Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/211

 9' h S. I. MAR. 12, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

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44. The following three casts from gems may 1 e mentioned, in a valuable cabinet of casts f )rmerly the property of the late Mr. Barnard, ? [.P., of Gosfield Hall, Essex. On a cast from i gem, No. 772.

45. On a cast from a large gem, No. 773.

46. On a cast from a large circular gem, No. 1030.

47. On a cast from a circular gem. Zeus, enthroned in the centre, holds rod and fulmen, his feet resting on an arch, beneath which rises Poseidon with trident. On the right tide of Zeus stands Hermes, with caduceus and purse and cock. On the other Aries, with rod and Gorgon shield. Virgo is a woman caressing a unicorn. Gemini is a man and woman. The signs run in the reverse or Egyptian order. Though called Greek it seems later. Diameter 2 in., tray 5, No. 225.

48. On a cast from a round gem, surround- ing a quadriga, the signs running, as in the last, from left to right. Diameter 3/5 in., tray 7, No. 347 ; the last two numbers from a collec- tion of Italian casts in my possession.

A. B. G.

The Bodleian possesses a painting of the zodiac of Tentyra, by bequest of R. Mason, of Queen's College, in 1841 (Macray's ' Annals,' p. 342, 1890). ED. MARSHALL, F.S.A.

THE BATTLE OP TOWTON. A contemporary has recently spoken of the battle of Towton in the following words :

" At Towton, probably the most sanguinary en- counter ever fought out in any country or age, about one hundred and twenty thousand combat- ants were engaged, thirty-eight thousand of whom were subsequently interred where they had fallen on the field of battle. Proportionately to the number of troops actually arrayed in arms on both sides, the ' butcher's bill of Towton was consider- ably heavier than that of Waterloo, or even of Gravelotte. Scarcely less destructive to human life were the three general actions fought in the vicinity of London two at St. Albans and one at Barnet, where Warwick, the Kingmaker, and his astute brother, Earl Montague, died facing the foe. In the northern and midland counties many rural districts were entirely depopulated, while others were so ruinously devastated by the lawless soldiery and camp-followers of both armies that they became absolutely unproductive, and were perforce abandoned by their famine-stricken in- habitants."

Is it possible, I would ask, that these figures can be correct? To me they seem wildly exaggerated. There are few things which require more careful scrutiny than the numbers recorded to have been slain in battle, whether in ancient or mediaeval times. Such tests as have been found available have, I

believe, been applied to the accounts of the killed spoken of in certain of the engagements mentioned in the Old Testament, and some of those in what are known as the classical historians have not been neglected; but, so far as I know, nothing of the kind has been done for the battles fought in England during the Middle Ages. When we call to mind how small the population must have been during the Wars of the Roses it seems next to impossible that one hundred and twenty thousand men could have been gathered together in one neighbourhood. Feeding a large army is a business which even now almost overtasks the abilities of great commanders. How could so vast a crowd have been sustained in days when there were no canals or railways, and when the high roads were for the most part mere trackways such as are still called " occupation lanes" in some parts of England? It may be replied that in those times armies lived by pillage. This is no doubt true, but per- sons who know the district wherein Towton lies will, I think, agree with me that upwards of four hundred years ago it could have afforded but a very limited supply of food of any sort, and probably no flesh meat what- ever, as the inhabitants must have had too keen a sense of their own interest not to have driven their flocks and herds to the north or west, far out of the reach of immediate danger. There is no evidence on the matter, so far as I am aware, but it is probable that nearly the whole of the human population would have fled also. War had been raging intermittently for a long time, and they would realize far better than we can do, who have been so long accustomed to peace, what the horrors of war mean even to a non- belligerent population. On the other hand, to come to any thing approaching a fair judg- ment, we must bear in mind that no quarter was given by the victorious Yorkists, and therefore great numbers of Lancastrians must have fallen in the pursuit after the battle was over.

Here are a few notes on the question which might be largely supplemented. In a docu- ment printed among the ' Paston Letters ' (edit. 1874, vol. ii. p. 6) the names of certain nobles who fell in the engagement are given, and afterwards we are informed that there were twenty-eight thousand slain "nomberd by Harralds." Hume, referring to Habington, says that "above thirty-six thousand men are computed to have fallen in the battle and pursuit,'' while Lingard puts the numbers at bhirty -eight thousand, besides those who were drowned in the Yorkshire streams, The late