490 
sewerage of this town, on the South side of the Suspension 
Bridge, below Knostrop, a Leister of iron, or at all events 
an instrument similar in appearance, and presumed to have 
been used for the same purpose, was found in a bed of 
gravel at the depth of ten feet, together with portions of 
wood, and one or two other articles of human construction, 
one is described as somewhat like a saw, which has since 
been unfortunately lost. As the excavators who were em- 
ployed on the works have left the neighbourhood, no infor- 
mation can now be obtained as to their precise nature, or 
the parties into whose possession they may have passed. The 
Leister, which is of wrought iron, consists of three prongs, 
has been fixed upon a pole or handle, by a rivet, and exhibits 
in its construction ample proofs of the advanced state to 
which the working of metals had arrived at the period of its 
deposition. It is somewhat singular that this instrument is 
very similar to a Leister figured in " Lloyd's Scandinavian 
Adventures," as used at the present day by that people, and 
the author says, " is supposed to be the most ancient fishing 
device adopted by the Scandinavians." Can this similarity 
of instrument throw any light upon the early colonization of 
this part of Yorkshire ? 
Mr. C. Beckett has shewn in a paper read before the 
British Association, at Hull, in 1853, that different races of 
men colonized the north and south banks of the Humber, whose 
descent can be traced to this day by their peculiar dialects. 
Professor Phillips also states that the physiognomy as well as 
dialect, distinctly marks three different groups of men as 
the progenitors of the inhabitants of the North and West 
Ridings of Yorkshire. The successive incursions of the 
Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans, is also attested by 
the various relics which mark the sites of their territorial 
possessions, as well as indicate the warlike or domestic habits 
of the people. 
