2»<> & VII. Jan. 8. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



U 



pelled by the stringent timber acts of Elizabeth 

 (a.i). 1558-81) to substitute some other combus- 

 tible for wood in the reduction of iron ores : hence 

 their adoption of coal. But its use, in that re- 

 spect, was simply a revival of a very ancient prac- 

 tice. To what nation, then, are we indebted for 

 the discovery of the economical properties of coal? 

 Fashion or prejudice would refer it, as a matter 

 of course, to the Romans ; and, I think, with in- 

 justice. 



The extent and success of Roniari mining are 

 indisputable facts. Before their conquest of Bri- 

 tain, the Romans had had very considerable ex- 

 perience in smelting and metallurgical operations 

 in general. According to Pliny (iV. H., xxxiv. 

 4.), the senate strictly prohibited the working of 

 all mines in Italy, so long as the tributary states 

 could furnish the necessary quantum of metals. 

 By this regulation an enormous revenue (as 

 judged from the sums paid into the ^rarium, or 

 public treasury), was derived from the various 

 mines in the empire scattered throughout Spain, 

 France, Illyricuni, Sardinia, Greece, and Africa 

 (vide Strabo x., Polyb. xxxiv. 9., and Liv. xxxiv. 

 21.). But in all their mining returns (to use a 

 modern phrase), there is not the remotest allusion 

 to the mineral which we call coal. 



Neither natural nor mechanical difficulties de- 

 terred the Romans from prosecuting their search 

 after, and winning minerals : on the contrary, 

 they appear to have been well acquainted with 

 the methods of sinking shafts, driving adits, or 

 levels, &c., as may be concluded from their exten- 

 sive labours in the Pyrenees (Vicdessas), and in 

 Spain (Carthago Nova), as well as in Britain. 

 And, naturally enough, they profited largely by 

 the mining experience of other nations. Thus, 

 the perfect system of draining mines (indicative, 

 by the way, of deep workings), was borrowed by 

 them, says Diodorus, from the Spaniards, b.c. 216, 

 who used the Egyptian cochleans, or pumps, in- 

 vented by Archimedes. 



If we consider, in the next place, the geogra- 

 phical distribution of coal within the limits of the 

 Roman empire, we shall find that mineral both, 

 abundant and well-developed (sometimes, indeed, 

 out-cropping), not only in Italy, but also in Spain, 

 Fi'ance, Belgium, and Sardinia : in some instances 

 in close proximity to mines which were worked 

 under licence of the senate. Yet, as before in- 

 timated, there is no trace or evidence whatever of 

 its having been raised, much less employed as an 

 operative and domestic fuel, either by the Romans 

 themselves, or by any of their tributaries. 



In Britain it was otherwise. There are indu- 

 bitable proofs that our forefathers used coal both 

 in their dwellings and in their bloomeries ; and, 

 most probably, long anterior to the advent of the 

 Romans. The shrewd surmises of Horsley (Brit. 

 Bom, 209.) and Lysons {Hist. Cumb.^ "Mary- 



port,") have been recently and most fully con- 

 firmed by Mr. Bruce in his RomanWall (pp.432 — 

 434.). The last-mentioned distinguished archaeo- 

 logist relates that, 



" In nearly all the stations of the line (i. e. of Severus's 

 Wall) the ashes of mineral fuel have been found ; in some 



a store of unconsumed coal has been met with lu 



several places the source whence the mineral was pro- 

 cured can be pointed out ; but the most extensive work- 

 ings I have heard of are in the neighbourhood of Grindon 

 Lake, near Sewingshields. Not long ago a shaft was 

 sunk with a view of procuring the coal, which was supposed 

 to be below the surface ; the proprietor soon found that, 

 although coal had been there, it was all removed. The 

 ancient workings stretched beneath the bed of the Lake." 



Similar vestiges of the primitive use of coal in 

 this country have been discovered in various other 

 localities (vide Musgrave's Belg. Brit., cap. xiii.). 



From these interesting particulars, it may be 

 fairly inferred that the Romans derived their 

 knowledge of the value of coal, both as a domestic 

 and operative fuel, from the ancient Britons. We 

 have the authority of Strabo (lib. iv.) that iron 

 was largely exported from this island (before the 

 Julian invasion) ; and the recent discovery of the 

 primitive blast-furnace on Lanchester Common, so 

 unlike to anything heretofore known or observed 

 in the remains of ancient works on the Continent, 

 enables us to determine the means by which that 

 trade was maintained. )8. 



AECHiEOLOGlCAIi MAP OF BNGI^ANO AND WAI-ES. 



Allow me to recommend the construction of 

 such a map to the Archaeological Institute. As 

 the first attempt could produce only an imperfect 

 sketch it should be lithographed on a large scale, 

 and in six or eight portions, in order that local 

 antiquaries might conveniently insert their own 

 observations. The groundwork is at hand in the 

 Ordnance Survey, which in some counties at 

 least notices the chief objects of antiquity. The 

 expense could not be great, as, in the first instance, 

 minute accuracy would not be required, and no 

 modern places need be given, except those which 

 might help to fix the position of antiquities in their 

 neighbourhood. 



British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish localities, 

 whether indicated by camps or ruined buildings, 

 or by the discovery of coins, &c., could be dis- 

 tinguished by dots of four different colours, which 

 would consequently occur, sometimes singly, some- 

 times in juxtaposition. Letters, having an as- 

 signed value, might also perhaps be added. The 

 map, completed by the united labours of many 

 observers, could then be published, with an ex- 

 planatory key, referring to it by numerals, and 

 together they would exhibit what is at present 

 known of their subject. They would furnish an 

 useful index to an extensive antiquarian library, 



