4 THE EARLY DAYS OF 



But the blue lias, which crops up in another of my fields, carries 

 our record back to a far remoter period, when our village site lay at 

 the bottom of the sea, upon whose waves, according to astronomers, 

 constellations, unknown to us, were shining, and giving light to the 

 strange and monstrous forms of life, whose bones are occasionally 

 turned out by modern workmen. 



The lias is the most ancient evidence which our village has to 

 show of days gone by ; but a thousand feet below us there probably 

 Hes a bed of coal, which although it may be somewhat nearer to 

 my door, than the Depot at our Junction, unfortunately is far more 

 difficult to approach. 



THE SKELETON OF A FISH LIZARD {-2.^ feet in length). 

 An inhabitant of our village site in lias days. 



Those whose education is comparatively advanced, whilst viewing 

 the various strata our village can exhibit, will " strive to turn the 

 key of time, in order to comprehend the vast, the awful truth of the 

 eternity which has gone by ; " but many generations of working 

 men have dug our lias, without giving its age and history a moment's 

 thought. To them as yet, the magic word "Geology" is quite 

 unknown, though some, perhaps, will say : — 



"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." 



But whilst we may deplore the absence of ancient books or 

 manuscripts, relating to the history of our village, future inhabitants 

 will have little cause to complain of us who live here now. We 

 have our Gilbert White in my neighbour, Mr. Fowler,* the historian 



* Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, 



