ON THE ROMAN WALL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 7 April 1926, Page 7

ON THE ROMAN WALL

a wintki: i-ii.ia.-i.'iAia: (I'"rum The Tinn’.s) The eale-idur asserted it to be winter, and calleil r\ idence in the shape of la Hellish ing patches nf stiuvv in tile higher crannies; tint it was really lour days nf open spring weather, save that the wind rioted a trille ton hoist emus! y, and the countryside showed greens and hniwtis a trille too dull. Good campaigning weather, tun. in which to watch the crows as they came sweeping up over th.' moors. like the Picks nf old, in hlack. excited droves to where the 1 ahhits awaited them, mstling behind their ramparts of grass and rock, like the Unman sentries. best the gift- of such weather should make us overweening, let us at once admit that the Wall itself is intrinsic ally no stupendous monument. Ilmne has left' memorials far more majestic ami complete Ilian a mere line nf masonry 73 miles long. of whirh there is left just enough to make the tracing of it an exciting game. 'I Imre arc great gaps even in the best stretch hetween (‘hesters and Thirlwall. and evcrvwherc else (.lie Wall has declined to faint traces a. low grassy ridge mottled with fragments of stone and mortnr: a hank ed up hedge wherein great trees have wmim! their roots protect iiiglv around a few ordered blocks: a road on an tin usually high level. Ihmked by an um usually wide ditch on the north side. The remains of camps, mile castles, and l.urvets are disappointing and still disintegrating. For example, the Mithvaic rave, at fjoreovieiis has recently become choked with earth and rubbish. All must speedily he either fenced or cov rued over if anvthing is to lie preserved. Even if they are covered, there will not he any great diminution of the interest. of the Wall. It is like, a trench i line in that it. represents no very sfrikI ing architectural, engineering, or even I physical effort, granted the abundance

of stone and the forced labour of fatigue parties ; hut that it does stand fur an immense mural cltorl. a fine strategic conception. a great idea, a lug system. The. Wall was garrisoned by Frenchmen. Dutchmen. Germans. Spaniards, and Ivoumauinns. under an authority which sent, men from _ I’almyra to the Tv nc> with as little tuss as we send

them to-day from Paisley In Peshawar. The man who ordered it to lie built was he same who had Ins country scat ;l ! Tjvoli. There was an Aclian Ibudge over the Tv m and ever the liber. Even to i|av a I sonm lioints on I lie \\ a li Peel Frag, for example the panorama, give., an impression ot what a Human frontier meant. Mehiud are I ui\ aiahie fields. 11", if iarmhouse.:. g"e;;l reads driving straight and far. In lri-.nl is the sullen hug .i lot hi ovv n, uuell l l i val cd waste of liarliainsm. I he Wall signs on; (cuntiv vv it 1 1 the sign of civilisation We may la- as proud nf it a Hu hour geois who hints his r.ilin- in an ,o s toeratie familv tree S ■ iiiiii'li ii i m-i essar to hr cause Air Kipling has breathed up- n tliese "disjecta membra" lb" tram-form-ed them into "mm roaring. rioting, cork light.ing. wolf baiting, horse racing town." This is romantically glorious, but historically fanlastic. < >n the othci harnl. I humbly dissent lioui the \i-v-. t hat the Wall was not meant to be de fended tliroiiglio'i; its I'-ugl!'. A v-rv ( an fill sl:i Iv of the hast preserv ed pm-

liens vv ill reveal that tin fosse is dug wherever there is not smile absolutely instipeeabl obstacle immediately in iin nt.

The chjecls found on the Wall —in - m rip!ions.' .-tuple*, wises. coiiis--inay appear interes' ing only to the historian, hut. many of lln-m arc very human document.*. The cm i of Tittle in: tin Blackgale Museum of Newcastle, with its proud legen I "Judaea ( apln. is t.liril

ling. The wonderful find of over 200 gold coins at Cnrslupilum, which make the In,peri,d mint a rival to that, of any Greek Slate, i. tempting. Ihe mould of tin kilted gentleman leaning on a vav v stick must at once lie dubbed llairv Lauder." and a copy of him was asked of the owner by a learned pro I’essor under that- name. I hat is as laughable as the funeral tablet of the PnlniVTan who died on the Wall is pitiful. Among inseriplii.-ns. that recently mu I 'llu-d. again at (nr.slopiiuni. with tin- Ii gelid begin XXX. brought Mr Kip hug iri nni 11 1 1 a ill I \ to tin- spot In behold ion lit mat ion of his guess that the 30th va; a Wall unit. Perhaps, and perhaps ml. Finally, in the museum nt Chester line he seen side by side the inscription of 'lr- Guard.- officer and the scratching.- - i the private militiaman. I lie force- ' as M Pet J■II i Us IThlells. a Bresciau. of the Fabian gens, on an altar tv* 1.0. M. (.lie. i optiuio inaxitm ). Round I in! - I) and vagi get (In- dededicat ion < n i -, A t vv: v elmreh in I lit Iv. Idle la i ■

(ci 1 vas ;m unknown artist who drew ili ( . Taflimai on the. reindeer hone. Kvi'rv pi I grin» of the Wall lons hi:--own ;n I ventures, and I will ewe Mli t hat which was vouchsafed to me. \(,!;c.!v will believe it', blit none ti■ •

; -t i;. mic. 1 was sitting in a smalt clcit in the cliff nc.'ir Sewingshields, eating sandwiches, when from the valley l.idow there mine n thunder of hoofs on the wind. ;nd four horsemen eanlereu sluwlv into view. High) opposite me thev stopped, shouted, and seemed to shake their fists. LVmenihi-i imy the sour temper of th<- patriarch at lloivovicus whom I had disturbed at his lunch. I was deciding that t.lrc. tourist was strangely unpopular in those parts, when, over the rock on my left, there appeared a iox as big as a donkey. 1 p 1 jumped, wild with excitement, and rushed to tile toil of Ihe elel’l. I here was the whole lovely hunt, red coats, rat-catcher, and li'o or six couple of hounds scent mg d ,, l.icat-i-!\ along the i ~re of the Wall, t) 11 rang the horn f|inii below, like a Irumpet .summoning tn surrender. “Leu! Leu I ;'' cried the huntsman. Down loped the fox into my clcfl and ahum the e.liff. with the hounds j.flrr him. With a yard between him ; ,nd a she"'.' drop, lie turned under their noses and nuide oil across the meadon , villi the Imuml-M niyscli. and the hunt (tn that order) :tft<t him. I did not | - nr. because I caught my foot in a slum.' from that wretched Wall and went down I’kc a shot Piet. When I aee.se. all inglorious without, they were gone. The last, time I had seen a pack was passing under lire arches ot the aipiedm I of Claudius. and here they were upon ili,' rubble of the wall'of Hadrian. The curiosity of incongruity, you declare Well, perhaps not qn.ih-. Lor 1 rein cm-V-ered a portly vas« of Samian ware fi'n-m fo vs topi turn on which the potter had cunningly moulded two flamboyant gi evhounds chasing a delightfully slat 11 ed hare.