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