^40 



been dictated by the necessity of their occupation. They had out- 

 grown their own lands in Gaul, or possibly had been driven out by 

 an inundation of the sea, and sought fresh grazing and arable lands in 

 the fertile vallies of Southern Britain, where the Downs afforded dry 

 and safe situations for their fortified settlements ; many of these had 

 no doubt been occupied by the British tribes who had preceded them, 

 but were further strengthened by these men who possessed iron and 

 bronze tools unknown to the early settlers of the stone age. It would 

 also become necessary to mark out in some definite manner the limits 

 of their conquests, both to keep their own cattle in and to exclude 

 those of the neighbouring tribes from their grazing grounds. 



That their migration and conquest of South Britain may be thus 

 explained is no mere theory, but is in accordance with what may be 

 called the laws of Nature. 



In the primitive times it was undoubtedly the case that the owners 

 of cattle had to move their quarters frequeutlj^ their herds and flocks 

 having out-grown the pastures. Abraham and Lot had " exceeding 

 many flocks and herds," and separated in consequence. And cattle, 

 if short of food, would certainly move, whether with or without their 

 master's leave, and draw them after them " to fresh fields and 

 pastui'es new." 



An illustration of this may be drawn from the ranches in N.W. 

 America ; where, when prairie fires or overstocking has laid the 

 pastures bare, the herds rush tumultuously down on the homesteads 

 and wreck them in order to get at the hay and provender stored 

 within. We find the Belgic tribes had before Caasar's time occupied 

 the greater part of Southern Britain, and were his sturdy antagonists 

 in war. 



Dr. Guest considers that the Wansdyke was merely a boundary 

 fence, and argues that it could not be defended in time of war ; but it 

 must be borne in mind that the hedge, that most probably surmounted 

 the bank, would be a very valid obstruction, and one that was certainly 

 made use of as such by the Eomans in that famous dyke constructed 

 by Drusus from the Rhine to the Danube, a distance of 300 miles, to 

 repi-ess the incursions of the German tribes. It is called the Pfahl- 

 Graben, or the hedge-bank and ditch, and is still clearly traceable 

 from near Coblentz to Eatisbon. This was like the Wansdyke, guarded 

 at intervals of a few miles by forts garrisoned by Eoman soldiers ; one 



