This admirable and useful structure was erected in two of the shortest day months of the year, during which time daylight did not occur at any low water period; the workmen, therefore, had to depend upon torches and moonlight; and what is quite as extraordinary, it can be taken down and erected on another site in a month, should circumstances render it necessary. [Illustration] The Old Abbeys and Castles of England. [Illustration] In a former chapter I mentioned something about Old Abbeys. I am now about to say something concerning the Old Castles of England, for few things are more interesting to young people than the stories connected with them. There is scarcely any part of England but has ruins of old castles; some of these ruins are very picturesque, and, when we look at them, the mind is carried back to the times of superstition—of religious bondage—of knighthood and chivalry—and of intestine war. Happily, these times are gone for ever, and we now enjoy peace, freedom, and religious happiness, such as ancient times never did, and never could produce; and we ought to be grateful to Almighty God that we live in such blessed times. According to Dr. Johnson, a Castle is a strong house fortified, but this gives little more information than the saying, according to law, “Every man’s house is his castle.” A Castle, properly so called, is a fortress or fortification of stone, surrounded by high and thick walls of defence, with different walls and lines of circumvallation, consisting of the Barbican, the Moat, the wall of the outer Ballium, the outer Ballium, the Artificial Mount, the wall of the inner Ballium, the inner Ballium, and the Keep or Dungeon. The Barbican, was a watch-tower for the purpose of descrying the approach of a distant enemy. It seems to have had no positive place, except that it was always an outwork, and frequently advanced beyond the ditch, to which it was joined by a draw-bridge, and formed the entrance into the Castle. The Ditch, which was also called the moat or fosse, was sometimes filled with water, when any convenient stream could be turned into it, at other times it was dry and deep, and, when this was the case, there were subterranean passages underneath, by which the soldiers could pass out and suddenly break ground into the open country, and astonish the invading forces. This wall of the outer Ballium was within the Ditch on the castle side. The wall was usually high, flanked with towers, and had a parapet, embattled, crenellated, or garretted, for mounting it. The outer Ballium was the space or ground within the outer wall. In the Ballium were lodgings or barracks for the garrison and artificers, wells for water, and sometimes a monastery. An artificial mound, commanding the adjacent country, was often thrown up in the Ballium, and from this the soldiers and archers would throw their missiles upon the enemy.