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The chieftain was somewhat more seemly; he was habited in "brags" or breeches; a waistcoat and "sack;" with a bonnet; such shoes as those days could produce; and his mark of superiority was a ring round the neck. In seasons of war the leaders were clad in helmets and coats of mail, and fought in chariots, which were armed with scythes and directed frequently by a charioteer: the commonalty fought on foot, their weapons consisting of a battle-axe, a bow, a sword, a dagger, and a shield.

During the continuance of the Romans amongst us, a period of 300 years, the germs of future civilization were widely diffused. The necessary art of pottery, the handicrafts of the carpenter and the turner, were practised; cast iron money was coined; tin was worked up in various ways; hand-mills for grinding corn were introduced; the art of brewing cider and perry was practised by the natives; and the mysteries of the table were also imparted by their imperial masters. One common bakehouse served the whole community, and a water corn-mill was erected at or near the spot now called Knott Mill, on the river bank. Improvements in house-building were adopted, windows being glazed with papyrus, and the roofs thatched with straw; not until the sixth century were the houses built of brick or stone. The habits and manners of the people must have undergone a vast amelioration, by the eradication of those unnatural propensities which are the growth of savage life. Most of all, however, Britain is indebted to the Romans for an improvement in the woollen manufacture, a branch of trade which is said to have been introduced from Gaul before their invasion, but to which importance was first attached by them. A considerable amount of foreign commerce is believed to have been carried on by the Britons with the Phenicians and the Greeks of Marseilles, centuries before the birth of Christ, its chief focus

being the Isle of Wight, then united to the mainland at low water. But Lancashire also partook of it; Ribchester was the outlet for the northern parts of the island. It is not probable that Manchester had any great share in this almost antediluvian traffic, although an immediate connexion between that and the other Lancashire settlement was maintained by means of the great highways which the Romans constructed. It has been truly observed that there exist no stronger evidences than these roads afford of the native grandeur and consummate wisdom of the universal conquerors. These great causeways, whilst they afforded an inlet to order and general improvement, tended to maintain and secure the all-grasping despotism of Rome, and to hold together her overgrown empire. Of these roads, which were planned by Agricola, Lancashire had four; two running from east to west, and two from north to south. One of them commenced in Manchester and terminated at York, running by the present site of the Infirmary to Ardwick, across Ancoats Lane, towards Bradford, over the heath to Hollinwood, Austerlands, Saddleworth, to ancient Cambodunum, in the parish of Huddersfield (a distance of upwards of twenty miles), whence it branches to York. Another connected the Camp at Manchester with Condate, running near Cornbrook, by Stretford, Cross-street, Altrincham, Dunham Park, to the existing road to Knutsford, Mere Town, and thence inclining by Northwich to Kinderton, a distance of twenty-two miles. This road was continued through Chester into Shropshire. A third to Coccium, or Blackrod, branched from the last named to Throstle Nest; thence fording the Irwell at Trafford,* and crossing the old Warrington road, it passed

The family of the Traffords is of Saxon origin, and one of the most ancient in the kingdom, having continued in an uninterrupted male line to the present possessor. When King Canute passed through the county of Chester, he was followed in his train by the heads of many Lancashire and Cheshire families, Bong the former of whom was Ranuphus de Traford, or, as expressed in Domesday Book, Trayford.

