Book excerpt: Excerpt from Strongholds of the Barons Of bygone times - built by rugged men in a rugged age, are landmarks in the history of a great nation; memorials of chivalry; silent witnesses of heroic deeds; symbols, too, of cruelty and Oppression in days of lawlessness, when might was right, and the strong triumphed over the weak. These colossal warders in stone, that frowned over the Marches, or flung defiance across the Border-land, have passed, some into peaceful dwellings, where Feudal strength and domestic comfort are happily blended; while others have fallen into decay, and the mouldering walls draped with ivy, and the picturesque remains of keep and turret and tower, lend an added charm to the delight of an English landscape. Our British ancestors exhibited Considerable acquaintance with the best methods of defensive warfare in selecting for their stronghold a spot already fortified by nature. One of the best examples of this kind is Old Sarum, which, according to Clark, was a fortified enclosure of the ancient Britons. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.