28 



The English towns differ from continental towns in this, 

 that every continental town has its square or open area. In 

 England, we scarcely ever see such a thing ; but there is 

 reason to suppose that in the Roman period all the towns 

 must have had them. Therefore, in reconstructing in your 

 minds Roman Bath, you must look somewhere for an open 

 area ; and I imagine that nowhere could there be a better place 

 than just where the White Hart stood. The temple, certainly, 

 was there somewhere. 



Having said thus much respecting the Roman period, I 

 wish to touch on some traces of antiquity outside Bath, 

 belonging to the time immediately following the Roman 

 period, which is remarkable as the herioc age of Arthur, 

 under whom the Britons struggled against the Saxons. "We 

 have not of that time anything which can be called recog- 

 nised or established history. The records of the time are 

 somewhat mythical, and we hardly know what is true, and 

 what is legendary story ; but I have a growing conviction 

 in my own mind, that we have in these stories a piece of real 

 history that belongs to this neighbourhood. Lately walking 

 over the ground with Mr. Long, and surveying it, the geo- 

 graphical exactness of the story gives me a strong opinion that 

 we have in these British legends a real history of the battle 

 that was fought between Arthur and the Saxons upon the 

 ground of Solsbury and Hampton Down. The legend runs 

 thus : — 



Arthur had defeated Childric the Saxon on the field of Lincoln, 

 and pursued him to the wood and besieged him there. Then said 

 Colgrim to Childric, " Lord Childric, either we must go out into 

 the plain and fight Arthur again, or else we must sue to him for 

 peace. Here we cannot stay : it is better to he honorably on the 

 land than to perish -with hunger." 



Childric heard this where he lay within the dyke, and answered 

 with sorrowful voice, " If Baldulf thy brother wills it, and our 

 comrades Avill it so, we will pray Arthur for peace. For Arthur 



