of returning, the lots are cast with an affectation of equity, and the
impious vow is fulfilled."

Gradually these invaders settled down in Britain, which soon ceased to be
called Britain, and assumed the name Angle-land or England. In A.D. 547
Ida founded the kingdom of Northumbria, one of the divisions forming the
Saxon Heptarchy, and among the villages and families that owed allegiance
to him were those of the neighbourhood of Pickering. The first
fortifications by the Anglo-Saxons were known as _buhrs_ or _burgs_. Some
of them were no doubt Roman or British camps adapted to their own needs,
but generally these earth works were required as the fortified home of
some lord and his household, and there can be little doubt that in most
instances new entrenchments were made, large enough to afford a refuge for
the tenants as well as their flocks and herds.

Pickering itself must have been an Anglo-Saxon village of some importance,
and the artificial mound on which the keep of the castle now stands would
probably have been raised during this period if it had not been
constructed at a much earlier date. It would have palisades defending the
top of the mound, and similar defences inside the entrenchments that
formed the basecourt. These may have occupied the position of the present
dry moat that defends the castle on two of its three sides. If Pickering
had been founded by the Anglo-Saxons we should have expected a name ending
with "ton," "ham," "thorpe," or "borough," but its remarkable position at
the mouth of Newton Dale may have led them to choose a name which may
possibly mean an opening by the "ings" or wet lands. It is, however,
impossible at the present time to discover the correct derivation of the
name. It probably has nothing whatever to do with the superficial "pike"
and "ring," and the suggestion that it means "The Maiden's Ring" from the
Scandinavian "pika," a maiden, and "hringr," a circle or ring, may be