is one of the oldest towns in England, for
there was a Roman camp at Mancunium, as the Caesars called it, in the
first century of the Christian era; and we are also told that in the
days when giants lived in England it was the scene of a terrific combat
between Sir Launcelot of the Lake and the giant Tarquin. A ballad tells
the story, but it is easier read in prose: Sir Launcelot was travelling
near Manchester when he heard that this giant held in durance vile a
number of knights--"threescore and four" in all; a damsel conducts him
to the giant's castle-gate, "near Manchester, fair town," where a copper
basin hung to do duty as a bell; he strikes it so hard as to break it,
when out comes the giant ready for the fray; a terrific combat ensues,
and the giant, finding that he has met his match, offers to release the
captives, provided his adversary is not a certain knight that slew his
brother. Unfortunately, it happens that Sir Launcelot is the very same,
and the combat is renewed with such vigor that the giant is slain, "to
the great contentment of many persons."

The ancient Mancunium was a little camp and city of about twelve acres,
partly bounded by a tributary of the Irwell known as the Medlock. A
ditch on the land-side was still visible in the last century, and
considerable portions of the old Roman walls also remained within two
hundred years. Many Roman relics have been discovered in the city, and
at Knott Mill, the site of the giant Tarquin's castle, a fragment of the
Roman wall is said to be still visible. The town in the early Tudor days
had a college, and then a cathedral, and it was besieged in the Civil
Wars, though it steadily grew, and in Charles II.'s time it was
described as a busy and opulent place; but it had barely six thousand
people. Cotton-spinning had then begun, the cotton coming from Cyprus
and Smyrna. In 1700 life in Manchester, as described in a local
guide-book, was noted by close application to business; the
manufacturers were in their warehouses by six in the morning,
breakfasted at seven on bowls of porridge and milk, into which masters
and apprentices dipped their spoons indiscriminately, and dined at
twelve; the ladies went out visiting at two in the afternoon, and
attended church at four. Manchester was conservative in the Jacobite
rebellion, and raised a regiment for the Pretender, but the royalist
forces defeated it, captured the officers, and beheaded them. Manchester
politics then