ALDERNKV 



ALEMANNI. 



The dteMte of Aldemey fc> mild end nealUiy; the so.l u sandy, 

 rtty. d frevWly round UM eoaM, but In the vJley. very fertile, 

 * eioWJ-t ooim and poUtoes, much superior to those of 



"meadows, rye-grass and clover are 

 siasshnde ocean bout one-third of the an* of the 



M The lendtageiMimIr/ derated, bat consists both of high and 

 law * ; a good supply of excellent water is procured in erery 

 -^4 of t 0< , fchnd Toe Alderney oowi maintain their reputation ; 

 CT ar easily itarthirnhntil from thon of the neighl>ouring island*, 

 W being mnarUbly small and straight in the back. Pish is abundant 

 eWts* eoaet. but UM irieiyUn are by no means good fishermen. 



During nearly UM whole of UM present century the population 

 anpeared to be gradually decreasing ; chiefly by emigration, owing to 

 the want of employment on the island. The population in 1813 wai 

 1308; in 1831 it was 1045; in 1841 only 1030. But since the com- 

 lenneiiisnl of UM government work* in 1847 the population hai been 

 greaUy increased, amounting in 1851 to 8338, and it has been found 

 ncesesary to erect many new houses, particularly in the vicinity of 

 MM harbour and of Longy Bay. (Corrrtpondntt at (ioentry.) ' 



TlM Town, which is blown limply by that designation, in situated 

 in a beautiful valley nearly in the centre of the island, with roads 

 halting to Brave and Longy bara. The streeU nre paved, and there 

 are a few public buildings. The church is of ancient date^eiiig 

 inpnoeed to have been erected in the 12th century ; it haa long been 

 In a very dilapMattd condition ; same venes published in tin- 

 Gentleman's Magazine' in 1766 (and which have been ascribed to 

 UM traveller Bruce), mention "the church a tottering, frail old 

 bouse." A new church, to replace it, is in the early English style, 

 emulfmia, with nave, chancel, and transept*, and a central tower 104 

 feet high. It contains sittings for about 900 persons half of the 

 sitting* being free. The living U a perpetual curacy in the arch- 

 deaconry and diocese of Winchester ; it is in the gift of the Rev. J. 

 Le Mesurier. UM son of Lieutenant-General Le Memirier, the hut 

 governor of the island who bore that name : the civil gorernment of 

 Alderney having been held by the family for n century and a half. 

 Than are places of worship for Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist* 

 The inhabitants appear to have embraced the Protestant religion 

 about the time of the Reformation in England. Among the natives, 

 Bel sum quite uneducated are unknown. All speak and write either 

 French or English The English language is spoken by about half 

 of UM natives, and it U understood by all. Besides the Sunday 

 belonging to the church and the chapels, there are three day- 

 : the boys' school, founded in 1790, by the father of General 

 Le Merorier ; the ' M ourianx school,' for girls, founded by General 

 and Mr*. Le Mesuricr; and one near the harbour for the children 

 of the men employed on the government works. This school-room 

 ha* been licensed by the bishop of the diocese, and servicf 

 formed in it on Sundays for (lie convenience of the workmen 

 and their families. The chief public buildings in the town, besides 

 the church, are the government-house, and the court-house and jail, 

 just erected by the inhabitants of the island at a cost of upwards of 



As the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, with their dependencies, 

 formed part of the Duchy of Normandy, and are therefore the relics 

 of UM extcnxive domains which the kings of England once possessed 

 in France, they are subject to the crown, but not, unless especially 

 HMUutMd, to the acts of the legislature of this country. [GCERN8ET. J 

 Alderney is a dependency of Guernsey. The civil power U vested in 

 a judge appointed by the crown, and six junta, who are chosen by 

 the people, and hold their offices for life, unless removed for mid- 

 behaviour. These, with twelve DouBuniers, representatives of the 

 people, form a sort of local legislature, the doununiera having only 

 the power of deliberating, not of voting ; neither is this power 

 possess* J by the governor of Guernsey or his lieutenant, though the 

 pi seen ue of one of these is requisite. The same judge and jurats, 

 with UM queen's procureur and comptroller, and the greffier, or 

 ir, nominated by the | 



I by the governor, constitute the court of justice ; 

 from which, however, an appeal lies to the royal court at Guernsey ; 

 and, in the last resort, to the king in council In criminal cases, the 

 court at Alderney only collects and transmits evidence to the superior 

 court at Ouernsev, where the sentence U pronounced and carried into 

 eateoatioo. The local militia is composed of two companies of infantry 

 and a brigade of artillery. The men are furnished with clothing and 

 accoutrement* at the cost of the government, but receive no pay 

 oalled out They are excellent marksmen. The officers are 



I by the lieutenant-governor of Guernsey. 

 AMeroey pnassssm some interest for the antiquary. The UUnd 

 WM known to the Roman*. It* name occur* in Josioh Semler's MS. 

 nf UM Itinerary of Antoninus as Arinia, a form not very dissimilar 

 from He present designation. A local antiquary has famished us 

 with the following varieties of the early name, all plainly deducible 

 from the Latin Anrinia or Arinia, and showing ito passage into the 



eMer patent of Henry IV., Uoo, x.n*. . . . The statement 

 Arinia or O rign y m,gU denote the Me of tho Race,' stream, or 



current, may perhaps be thought deserving the attention of the 

 philologist. There is another Origny so called, it is said, from it* 

 ri or race of waters, in Cornish rin, rine, man (i.e. r*7n, or ryon) : 

 this Origny is an islet of the Somme whose race U hardly a ripple 

 compared to Alderney' s chaoe of waters." (Oorrapondent at Gutnuey.) 

