The green turf covers them, the mower passes over with his scythe and knows not of them.
Hilary had observed in one of his meadows that the turf turned brown or burnt up in squares during hot summer weather.

This he conjectured to be caused by the shallowness of the soil over some ancient foundations; and some years before he had had the curiosity to open a hole, and soon came upon a hidden wall.

He did not excavate farther, but the old folk, when they heard of it, remembered a tradition of a village having once existed there.

At present there were no houses near; the place, whatever it was, had disappeared.

The mention of this meadow led to some conversation about the names of the fields, which are often very curious.
Such names as Lea, Leaze, Croft, and so on, are readily explained; but what was the original meaning of The Cossicles?
Then there were Zacker's Hook, the Conigers,[3] Cheesecake, Hawkes, Rials, Purley, Strongbowls, Thrupp, Laines, Sannetts, Gaston, Wexils, Wernils, Glacemere, several Hams, Haddons, and Weddingtons, Slades, and so on, and a Truelocks.