106 ANCIENT INHABITANTS 



common religion and speech, all pointed to a Gallic 

 origin.* 



The patriarchal form of government, so univer- 

 sally discernable in other ancient communities, might 

 also be traced in the institutions of this people, how- 

 ever modified in character by place or circumstance. 

 The British chieftain had under him two classes of 

 dependants, his freemen and his villains or vassals ; 

 the order of the Druids formed the fourth, and at the 

 same time most influential portion of the community : 

 Caesar considers them as the first in rank among the 

 British nobles; ^' Much, both in war and peace, in 

 government and law, in the administration of justice 

 and in domestic tranquility, depended on the natural 

 disposition, the talents, and the will of the Druids, 

 who resided in the district, and presided over its 



affairs.''t 



It were easy to cite from the history of this sin- 

 gular class, and, as connected with them, from the 

 superstitions of our ancestors, matter that would 

 swell the pages, rather than add to the intrinsic 

 interest of this little volume. Of British domestic 

 remains in this immediate neighbourhood, the fol- 

 lowing is from the account of a living antiquarian, 

 in whose hands we may be allowed to leave the 

 sacred circle, the cromlech and the cairn. 



" The huts or dwellings of the ancient inhabitants 

 are to be found in every part of Dartmoor, in a state, 

 generally very imperfect ; the foundation stones, and 

 those forming the door jambs, being all that remain 

 of these dweUings, with few exceptions. The huts 

 are circular on the plan ; the stones are set on their 

 edge, and placed closely together, so as to form a 

 secure foundation for the superstructure, whether 



* The learned Whitaker, in his " Genuine History of the 

 Britons," fixes the immigration of the Gauls into this island 

 about the reign of David and his son, Solomon, a period which 

 coincides with the authorities quoted by Richard of Cirencester. 



f Drew's "History of Cornwall.*' 



