the days when vegetarians were not;--when quinces,
medlars, rude grapes, and mulberries, wild raspberries and strawberries,
supplied the place of a modern dessert, with the valuable addenda of
hazel, and walnuts, whose beautiful wood even then was prized as an
article of manufacture for cups and bowls, under the name of
_masere_--down to the scene of the present day, as it has been pictured
already.

Manifold have been the fleeting shadows that have peopled its disc, now
bright, now dark, its area now traversed by triumphal arches and gorgeous
processions, now serving as a platform for a gallows, whereon a Roberts
and a Barber suffered for their loyalty to his majesty, Charles the
First; in one age witnessing the rise of an oratory in its very midst,
and a chaplain to minister to spiritual cravings, in the heart of
material abundance; the next echoing to the ruthless hammers of
destructive zealots, sweeping from their path every stone or carving that
bore trace of the finger of the "scarlet lady."

But although a consecutive detail of its rise and progress may not be
within the province of our pen, we may endeavour to trace a few of the
leading features of its history since the era of its first rise into
existence as a fishing hamlet, when the sea washed its shores, and the
huts of a few fishermen, perhaps, were the only habitations scattered
over its surface. Here they dwelt, no doubt, in peaceful security, when
the huge mound, topped with its towering castle, rose up in their midst,
and their sovereigns fixed their dwelling-place within its strongholds,
to be succeeded, after the departure of the Romans, by the feudal lords
or earls of Danish and Saxon conquerors, in whose time the market-place
was the magna crofta or great croft of the castle. At the gates of the
ancient castles the markets were continually set, following the precedent
of the assemblage of booths that gathered round the gates of the Roman
camps. These, from being at first moveable stalls or shelters for goods,
grew in after-years into towns, boroughs, and cities, many of them taking
their names from the castles or camps, and were called _chesters_. The
country people were not allowed to carry provisions into Roman camps; at
each gate was a strong guard, that suffered none to enter the camp
without licence from the commanding officer: this guard consisted of one
_cohort_, and one troop at least, from which sprung the modern term of
_court_, or _