Contributions towards a History of Driffield and the surrounding Wolds District in the East Riding of the County of York

Preface

The paucity of documentary evidence of the past of Driffield renders the attempt to write its History somewhat analagous to the task imposed on the Israelites, in Egypt, of making bricks without straw. Yet, scanty as are the materials, it is deserving of having its annals recorded, as far as they are known, seeing that it dates from the remote period when the Celts, or even the Pre-Celts, were the denizens of the district, a couple of thousands or more years back, as their stUl existing tumuli indicate ; ancl further, from the circumstance that a thousand years ago it was a Royal residential town, where King Aldfri*S had a palace, with his courtiers and warriors around him, and that the King now lies buried in Little Driffield Church, or in close proximity to it. In the absence of such records, and with little more than tradition to rely upon, and the testimony deducible from the tumuli of the various races that have lived there ; with conjecutral inferences from general history, the most that can be done is to supply some contributions, authentic and supposititious, towards such a history.

Seeing that others better able than the compiler to deal with the subject, from a more intimate knowledge of the locality and of the bye-gone events of the Town, have refrained from the task, he has been induced to attempt some elucidation of its past annals, so as to give a general outline of the sequence of events during the centuries of its existence, and thus partially supply what has long been a disideratum. The thanks of the compiler are due to several gentlemen for the assistance they .

PREFACE.

. have courteously rendered in preparing the following pages for publication, without which they would have presented a still more meagre aspect. To the Rev. Canon Newton, Vicar of Driffield, for his readily-accorded permission to inspect the parish registers and other manuscript documents in connection with the two churches. To the Rev. Charles Welton for a Sketch of the History of the Baptist Church . To Mr. William Taylor for information relative to the United Free Methodist Connexion. Also, especially, to Mr. John Browne, of Bridlington-Quay, formerly of Driffield, and to Mr. Thomas Holderness, of Driffield, for much valuable supplementary Topographical and Biographical matter, as well as the furnishing of names and dates, and the correction of errors, the former of whom possesses a more extensive and accurate knowledge of the ecclesiastical and general History of Driffield than any other living person, and who, had he undertaken the task, would unquestionably have produced a much abler and a more satisfactory work than that of the present writer can pretend to be.

London, 1889. INDEX ÆldfriS ... 7, 191 Bradley, William (Giant) ... 154 Agricultural Societies • 32, 88 Bridlington 121 Alaman Wath Bridge 192 Brigantes ... ... ... 3 Ale, Sale of at Fairs 9*1 Buckrose, Parliamentary Division 32 Angas, Caleb 152 Burton, Rev. Henry 154 Anderson, Edward] 152 Burton Agnes 122 Carlisle, Earl of 86 Angler, the Driffield 89 Anglers' Club 89 Cave. South 122 Celts, The 4 Anglo-Saxon Driffield 7, 188 Archæological Map of the Wolds... 1 Baal Worship 3 Chancel Screen Crusade 55 Chantry 50 Church, Monuments 50 Banks 98-9 Church, Restoration of 56 Baptists 70 Church, Testamentary Burials ... 50 Barmston 121 Churches of Great and Little Driffield 44 Battleburn 108 Civil War, The 25 Baume Family 125 Civil War, Woldsmen in The ... 25 Bell, Rev. Henry 152 Clement, J. W. 155 Bell, Rev. John 153 Coiffi, High Priest 43, 154 Bessingby •■■ 121 >!

Cole, Rev. Edward Maule 155 Best Family ... ... HO, 125 Collins (Artist) 155 Best, Francis (Field Burials) ... HI Best, Henry (Farming Book) ... HI Conservative Association 90 Best, Charles 153 Cooper, Rev. James 155 Best, Rt. Rev. John 153 Cottage Hospital 34, 83 Beswick ... ... ••■ 109 County Council Division 35 Beverley, Saint John of ... 153 Beverley, Saint John of (Well) ... 112 Cranswick 113 Crompton Family 129 Beverley Town , ... 121 Dade, Rev. William 156 Bigod, Sir Francis 153 Danes' Graves 13 Bigod, Sir Hugh 154 Daniel, George, (Beswick) ... 156 Boynton Family 128 Danish Driffield 12, 13 ■> Domesday Book 7, 15 Brandesburton VI INDEX.

