1090, taken Notice of by [i] Mr. Thomas Lufkin of that Town, and to that other of Ao. Doi. Mo. 133 at Aelmdon, in Northamptonshire, by [k] Dr. John Wallis, are not to be condemned as Forgeries, becaufe [7] a learned Man has faid, "Mabillon and "Voffius were too good Judges to be impofed upon " in the Æra of Numerals.”

There are numerous Branches of one Danish Family, viz. the Garrolds, ftill remaining in the Village, remarkable only for the Wideness of their Mouths, and the undeviating Poverty of their Conditions; for 'tis faid, that from their fift fettling here in the Year 1017, to the present Year 1758, there never was one of them worth a Shilling.

Some awkward Customs or Habits remain in the Village, which feem to be of Saxon Extraction; but, not being certain whether they may not be Danish, I fufpended my Account of them till I had taken notice of fome fmall Traces and Remains of the Danes: I fhall now leave it to the Judgment of the Reader to afcribe them to either, or to both, as his greater Skill in the Hiftory and Cuftoms of thofe Times and Nations fhall incline him. I call them Cuftoms or Habits, because they were no other at first, but I mean thofe Superinductions in the Progeny, which they derive, not by Imitation, but from the very Loins of their Progenitors; for as Cuftom is proverbially called fecond Nature, fo when uniformly prac

[i] Phil. Tranfact. Aug. 1699. N° 255. [*] Phil. Tranfact. Dec. 1683. N° 154. [] Jeb's Biblioth. Literaria.

tifed through two or three Generations, it becomes a part of the first in later Pofterity.

The Custom of holding the Wig on with the left Hand, while the Hat is taken off with the right, is an inbred Caution derived from their Ancestors, who wore [m] Wool-wigs, which adhered to the Cap, and could not be separated without the utmost Care; but now Hats and Hair-wigs are in Fashion, which are generally well lubricated with Oil, or Hogs-lard, there seems to be no Occafion for it.-The Custom of carrying their own [n] Knives to an Entertainment, and refufing to make Use of the Knives laid upon the Table, is an inbred Caution derived from their Ancestors, who in those unsettled Times, probably fufpecting the Knives of their Hoft might be infidiously blunted, carried their own, in cafe of a Surprise.The Custom of setting the Knife bolt upright upon the Table, as foon as it has cut a Mouthful, is an inbred Pofture of Defence derived from their Ancestors, who made Knives Weapens to guard themfelves, and to be Surety for their Friends, that they fhould receive no Harm while they were drinking [o]. The Cuftom of eating without a Fork, is an inbred Habit derived from their Ancestors, who would not incumber both Hands at a Time; but is now an useless Piece of Slovennefs; and yet, as Horace fays,

[m] Blafii Epifc. Reliq. vulgo voc, Flocculi. [n] Howii op.

[o] This Custom in pledging one in drinking, (i. e.) to be Surety for his Safety at that Time, was occafioned by the Practice of the Danes, who frequently used to stab, or cut the Throats of one another, while they were drinking.

Naturam

Naturam expellas furca, tamen ufque recurret,

for they will throw them down, as fast as you lay them. The Custom of fitting at Arm's Length from the Table, is an inbred Distance derived from their Ancestors, whofe gouty Legs to their Tables would not fuffer Men to come nearer; but in these more modern and fhapeable Times quite unneceffary.

That these were the prudent and even neceffary Cuftoms of their Saxon or Danish Ancestors, or both, is very evident; and that they were delivered down to their Posterity in the Channel I have mentioned, feems very probable; for nothing but the Force of firft, or fecond nature, which goes its own Way, in Defiance of Fashion or Ridicule, could continue Cuftoms, now fo apparently unneceffary, troublefome and indelicate.

Nothing fince the Conqueft of this Island by the Duke of Normandy, commonly called WILLIAM the Conqueror, has happened to this Village in particular; in general he, and, for his fake, his Anceftors, seem to have been great Favourites here, as well as all over England. The famous Clameur de HA-RO is a Proof of it; for, though now fallen among Carters and Ploughmen, and by them converted into a Language like Pedlar's French, HA, HO, HAYT, HO, &c. to their Horses, it was at first an Invocation, by all Ranks of Men, upon Duke ROLLO, under any Difficulties, even

by

by Carters themfelves, when their Waggons were fet in bad Roads; RO being a current and establifhed Abbreviation of the Duke's Name. The Invocation was [p] HARO al' aide mon Prince! The latter Part of which has been here (Iliacos intra muròs peccatur et extra) as well as elsewhere, profaned, by a very falfe Interpretation, to fome little Curfes and Imprecations; it being almoft a general Belief among the Vulgar, that when Men fpeak French, or any Outlandish Linguo, they fwear, or talk Bawdy.

The Corfew Bell is not rung here, because there is not one in the Steeple that has Voice enough to be heard throughout the Parish; but the Order and Cuftom is obferved by all the better Sort; the poor, by a Fatality that runs through their whole Oeconomy, are the only People that burn Fire and Candle after eight o'clock at Night; by which Mismanagement they waste a Penny to earn an Half-penny, if they work; but too often their Farthing Candle ferves only to make Darkness vifible for much worfe Purposes.For this Reason I have often thought, that if Authority would order the Corfew Bell to be rung or a Bell-man to go round every Parish, at eight at Night, throughout the Kingdom (instead of disturbing us in our Beds at twelve or one in the Morning) with a Veto effe tale Luminis commercium, Put out your Lights, at every Man's Door, who does not pay Scot and Lot, it would be better for [P] Falle's Ace, of Jerley,

VOL. II.

I

the

the Poor, for their Neighbours, and for the Commonwealth.

The prefent State of this Parish differs nothing from the ancient in Point of Fruitfulness. The People, by Intermarriages, and other ways, have paffed through fo many Combinations, that they all fit down under the common Denomination of English. They are Chriftians, as appears most evidently from the Parish Register; and all of them, when they do not stay at Home, go to the fame Place of Worship; except one----, who, retained fome Tenets of his British Paganifm, pays his Devotions under an Oak, or a Walnut-Tree, with a modern Druid, every Sabbath-Day.-There have been but two Houses erected of late Years; the one feemingly contrived by Eli, a Jew-Christian Family fettled here; for it is built without a Staircafe, upon the Jewish Model of climbing, not walking up, to Bed. The other I know not by whom ; but it is upon a very inhofpitable Plan (quite contrary to the Tempers of the late Inhabitants) for the Chimnies are fo placed, it is difficult to get in at the Door. The prevailing Tafte runs much upon building Temples to Cloacina, and Menageries for WildBoars; Structures in themselves beautiful, but at the Expence of that noble Roman Way, the Via Icenorum, that leads through the Parish, which they narrow and obumbrate.The Morals of the People are like the Morals of other Men, of the fame Rank; not the worse perhaps for the Advice of their Parson, of whom they seem to entertain a tolerably good Opinion.