he angles. On it the heads of traitors were
formerly exposed. It bears on its front the arms of France as well as
those of England.

[Illustration: "Melia's Passage," York]

Bootham Bar is the main entrance from the north, and has a Norman arch
with later additions and turrets with narrow slits for the discharge
of arrows. It saw the burning of the suburb of Bootham in 1265 and
much bloodshed, when a mighty quarrel raged between the citizens and
the monks of the Abbey of St. Mary owing to the abuse of the privilege
of sanctuary possessed by the monastery. Monk Bar has nothing to do
with monks. Its former name was Goodramgate, and after the Restoration
it was changed to Monk Bar in honour of General Monk. The present
structure was probably built in the fourteenth century. Walmgate Bar,
a strong, formidable structure, was built in the reign of Edward I,
and as we have said, it is the only gate that retains its curious
barbican, originally built in the time of Edward III and rebuilt in
1648. The inner front of the gate has been altered from its original
form in order to secure more accommodation within. The remains of the
Clifford's Tower, which played an important part in the siege, tell of
the destruction caused by the blowing up of the magazine in 1683, an
event which had more the appearance of design than accident. York
abounds with quaint houses and narrow streets. We give an illustration
of the curious Melia's Passage; the origin of the name I am at a loss
to conjecture.

Chester is, we believe, the only city in England which has retained
the entire circuit of its walls complete. According to old unreliable
legends, Marius, or Marcius, King of the British, grandson of
Cymbeline, who began his reign A.D. 73, first surrounded Chester with
a wall, a mysterious person who must be classed with Leon Gawr, or
Vawr, a mighty strong giant who founded Chester, digging caverns in
the rocks for habitations, and with the story of King Leir, who first
made human habitations in the future city. Possibly there was here a
British camp. It was certainly a Roman city, and has preserved the
form and plan which the Romans were accustomed to affect; its four
principal streets diverging at right angles from a common centre, and
extending north, east, south, and west, and terminating in a gate, the
other streets forming insulae as at Silchester. There is every reason
to believe that the Romans surrounded the city with a wall. Its
streng