Hopper, T. Kemp 160 Domesday Book (New) 37 Hordern, Rev. Joseph 160 Downe, Viscounts 130 Hordern, Rev. Joseph C. ... ... 161 Drainage Works 31 Hotham Family 136 Draper, William (Beswick) ... 156 Houston, Mrs. 161 de Driffield, Hugh 156 Howden 122 de Driffield, Roger 156 de Driffield, William 157 Hudson Family 137 de Dringhoe, William 157 Hunmanby 122 Drummer's Well, Harpham ... 113 Ead wine, King, Conversion of ... 43 Hutton Cranswick 113 Hymers, Rev. John 161 Eastburn 109 Independents ... ... 68 Ecclesiastical History 43 Independents, List of Ministers ... 69 Eddowes, Rev, John 157 Institutions 88 Educational Institutions 33 Jackson, Rev. Thomas 161 Election Petition, Buckrose ... 32 Jarratt, William Otley 162 Elmswell 109 Jennison, Anne 162 Etherington Family 132 Jesse, Rev. William 162 de Etton, Stephen 157 Jesse, Edward 162 Exchange and Public Rooms ... 86 Jesse, John Edward 163 Fairfax Family 133 Keith, Thomas 163 Fairs and Markets 93 Kelleythorpe 114 Farmers' Club 88, 89 Kendale 114 Farthing, John 157 Kendall, Rev. Charles 78 Fiddes, Rev. Richard 157 Kent, William 163 Flambrough 122 Kilham 114 Kirkburn 108 Flint, Captain W 158 Flixton 122 Kirkby, Mrs, 163 Free Methodist Church 78 Kirkham ... ... 123 Garnett, Rt.

Rev. John 158 Lake Dwellings 3 Garton 112 Landed Proprietors 37 Gas Works 87 de Langtoft, Peter 164 Goodmanham 122 Langtoft 114 Goodmanham, Destruction of Temple 43 Lamplough, Most Rev. Thomas ... 164 Gray, John ... ... 83 Lawton's Notices of Churches ... 54 Griffith Family, Baronets ... 133 Lazenby, Thomas 164 Griffith, Lady Mary 158 Leckonfield ... ... 115 Hall, James 159 Levins Family 137 Hallam, John ... ... 159 Levins, Peter ... ... 164 Hardy Family 133 Liberal Association 90 Hardynge, John 159 Linseed Cake Mill 33, 97 Harpham ... ... 112 Local Board ... ... 31 Harrison, James ... ... 86 Londesborough ... ... 123 Hellard Family 134 Londesborough, Lord — Excavations 5 Heron Family 134 Lords of the Manor 36 Heslerton Family 135 Lowde, Rev. James 165 Heslerton, East 122 Lowthorpe 115 Heslop, Rev. John W 159 Lutton Family 138 Hibbert, Rev. Henry 169 Mackintosh, Alexander 89, 165 Hobson, Rev. Benjamin 160 Manufacturing Industries 30, 97 Hodgson, Elizabeth 160 Markets of the Wolds 30 Holderness, Thomas 160 Market Tolls INDEX.

VII Market-Weighton 123 Roman Catholics 79 Mason Family 139 Ross, George Thompson 169 Meaux 123 Royalist Compositions 26 Mechanics' Institute 85 Royal Palace 11, 190 Mortimer, the Brothers ... 84, 166 Rudston 117 Mortimer Museum 84 Saint Quintin Family 142 Morris, Beverley R 166 Saltmarshe, Rev. John 169 Morris, Rev. Francis Orpen ... 165 Nafferton 115 Salvation Army 79 Sancton 123 de Nafferton, Galfrid 166 Sandwith, Humphrey, Senior ... 170 Navigation of the Hull 100 Sandwith Humphrey, Junior ... 171 Newburgh, William of 167 Savings Bank 91 Newspapers 99 School Board 31 Nonconformity ... ... 67 Scorbrough 117 Norcliffe Family 140 Scott, Rt. Rev. Cuthbert 171 Norcliffe, Rev. C. Best Robinson 167 Sepulchral Cist 85 North Frodingham 116 Setterington 123 Norman Driffield 14 Shepherdson, William 171 Nunburnholme 123 Ship-money Tax 24 Nunkeeling ... ... 116 Silvester Family 143 Ombler, William 167 Skerne 117 Skipsea ug Sledmere us Ombler and Dale's Revolt ... 21 Osbaldeston, the Rt.

