THE 



ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE 



LETTER I 



IT is reasonable to suppose that in remote ages this woody 

 and mountainous district was inhabited only by bears and 

 wolves. Whether the Britons ever thought it worthy their 

 attention is not in our power to determine; but we may safely 

 conclude, from circumstances, that it was not unknown to the 

 Romans. Old people remember to have heard their fathers 

 and grandfathers say that, in dry summers and in windy 

 weather, pieces of money were sometimes found round the 

 verge of Wolmer Pond ; and tradition had inspired the forest- 

 ers with a notion that the bottom of that lake contained great 

 stores of treasure. During the spring and summer of 1740 

 there was little rain; and the following summer also, 1741, 

 was so uncommonly dry that many springs and ponds failed, 

 and this lake in particular, whose bed became as dusty as 

 the surrounding heaths and wastes. This favorable juncture 

 induced some of the forest-cottagers to begin a search, which 

 was attended with such success, that all the laborers in the 

 neighborhood flocked to the spot, and with spades and hoes 

 turned up great part of that large area. Instead of pots of 

 coins, as they expected, they found great heaps, the one lying 

 on the other, as if shot out of a bag ; many of which were in 

 good preservation. Silver and gold these inquirers expected 

 to find ; but their discoveries consisted solely of many hun- 

 dreds of Roman copper coins, and some medallions, all of the 

 lower empire. There was not much virtu stirring at that time 

 in this neighborhood ; however, some of the gentry and clergy 

 17 241 



