lU THE DOVER ROAD 



showman replied that Daniel, being a prophet, read the 

 Times by anticipation ! And if a saint could anticipate 

 the nineteenth century in newspapers, why should not 

 the Fiend do the same in boots ? 



Peaceful cherry orchards stretch along the narrow 

 valley, and the railway runs through them, giving 

 glimpses to passengers of long rows of cherry trees 

 with emerald grass flecked with sunlight and flocks 

 of sheep feeding under the boughs ; and picturesque 

 farmsteads standiniy in midst of fertile meads. 



XXVII 



The village of Newington stands on either side of the 

 old Dover Road, w^hich is here identical with the famous 

 Roman military via of Watling Street. It is situated 

 in the centre of a district covered thickly with Roman 

 remains, and the village itself dates from Saxon times, 

 when it really was a " new town " as distinguished 

 from the adjacent ruins of the ancient Roman station 

 of Durolevum. All the ingenuity of archaeologists has 

 been insufficient to determine at what particular spot 

 this military post was established. Judde Hill, 

 Sittingbourne, and Bapchild have been selected as 

 probable sites of Durolevum, and certainly Bapchild 

 and Sittingbourne are likely places for the original 

 military post mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus. 

 Both are situated within an easy distance of the 

 measurements given by the itinerist, and at either place 

 there w^as anciently a stream of water crossing the road, 

 sufficient, perhaps, to warrant the prefix of " Duro," 

 which, almost without exception, distinguishes the 

 Roman military place-names on the Dover Road. 

 That prefix was the Latini/ed form of the Celtic 

 " dour," signifying a stream, and it is met with at : — 



Dubris = Dover. 



Durovernum = Canterbury, 



Durolevum = ? Bapcliild, Sittingbourne, or Ospriiige. 



DurobriviB = Rochester. 