Rev. Richard 168 Oxtoby, John 168 Stillingfleet, Rev. Edward W. ... 172 Parliamentary Polling Centre ... 32 Strickland Family 143 Parish Registers 54, 55 Strickland, Henry Eustachina ... 172 Paulinus, Bishop ... ... 43 Strickland, Hugh Edwin 172 Pearson Family 141 Strickland, William 173 Pilgrimage of Grace 20 Stamford Bridge 124 Pit Dwellings 2 Stuart Driffield 23 Plan of Driffield in 1745 29 Sunderlandwick 119 Plantagenet Driffield 17 Swine 124 Police Office and Lock-up ... 87 Sykes Family 145 Taylor, Rev. Isaac 173 Poor-Law Union ... ... 31 Temperance Hall 83 Population 80 Thompson Family 148 Prebend of Driffield 62 Thwing 119 Prebendaries of Driffield 62 Pre-Celts 2 Tiiidall, Edward 173 Pre- Historic Driffield ... ... 1 Town, Streets of the 81 Primitive Methodists 75 Todd, the Ven. Henry 173 Prickett, Rev. Marmaduke ... 168 Topham, Major Edward 174 Public Buildings 80 Trade and Commerce ... ... 93 Public Rooms 86 Trevers, Rev. Henry 174 Queen's Jubilee Festival 34 Trevor, Rev. George 174 Railways 31, 87 Tudor Driffield 20 Rejoicings, Public 34 Tumuli 5 Ulrome 124 Remington Family 141 Riccal 123 Union Benefit Society ... ... 91 Rigby, Rev. Joseph 168 Villages Adjacent 108 Ripley, Sir George 168 Volunteers 30, 91 Roman Driffield 5 de Walkington, Nicholas INDEX.

Wilberforce Family I*9 Wansford 119 Warter 124 Wilberforce, Ven. Robert Isaac ... 176 Wheater Family I**9 Water Forlorns 192 Water Supply 31 Wilfrid, Archbishop 8 Watton Priory 17 Wilton, Rev. Richard 176 Weaverthorpe 124 Wode, Prior William 176 Wesleyan Methodists 72 Woodcock, Rev. Henry 78 Widows' Alms-Houses 83 Wrangham, Ven. Francis ... ■■■ 177 Wilberfoss 124 Wressel

Chapter I

prc*1bi0tortc, Celtic, anb IRoman 2>rifftelt>. " You never tread upon them [the Wolds] but you set Your feet upon some ancient history." rPHE YorkshUe Wolds, of which Driffield may be considered the capital, are a range of chalk uplands, commencing on the sea-coast, where the cliffs of Flambrough and Speeton rise up majestically to a height of from 150 to 450 feet, whence they proceed westward until they attain an elevation of 805 feet above the sea level, and then diverge southward to Ferriby on the Humber. There are no los ty isolated hills or escarpments, save on the coast, the surface being undulatory and presenting rather the appearance of the rolling swell of the Atlantic Ocean. From many points there are widely-extended prospects, commanding views of the expanse of the German Ocean, the loftier hill ranges of Cleveland, the lowlands of Holderness, the vales of York and Pickering, the estuary of the Humber, and rising up conspicuously on various sides, the minsters of York and Beverley, the towers of Bridlington, the spire of Patrington, the factory chimneys of Hull, and on an eminence in the midst the Sir Tatton Sykes monument.

