a descendant of the ancient Gothic; of which many extravagant things have been advanced concerning its great an

tiquity and splendor; some writers going so far as to say it was the most ancient and excellent language in the world, spoken by our first parents in Paradise, and from whence they derive the names of Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and all the antediluvian patriarchs.* Leaving these extravagances to their antiquarian admirers, it is sufficiently asserted, that the Teutonic, or AngloSaxon, language is so ancient, that it is impossible to trace it to its origin; and that it was so excellent and copious in the period we are now speaking of, as to enable those who spoke it to express all their ideas with sufficient force and perspicuity.

To particularize, for the entertainment of the curious we subjoin a copy of the Lord's Prayer, in Saxon, about the year 900, with a literal translation :1.

Thee-vre-fader the eart on heosinum.
Thee our father that art in heaven.
2.

Cum-then-ric.
Come thine kingdom.

Dress of the ancient Saxons.

It appears by a law A.D. 785, that the ancient barbarous manner of painting their bodies, used by our British ancestors, was not totally laid aside at that period, as there was a necessity for making this law.* It also appears, from the same law, that long after the introduction of christianity, some pagan modes of dress were still retained that were much condemned by the church, but are not described.

The dress of the Anglo-Saxons, on their arrival in this country, was, after the manner of their German ancestors, very simple, consisting of a large mantle or plaid, which covered the whole body, and was fastened on the right shoulder by a button or broach it and those who could afford it wore under those mantles a kind of tunic, exactly fitted to the shape of their bodies, and ornamented with patches of the skins of different coloured animals. To these were appended breeches made of woollen or linen cloth, which hung below the knee, like modern trowsers. About their bodies and above their tunics they wore belts or girdles, in which their swords hung almost perpendicular. These they ornamented with embroi dery and precious stones, according to their circumstances.

As they were no stockings, nor any kind of covering for the legs, for seve ral centuries, they long retained their fondness for bathing in warm water, which was not only considered as one of the necessaries of life, but enjoined by the church; and the deprivation of this was among the penauces inflicted by the clergy on those guilty of transgressions. To bathe, at least, every Saturday was the constant practice of all who had any regard for personal propriety, and wished to recommend themselves to the favour of the ladies. About A.D. 785 they began to wear stockings, or bandages of woollen or linen cloth tied about the legs from, the foot to the knec. These bandages are very visible on the legs of Edward the Confessor, Guido, Count of Penthieu, and a few other great personages, in the famous tapestry of Bayeux, which is one of the most curious mopuments of those times now remaining.

* Wilkins's Conciha.

Tacitus de Moribus Germanorum,
Wi. Malmsbury.

They were in the habit of wearing shoes before the use of stockings; but what appears extraordinary, that, so for ward as the ninth and tenth centuries, wooden shoes were the only ones worn by the highest ranks of people-those of a great king are thus described by a person who had seen them:

"The shoes which covered each of his feet are still remaining: their soles are of wood, and the upper part of leather, tied with thongs: they were so nicely fitted to the shape of his feet, that you might discern the order of his toes, terminating in a point at the great toe; so that the shoe of the right foot could not be put on the left, nor that of the left on the right."*

Beards.

Some of the ancient German nations allowed their beards to grow till they bad killed an enemy in battle; and the Anglo-Saxons, probably, on their first arrival in Britain, and for a consider able time after, followed this fashion. After the introduction of christianity, the clergy were obliged to shave their beards, in obedience to the laws and practice of all the western churches.+ By degrees, the English laity began to imitate the clergy so far as to shave all their beards, except their upper lips, on which they left a lock of hair, by which they were distinguished from the French and Normans, who shaved their whole beards.

present view, because they not only recall to our recollection the original ruins near which we once resided, but also the romantic country wherein they are situated, over which we have formerly delighted to wander.

There are few districts in this kingdom that can in any degree compare with the county of Monmouth, either in picturesque and beautiful scenery, or elegant and magnificent remains of ancient architecture. In the first instance, the face of the country, generally speaking, appears like a luxuriant garden; while, in the second, it affords abundant objects of speculation (such as those represented in the annexed print), which seem to connect the present with for mer periods, and, mentally, to display a retrospective view of the local and civil state of society during the existence of our remote ancestors.

Upon these subjects we should delight to dwell, did not that which the print exhibits attract our attention from ge neral observations to the contemplation of a particular object, and, of course, to its necessary elucidation,

GROSMONT CASTLE* is situate at the south-cast end of the village of GROSMONT. It stands on an eminence near the river Munnow, is surrounded by a dry moat, and, like all castellated fabrics, was originally strengthened by out-works, &c. On the south-east, some of those that formed the barbican are, by their vestiges, still to be traced.

The present ruins of this once splen did edifice, which stand on the ridge of the moat, enclose an area of not more than 110 feet in length, and 70_in breadth. The principal entrance to the south is formed by a pointed arch, which indicates the date of its erection to be soon after the Norman conquest. The door ways leading to the towers, and all the windows whose forms can be traced, are in the same style of early + gothic architecture. Indeed, the whole of its appearance proves, even to demonstration, that it was constructed at an era much posterior to Scenfrith and White Castles, which, with Grosmont, were, in former times, generally held by the same nobleman.