II. — Notice of Enclosures at SmaUacomhe, near the Cheesewring, 

 Cornwall. — By J. T. Blight, F.S.A. 



Bead at the Autmnn Meeting, November 22, 1867. 



^N many of the moors and hill-sides in Cornwall — on those 

 tracts still uninvaded by the plough, and which at first sight 

 appear never to have been the scene of human toil, but to 

 retain the native wildness in which they were created — it will 

 be found, on closer examination, that amidst the gorse and 

 heather and such stunted herbage as the barren soil affords 

 are traces of numerous small enclosures, mostly of circular or 

 elliptical form, with remains of fences branching off from them in 

 many directions — the first rude idea of a homestead with sur- 

 rounding folds for the security of cattle and sheep. These archaic 

 dwellings appear to have been almost always in groups, showing 

 in those primitive times the gregarious and social habits of man. 

 They tell us also that then, as now, the greatest enemy of man 

 was man — that, at least from the visible world, there was no other 

 creature so much to be feared, or from which it was necessary to 

 have such means of protection. Hence we find that whilst many 

 of these hut-groups were themselves strongly fortified by massive 

 walls, the greater number were generally situated on the slope of 

 a hill, the summit of which was crowned by a castle or fortifica- 

 tion, easy of access from the dwellings below, and to which the 

 inhabitants could retire in times of danger. Whether one tribe 

 molested another, or whether all the inhabitants were subject 

 to the incursions of a common foe, is perhaps not very evident 

 from tlaese facts; though it is clear that the country was at 

 times occupied by opposing forces. Just as in many parts of 

 Wales, where there were native strongholds, a Eoman Station 

 was planted at some neighbouring advantageous position from 

 which the enemy could be watched. But the extent of these 