For unnumbered centuries has this district been the home of peoples of various races, whose existence here is indicated by no written records, nor even by oral tradition, the only knowledge we possess of their ethnological characteristics being revealed to us from their burial mounds, which are profusely scattered over the whole extent, and are very numerous in the vicinity of Driffield.* In 1886, Mr. Robert Mortimer, of Fimber, published a most valuable archæological map, 5 feet by 3 feet, of the ancient British entrenchments and tuMuli around Fimber, dedicated to his brother, Mr. John Robert Mortimer, the founder of the Driffield Archæological ancl Geological Museum. " This map," says a critic, "is a gigantic undertaking, and means the thought and labour of many years. The geological and historical remains are most carefully noted. . .

The ancient remains of primeval war are only just becoming a popular study, and Messrs. * Vide the narratives of the mound diggings of Canon Greenwell, Mr. Mortimer, Lord Londesborough, Dr. Thurnham, &c, and the contents of the Mortimer Museum, in Driffield. A Mortimer, in the Driffield district, whose work and Museum we shall not soon forget, are rendering the historical student of this and future generations an incalculable boon. It is a common mistake to suppose that the Brigantian Celts were the aborigines of the Wolds. There were, at least, two races of pre-Celts, who preceded them, who were of non-Aryan descent, of which people the Brigantes were an off-shoot. Of these primitive men we know scarcely anything, seeing them but dimly through the obscuring mists of the remote past, by means of the scanty relics that have come down to us through the intervening millenniums, in their burial mounds.

There was a marked difference between these two races, the earlier being termed the Doliocephalic, or long-headed, the latter the Brachycephalic, or round-headed. The former have also been styled the Paleolithic {early stone), and the latter Neolithic (later stone). They both formed their implements and weapons of stone, those of the Paleolithic race being rudely fashioned, without any attempt at ornament, whilst those of the latter displayed a higher degree of manipulation in the way of symmetry, finish, and artistic elaboration. It would seem that the former, probably of Teutonic origin, had come over from the Belgian or Frisian coast, and had settled chiefly near the sea coast, where their relics are found in the greatest profusion ; and that the latter, probably of a kindred race, had followed them, possibly centuries afterwards, and that, aided by their superior skill, they had subdued the earlier settlers and spread inland towards Driffield and Malton, where theUtumuli abound.

During the Brigantian era, the forests and swamps of Holderness were occupied by a race of herdsmen called ParisU, so called it may be assumed from the swamps amongst which they lived, who were in bondage to the Brigantes, a species of serfs, the tenders of their cattle, who are supposed to have been of Teutonic origin, and who, very probably, were a remnant of these pre-Celtic people, who were subjugated by the Aryan Brigantes. The Paleolithic men, the earliest race of whom we have any vestiges on the Wolds, were a rude and savage people, who appear to have lived immediately after the last glacial epoch, and were most probably contemporaneous with the mammoth, the cave bear, and the woolly rhinoceros, prior to the cultivation of cereals and the invention of spinning and pottery-ware, and living on the produce of the chase and wild fruits.

In the Auvergne there has been found the bone of an extinct species of animal, on which is scratched the figure of a man, presumably of this period, which is perhaps the earliest specimen extant of pictorial delineation in Europe. It represents a hunter stalking a urus, and hurling at the animal his flint-tipped spear, as he crawls on his belly through the brushwood. The figure is nude, but covered with hair, and would almost seem to represent the link between Darwin's ape and the first development of man. These primitive men sheltered themselves in caves or hollow trees, and made for themselves habitations in shallow basin-shaped excavations of the earth, over which they placed conical roofs of tree branches covered with sods or reeds. These are still to be met with in Yorkshire and other counties ; on Rombalds Moor by Ilkley, at Bempton on the York shire coast, and on the moors of Cleveland.

Nor are these pit-dwellings wanting on the Wolds. In Kendale, about a nule north of Driffield, the excavations of an old British town of this description may still be seen. They are about fifty in number, ranged irregularly along the southern slope of the valley. They are concave in . form, the circular rim being more or less broken by the wearing of time and the operations of agriculture, and are from six to twenty feet in diameter, with a depth of about three feet. They have never, that I am aware of, been examined by digging, excepting on one occasion, very superficially by Mr. T. Holderness, of Driffield, who, at the depth of a spit or two, found a chip of flint, several stones which had formed part of the floor, and a bone, very much decayed, of some animal that had possibly been eaten by the famUy that inhabited this particular dwelling.

