Page:Over fen and wold; (IA overfenwold00hissiala).pdf/49



Memorial of a great battle—An ancient fire-cresset—Free feasting!—Country quiet—Travellers' tales—Hatfield—An Elizabethan architect—An author's tomb—Day-dreaming—Mysterious roadside monuments—Great North Road versus Great Northern Railway—Stevenage—Chats by the way—Field life—Nature as a painter—Changed times.

Leaving Barnet, we soon reached a bit of triangular green enlivened by a pond that was just then monopolised by geese; here, where the old and formerly famous "Parliamentary and Mail Coach Turnpike" to Holyhead diverges from the almost equally famous Great North Road of the pre-railway days, stands a gray stone obelisk that challenges the attention of the passer-by, and is inscribed with history thus:

Here was Fought the Famous Battle Between Edward the 4th. and the Earl of Warwick April the 14th. Anno 1471. In which the Earl Was defeated And Slain.