omwell from Cambridge to St. Albans towards the end of the war is
recorded rather too literally on the interior of several churches.

Of importance in history was the Rye House Plot (1683), a carefully laid
but abortive scheme to murder Charles II. and James, Duke of York, on
their way to London from Newmarket. (See Rye House.)

IX. ANTIQUITIES

The antiquities of Hertfordshire have been carefully studied and well
repay the labour that has been bestowed upon them. A few words under
several heads will suffice to show that the subject is a large one.

1. _Prehistoric._--_Paleolithic_ man--in whom we are all so interested,
but of whom we know so little--must have dwelt in Hertfordshire for a
long period, a period to be measured by centuries rather than by years.
Perhaps, however, the word "dwelt" is hardly appropriate here; for
doubtless, for the most part, the rude flint-shaper and skin-clad hunter
roamed at random over this tract of land wherever necessity led him. It
is usual to speak of him as a troglodyte, or cave-dweller, but the caves
of Hertfordshire are, and probably _were_ few, and his life in such a
district would therefore be more than usually nomadic. As is often the
case, we find traces of him in the river-valleys more frequently than
elsewhere, and it is in beds of clay, conjectured to be of lacustrine
origin, that we find those rudely shapen flint nodules which served him
for tools. Such implements have been found in the Valley of the Gade by
Sir John Evans, K.C.B.; in more central neighbourhoods by Mr.
Worthington G. Smith; and many axes, knives, etc., were discovered only
a few years ago near Hitchin. Implements of the _Neolithic_ Age are
naturally more numerous and form in themselves an interesting study in
the evolution of manual skill. Flint axe-heads, wonderfully polished,
have been found at Albury, Abbot's Langley, Panshanger and Ware; chipped
flints of more fragmentary character have been found near St. Albans and
elsewhere; flint arrow-heads were discovered at Tring Grove nearly 170
years ago. The great number of natural flints found in the county make
it very difficult to recognise these archaeological treasures, many of
which must thus escape detection and be destroyed. Some details of the
discovery of Prehistoric implements are given in the Gazetteer.

2. _Pre-Roman._--The earliest inhabitants of Hertfordshire in times more
or less "historic" were of Celtic blood; these, after a settlement