would be thought. The green-winged Orchis morio was common also, and fine specimens of the butterfly orchis, Habenaria bifolia, were also seen. On the limestone soil of Oldbury Hill Orchis pyramidais was found, and another always interesting plant, Chlora perfoliata. In the hedge on the hill near the camp was gathered Lonicera xylosteum, the twin-flower honey-suckle, probably a wanderer from the cottage near, and the Euonymus Europæus, the spindle tree, a true native, whose berries are so pretty in autumn. On Oldbury hill were also gathered Myosotis collina, Ligustrum vulgare, Senecio erucifolius, and Trifolium medium. Symphytum orientale, confirmed by the highest botanical authorities to be correct, was found on the road side at How Caple. Lycopus Europaus, by the stream side at the foot of Oldbury Hill. On Caplar Hill, Tilia grandifolia grows unquestionably, Daphne Laureola, the lovely wood vetch, Vicia sylvatica, and many other plants too numerous to mention now.

The plant of the day, however, was Stellaria nemorum, Wood starwort, which was found, after the papers were read, on the river bank in Caplar wood. It was a good "find," and very rare in Herefordshire.

The business of the Club was conducted after dinner, when, amongst other members, the Rev. David Price, of Little Marcle, and Mr. Henry Wilson, of Eastnor House, Malvern, were elected members. An excellent paper on "Offa's Dyke" was then read by Captain Morgan, R.E., which led to some little discussion.

A very pleasant day, and a profitable one, was thus spent, notwithstanding the dreary weather, with ever and anon a shower, that cheerfully might be spoken of as 66 Scotch Mist." It was a pity, however, that the lovely scenery passed through was not brightened by sunshine.

The gentlemen who took part in the day's proceedings were the President, Mr. George H. Piper; Revs. Augustin Ley, E. J. Holloway, A. G. Jones, H. B. D. Marshall, G. M. Metcalfe, P. H. S. Strong, and E. Price; Drs. Bull, and Chapman, and Mr. Jones; Major Doughty; Captains de Winton, Kerr, R. E., and Morgan, R. E.; Messrs. T. D. Burlton, Robert Clarke, Charles Fortey, J. T. Owen Fowler, J. Greaves, W. H. Harrison, G. H. R. Holden, F. R. Kempson, John Lambe, S. R. Matthews, H. C. Moore, J. E. Norris, T. C. Paris, Evan Pateshall, J. Riley, O. Shellard, Wm. Stallard, James Stevens, Henry Wilson, and the Secretary, Mr. Theophilus Lane, with a sprinkling of natives, who came to listen to the papers, and pick up a few crumbs of science, and who, it is believed, listened with much gratification to the many-syllabled words introduced on the occasion.

WOLDBURY, OR CAPLAR CAMP.

By DR. BULL.

THE hill on which this camp is situated is variously named Capler, Caplar, Capiller, or Capillar, and the origin of the name has been derived from still more varying sources. Mr. Flavell Edmunds, in his Names of Places, derives it from the British word "cop," a summit, and "le," a place, a derivation that would apply to every hill, and he therefore supposes the hill to take its name from the camp; others suppose the name "Capler" to be derived from the old family of Caple, or Capell, who for so many centuries held the adjoining manors of How Caple and of Fownhope; though they seem only to have had a small part of this hill in their possession. The most common belief, the version of the guide book, thinks the name a corruption from the second name of Ostorius Scapula, and supports it by an old tradition. Ostorius Scapula is said to have attacked Caractacus when he was about to cross the Wye by a ford near Caradoc, to have been defeated by him, and to have been obliged to retire and entrench himself on the suminit of this hill. There is certainly a large tumulus, or tump," as it is called in Herefordshire, near the church of King's Caple, which usually indicates the scene of a battle, but there is no historic record of any battle having taken place at King's Caple. If the Roman general was beaten there, however, he would not be likely to record the defeat. Roman historians seldom did so, and no other record of the period exists. The origin of Capler from Scapula is really too remote to be

probable.

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The most likely derivation of the name is given by Mr. Cooke, in his excellent continuation of Duncumb's History of Herefordshire. He thinks it simply an abbreviation of capitularius, a designation having reference to the early owners of the manor, the Deans and Chapter of Hereford. They still hold the manor, and it may be stated here that from the quarry at the foot of the hill, near the river, much of the stone required for the construction and repairs of St. Ethelbert's Cathedral at Hereford has been obtained.

The British names of the camp, or the hill, have been lost, and the earliest distinctive name which has come down to us is the purely Saxon name of "Woldbury," and this seems to have been nearly lost also, for the Ordnance and other recent maps do not give it, and it is scarcely ever alluded to elsewhere. This name is given on the old maps, however, and it is just mentioned incidentally in local histories. Two large fields on the south-western slope are also named "Upper Walboro" (containing some 35 acres), and "Lower Walboro" (28 acres), on the maps of the estate, whilst the small parish in which the camp is situated is called Brockhampton-a name equally Saxon in derivation.