Tt is true that a Driffield antiquary of considerable eminence pronounces them to be nothing more than holes left by chalk-diggers, but it seems highly improbable that they should dig them all of this particular circular shape, and that they should only take the top layer of inferior chalk from fifty different spots instead of from one large pit. Besides, the surroundings are precisely what are met with in these ancient British towns. They are placed on the slope for shelter and are protected in front by the opposite slope, which is continued by artificial earth works, and we may, with the highest probability, assume that in Kendale was the Driffield of the pre-Celtic age. To the same, or the succeeding races, may undoubtedly be attributed the lake dwellings, similar to those in Switzerland, which have been recently discovered at TJlrome, in Holderness, by Mr. Boynton, of TJlrome Grange, which may have been occupied by the Parisii herdsmen or their progenitors, if descended from the pre-Celts, to afford them dry habitations above the swamps of the district.

What the religion of these primitive Wolds people was we have no means of ascertain ing, but there are evidences to shew that, in common with all races in the infancy of mankind, it was a species of sun and star worship. They would see the glorious-looking luminary rising out of the eastern sea, and after traversing the sky overhead, observe hUn sinking to rest below the western horizon. They would notice that he was the dispenser of light, warmth, and cheerfulness, ancl that he caused the herbs to grow and the fruits to ripen : hence, simple and ignorant of science as they were, he would seem to them to be a superhuman beneficent being, worthy of worship, and to whom prayers should be addressed for fruitful seasons and for protection from the ills of life ; the planets and stars would be regarded as a celestial hierarchy surrounding his throne, and festivals in his honour would be held at stated periods of the year.

That this hypothesis is something more than conjecture is shewn by the fact that the sun is frequently found depicted on ornaments, &c, of the ancient tumuli of the Wolds. A survival of this Baal or Sun worship stUl exists, or did exist until recently, in Holderness, the writer of these pages, when a boy, having often assisted in building upa " Beal-fire " which blazed up on Mid-summer eve, when the sun reached the summer solstice. The same custom was prevalent all over the Wolds also in the earlier portion of the present century, but has now fallen into general or entire disuse. How long these Paleoliths ranged over the Wolds, burrowed in the earth, and hunted the bears, wolves, and other wild animals of the forest we know not ; nor can we tell when the more advanced Neoliths came upon the scene, who, possessing a higher degree of intelligence and superior weapons, subdued the former and became the lords of the soil ; neither have we any record or traditional account of how long, or when, these Neoliths occupied the district, hunted, waged wars, and roamed listlessly over the uplands in painted nudity, or clothed in the skins of slain animals ; but this we do know, that after an undetermined period of time, there came across the sea an altogether different people, who supplanted them and reduced them to bondage or serfdom.

The Celtic Brigantes, who now appeared on the Wolds, were a branch of the great Aryan race, from whom have come the highest orders of intellect that the world has seen. Their advent on our shores marks the termination of the stone age and the beginning of that of bronze, which may be considered the twilight period of the civilization and intellectuality of the present time. The Celts undoubtedly came over from Gaul, which was peopled by the same race, and at first settled chiefly in the southern portion of the island, but others of the more adventurous and enterprising, amongst whom were the Brigantes, pushed mland and northward, and wrested the land from the feeble stone weaponed owners. It would appear that they practised agriculture, as the Greek Pythias, Ui the 4th century B.C., and Posidorius, in the 2nd century B.C., speak of their corn-fields and granaries, and of theUmethod of cutting off the ears of corn, leaving the stems, and storing them in earthen jars ; they were acquainted also with the art of smelting iron, which was practised in Sussex before the invasion of Cæsar.

Their houses were wooden huts, thatched with straw or reeds, and their villages aggregations of huts in forest clearings, protected by surrounding earthworks and stockades. They clothed themselves in skins, and in the south occasionally in some textile fabric, whilst those of the interior went naked in the summer time, with painted or tatooed skins, but these, by the 2nd century A.D., had adopted textUe clothing after the manner of the Romans j as they then called their enemies from the northern mountains the Picts or Painted Peo2fle. Their religion was a cruel and bloodthirsty paganism, which claimed hecatombs of human sacrifices to assuage the wrath of theU vindictive god. The Brigantes were a bold warlike people, jealous of thenindividual rights and commercial independence, as the Briton has been ever since and is now.

