On Some Ancient Battle-Fields in Lancashire: And Their Historical, Legendary, and Aesthetic Associations.Hardwick, Charles
History
On Some Ancient Battle-Fields in Lancashire: And Their Historical, Legendary, and Aesthetic Associations.
Hardwick, Charles
Battles -- England; Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Lancashire (England) -- History
One tradition, however, was well-known in my youthful days. The mound
planted with trees on "Walton Flats" was always regarded as "the grave
of the Scotch warriors." The place was rather a solitary one at night,
and some superstitious fear was often confessed by others than children,
when passing it after nightfall. It was in this mound, in 1855, whilst
looking for remains of the said "Scotch warriors," that I came upon
evidences of Roman occupation. Faith in the legend was attested when
one of the workmen informed me that he had found in the mound a
halfpenny with the figure of a Scotchman in the place of Britannia, on
the reverse. I found it to be a Roman second brass coin, the military
costume of a soldier suggesting to the labourer a kilted Highlander.
Although at various times relics of the fight have been picked up, they
are now extremely rare. The flood waters of the Ribble have occasionally
dislodged human bones, including skulls, from the banks, and these are
almost universally, if somewhat vaguely, associated with "Scotch
warriors," but without any definite notion as to the period or cause of
their presence in the neighbourhood. I remember, many years ago,
suggesting to a very old man employed on a rope-walk near the south bank
of the river, that, as a number of English, including some Lancashire
men, were slain in the great battle in 1648, it was possible a portion
of the bones might belong to them. He did not deny the _possibility_;
but simply remarked that he had never heard the remains attributed to
any but the aforesaid "Scotch warriors;" and he was evidently, from his
point of view, too "patriotic" to entertain, himself, the slightest
doubt on the subject.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account