HISTORY OF HARTING. 19 



Mr. Evans pronounced it to be " a coin of Verica, a 

 son of the Commius mentioned by Caesar, whose 

 dominions appear to have comprised Sussex." Mr. 

 Evans adds that he was unacquainted with the type 

 when he published his " Ancient British Coins " twelve 

 years since. 



At Denshire meadow, near Hill Ash, on the north- 

 west of Tarberry, a very beautiful flint axe was dis- 

 covered in 1873, and shown to me by Mr. Knight, of 

 Hill Ash. There are visible traces of Barrows under 

 Beacon Hill, in Up Park, at Foxcombe, and on West 

 Harting Down. 



Tarberry corner, where four roads meet, and where 

 for many generations those who laid violent hands 

 upon themselves were buried, is a famous haunt for 

 ghosts. Some years ago a man returning from Peters- 

 field in the dusk, saw an apparition here which made 

 him quake. He groaned, fell on his knees, "said his 

 prayers sharp," and when he came to the end of the 

 Lord's Prayer, to his horror the spectre advanced to 

 meet him. It was a jackass ! On the summit of 

 Tarberry are " Pharisees " (fairies') rings, the simple 

 folk say ; and the " Pharisees " dance there on Mid- 

 summer's night. These blundering superstitions are 

 veritable specimens of old Sussex folk-lore. 



The Romans seem to have kept to the southern line 

 of our hills. On a level platform of about half an 

 acre, just under the east wind on the western escarp- 

 ment of Beacon Hill, the moles have turned up several _ 

 pieces of pottery. At another point, about a mile due 

 westward on the downs, in a field called " Hemner 

 field," a small brass Roman coin was found a few 

 years ago, and given to me by Mr. Tickner. It is the 

 coin of a son of Constantine the Great (Crispus, or 

 Constantine junior), struck at London A.D. 323 330. 

 R PROVIDENTLE CAESS P. LON. 



There is evidence that on or alongside of the Downs 

 between these two points ran what is called in the 



C 2 



