46 HOW TO KNOW YOUR COUNTRY 



a disused gravel, chalk, or clay pit grown over by- 

 wild plants and so disguising it. 



Should you come across a small hill or rising 

 ground of any kind, or of terraces, probe into their 

 hidden secrets and learn to read something in- 

 teresting about your country which these epitaphs 

 are only waiting to give. 



You know, of course, that once upon a time the 

 Romans under the great Julius Caesar invaded 

 this country of ours. They came across the 

 English Channel^ and sighted the white cliffs of 

 Kent. The ancient Britons saw them coming and 

 prepared to give them a warm reception, but the 

 all-conquering Caesar and his Roman legions were 

 too powerful, and England was proclaimed as 

 coming under Roman government. Two capitals 

 were established — York in the North and Verulam 

 (near what is now St. Albans) in the South — and 

 although we cannot stay here to describe the 

 stirring events of that and succeeding periods in 

 our history, these Romans, and ancient Britons, 

 and Danes, and French, and others have left 

 behind them burying grounds (tumuli), en- 

 campments, fortresses, habitations, implements 

 (household, warlike, and otherwise), coins, and 

 other interesting data which has enabled us to 

 piece together the story of our country. 



Not long since I was walking down a country 

 lane in a district which I knew from repute had been 



