these rocky elevations, as instance Hard Knot, Arnside Knot, and Farlton Knot, all of which indicate the name by the rotundity of their stony summits, and seem to confirm the opinion that the early inhabitants of Scandinavia visited the coast, suggesting also that they had some settlement in its immediate vicinity. As regards the Romans, the only traces of their presence which have been discovered in the neighbourhood of the town, consist of the road above mentioned, and a number of ancient coins which were found near Rossall, in 1840, by some labourers engaged in brick-making. These coins, amounting in all to about three hundred, were principally of silver, and bore the impresses of Severus, Sabina, Antonius, Nerva, etc. It is quite possible, however, that other relics belonging to that nation or the Danes, may still exist, hidden by the sand, and more deeply imbedded than it is necessary to sink when preparing for the foundations of the houses, whilst many also may have been submerged by the encroaching waves as they have gradually inundated the north and west sides of the district. Doctor Leigh, in his Natural History of Lancashire, informs us that at the mouth of the river Wyre there was in his time a purging water which sprang up from out of the sand. “This, no doubt,” says the Doctor, “is the sea-water which filters through the sand, but by reason of the shortness of its filtration (the spring lying so near the river), or the looseness of the sand, the marine water is not perfectly dulcified, but retains a pleasing brackishness, not unlike that which is observable in the milk of a farrow cow, or one that has conceived.” To the lord of the manor, Sir P. H. Fleetwood, is due the credit of having first conceived the idea of converting the sterile warren into a thriving seaport. Situated at the mouth of a river, the security of whose stream had originated the proverb—“As safe and as easy as Wyre water,” and by the side of a natural and commodious harbour, sheltered from ever wind, the illustrious baronet foresaw a prosperous future for the place, could he obtain permission from parliament to construct a railway to its shores from the important town of Preston, thereby creating a communication with the manufacturing and commercial centres of Lancashire and Yorkshire. In 1835, a number of gentlemen, denominated the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour, and Dock Company, having obtained the requisite powers, deputed Frederick Kemp, esq., J.P., of Bispham Lodge, then acting as agent to Sir P. H. Fleetwood, to purchase the land along the proposed route. Operations were commenced with little delay, the work progressed with fair rapidity, and on the 15th of July, 1840, the line was declared open and ready for traffic.