123 



end. "WTien free in the water they have great powers of locomo- 

 tion, and the colls that perform the acts of reproduction are 

 especially fitted for free movement, selecting with unerring 

 precision their home of rest. 



How the instinct, if I may so call it, is communicated, and 

 by what mechanical or chemical process the act is accomplised we 

 know not, hut they certainly have been given powers that accom- 

 plish in a wonderful way the end for which they were created. 



XXX. 



SOME OLD PLACES IN DOVER. 



Part of a Lecture delivered lefore the Dover Natural History 

 and Antiquarian Society, 



BY 



MISS HORSLEY. 



It is, I think, always interesting to try and picture to oneself 

 what an old town or place looked like, long, long, ago ; to try and 

 find out what were the habits of the inhabitants, what their 

 buildings were like, in short, looking into the past history of the 

 place instead of being content with caring for its present welfare. 

 It is a never ending amusement, poring over old manuscripts, 

 interviewing old people, poking into old houses, and finding out 

 the meaning of old customs, more especially if you are an old 

 inhabitant ; bear with me then while I dtscribe a few places in this 

 old town, round which a certain amount of interest centres, and 

 about which 1 have been able to cull some anecdotes and pieces of 

 information. 



I have chosen some of the towers and gates, about which 

 there seemed much to say ; adding a short account of the Guildhall 

 in the Market Place.* 



The first tower, which I shall speak about, is one still 

 remembered by very old inhabitants, though every trace of it 

 has long since disappeared : 1 allude to Standfast Tower, which 

 was part of Butchery Gate. Dover was once a strongly fortified 

 town, when walls were the chief protection against an enemy. 

 Whether it was originally enclosed by the Roman Emperor Severus, 

 or not, is a disputed point, but anyhow we had walls, and gates 

 for ingress and egress. 



* The space at our command necessitates a postponement of the concluding 

 portion of this interesting lecture, which treats of this, as well as of the public 

 instruments for punishments, and the tower, bells, and sun-dial of St. Mary's 

 Church. Eds. 



