The condition of the people up to the time of the Norman Conquest had made great advance since the first influx of the Saxons. A regular government prevailed, and permanent settlements had been made. Nearly all our villages may be traced back as having been first founded and named in those times, and even many of the single houses betray in the names a similar parentage. Cultivation was begun, and the land divided into hundreds, tithings and hides. The choice of boundaries is rather curious, and in some respects is proof of their antiquity. The first objects chosen, when convenient, are rivers or streams; the next landmarks are the wells and large boulders; of the former we have examples in Gunnerskeld, Rudkeld, Anna's Keld and Ned's Well, &c. Of the latter, in a district like this where large granite boulders are so plentiful, they have often been chosen, and in the old boundary rolls are called "Thunder Stones," the name by which granite boulders are known in the neighbourhood. Some of the more remarkable are the Cross Stone at Kiverriggs, where the parishes of Crosby, Shap and Morland join; the Stooping Stone on Harkeld is by some thought to have been a rocking stone; it is six feet high and lodged on a point of rock. It is mentioned as a boundary in a grant made by Thomas son of Gospatric of the manor of Hardendale to Byland Abbey.[8] Like all similar stones it is said to be haunted, and also has a remarkable propensity of turning once round every time it hears the cock crow! Another stone near Murber bears the name of "The Dead Man's Grave;" it is small and has two cavities in the top end, which gives it the resemblance of a skull. The next objects chosen are the mounds or ancient burial places, and occasionally the stone circles. These were then regarded with a fear and sacred reverence which we might expect the common people of those times, young in the belief of Christianity, would have for the numerous monuments of their Pagan forefathers[9]; and it is quite probable that even then the same mode of burial might be adhered to; consequently these landmarks were as secure boundaries as either the wells or rivers. Another boundary often adopted in elevated lands is the watershedding line, or, according to the old wording, "where the water falling from Heaven runs both ways." As a proof of the antiquity of township boundaries it is worthy of remark that the manorial boundaries which were made soon after the Norman Conquest very frequently do not coincide, especially where the older boundaries have not been very definite. [6] Canon Weston gave as a possible meaning of the puzzling word Ravensworth, "Hill of the Standard of the Raven," with the reservation that this failed if the Danes did not reach here. Others think the name is corrupted from Ravensthwaite, Raven's clearing. But far more interesting than the meaning is the pains with which the author traces out the historical steps by which the name, as he understands it, was built up.