290
NOTES AND QUERIES, [ii s. XL APRIL 10,
on the Old Roman Road to Colchester was,
Lei and informs us, one mile distant from
Queen Matilda's celebrated Bow bridge
over the Lea, which was built in the begin-
ning of the twelfth century.
There are several interesting articles on Old Ford and the Roman Way in the first volume of ' East London Antiquities,' pub- lished by Mr. W. A. Locks of the East London Advertiser in 1902. These articles will be found at pp. 73-5, and are written by the late Col. Prideaux, Mr. John T. Page, Mr. Smithers, and myself.
Mr. R. A. Smith, B.A., F.S.A., con- tributes a valuable chapter on ' Romano - British London ' to the ' Victoria History of London,' 1909, in the course of which he Fays :
" The point at which it [the Roman main road to Colchester] crosses the Lea is, moreover, the exact site of an interesting discovery during dredging operations for the Lea Conservancy. Below Old Ford Lock, opposite the chemical works of Messrs. Forbes, Abbot & Leonard (just above the passage of the main sewer), large lumps of herring-bone masonry were brought up from the bed of the liver. Other specimens are noted, and everything points to a paved ford here during the Roman Period. Once more, burials along the course indicated [that of the present Old Ford and Roman Roads] may be cited by way of con- firmation.. Cinerary urns found in Old Ford Road [opposite the end of Wick Lane (" White Hart Inn 'Ml, and the stone coffins found at Old Ford Railway Station and in Corfield Street, Bethnal Green, are all flanking this line."
The waterway of the Regent's Canal turns off further westward, passing through Mile End and Stepney to Limehouse ; that to which MB. BRESLAR refers, as skirt- ing Victoria Park, is Sir George Duckett's Canal. Running parallel to Old Ford Road, it was, 1 understand, constructed to connect the Regent's Canal with the Lea Naviga- tion Canal. Duckett's Canal is, I believe, at the present time owned by the Regent's Canal Company .
Although it is quite possible that Julius Caesar may have marched with the Roman legions along this East London military way, I can trace no reference to it. Caesar himself, writing in his ' De Bello Gallico,' v. 18, says that he found the Thames ford- able only at one point where he crossed, and that with difficulty. (There are indica- tions that this was at Brentford.) Mr. Montague Sharp in The ArchceologicalJournal, Jxxx. 31, considers it a very significant fact that Caesar does not mention London. I consequently feel that there is very little foundation for MR. BRESLAR'S legend.
G. YARROW BALDOCK, Major.
South Hackney, N.E.
COUNTIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA (11 S. xu
189).- If B. C. S. lives in town or vicinity,.
I shall be glad to make an appointment
with him to have him see at my house some
old maps of South Carolina which may
answer his query.
According to McCrady, the historian of South Carolina, Granville County was formed by present counties of Beaufort and Hampton ; Craven County was the country generally north of the Santee and east of Camden district.
E. HAVILAND HILLMAN.
4, Somers Place, Hyde Park, W.
" ROUTE-MARCH " (11 S. xi. 207). I was startled when I first heard " rowt " -march , but supposed that educated people might be conceding to the light-of-nature pronuncia- tion of Tommy Atkins. Perhaps it is so ; but I find the ' Concise Oxford Dictionary r has sub ' Route ' " (root, and in mil, use rowt),'* so one cannot resist the powers that be. The mode will not facilitate the private's French t
ST. SWITHIN.
0n
German Culture : the Contribution of the Germans
to Knowledge, Literature, Art, and Life. Edited
by Prof. W. P. Paterson. (T. C. & E. C. Jack,
2s. Qd. net.)
THIS volume of nine essays deserves a cordial welcome. Each is the work of an authority upon the subject with which it deals. The tone of all is sober, impartial, and, towards all that is best in Germany, sympathetic. In fact, on behalf of relatively uninformed readers, it might be wished that the criticism had been more forcibly accentuated, if not extended. The general effect is to show an immense debt to Germany on the part of humanity, which will, however, only be seen in just proportion by the readers who know, and can at the moment effectively recollect, the similar details of the debt of humanity to other coxmtries.
Prof. Lodge opens the series with a quite admir- able historical sketch entitled ' Germany and Prussia.' We do not remember ever having come across anything of this kind better done. It would have added greatly to the usefulness of the book if the other contributors had in the same way distinguished Prussia from Germany, and made clear as they went along exactly how much of the majestic sum of achievement out- lined here is to be placed to the credit of the one rather than the other. Mr. Lindsay's study of ' German Philosophy ' struck us as a no less meri- torious piece of work ; it would be difficult to find another essay of like compass which sets out more lucidly and completely the whole body and tendency of what the writer well calls " the most characteristic contribution which Germany has made to the common treasure of the human spirit." The most bulky of the papers is that of Prof.
