The resemblance to some of the sandals' of the first and second classes is very striking, particularly those figured by Professor Defays; that by M. Namur, found at Dalheim (fig. 114); that in the Cluny Museum; the one found at Serupt in 1846, and the specimen in the Besançon Museum. Some allowance must be made for the very large diameter of the modern wheels, which necessitates a longer shoe (though the London carriages offer a great many varieties as to form and length in these articles), but the sole of the one here represented measures about three inches across between the clips-the width of several of the sandals. The Roman wheels of small diameter and coarse workmanship would vary much in the thickness of the felloes and width of the hoops, which will readily account for the irregular width of many of these so-called sandals, and also, perhaps, for their difference in shape. The increased thickness of sole in the modern sufflamen' is rendered necessary by the much greater weight of the waggons and the loads they are intended to carry; but the abundance of material, and the facility with which our Vulcans can forge large masses of iron, makes this of little consequence, compared with the difficulties the blacksmiths of eighteen centuries ago had to contend with. It will be observed that this wheelsandal has an eyelet at each end, like the horse-sandal of the second and third classes, for the attachment of a chain which fastens it to the body of the vehicle. One of them is higher than the other, and is the one to which the chain is usually attached; its elevation is intended to throw the stress of wear on the middle of the sole, exactly as it is in the soleæ ferrea. The two clips on each side

ANALOGY BETWEEN HORSE AND WHEEL SANDALS. 331

are intended to give greater security to the lodgment of the wheel, though, for that matter, with a smaller wheel, one central clip on each side, as in the first-class sandal, would suffice, especially if the sole diminished in width, as it does in that, towards the hook, which would wedge the wheel in more tightly. The longitudinal aperture at the upper end of each of the posterior clips is intended for the admission of a leather strap, which, passing across the wheel as it lies in the skid, prevents its jumping out when traversing broken ground. The hooks on each side of the first and second class sandals reveal a similar intention, and the union of the lateral clips in the third class may be also attributed to an attempt at simplicity in this direction. The analogy between the Roman sandal found at Dalheim (fig. 114) and this modern specimen is very marked; so much so, indeed, that their being intended for the same purpose can scarcely be doubted; one thing is certain, that no horse could journey a yard with the Military-Train specimen; and we have yet to learn that the horses of Gaul, Germany, or Britain, during the Roman period, could travel in any other fashion than the horses of our own days. I have tried the two articles found at Springhead on several horses, but out of the number of many-sized hoofs experimented on, I could not find one to fit either of the hippo-sandals. The resemblance of the larger specimen to a skid struck several casual observers, who were not at all aware of their history or the functions imputed to them. Among others, I may mention Col. Tilley, of the Royal Engineers, who exclaimed, the first glance he got of it in my hand, 'Hilloa! what have you got there? An old skid?'

I only make the suggestion that these articles may have been employed for this purpose, from finding myself unable to believe that they were worn by domesticated animals; the third type is certainly opposed to my opinion, but then it may not have been put to the same use as the others.

CHAPTER VIII.

PROBABLE DATE OF THE INVENTION OF SHOEING.

EMPLOYMENT OF

METALS BY EARLY PEOPLES. THE IRON AGE.' ANCIENT IRON

MINES. ANTIQUITY OF IRON WEAPONS. VALUE OF LEGENDS. WAYLAND SMITH AND HIS CRAFT. TRADITIONS. CROMLECHS. WAYLAND

SMITH'S CAVE. THE ARMOURER AND FARRIER OF THE CELTS AND GAULS. WAYLAND'S RENOWN. MORTE D'ARTHUR.

SMITHS, THEIR POSITION AND TRADITIONS. DRUID SMITHS. ST COLUMBUS AND CELTIC PRIESTS. SMITH-CRAFT AMONG THE ANGLO-SAXONS. DOMES-DAY BOOK. MONKISH SMITH. ST DUNSTAN AND THE ST ELOY AND HIGHWORTH CHURCH. ABYSSINIA. ARABIA. PERSIA. JAVA. ACADIE. MYSTERIES OF SAMOTHRACE AND DRUIDISM. FIRST OF NOVEMBER. REASONS

EVIL ONE.

ZURICH.

FOR ROMAN IGNORANCE OF SHOEING. THE CALEDONIAN WALL. HORSE-SHOE' MEDAL. CHANGE IN DESIGNATION OF THE FARRIER. EARLY MARESCHALS AND THEIR RANK.

AGE OF CHIVALRY. APPRENTICESHIP OF A CHEVALIER. ARCHBISHOP HUGHES OF BESANÇON. RIGHTS OF THE MARECHAL. NORMANS IN FRANCE. ORIGIN OF MARSHALL AND FARRIER. THE LONDON

FLETA.

SUPER

MARESCALLIS. SEAL OF RALPH. THE MARSHALL FARRIER.
STITIONS CONCERNING HORSE-SHOES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
GERMAN LEGENDS.

MOONWORT.

FROM the preceding inquiry, we are led to conclude that the Celts, or Gallo-Celts, were the people who most anciently employed nailed iron-shoes for their horses' feet; but we are yet left to determine the probable date of this invention-an investigation surrounded with many difficulties.

It is recognized, however, by means of the proofs furnished by archæological and philological researches, that the different races of mankind which have succeeded one another in Europe have exhibited a constant progression, not only in physical development, but also in intelligence and in the aptitude to practise various industries and arts. The remains found in many regions exhibit this gradual advancement, until, from a state which appears that of savagedom, we arrive at a period when domestic animals are kept, and a knowledge of metallurgy is obvious. It is only, however, when we come to the epoch of the early migrations of the Aryan or Indo-Germanic races, that we find substantial traces of the employment of metals. The most important of these migrations, that of the Cimbri, who, with the Gauls, founded the Celtic race some eighteen hundred years before our era, and introduced Druidism into Gaul, when it reached Europe knew no other metals than gold, copper, tin, and the combination of the last two-brass. A study of Sanscrit, the mother-tongue of all these Aryan peoples, shows this to have been the case. The working in iron, or the 'Iron Age,' even with some civilized peoples, did not occur until a comparatively recent time. Lucretius admits that gold and brass were known before iron:

Sed prius æris erat quam ferri cognitus usus.

As no other migration of any importance occurred until that of the hordes who destroyed the Roman empire, and as we have seen that iron was worked by the Gauls long before the Christian era, it is between the period when the Gallo-Cimbri arrived, and the conquest of Gaul by