Woods, Grounds, &c. At the western extremity 

 of the village, a stranger is struck by the appea- 

 rance of a magnificent horse chesnut, the largest 

 and finest in this part of the county, and whose 

 giant arms, " throwing themselves athwart the 

 stream," forcibly recal to the recollection, Cowper's 

 beautiful lines on Yardley Oak : 



Thou wert a bauble once, a cup and ball 



"Which babes might play with, and the thievish jay 



Seeking her food, with ease might have purloined 



The auburn nut that held thee, swallowing down 



Thy yet close folded latitude of boughs 



And all thine embryo vastness at a gulp. 



But fate thy growth decreed. - 



Time made thee what thou wast, king of the woods* 



Time was when settling on thy leaf, a fly 

 Could shake thee to the root and time has beeA 

 When tempest could not. At thy firmest age 

 Thou hast within thy bole solid contents 



celt, an ornament of brass in the shape of a small wedge > 

 about 3 inches long, and 1J broad, the broader end 

 formed into a socket for the purpose apparently of 

 being attached to a pole. It perhaps formed an orna- 

 ment of the Roman Standard ; -and a small loop on one 

 side, will perhaps ascertain it to have belonged to the 

 standard called Vexillum. " The standard of the caval- 

 ry was called vexillum, a flag or banner, i. e. a square 

 piece of cloth fixed on the end of a spear. (Livy.) 

 Used also by the foot. (Caesar vi. 33, 37.) 



Vide Adam's Roman Antiquities, p. 381. 



In 1823, 16 similar ornaments were discovered at Slit- 

 tenham in the parish of Sheriff-Button, and forwarded to- 

 the Marquis of Stafford to whom the estate belongs. 

 For a furhcr account of this instrument see page 147. 



