"That every man might keep his own possessions, Our fathers us'd, in reverend processions, With zealous prayers and praiseful cheere, To walke their parish limits once a yeare; And well-known markes (which sacrilegious hands Now cut or breake) so border'd out their lands, That every one distinctly knew his owne, And many brawles, now rife, were then unknowne." These _gang days_, as they were called, not only brought to the recollection of Englishmen the settlement of the Christian faith on the soil, but they also impressed on the memory correct notions concerning the origin and nature of proprietorship in land. These religious processions marked out the limits of certain portions of land, under which the whole kingdom was contained; and in all this the principle of "God's fee" was recognised by the law and the people. The walking of the parish bounds in religious processions very materially contributed to form and keep fresh in the minds of each passing generation the terms on which property was held, and some of the duties belonging to the holding. There was a short service ordered to be read occasionally, composed of such sentences as the following: "Cursed is he that translateth the bounds and doles of his neighbour," &c. The custom of processioning (like the large majority of Christian ceremonies) was no doubt derived from the heathens, being an imitation of the feast called "Terminalia," which was dedicated to the God Terminus, whom they considered the guardian of fields and landmarks and the keeper up of friendship and peace among men. The primitive custom used by the Christians on this occasion was for the people to accompany the Bishop or some of the clergy into the fields, where Litanies were chanted and the mercy of God implored, that He would avert the evils of plague and pestilence, that He would send them good and favourable weather, and give them in due season the fruits of the earth. The boundaries in some places were marked by what they called "Gospel trees," from the custom of having the Scriptures read under or near them by the attendant clergyman. One of these trees was till lately standing at Stratford-upon-Avon. A vivid recollection of the exact extent of each parish was kept alive in the breasts of the juveniles by many kinds of practical jokes.