

THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 



53 



modern theories, required at least 5,000 men to de- 

 fend it, and it was quite possible that a tribe 

 sufficiently large to put 5,000 men in the field would 

 find food supply within the area that the camp would 

 command. But as that was an exceptionally large one, 

 he would instance some others. There was a camp at 

 Burghclere which they could see from a distance of 

 20 miles, and if the sun was shining on Beacon Hill 

 they could see the outline of the camp very well. 

 This commanded the northern part of the county, and 

 so these camps were situated in different parts of 

 Hampshire. They had a curious survival of the 

 Celtic people at the present time in some huts still 

 used in the New Forest by charcoal burners. They 

 were round, and the survival was in the matter of 

 shape. The Celts in Hampshire certainly had a 

 system of coast defences. At the mouth of the Avon 

 was the great fortification of Hengistbury. Mr. Shore 

 described on a large map several sites of similar 

 works, such as at Exbury. In the case of Hampshire 

 he found that the word " bury " was evidence of a 

 place where there had been a defence. There was 

 Bursledon, Sarisbury Green, and further north they 

 found the fortification of Bevois Mount different in 

 shape, but in all probability merely an artificial hill 

 removed within the present century. They might, 

 he thought, reasonably conclude that the very spot 

 on which they were assembled for ancient South- 

 ampton would scarcely be neglected by these old 

 people so careful to take advantage of a peninsula to 

 fortify was fortified. On the opposite side of the 

 Test there were traces of an earth-work at Bury 

 farm ; a little further was an earthwork at Tatchbury 

 Mount ; a little away to the north of Redbridge still 

 remained what in Saxon times was called the King's 

 Dyke, and was not yet quite obliterated by the canal 

 and railway. Passing down the river near Bury 

 Cross, Alverstoke, there was a defence and they had 

 on Hayling Island very distinct traces remaining, for 

 one of the most complete camps in Hampshire 

 was at Tunorbury in Hayling. Passing beyond 

 the limits of their own county they came to what 

 was now a pasture, a rich alluvial tract Pagham 

 Harbour. They could see there that the church at Selsea 

 was enclosed in an entrenchment. There were 

 manv examples, therefore, that the Celts had a 

 system of coast defence by fortifying the rivers. It 

 had been pointed out by a very celebrated local 

 antiquarian, the late Rev. William Barnes, of Dor- 

 chester, that the name " Ford " really came from an 

 old British name spelt " fordd," meaning road, or 

 track, and he argued that if the word fordd was 

 brought in by the Saxons, surely some traces 

 would be found in North Germany, whence these 

 people came ; but there were none. Upon this 

 point and the meaning of the word as a passage way 

 across water, Mr. Shore quoted instances in support 

 of his contention that a crossing place was meant, 

 mentioning Fordingbridge and Mansbridge as illus- 

 trations. He then passed on to speak of remains of 



old British trade. Certainly there were traces of the 

 tin trade. Devonshire people would not allow it, 

 but a great trade in tin lasted down to the isth 

 century in Southampton. Just as there was competi- 

 tion between Germany and England in Africa, so in 

 former times was there between the Phoenicians and 

 the Greeks in Britain. Just as the Phoenicians came to 

 Cornwall to get tin, so the Greeks tried to cut them out 

 by crossing Gaul to the Isle of Wight to get their tin in 

 opposition to Cornwall. The reason for tin being so 

 greatly in demand was because at that period 

 bronze which contained tin was largely 

 used. One of the actual surviving British 

 trades to their own day was the making of salt. At 

 Hayling Island particularly there were salt works in 

 operation, the name clearly coming from the old 

 Celtic word " hal," meaning salt. Reference was 

 made to Hayling Island in the 4th century, when 

 Bishop afterwards canonised as Saint Ambrose 

 spoke of the salt works in Britain. These Britons 

 certainly lived in communities, and almost in common. 

 In those days there was no possession in land, and it 

 would be found that personal property arose long 

 before landed property. The place where they 

 could study old Celtic customs best was Ireland, and 

 there in the remotest times they found the earliest 

 form of property which might be summed up in the 

 terms " chattels " and " capital." The " chattels " 

 were personal effects, and the " capital " cattle. That 

 could be traced through other communities, but in all 

 probability that was the primitive form of propertv. 

 Land was in common, and was inclosed later. 

 Then arose an institution which had survived in a 

 modified form to these days. Into those 

 very primitive times they had to grope their 

 way through many dark recesses. In various ways, 

 by the study of folk-lore, historical and anthropolo- 

 gical research, light came in. The institution re- 

 ferred to was the law of distress. How could a man 

 having an injury, as he thought, against another man, 

 seek his remedy ? It was by what was called dis- 

 tress : he could seize his chattels and cattle ; and the 

 principle recognised in that most ancient law the 

 unwritten law of this primitive people survived right 

 through the period of the Roman occupation of Britain 

 and Hampshire, of the Anglo-Saxons, and the Middle 

 Ages, and in a modified form, sanctioned by the 

 Legislature, existed now only in favour of landlords. 

 But that was the key to a great deal of what appeared 

 very obscure and mysterious in the Middle Ages. No 

 doubt that gave rise to one of the most singular re- 

 mains in Hampshire or any other county the Pound. 

 Sir Henry Mayne said " The pound is older than 

 the kingdom far older." It was not simply a place 

 in which to put up stray cattle which might be tres- 

 passing, but .a means of enforcing one man's 

 right against another man. Traces were also found 

 in Hampshire of a very remarkable custom. 

 Of nine manors in this country they found that the 

 practice of inheritance by the youngest son prevailed. 



