Whence I came it matters not. 
  To whom related or by whom begot;
  A heap of dust is all that remains of me,
  ’Tis all I am, and all the proud shall be.

[Illustration:  THE DEVIL’S ARROWS.]

We soon reached the famous Boroughbridge, one of the most historical places in all England, the borough meaning Aldborough, the ISUER of the Brigantes and the ISURIUM of the Romans.  Here we crossed the bridge spanning the Yorkshire River Ouse, which almost adjoined Aldborough, and were directed for lodgings to the house of a widowed lady quite near the church.  It was nearly dark then, the moon, though almost at the full that night, not having yet risen.  We decided to wait until after a substantial meal before visiting the Devil’s Arrows a short distance away.  There were only three of them left—­two in a field on one side of the road, and one in a field opposite.  The stones were standing upright, and were, owing to their immense size, easily found.  We had inspected the two, and were just jumping over the gate to cross the narrow lane to see the other in the next field, when we startled a man who was returning, not quite sober, from the fair at Boroughbridge.  As we had our sticks in our hands, he evidently thought we were robbers and meant mischief, for he begged us not to molest him, saying he had only threepence in his pocket, to which we were welcome.  We were highly amused, and the man was very pleased when he found he could keep the coppers, “to pay,” as he said, “for another pint.”  The stones, weighing about 36 tons each, were 20 to 30 feet high, and as no one knew who placed them there, their origin was ascribed to the Devil; hence their name, “the Devil’s Arrows.”  Possibly, as supposed in other similar cases, he had shot them out of his bow from some great hill far away, and they had stuck in the earth here.  There was fairly authentic evidence that twelve was the original number, and the bulk of opinion favoured an origin concerned with the worship of the sun, one of the earliest forms known.  Others, however, ascribe them to the Romans, who erected boundary stones, of which several are known, on the hills farther south.  We returned to our lodgings, but not to sleep, for our sleeping apartment was within a few feet of the church clock, on the side of a very low steeple.  As we were obliged to keep our window open for fresh air, we could hear every vibration of the pendulum, and the sound of the ponderous bell kept us awake until after it struck the hour of twelve.  Then, worn out with fatigue, we heard nothing more until we awoke early in the morning.

[Illustration:  ALDBOROUGH CHURCH, BOROUGHBRIDGE.]

(Distance walked twenty miles.)

Tuesday, October 24th.