 Alderney is sometimes said to be the Kiduna of the Itinerary of 

 Antoninus, but it U manifestly a mistake. It is probable that the 

 Roman* made a settlement on the island, as Roman as well as Oltic 

 implements of war and other remains have been discovered. The 

 Normans settled here at an early period ; and it has been mentioned, 

 that the island remained under the English monarchs, who were also 

 Dukes of Normandy, when their continental dominion* were loet 

 In April, 1832, seven stone coffins, one of them containing some 

 human remains, were dug up, and have been supposed to point out 

 the site of the ancient burial-ground of the island. Holinshed 

 tells an odd story of a similar discovery : -" A priest not long since, 

 did find a coffin of stone, in which lay the body of a huge giant, 

 whoee fore-teeth were so big as a man's fist, as Leland doth report. 

 Certes this to me is no marvel at all, sith I have read of greater." 

 The gentleman to whoee research we are, indebted for these memo- 

 randa mentions, that in a alight map of the islands, from the Talbot 

 MSS. inserted in Leland' s ' Collectanea,' the following notes occur : 

 " Castle of Longinua. Here was found the giant's tomb (trpalrlirun 

 yiyanteum) by a certain priestling." He add*, "Our native Protestant 

 inhabitants have, of course, no reminiscences whatever of the giant 

 horseman, St. Longinus, or Longis, who ran a spear into our Saviour's 

 side, and was converted on Mount Calvary. The Bohemian Catholics 

 imagine they possess his remains, and they relate a strange story of 

 his Bailing from Jerusalem in a stone coffin, in search of a new settle- 

 ment." It was probably from some confused recollection of the 

 tradition of St Longinus and his stone coffin, that the castle, where 

 the coffin was discovered was named after the saint The decayed 

 foundations of the castle of Longinus, now known as Essex Castle, 

 or farm, are in Longy Bay, and cloee by are the remains of on ancient 

 building, sometimes called the Monastery, but which does not appear 

 to have been of an ecclesiastical character. There was however a 

 nunnery on the island. At different spots on the coast are two 

 stones wrought by nature in the shape of choirs. One on tin- N.\V. 

 of the island is called 'the Monk's Chair;' the other, on the S.\V., 

 commonly visited by strangers, is called * the Lovers' Seat 



(Communicaliatufrom Overrun/, <t-c.) 



ALEMANNI, or ALLEMAXNI. It is difficult to give a clear and 

 satisfactory account of this people, although many notices concerning 

 them are to be found in the works both of Greek and Homau authors. 

 These notices, however, generally detail only the circumstances of 

 iwrticular invasion)! and of mutual injuries committed on the Roman 

 frontier ; but a comprehensive view of the history, and accurate 

 information respecting the origin and internal government, of the 

 Alemonni, are nowhere to be obtained. Their very name, Alenmnni, 

 Allemanni, Alniiininii, or Allumanni (the Greek writers coll tli-m 

 \\anfiayvoi), has been the subject of much fruitless speculation. Hut 

 it is more reasonable to look for the origin of the word Alrmanni in 

 Home Teutonic dialect, anoient or modern, than anywhere else ; for it 

 cannot be doubted that this people were Germans. 



The principal abode of the Alenmnni was the heart of Germany, 

 between the sources of the Rhine and the Danube ; from this centre 

 their sway seems to have extended along the banks of both these rivers, 

 towards N.E. and N.\V. In the earliest period of their history, their 

 limits are supposed to have been the Rhine, the Danube, and the 

 Main; in subsequent ages their territory extended towards tl 

 and the Jura mountains. The first notice respecting them in history 

 occurs A.D. 214, in the reign of Caracalla, This emperor was some 

 time among them, and lived with them on good terms ; they greatly 

 ."Iniiivd lii- hardiness, frugality, military liabiU, and personal bravery. 

 Hut under the pretext of raising a regiment of auxiliaries, he called 

 a meeting of tho-ie who were of military age, and having surrounded 

 them I r*, he gave a signal for a general massacre. This 



treachery kindled an inextinguishable hatred to the Romans in the 

 breast of the Alenmnni ; and for many centuries they continued the 

 most unrelenting enemies of the empire. 



After Caracalla' s reign, thoAlemanni made frequent incurvion* into 

 Caul. Alexander Severus, who reigned from A.D. 222 to A.D. 235, led 

 an army against them, but being murdered by his own soldiers, he 

 left the victory to his successor Maximimix, who devastated their 

 country from the Rhine to the Danube. During the disturbance* in 

 the Roman empire in 238 and the following years, caused by the 

 despotism and bad conduct of Maximinus, the Alemonni recommenced 

 their invasions into Gaul with immunity. In A.D. 257-60, Valerian's 

 general, Postumus, again drove, them out of that country, and erected 

 fortresses in their territory. AfW the death of Probus, A.D. 282, the 

 Alemanni could no longer be resisted. Constantinus Chlorus, A.D. 298- 

 301, ventured to cross the Rhine, and even marched as far as to the 

 Danube ; still the Romans gained no permanent posse>i"n of tin- 

 countries to the east of the Rhine. In a decisive battle at Langrus, 

 Constantino the Great slew vast numbers of them, and after this 

 disaster the remained quiet. But during the reign of the sons of 

 Constantino they again invaded Gaul, and settled on both banks of 

 the Rhine, from the Main to Strasburg. Julian drove them out of 



