NOTES AND QUERIES. 



389 



are said to have met here to celebrate their great qiiaternal sacrifice ; and as 

 Aldborough, another place nearly a mile from Boroiighbridge, was the capital 

 Isurian of the Brigantes, it is not at all improbable to suppose that the largest 

 mark of an holy edifice would be established here for the large quaternal 

 religious gathering. 



Their name, as the Devil's Arrows, seems to have originated from the follow- 

 ing story, which we had related to us by an hoary headed individual living in 

 Boroughbridge, when soliciting information as to their history : 



" There lived a very pious old man [a Druid should we imagine] who was 

 reckoned an excellent cultivator of the soil. However, during each season at 

 the time his crops had come to maturity they were woefully pillaged by his sur- 

 rounding neighbours ; so that at this, he being provokingly grieved, the Devil 

 appeared, telling the old man if he would only recant and throw away his 

 holiness he should never more be disturbed in his mind, or have whatever he 

 grew stolen or demolished. The old man, like Eve in the garden, yielded to 

 temptation, and at once obeyed the impulse of Satan for the benefit of worldly 

 gam. So when the old man's crops were again being pillaged, the Devil threw 

 from the infernal regions some ponderous arrows, which so frightened the 

 plunderers by shaking the earth that never more was he harrassed in that way. 

 Hence the name of the " Devil's Arrows." 



Another individual told me it was believed by some that the stones sprung 

 up one night in the very places they now occupy. These opinions seem to be 

 somewhat firmly fixed in the minds of the narrators. A superstition once im- 

 bibed is in many instances difiicult to eradicate. However, we neither believe 

 nor wish others to believe that they either sprung up in a single night, or were 

 shot from a bow of Satan. Having examined and procured all information we 

 possibly could respecting the monoliths at Boroughbridge, we next proceeded 

 to Aldborough, a most pleasing walk of nearly a mile. We were kindly con- 

 ducted and shown through the gardens of A. S. Lawson, Esq. In these 

 gardens are many antiquities of different descriptions, both of the Brigantes 

 and Romans, but especially of the latter. The late Mr. Lawson excavated and 

 laid open for several yards the wall which surrounded the capital of the Romans. 

 Whilst laying bare this portion of wall — which may be seen through the hos- 

 pitality of Mr. Lawson — -coins, &c., were found, all of which are carefully 

 deposited in this gentleman's museum. Several tessellated pavements are 

 most beautifully exposed and preserved in different parts of the village, and 

 which may be seen for a trifling fee. There lies two splendid pavements be- 

 neath the floor of Mr. Lawson's Museum. Within the gardens a hot bath 

 and a cold bath of Roman workmanship are to be seen. 



The wall, built by the Romans, measures two and a-half yards in thickness ; 

 the material is red sandstone. A splendid section of this red sandstone may 

 be seen in a pit behind the southern part of the gardens. 



As the Romans had their capital here after the Brigantes were routed, it 

 might be conjectured that the monoliths at Boroughbridge are erections of the 

 Romans. ^ However, from the researches of the Messrs. Lawson, no doubt but 

 the question may be fairly settled as to their origin. 



Now taking leave of the quaint old city, with many a curious thought 

 treasured up m my memory, I took train via Pillmoor to Easingwold, not with 

 the expectation of seeing such wonders as I had just left, but rather as a flying 

 visit to see an old acquaintance. However, being of an inquisitive turn of 

 mind, I began asking if there were any things wonderful in Easingwold or its 

 vicinity, and I soon found that a Mr. Nicholson, in the spring of 1858 or 1859 

 had bored to a considerable depth in the hope of finding coal, but, alas, all his 

 labour ended in " smoke ;" none could be found. On making further inquiries, 

 and on examination of the district, there appeared great judgment on Mr. 



