slopes, and taken together with the next in order, must have presented formidable difficulties to an attacking force.

8. Leaving Twist Castle, and crossing Swinden Valley a little to the west, we arrive at Slipper Hill, near Wasnop Edge in Worsthorn. There are here the remains of RING STONES CAMP, an ancient enclosure much the same in character with the one just described. It is oblong in form, measuring about 200 feet in length by 160 feet in breadth, and has a smaller enclosure of about 50 feet square on the northeast side. The foss appears to have been upwards of twenty feet in breadth, and the elevation of the vallum is still considerably above the general surface. On a crest above are the remains of a beacon, and a circular tumulus is situated at a short distance, which although now almost obliterated, has originally measured about fifty feet in diameter. The name Ring Stones has probably been derived from the tumulus, or it may be from a circle of stones which has been removed at some former date, or again, from the death of Hyrngyr during the night attack. This last conjecture is rendered very probable from a remarkable tradition which is still prevalent in Worsthorn, to the effect-that the Danes constructed these defences-that a great battle was fought on the Moor-and that five kings were buried under the mounds.

9. Following the same direction, and crossing the River Brun through Thornden Clough, we next arrive at the RED LEES INTRENCHMENTS, which are described by Dr. Whitaker as certain "strange inequalities in the fields," having the appearance of foundations or temporary earthworks. They command the valley of the south branch of the Calder, and also a considerable portion of that of the Brun; their dimensions are such that the progress of agriculture has not yet been able to efface them.

10. The crest at HIGH LAW, within a short distance of Red Lees, was formerly crowned with a small fortification and several tumuli, but the greatest portion of these remains were removed so early as 1695. In that year many medals and coins, mostly belonging to Legions I, II, VII, VIII, XV, and XIX, were found here (during the removal of the stones and earthworks,) which were presented to the author of the Ducatus Leodiensis, by Charles Towneley, Esq., of Towneley, brother to Richard Towneley, Esq., the mathematician and philosopher. Thoresby describes them as having

been found" near Mere Clough, on the skirts of the wild moors that border upon Yorkshire; where a considerable heap of stones, &c., evidence the ruins of a Roman Fort or Station, as I am informed by Mr. Towneley, who generously sent me above twenty Consular and Imperial coins that he had procured from the workmen." (Muscum Thoresbyanum, pp. 7, 8.) I have recently seen a coin belonging to the emperor Probus, which was found at Overtown in the same locality.

11. We now diverge a little to the east, and crossing the entrance of the gorge of Cliviger, we find EASDEN FORT on the opposite eminence. It is a small angular fortification, overlooking the passes to Todmorden and Halifax. The winter torrents have well nigh washed away the cliff on which it is situated, but enough remains for its identification as one of the series. Above Copy Nook plantation, at no great distance, are several oblong tumuli, which are still mostly entire. Tradition states that a battle was fought here, on Oliver Hill, during the Civil Wars, and that these are the graves of the slain; it is however much more probable that these tumuli cover the remains of more ancient warriors than those engaged in the struggles of the Usurpation.

12. Thieveley Pike, an ancient beacon on the crest above, looks down upon the OLD DYKE at no great distance on the Rossendale slope, and also commands a full view of BROADCLOUGH DYKE, a formidable and gigantic intrenchment near Bacup. It measures more than 1800 feet in length, is situated at the edge of a gentle slope, and has a trench at least 54 feet broad at the bottom. What can have been the object of such an extensive earthwork can of course only be matter for conjecture. From its position, it is capable of protecting a large army in front, but it is easily accessible from the east, and must have been abandoned by its defenders whenever the enemy had turned their flank. Its construction can only have been suggested by temporary necessities, since it has evidently been abandoned in an unfinished state. The forest of Rossendale in the times of the Saxons and the Danes, would have a real existence, and its sturdy oaks, of which the remains are still dug up in every field, might recall to mind the wood near which Adalis made the night attack, and where Hyryngr and the Bishop of Sherborne fell, had not Worsthorn Moor a better claim to be considered as the theatre of these events. Dr. Whitaker conjectures that the name is derived from Wrdeston, or Wrtheston, the town or place of

Wrthe, "a genuine Saxon name, probably of the first proprietor," for such is the orthography in a charter of the time of Edward III. But it is not improbable that Worsthorn may after all be Werstan's Moor. The death of so high a dignitary of the church would be looked upon as a principal incident of the night attack; the field upon which he fell would naturally be associated with his name; and the tumulus near Ring Stones Camp, as tradition states, may contain the ashes of one or more of the opposing chiefs.