Hope Hall, and was continued by Westwood to the station near the river Douglas at Black rod, the metropolis of Lancashire before the Brigantian invasion. The fourth road, to Ribchester, ran by Deansgate to the Collegiate Church, along Hunt's Bank, cutting through the rocks; by Stony Knolls, over Kersall Moor, through Prestwich, Radcliffe, Cockey Moor, Darwen (eastward of Blackburn), to Ribchester, which then was the port of Lancashire, the Ribble being navigable to that point, although the ravages of an earthquake, as it is conjectured, have since choked the channel. Besides these principal roads, another connected Manchester with Yorkshire, running by Moston, Chadderton, Royton, Rochdale, Littleborough, Blackstone Edge, Halifax, &c.; and another also communicated with Buxton, where, even in those distant days, there was a bath (close to the modern St. Ann's well) celebrated for its medicinal qualities. This road skirted Garratt Hall to Longsight and "High-street," fording the Mersey to Stockport, where it ran over the Castle Hill, and along the high ridge of the existing Market Place. There were inferior stations connected with the Manchester Camp at Singleton Brook, Prestwich ("Lowcester"), Broughton Hall ("Hill Wood"), the "Castle Hill" on Kersall Heights, near the Grand Stand - at Littleborough, and Stockport, in all amounting to six, which were formed for the protection of the cattle in these districts. From one of the principal roads also a branch extended to Warrington, where was planted at the ford of the river, leading into Latchford, a station which formed one of the many defences of Lancashire, and which presents one of the most striking natural positions for a fort to be found in England. These stations were rendered more secure by being linked together through the medium of watch-towers planted on the highest points of the country, such as Rivington Pike, Pendle Hill,

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Castleshaw, Longridge Fell, &c. The fords of the rivers) also were provided with defences at Stretford, Didsbury, Hollins Green, Barlow, Warrington, Stockport, &c. How secure must have been the authority of the Romans, aided by such works as these; and how silently, yet how securely, the correspondence thus opened with remote districts must have tended to subdue the wild habits and dispositions of the natives of Lancashire! But there was another far more potent engine at work to produce this happy change. Before the foot of a foreigner was planted upon their shores, the Britons were enslaved by the gross abominations of Druidism, which might possibly be mitigated, but could be little improved, by the polytheistic superstitions of Rome. It was, indeed, a beneficial influence which directed them, in however slight a degree, from the dark and desolating rites enacted in subterranean caverns, to the more harmless mummeries of the Romish altars; but the work was complete when, from causes variously assigned, the light of Christianity was made to penetrate into these benighted regions. The glorious design was accomplished in the middle of the first century, and in the next Lancashire participated its advantages, Eboracum being assigned as the station for a missionary, whose pious zeal would no doubt mark out a wide field of exertion. "Edwin, king of this country, (says Hollingworth) one much loved and honoured by his people, with his daughter Zanfled, were converted to Christianity by Paulinus, and together with many thousand people, were baptized." "But this blessed light of Christian religion was extinguished within two years after the death of Edwin, and the baptized Christians revolted again to Paganisme. Afterwards came Aidanus, a Scotchman, (King Oswald having sent for him out of Scotland) and lighted the candle againe, and God so blessed his labours that in seven whole dayes he baptized more than

fifteen thousand. It may be hoped that our ancestors of this town did severale of them at least receive Christianity at that time, seeing King Oswald did so much reside at and delight in Winwicke not farre off."

But new prospects opened upon the people of Britain. The proud and unwieldy empire of Rome was hastening to decay, and in the hope of warding off the destiny which awaited her, it was found necessary to contract her limits, and to recal her soldiers to Italy for the purposes of self-defence against those "iron swarms" which poured from the north, to blast the Italian shore and sweep the works

Of liberty and wisdom down the gulf
Of all-devouring night.

In this crisis the force stationed in Britain, and of course that small portion of it which had so long retained possession of the encampment here, returned to Italy in obedience to a pressing mandate. The capital had become imminently endangered in the reign of Valentinian the younger; and at that period, therefore, the last remains of the Roman soldiery, as well as such of the British youth as were capable of efficient military service, were finally draughted from the island.* They carried with them, no doubt, the regrets of many of those among whom they had lived, and to whom they had been the means of protection against internal division, as well as against those inroads which followed close upon their retiring footsteps. The diminution of the imperial forces in Britain had already induced partial incursions from the Pictish and Scottish borderers, whose ravages were after

In modern days various memorials of the Roman dominion have been discovered in this quarter of the country. The most interesting of these was an ancient altar dug up in Castle Field so long ago as 1612, and deposited in Hulme Hall. Ancient coins in abundance and some uros have also been found. The mound in Broughton, on which stands the castellated residence of Mr. Fitzgerald, has incorrectly been associated with the Roman name; there is reason to believe that no classic recollections properly belong to it.

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