OLD PORTLAND. 243 



anciently, " Malhams " or " Molams ") and a part of Chesil- 

 ton. One of the crude, prehistoric -looking carts, which 

 Seaton describes, is seen drawing the stone down the hill. 

 These carts carried astonishing weights, yet they consisted 

 of nothing more than a pair of very strong solid low wooden 

 wheels about a yard in diameter and a very thick axle-tree, 

 upon which was fixed a stout planking or platform that ter- 

 minated in shafts for the horses, of which oftentimes as 

 many as 18 were attached to a load. The wheels and plat- 

 form were low, so that the stone could be more easily loaded. 

 Sometimes, as in the picture, horses dragging behind formed 

 the brake ; sometimes a large stone fastened by a strong 

 chain to the load was dragged along the naked road for this 

 purpose. But the old methods are now superseded by 

 traction engines and the Island railway. 



VIII. The Jacobean House (" Girt House"). 



Owing to Portland stone -quarrying becoming a flourishing 

 industry many houses were naturally built in various parts 

 of the Island in the time of the Stuarts, in the Jacobean 

 style of architecture, many of which unfortunately are now 

 in a ruinous condition, although some have been converted 

 into modern dwellings. 



Who built the " Girt (i.e., great) House," as it was called 

 locally, arid for whom it was built, is not known. It is 

 supposed that it was used by the Governors of the Island to 

 transact official business on " Top-hill ; " it was usually 

 inhabited by a caretaker. It is known that John Penn 

 bought it and occupied it (in the picture he is seen mount- 

 ing his horse) while Pennsylvania Castle was being built for 

 him, and that he afterwards gave it to a Portland man named 

 Stone in exchange for a cottage which stood on the site of 

 the Castle. But Stone's descendants were unable to keep 

 up the " Girt House " in Wake ham Street, and converted 

 it into an inn, which gradually fell into dilapidation. Old 



