ABBOT'S ANN 



XXII 



The trail of the Romans is over all the surroundino;s 

 of Andover, and they must have loved this fishful 

 and fertile valley well, for ample relics of extensive 

 settlements and o-oro-eous villas have been unearthed 

 by the plough. Some of the fine mosaic pavements 

 discovered here are now in the British Museum, and 

 every now and again the shepherd or the ploughman 

 picks up a worn and battered coin of the Csesars in 

 the neio'libourino- fields. One of the finest Roman 

 pavements came from the village of Abbot's Ann, a 

 short distance away, under the shadow of the great 

 bulk of Bury Hill, which, crowned with prehistoric 

 earthworks of cyclopean size, frowns down upon the 

 vallev. The whimsical name of this village and that 

 of Little Ann derive from the stream, the Ann, or 

 Anton, on whose banks they are situated. 



In this village of Abbot's Ann there still prevails 

 a remarkable custom. On the death of a young un- 

 married person of the parish, his or her friends and 

 relatives make a funeral garland, or chaplet, similar 

 to the one sketched overleaf, in paper, and hang it 

 from the ceiling of the church. The interior of the 

 building now holds quite a number of these singular 

 mementoes, the oldest datino; back to the last centurv. 

 They are fashioned of cardboard and white paper, 

 something in the shape of a crown, with elaborately 

 cut rosettes and with five paper gloves suspended, on 

 two of which are recorded the name, the age, and 

 the date of death of the deceased whose memory is 