There is no historical record of the Romans having occupied this camp; some authorities would attribute the sally-ports from the inner camp to the trenches to them. It is extremely probable that they did occupy it, though there is no trace

of their having done so to be derived from the names of the locality. The camp lies close to the road from Ariconium, by Crow-hill, Old Gore, Snogs Ash, How Caple, Rugden, Fownhope, and Mordiford, to Withington, turning westward to Magna, or proceeding due north to Black-caer-dun, Bravinium, and on to Uriconium. They did leave behind them, however, the coin now submitted to your inspection. It was found by Mr. Stallard's men, when uprooting the gorse bushes on the south side of the hill. They also found some worked flints at the same time. Mr. J. J. Reynolds has been kind enough to examine the coin, and has sent the following satisfactory description of it :—

"The coin is a fine specimen of a Sestertius, or Roman 1st brass coin. The Roman coinage is usually classified by collectors as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd brass, to which our English pennies, half-pennies, and farthings roughly correspond. The obverse bears a noble bust of Lucilla Augusta, who, according to Akerman, was the daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina, and wife of Lucius Verus. She was born A.D. 147, exiled to Caprea, A.D. 183, and killed shortly afterwards. Augusta is not her name, but denotes her title as Empress, just as an Emperor is styled Augustus. So this little disc of metal left the die at least 1,700 years ago. On the reverse, stands a priestess offering votive wreaths at an altar, with the letters S. C. The legend is almost entirely obliterated. It would appear that the Roman brass coinage was under the direction of the Senate, whilst that of the precious metals was controlled by the Emperors; hence we perpetually find on the former the letters S. C. (Senatus Consulto), and usually, as in the present instance, conspicuously placed on the disc of the coin. It was a common practice with the Romans to issue money with effigies of the Empress for the time being, but it must not on this account be confounded with our medal copper tokens. The coins so issued were as much currency of the realm as though they bore the image of the 'Cæsar Augustus Pontifex Maximus' himself. This is a measure of dignity and cominemoration accorded to the crowned ladies, which we degenerate moderns have not been polite enough to follow, and, truth compels me to add, that we follow at a very respectable distance indeed, the superb series of the money of Imperial Rome, comprised in the successive issues of the bronze Sestertius. Coins have proved themselves most valuable historical records, and it does seem a pity that when Macaulay's New Zealander shall contemplate from the ruins of London Bridge, the site of Old London, England will not have left behind any memorials in this form worthy of her vast colonial empire, her naval and military triumphs, and her commercial greatness."

There is very little doubt, therefore, that the Romans did occupy this camp when it suited their purpose to do so, though they have left no other certain trace behind them than this one coin.

The Saxons, or Anglo-Saxons, occupied the camp and district at a later period, since the names of the district are, for the most part, clearly derived from thein. "Woldbury," itself, has a distinctive meaning in each syllable. "Wold," says Dr. Johnson, means either a plain open country or downs," which this certainly is not; or, secondly, "a ruler, governor, or general of an army," whilst "bury' means either 'a dwelling-place," or a mound above the dead." Verstegan says

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"The dead bodies of such as were slain in the field were not lain in the graves, but were placed on the ground, and covered with turves or clods of earth; and the more in reputation the person had been, the greater and higher were the turves raised over their bodies. This some used to call 'biriging,' some 'beorging' of the dead, all being one thing, though differently pronounced; and from hence we yet retain our speech of 'burying the dead,' that is 'hiding the dead."" Mr. Thomas Wright, in his interesting book, Wanderings of an Antiquary, says "burys,' or 'burrows' are sometimes found within the intrenchments on hill-tops and such elevated spots were favourite places of burial," but he also says 'bury' may mean 'beorg,' or 'burgh,' from the Anglo-Saxon verb 'beorgam,' to defend ; and it was used to denote the residence of the earlier Anglo-Saxon chiefs, when surrounded by an earthen wall or entrenchment and when we find,"

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he concludes, "the word 'borough,' or 'burrow,' or 'bury,' in the name of such entrenchments, it seems to me that we have a primary presumption that it may have been a Saxon mansion" (pp. 207-209). The meaning, therefore, of the name "Woldbury," may be said to be the dwelling-place of a Saxon, or Anglo-Saxon, ruler.

There is a tradition that assigns the western bastion at the chief, or northern, entrance of the camp, as a tumulus, or burial-place of a British chieftain; but, though much more massive than its fellow, it defends the weakest point of the camp, and would naturally be made the largest. The centre of this bastion is occupied by a yew tree, measuring 7ft. 9in, in circumference, at two feet from the ground; and at some ten yards distance are four yew-trees, planted 6ft. apart, east and west, and 9ft. north and south, and closely approximating to the points of the compass. The dimensions of these trees are as follows-The north tree, 5ft. lin. ; the south, 4ft. 6in.; the east, 4ft. 2in.; and the west, 4ft. 10in. in circumference. On the same mound were also three other yew-trees. measuring in feet and inches -3.3, 5.9, and 6.2. These trees cannot be more than three centuries old, and if their funereal character has given rise to the burial tradition, the interment must have been of a comparatively recent date.

The camp itself occupies the ridge which forms the summit of the hill. It is long and narrow, and slightly curved in direction from the entrenchments following the shape of the hill. Its inner area is 612 yards, or upwards of a third of a mile, long, by a varying width of 46 yards, 78 yards, and 111 yards. It is divided by a hedge into an orchard of about 4 acres, and a larch plantation of 64 acres. On the north and eastern sides, from the natural steepness of the hill, there is but a single entrenchment, but on the western side, there are double lines of defence, and towards the southern entrance the embankments are large.

The only supply of water is obtained from the outer fosse on the south-western side, which is deepened into a pool 138 feet long, and the approaches to it are guarded by a high bastion behind it. The water was fresh and good, and a small spring was flowing into it from the ground of the camp above. This spring would certainly fail in dry summers, but the absence of any outflow was explained by the fact of a pipe being laid from it to supply a cottage below. The nearest good water supply from springs is at the Dockwell Farm, above a quarter of a mile from the camp.