Possessing, as they did, bronze spears and metal-tipped arrows, they easily overcame the pre-Celts, and established a kingdom in the north of England, approximately conterminous with the future Heptarchial kingdom of Northumbria, and erected the city of Iseur, the modern Aldborough, as their capital. It is a curious fact that on the Wolds, which were so thickly populated, there are no stone circles, or dolmens, or other indications of Druidical worship, unless indeed the mysterious monolith in Rudston churchyard be the solitary survivor of a stone temple. This circumstance would seem to indicate that what is now Yorkshire was then an expanse of forest land, for the Druids performed the rites of their religion in forest clearings, with an encircling of trees, emblematic possibly of the rays of the sun, and it seems likely that the stone circles were erected on open plains, to give the semblance of a forest circle.

The most famous temple of the Brigantian Druids was at Llyn-yr-Avanc, in the depth of a forest, where the town of Beverley now stands, the slight elevation, on which the minster now rears its stately head, being then on the margin of a lake and the spot where the priests performed their mystic ceremonies. For how long a period the Brigantes remained lords of the Wolds we have no means of ascertaining, but they were eventually subjugated by the Romans. Those masters of the world invaded Britain a few years before the Christian era, under Julius Cæsar, but did not penetrate far inland from their landing place in Kent, and it was not until the year 69 A.D. that they came into the north under Petilius Cerealis, who was sent hither by Yespasian ; nor was it untU ten years afterwards that theU superior discipline and weapons enabled them, after some obstinate resistance, to subdue the Brigantes, which was effected under the generalship of Agricola.

The conquerors erected fortresses in various parts, constructed mUitary roads, and stationed a legion on the peninsula between the Ouse and the Foss, which was the commencement of the Roman Eboracum, a city that grew rapidly in importance j was in course of time embellished with temples, courts of justice, and other magnificent public and private buildings, and which, from its splendour and importance, came to be styled " Altera Roma," now York. It bepame the chief city of Roman Britain, was frequently the abode of existing or future Emperors ; where Severus and Constantius died, ancl where Constantine the Great, son of the latter, was first proclaimed Emperor. It is frequently stated by historians that Constantine was a native of the city. Of this assertion, however, there is no proof, but rather evidence to show that he was born in one of the eastern provinces of the empire.

We have no record that in the Roman period Driffield existed as a town or vUlage, but that the district possessed a numerous population is evidenced by the multitude of Romano-British sepulchral mounds. There were three Roman roads diverging from Eboracum, all which passed within a few miles of the site of Driffield, viz. : one on the north via Malton ancl Sledmere to Filey Bay ; another by way of Londesborough on the south to Bridlington ; and a third also on the south, which passed by Market Weighton and Petuaria (Beverley 1) to a port near the promontory of Spurn, where corn was shipped for Rome. There would therefore be no lack of Romanising influences in the immediate neighbourhood, and Driffield may have been consolidated into a Roman, or may have existed as a Brigantian village, but on this point we have no definite information, as indeed we have not for 500 subsequent years, until it rose into some degree of importance, as a Saxon or rather Anglian town, with a royal palace within its precincts.

The sepulchral mounds of these successive races — the pre-Celts, the Celtic Brigantes, the Romans and Romano-Celtic, with the subsequent Angles, Saxons, and Danes, are exceedmgly numerous about Driffield, and over the Wolds generally, indicating by their forms, the modes of interment, and the relics they contain, the respective peoples to whom they have belonged. The earliest yield nothing but rudely-shaped flint implements ; the next series, the same class of implements, more skilfully shapen, but no metal or pottery *. then come those of a transition period, also with well-wrought flint weapons, but mixed with those of bronze ancl fragments of coarse earthenware ; followed by the most recent class, rich in valuable remains, consisting of iron swords, spearheads, knives, ifec, ceramic ware of a more artistic character, skeletons of warriors, with those of their war steeds and of charioteers, with portions of their chariots and fragments of their horse accoutre ments ; also skeletons of females with armlets, anclets, necklets, etc., of jet, amber, and glass, with great numbers of beads ancl other ornaments.

