594 
inclusive of nearly half-a-dozen in the great province of 
Yorkshire alone. One and all of them may fairly lay claim 
to Saxon origin, as eald-burghs, but it may be questioned 
whether any can boast of the antiquity appertaining to that 
situate upon the left bank of the Ure, and but little above 
the confluence of this river with the upper portion of that 
of Isis (Ouse), now bearing the name of Swale. The site 
was known in pre-historic Britain as Yseur — a name evidently 
a compound of Isis and Eur us— the chief city of the warlike 
Brigantes, the leading people of the island at the Roman 
advent, whose territory stretched from the Humber and the 
Mersey on the south, up to the Tweed and the Solway, and 
who far surpassed in their abilities and energy all the more 
southern tribes, a character ably sustained by their successors, 
and, to some extent, descendants, for we rarely find proof of 
whole races being exterminated, or even completely driven 
away from their native country. The inhabitants of York- 
shire and Lancashire excel all the rest of England, whether 
we select arts or literature, agriculture or manufactures. 
Yorkshire indomitable pluck, energy, and perseverance, have 
contributed in no small degree in the formation of the 
national character, and now proudly sustains it in every 
quarter of the globe. 
The remains of the ancient Brigantine capital are not 
known to be numerous ; but, in all probability, much more 
of the early rampart and ditch which preceded the Roman 
circumvallation, might yet be disclosed by a thorough inves- 
tigation. "When a portion of these were accidentally laid 
bare, ancient British pottery was found, and among other 
objects a remarkable one of brass was met with, representing 
the head of a human-faced coic, the earliest form under which 
the goddess Isis is said to have been worshipped by the 
ancient Egyptians — one of those relics of the early commer- 
cial intercourse between this country and the Carthaginian 
