English Villages

English Villages

The Project Gutenberg EBook of English Villages, by P. H. Ditchfield
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Title: English Villages
Author: P. H. Ditchfield
Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9197] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on September 15,
2003]
Edition: 10

Language: English
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VILLAGES ***

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ENGLISH VILLAGES
BY
P.H. DITCHFIELD M.A., F.S.A.
TO MY WIFE
PREFACE
Eleven years ago my little book on the antiquities of English villages
was published. Its object was to interest our rustic neighbours in their
surroundings, to record the social life of the people at various
times--their feasts and fairs, sports and pastimes, faiths and
superstitions--and to describe the scenes which once took place in the
fields and lanes they know so well. A friendly reviewer remarked that
the wonder was that a book of that kind had never been written before,
and that that was the first attempt to give a popular and readable sketch
of the history and associations of our villages. In the present work I
have attempted to fill in the sketch with greater detail, and to write not
only for the villagers themselves, but for all those who by education are
able to take a more intelligent interest in the study of the past.
During the last decade many village histories have been written, and if
this book should be of service to anyone who is compiling the
chronicles of some rural world, or if it should induce some who have
the necessary leisure and ability to undertake such works, it will not
have been written in vain.
One of the most distressing features of modern village life is the
continual decrease of the population. The rural exodus is an alarming
and very real danger to the welfare of social England. The country is
considered dull and life therein dreary both by squire and peasant alike.
Hence the attractions of towns or the delights of travel empty our

villages. The manor-house is closed and labourers are scarce. To
increase the attractions of our villages, to arouse an interest in their past
history and social life, is worth attempting; and perhaps this Story may
be of some use in fostering local patriotism, and in reconciling those
who spend their lives far from the busy hives of men to their lot, when
they find how much interest lies immediately around them.
The study of archaeology has been pursued with much vigour during
recent years, and increased knowledge has overthrown the many wild
theories and conjectures which were gravely pronounced to be
ascertained facts by the antiquaries of fifty years ago. Gildas, Geoffrey
of Monmouth, or Richard of Cirencester are no longer accepted as safe
and infallible guides. We know that there were such people as the
Druids, but we no longer attribute to them the great stone circles nor
imagine them sacrificing on "Druid's altars," as our forefathers called
the dolmens. The history of Britain no longer begins with the advent of
Julius Caesar, nor is his account of the Celtic tribes and their manners
accepted as a full and complete statement of all that is known about
them. The study of flint implements, of barrows and earthworks, has
considerably thrown back our historical horizon and enabled us to
understand the conditions of life in our island in the early days of a
remote past before the dawn of history. The systematic excavation of
Silchester, so ably conducted by the Society of Antiquaries, and of
other Roman sites of towns and villas, enables us to realise more
clearly the history of Britain under the rule of the Empire; and the study
of the etymology of place-names has overthrown many of the absurd
derivations which found a place in the old county histories, and