One of the most important of the mound-diggings of the Wolds was undertaken, in 1851, under the personal superintendence of Lord Londesborough, in a field belonging to Mr. Hopper, of Kellythorpe, about a mile from Driffield, of which a long detailed and most interesting account was given in The Archœologia, xxxiv., 251. The mound was about twenty yards in diameter, and from seven to eight feet in height. The first object found was a skeleton in the usual contracted position, with the arm bent upwards, from the elbow, towards the head, ancl lying beside it a rude spear head of flint. Further excavation brought to Ught the remains of several other skeletons which had been disturbed. Below was found an oolite slab which, on being tapped, emitted a hollow sound, as i£ it were the covering of a vault.

An attempt was made to remove it, but it resisted the united strength of seven or eight men, and was eventually raised by means of a windlass and tackle. It proved to be the lid of a rude sarcophagus, measuring 4 feet by 3 feet by 2 feet, and weighed half-a-ton. Within it lay the skeleton of a chieftain, who must have been 6 feet 2 inches in stature, placed, as usual, with the knees gathered up and with upraised hands. On the right arm was a singular and beautiful bone armlet, perforated a2 at each end, with bronze pins or rivets, with gold heads, passing through the holes. Beneath the vertebræ was a bronze dagger in a wooden sheath, and round the neck, three large amber beads of conical form. At the feet lay a highly-ornamented earthen drinking-cup, and about the centre of the tomb a hawk's head and beak.

Beneath the whole length of the skeleton was what appeared to be a linen cloth, but the interstices were so filled with animal matter that it had the semblance of leather. In another portion of the tumulus were found fragments of calcined bones, a quantity of charcoal, and some burnt gravel, shewing that a portion of the contents had been burnt in situ. The number of interments in this tumulus had been very considerable, the remains of not less than ten having been exhumed on this occasion, one skull being peculiarly long and narrow. Fragments of Romano-British vases, flint implements and other relics were also found. After the mound had been supposed to have been thoroughly examined, the bones were collected together in the cist, the lid lowered and the tumulus restored to its original form.

Mr. Mortimer, of Driffield, afterwards re-opened the mound and discovered twenty-three other Anglo-Saxon skeletons, the remains of burials subsequent to the original interment, besides several relics of that period. The stone cist he removed, and placed it in his garden, where it may now be seen. In 1847, the Rev. Chas. Wellbeloved, of York, communicated to the Journal of the Archæological Association, ii., 55, an account of the opening of a tumulus in a field belonging to Mr. Richard Jennings, about a mile from Driffield. The mound was 50 yards in diameter, with a gradual slope from the centre, which was 5 feet in elevation, to the circumference. The nature of the mound was not suspected until the removal of a portion of the earth for filling up some drains. On removing the earth there, was discovered, 3 feet from the surface, a skeleton and afterwards several others, the exact number not being ascertained, lying about 6 feet apart, and along with them, beads of amber and glass, brooches, clasps, and other ornaments, a spear-head of large size and the umbo of a shield.

The bodies had been placed on a layer of chalk, and covered with a small white gravel. The boss of the shield was very remarkable, with four singularly arranged discs, differing from anything of the kind hitherto found. The fibulæ also were of unusual character, one being cross-shaped, but without any reference to the christian religion. There was also turned up a pair of scissors, a very rare discovery, and a pair of tweezers. A great number of the articles were illustrated by engravings. In 1856, a coffin, formed of a hollowed tree, was discovered in levelling a tumulus at Sunderlandwick, by Driffield, 6 feet by 4 feet in dimensions, containing three skeletons supposed to be Celtic. Another mound was opened in a field belonging to Mr. E. D. Conyers, at Little Driffield, composed entirely of sand, which yielded nothing however but fragments of pottery, apparently Roman, and pieces of corroded iron.