There is another curious relic of the battle, which has been preserved. A battle-axe, of which the blade is of a small size; and the handle is perfect, of black oak, roughly made, and 2½ inches in the gripe. The blade and handle of the axe, are together, about 18 inches long. Its history is curious. It was found very many years ago, in the bed of the river Cock. It was purchased by Colonel Grant, R.A., at Saxton, from the wife of a miller there; and she informed him, that it had been preserved for a long period of time in the family of her husband. She had been in the habit of using it for the purpose of breaking sugar: an extraordinary change in the use of a weapon, which, as we cannot doubt, had been wielded at the battle of Towton, by a Lancastrian warrior, and been lost in the river Cock, in his flight from Towton Field. It remained a considerable time in the possession of Colonel Grant, and was presented by him, to the Duke of Northumberland, for his museum at Alnwick Castle, where it still is. {95a} A spur, which I have seen, of brass gilt, found on the field of battle, is preserved in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of London; it is a rowel spur; the rowel is scarcely larger than that of a modern spur, in which respect it differs from the very large rowels, of that period, which have occasionally been discovered. The spur is remarkably perfect, and is slightly ornamented with a kind of scroll pattern. Upon the shanks is engraved, in Old English characters, the following inscription—“en loial amour, tout mon coer;” the style and engraving of which, indicate its being of about the period of the battle. {95b} I also learnt, on my visit to Towton Field in 1854, that on the recent occasion of making excavations for the York and North Midland Railway, close to Towton, some human bones were discovered; the spot was near the old road before described, and in the line of the retreat of the Lancastrians, from the field of battle, towards Tadcaster. It is said that human bones, which must be presumed to have been those of some of the fugitive Lancastrians, have been found in the line of country, leading from Towton village towards the village of Stutton, at which a part of the fugitive Lancastrians probably crossed the river Cock, in their flight towards Tadcaster.