Such then are the remains of this line of fortifications, within the distance of little more than nine miles. For number and importance, they are probably unequalled in any part of the kingdom. Those at Castercliff, Twist Castle, and Ring Stones Camp, I take to be decidedly Roman in their origin. In the hands of such disciplined forces, they would effectually serve to keep the Brigantes in subjection, and the Sistuntii in security; the stations would be easily accessible to troops from Eboracum and Alicana; from Mancunium and Cambodunum; and from Coccium, Rigodunum, and Ad Alaunum ; since they lie upon the vicinal way between Heptonstall and Colne, and upon the Long Causeway, which still exists as a high road between Halifax and Burnley, and is known as the "Danes Road" in one part of its course.* After the departure of the Romans, these fortifications would be kept up by the Roman-British troops as a protection against the inroads of the Scots and Picts, and would again of necessity be taken possession of by the Saxons when they undertook to defend the country against their devastating incursions. When the Danes began to contend with the Saxons for the mastery, they would naturally be compelled to attack these strongholds of Northumbria, and the slopes to the east and west of this ridge of hills would form the battle-fields for their possession. To these fierce invaders then, or their opponents, I am disposed to attribute the formation of the circular encampments along the line, as well as the Dykes at Saxifield, Thieveley, and Broadclough Circular earthworks for the defence of their camps are known to be almost peculiar to the Saxons, the Danes, and their more northern allies; who nearly always chose the tops of hills on which to construct them; and they were always protected by a vallum and a foss. Their mode of sepulture too corresponds with the general character of the tumuli found on the slopes adjoin

• Whitaker's Manchester, vol. i., p. 132. + Forester's Henry of Huntington, p. 158.

ing. Small ones, composed of earth and loose stones, were formerly very abundant, and on Catlow, Extwistle, and Worsthorn Moors, rude earthenware urns are occasionally found a foot or two beneath the flat surface, surrounded by a few small stones set upright, and mostly filled with pieces of charcoal and calcined bones. After the destruction of the burh at York by Athelstan's forces, as already mentioned, I know of no locality in Northumbria able to compete with this line of defences in a military point of view. From beyond Castercliff to Manchester, each crest can boast of either its burh or its beacon. The signal fire on Boulsworth, immediately above the principal fortifications, answers to that on Pinhow; Pikelaw to Thieveley; Homildon to Pendle and Portfield; Billinge to Mellor; Cridden to Rochdale, Littleborough and Manchester; and thus whilst each hill top and slope bristled with troops, and sounded the alarm of war, the whole country could readily be roused to arms for the protection of their "hoards and homes." Whoever held these mountain fastnesses, most certainly secured the possession of some of the most populous and fertile districts of Northumbria. Their magnitude and importance in those times of comparatively rude warfare, would neither be unworthy of the presence of Athelstan himself, nor could Anlaf, after the expulsion of Alfgeirr, have chosen a more secure line of defences when providing for the contingencies of the Battles of the Brun.

The Saxon Chronicle is entirely silent as to the fitting out of Anlaf's expedition. It substitutes poetry for prose in its description of the battle, and thus has preserved to our times one of the noblest lyrics of the AngloSaxon bards. Florence of Worcester calls him "King of Ireland, and many other Isles," and further asserts that he entered the mouth of the Humber with a powerful fleet. Simeon of Durham, describes the naval force as consisting of 615 ships, but says nothing respecting its destination. (See the Monumenta Historica Britannica, p. 686.) Later annalists generally agree in supposing that the principal portion of the expedition was fitted out in Dublin; nor do they find any difficulty in bringing it round to the mouth of the Humber. Mr. Wright, in Tallis's History of England says, the fleet sailed "round the north of Scotland," but Hume is of opinion that it merely hovered about in the Irish sea. Without doubt, Anlaf would find it expedient to join the naval forces of his northern allies with a powerful division; the estuary of the Humber would form the

most convenient harbour for their debarkation; and hence we may reasonably conclude that Florence and his copyists are correct in the main. But it must also be remembered, that at this period, the coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire had long been in the hands of the Danes; Wirral occasionally presented the appearance of a vast camp; Kirkham was one of their strongholds in Amounderness; the estuaries of the Dee, the Mersey, the Ribble, the Wyre, and the Lune, were familiar to the leaders of these daring mariners; and the "Danes Pad," through the Fylde district, formed one of the principal roads by which they penetrated into the interior of Northumbria and Mercia.

It is therefore, not at all probable, that so skilful a leader as Anlaf would omit to send large detachments into the mouths of the Ribble and the Wyre. These ports lie almost opposite to Dublin, and would be much. more easily accessible than the Humber; the troops would be necessary in order to effect a junction with the Cumbrians and the Welsh; whilst the ships there stationed would afford the best means of passing

"O'er the deep water

Dublin to seek,"

in case of defeat. The confederate forces would then effect a junction with Anlaf by passing along the Roman roads which intersected the district, after he had penetrated "far into England," and I venture to presume that the whole of his army was ultimately concentrated in the neighbourhood of the line of fortifications here described. Athelstan and his forces would take up corresponding positions in the front; the existing Dykes may have been formed as temporary lines of defence; and the great battle was most probably fought on the slopes of SAXIFIELD, or SAXONFIELD, immediately in advance of the principal encampments. Dr. Whitaker in his History of Whalley, has preserved the local tradition which prevails in Burnley and its neighbourhood, of some great engagement "during the Heptarchy" at Saxifield, but he did not consult the older historians for any confirmation of its truth. The frequent discovery of bones, some of them apparently human, still serves to keep alive the popular story, and pass it down to each succeeding generation. Such remains were lately met with in large quantities when digging the cellar at Lower Saxifield House; and not long ago a large number of small tumuli, popularly termed "the graves," were levelled by the farmers for purposes of cultivation. Iron arrow-heads are sometimes found in the